Drool Baby (A Dog Park Mystery) (Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries) (13 page)

Lia and Anna were sitting on their usual table, amid the regular morning crowd while the dogs milled around. It was a chilly morning, with the
promise of a beautiful afternoon.

"What's the word, what's the word?" Terry asked as he strolled up.

Anna looked down at her newspaper to the clues she had circled. "Che Guevara's first name. Two, four, six, seven letters. Second letter is 'r.'"

"Che Guevara, man, what a prick. He liked to conduct executions himself. He once shot a six year old kid for stealing food out of the garbage. Said he had
to make an example out of him. Fucking Liberals."

Marie arrived in time to catch Terry's rant. "Gee, Terry, how would you like it if we lumped you in with every psychopath who bombed abortion clinics?"

"That's not a valid comparison."

"Extremists are extremists."

"No Republican leader ever condoned . . ."

"Terry," Anna interrupted, "do you know his first name or will you pass?"

"I'm gonna pass on that one."

"Ernesto," volunteered Marie.

"Thanks," Anna said. "How about the name of an island in the Hebrides? Four letters?"

"Iona," Terry said, triumphantly. "What's next?" He strolled up to look over Anna's shoulder.

Maddie plodded up and shoved her head into Lia's lap, looking for a scratch. Lacey jumped up on the table beside her. This caused Viola to raise her head,
warning Lacy out of her territory. Lacy ignored her. Viola pretended she didn't care. Lia looked up to see Roger and Jose approaching. "Hey, Roger, Jose,
how are you?"

"I'm good!" Roger said. "Dija hear? Gina's back."

"I didn't know," Lia said. "How did that happen?" She felt a nudge in her side. Anna didn't want her encouraging Roger. Too late.

"I tole her about all them girls likin' me at Terry's AA meetings and she got jealous. I was tellin' her it was okay she was gone, but I needed the car
back, and she came over an' fixed me a big dinner. I couldn't believe it. She said she didn't want me looking at all them women and she didn't want me
goin' to meetings, either. She said I didn't need to be thinkin' about nobody but her."

Jose rolled his eyes. Anna rolled her eyes. Jim rolled his eyes. Marie's eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head. It was an eye-rolling extravaganza.
Terry didn't notice because he was busy squinting at Anna's puzzle. "Why do you always do these in ink? I call that the height of arrogance. It makes it
hard to read when you've made a mistake and have to cross it out."

Nadine, always polite, did not roll her eyes. She patted Roger on the arm and said, "That's very nice, Dear. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah," Roger enthused, "she was bein' real sweet. She said we needed to get away, just the two of us. I'm taking her to Disney World."

Nadine's polite smile froze in place. "I'm sure you'll have a lovely time."

"I never been to Disney world. Gina said she'd ride the roller coasters with me. They say it's real pretty down there. You ever been to Disney World?"

"Roger," Jose interrupted, "you talk to the boss about taking off?"

"Oh, yeah, I gotta do that. An' I need someone to look after Maddie an' Lacy."

"I'm sure somebody will be willing to do that. I think the trip is a great idea," Marie offered.

"Lia, I'll see you at Renee's later,Ó Jose said. "C'mon, Romeo, I gotta get Sophie home. Don't be late Monday. You don't want to piss off the boss if you
want vacation on short notice."

"Right," Roger agreed happily.

As the pair took off with their dogs, Nadine turned to Marie and said, "I can't believe you want to encourage this ship of fools."

"I'm hoping ten hours in a car with Gina will knock some sense into him."

"Dammit," Lia said, "I thought I was helping him out by conning him into those AA meetings. Now she's got her Lee's press-ons into him even deeper than
before."

"You never know," Anna said. "Marie may be right. Nothing like a vacation together to break up an unhappy couple."

Roger is taking Gina to Disney World. Such a ridiculous couple, and such a ridiculous place. As soon as I heard, I knew this was my opportunity. The plan
emerged, full blown, Athena from the head of Zeus. A way to pursue my hobby. Ideas and particulars continue to shower like spring rain. I want to dance,
like Gene Kelly, as it pours. It would not do to let my elation show. I must act normal. I have a lot of work to do in a very short time.

