Oodles of Poodles (9 page)

As I stood beside Matt in the crowded waiting area, Carlie slipped back inside the pet hospital with Detective Maddinger following. She needed to get her purse, call the lawyer I’d recommended, and direct someone to cover for her while she was gone.

I hoped that would be only for an hour or two. It was late enough in the day, though, that I suspected that the earliest she’d return would be tomorrow.

My fingers were crossed that she wouldn’t actually be taken into custody.

“Are you okay, Lauren?” Matt’s brow was furrowed with such concern that I wanted to hug him. He held Hope’s leash, but the dog looked more frightened by the large population of animals in the reception area than ready to attack any of them. She sat on his foot.

“Sure.” I pretended a lightheartedness I didn’t feel. He knew me well enough to realize that, and those dark, straight eyebrows of his raised in challenge. “Really. Or at least I will be when you get Hope checked in and do what you need to so I can retrieve her and bring her back to HotRescues.” I wiggled my own well-maintained brows in pseudo-flirtatious challenge right back.

He laughed. “You win. Let’s go.” He pulled gently on Hope’s leash.

“I’ll be a few minutes,” I said. “I need to make a phone call about when filming of
Sheba’s Story
might start again, and I also want to talk to at least one of the vets here who might be on the set.”

“I gather that isn’t just about wanting to make sure that ‘No Animals Were Harmed.’” He did have one expressive face. Right now, it looked wry.

“Well, that—and I thought I’d try to be there next time so I can tell Dante how things go without Hans Marford.”

“And to see if you can figure out who…disposed of him.” Matt looked around. There were a lot of people nearby who might be eavesdropping. Maybe it was better to use euphemisms than to say outright that I wanted to solve the director’s murder. “Is that what you’re up to?” He didn’t look thrilled with the idea.

I sighed. “I don’t know. It’s not that I want to, but—”

“I get it. Especially since I understand how close you are to Carlie. But you also know how concerned I got the last time you got involved in…a situation like that. Not to mention the other times. I don’t imagine it’ll make any difference, but I’d rather you stay out of it.” As I opened my mouth to explain why I needed to get involved, he
raised one hand. “Okay. I get it. At least promise you’ll be careful.”

“I will. And I’ll not do anything stupid, and I’ll keep you informed—you and Brooke and Antonio. And—”

He laughed, then bent and planted a quick but enjoyable kiss on my lips, despite the crowd around us. I kissed him back. Why not? I really liked the guy.

But so as not to play favorites, I bent and gave Hope a hug, too. “See you soon, girl,” I said, then rose again.

“See you soon, girl,” Matt repeated, then he and Hope left.

I went up to the registry counter at the far end of the bustling room and asked the young female vet tech who was staffing it, “May I see Dr. Andelson now?” Cyd Andelson was the vet whom Carlie had assigned to mostly work with the film crew.

“She’s with a patient,” the tech, whose nametag identified her as Sher, said with a smile that looked pasted on because she had been told to act friendly no matter how busy the place was. “Can someone else help you?”

“No. I promised Dr. Stellan that I’d check in with Dr. Andelson about the next filming being done for
Sheba’s Story
.” I’d bent over as if imparting a secret. At this point, The Fittest Pet’s involvement hadn’t been revealed to the world.

Carlie had wanted to do that on her own show with a preview of what was happening on the various sets, and she’d been given the okay by her not-so-close former friend Hans Marford. I wasn’t sure what the next director would say about it.

“Oh. Of course.” The smile ramped into one that appeared genuine. “Will it take long?”

“I promise not to hold her up for more than a few minutes.”

“I’ll make sure she sees you next. Would you like to have a seat?”

I might have, had one been available. But I had a phone call to make anyway.

“That’s okay,” I said. “I’ll wait outside.”

I stood close enough to the door so Sher could see me through the glass. Then I called Grant Jefferly.

He answered right away. “Hi, Lauren. You’ll never guess where I am.”

“Fill me in,” I said, smiling at his excited voice.

“I’m at Solario Studios. Niall called before and asked me to come to meet the new director on
Sheba’s Story
. They appointed one of the assistant directors who already knew what was going on. The permit for shooting the street scenes is fairly short and they didn’t want to go through an attempt to extend it.”

“So who’s the new director?” I asked, keeping my eye on Sher, who was speaking with the owner of a Great Dane that seemed very interested in a nearby Lab. Fortunately, the Lab’s owner got the message and walked away.

“Mick Paramus.”

I thought I remembered meeting the guy, but I’d met so many of the production staff I couldn’t put a face to the name.

“Great,” I said anyway. “When’s the filming to start again?”

“Tomorrow. I just tried calling Dr. Stellan to let her know but she didn’t answer her phone. Can you tell her?”

“I just happen to be at The Fittest Pet now,” I said without going into detail. “I know Carlie’s busy, but your timing couldn’t be better. I’ll make sure one of the other vets here comes to the set tomorrow. What time?”

Of course it would start early, which was a good thing. I’d be there, too, for at least part of the day.

And then I’d go back to HotRescues and start one of my now de rigueur computer files on murder suspects in the death of Hans Marford.

As I hung up with Grant, I saw the Great Dane’s owner peel away from the reception desk. Sher was looking out the door toward me. I went back inside.

“Dr. Andelson can see you now,” she said and had one of the other techs show me to an examination room.

Cyd Andelson popped in about a minute later holding a clipboard as if ready to take notes on a veterinary case. “Hi, Lauren,” she said. I’d met her and probably all of the vets here at one time or another when I came in with animals from HotRescues for exams and shots. Cyd was in her fifties, a little overweight, with long, nondescript hair fastened at the nape of her neck. “What’s up?” She looked around as if searching for a dog or cat I’d brought in.

“First thing—I meant to ask Carlie. Is the diarrhea epidemic here at Fittest Pet taken care of?” Or would I have to tell Matt to have closer watch kept on Hope to make sure she didn’t come down with anything?

“Of course.” Cyd looked insulted that I would even ask. “All the dogs are doing just fine now. What’s second?”

“Well…Carlie mentioned treating a number of dogs lately who were hit by cars.” I’d wondered, though, if she had made it up to help explain the extent of her anger—without revealing what was actually behind it. “She’d said they were okay. Are they still doing all right?”

“Fortunately, yes. We were very lucky that none had been badly injured—and of course our veterinarians are the best.”

I smiled at that, nodding my agreement—and encompassing her in it as well as Carlie. “There’s one more thing,” I said. “It’s actually a heads-up. Filming’s going to resume on
Sheba’s Story
tomorrow morning at eight
A.M.
I don’t know whether you’re aware of it, but Carlie’s…well, she probably won’t be able to attend