Lia held the PVC pipe upright while Jose tamped dirt around the base. Renee stood off to one side, watching. A breeze rising above the edge of the overlook
flirted with her hair. Jose's knees cracked as he stood up and dusted off his hands. "I just want to check one more time with the level to make sure it's
straight."

"Sure, Jose," Lia said. "What do you think, Renee?"

Renee eyed the ten foot tall piece of four inch diameter pipe. "Will my sculpture be that tall?"

"You betcha," enthused Jose.

"It might make sense to make it a little shorter, depending on what the shadow does on the equinox," Lia said. The women walked away, the better to take in
the whole site.

"It will be bigger around, won't it?"

"Of course, this is just to give us an idea how the shadow will fall. I had an idea." She gestured to the poster-board cone attached to the top of the
pipe, forming a pointed tip. "What did you think of the drawings I left with you?"

"They're wonderful. I love all the colors. I was wondering about the one with the flat sides and pointy tip. What did you call that?"

"The obelisk."

"Yes, that one. What made you come up with that?"

"I was thinking that we needed the point so that the tip would line up exactly with our marker on the equinox. The marker itself would be larger, of
course. but the point would connect with a certain spot in the design on the right day. I know we were thinking about a shape that was more organic. But I
don't see another way to get the precision you would want for a solar marker."

"Hmm. I don't know . . ."

Lia glanced over, saw Jose still taking readings with his four foot level. "It will still be quite phallic, you know," she said confidentially. "But it's
early days, yet. I'll keep thinking on it. We'll create the penis of your dreams for you."

Renee laughed. "I haven't enjoyed myself this much since I don't know when. So are we going to have a bit of Egyptian flavor to this?"

"Only in the shape of the standing piece, if that's the one you decide on. I'm not aware of the Egyptians having solar markers, though they did lay out
their pyramids and temples in a map of the sky."

"Really? How fascinating. So you'll be back on Saturday, the twenty-second? "

"Absolutely, I'm looking forward to Esmerelda's eggs Benedict."

Renee went back into her house as Jose packed up his tools. "You carry the level," he directed, "I've got the post hole digger and the rest of it." They
loaded everything in the back of Jose's van.

"Thanks for helping me with this. I know you've got a lot on your plate," Lia said.

"I like doing your stuff, it's always real interestin'."

"So tell me, was today the first time you heard about this trip to Disney World?"

"It sure surprised me. The only reason she's being nice is she wants to keep that car."

"I figured that much out. I wish he'd keep going to meetings a while longer."

"Fat chance of that with Gina back. I hate to say it, but I think the only thing that will help the guy is finding another girlfriend. You know Gina won't
ever give him any respect. I swear, there's no talkin' to the guy. But he still comes to work every day. He's a hard worker. I don't know what I'd do
without him."

"He's a nice man. It's a shame he's willing to live that way."

"Yep, I don't get it. I don't get it at all."

Peter put down the phone and considered the tablet in front of him. He tapped his pen on his notes, thinking. With a sigh, he dropped the pen and sat back.
He stared out the kitchen window into Lia's tiny back yard, where the dogs were enjoying the sunshine. Lia had gone to Renee's with Jose and wouldn't be
back for hours.

He wondered if he was asking for trouble. He had no business creating an ad hoc team of amateurs. Trees seemed okay, from the conversation they'd just had.
He wasn't too sure about the man's woo-woo inclinations, but he seemed to know his way around the internet, better than a law-abiding citizen should. Which
was why the Trees wasn't giving him his real name and insisted on using a prepaid cell-phone. Well, if he was getting into bed with a hacker, the less he
knew, the better. He decided this would be his only contact with the him. In the future, he could deal with Jim, if Jim was willing. Hopefully, Mr. Trees'
contribution would allow them to solve this quietly, without having to ask a lot of questions. He'd see how the man did. At the very least, he was out of
the state, so there was no question that he was involved in the murders. And no chance that he would let something slip to the wrong person.

Jim was smart and honest, but with his unruly beard, rumpled clothes and gruff manner, might not be the best person to send out making inquiries. Still, he
had an excellent mind and it was never a bad thing to have a good mind to bounce things off of.

Then there was Lia. She was personable and could look professional. People responded well to a pretty woman. But Lia was still fragile and lacked
objectivity. At least she realized that about herself. He wasn't crazy about tip-toeing around her emotions. And what if she got into trouble? He'd never
forgive himself.

He had a cracked team of Keystone Kops going up against an experienced predator. Not his idea of good odds.

He wished he could bring Brent in on this. Brent was on the case last summer, when there was a case, and he knew the history. But at some point, there
would be explaining to do, and he would not be doing Brent any favors by involving him in a shady investigation. He was going to be too busy keeping his
own ass out of a sling to protect anyone else.

Peter and Jim sat alone at one of the tables in the back of the park. Lia was tossing balls with Kita, Honey and Viola. Fleece was leaning against Jim's
leg and Chewy was making his usual rounds, checking for reckless squirrels, abandoned meat trucks, and possibly, alien invaders.

Jim nodded to the other end of the park where a crowd of regulars watched the canine rodeo in progress. "Hard to grasp that one of those folks has been
taking down my friends. Doesn't seem possible, does it?"

Peter shook his head. "Have you had any new thoughts since the last time we met?"

"I've been wondering why we don't talk about the victims. On the cop shows, they always talk about a victim profile."

"I've been thinking about that myself, and I haven't come up with any good ideas. You've known them a long time. What do you think?"

"Catherine and Luthor were a lot alike, very self-centered. Terry's very outspoken about his political opinions. Bailey didn't always express her opinions,
but she has those New Age beliefs."

"A real mixed bag. What did they have in common? What would make someone go after them?"

"One thing I could say about all of them is they were different. They didn't always play well with others. If you didn't have a sense of humor, any one of
them could rub you the wrong way. You might say they're all odd ducks. Maybe something about that made them targets."

So you think our killer doesn't like people who are different? Sounds like bullying in grade school."

"It does. And this place is full of odd ducks. None of us fits into a nine to five routine."

"So that makes everyone a target?"

Jim pondered. "Well, there's odd ducks, then there's odd ducks. We've had a few out here that had real mental problems, but they either tend to isolate
themselves or people knew to avoid them. All of the folks we're talking about are social enough to be a regular part of the crowd. It's just sometimes any
one of them could be hard to take, first thing in the morning."

"Huh. So you think all our victims were targeted because they ruined someone's coffee?"

"Coffee is serious. You don't want to mess with someone's coffee. You like someone messing with you first thing in the morning?"

"Good point. So if we look at it that way, who do you think is next?"

"Most folks come here for two reasons. They need to let their dogs out, and they want a little company. We've got a lot of different kinds of folks, and
mostly we get along okay. Generally, we're able to look past our differences. Everyone who goes to the trouble to take their dog to the park, they gotta
love the dog, and when you can see the love in somebody, it helps you over the rough spots."

"Interesting."

"I don't think it's just being odd. I think our victims were contentious, in a way. I don't know if contentious is the right word, but they seemed to stir
people up, whether they meant to or not."

"So who's our next contentious odd duck?"

"Not Lia."

"Why do you say that?"

"She does more listening than talking. And she'll offer an opinion, but she avoids arguments. Her choice of diet makes her strange enough, but it's not
like she's talking about her bowel movements at seven a.m. She doesn't push it on anyone."

Peter got a quick mental picture and decided to be grateful Lia was willing to co-exist with his Pop Tarts. "So, not Lia. Then who?"

"The two people who seem to stir things up the most right now are Roger and Marie. Now, Marie mostly picks her target. She waits until someone else is
going good, then she'll egg them on or go head to head with them. She wouldn't rile up somebody minding their own business."

"Then if Marie's our killer, she might be her own next target."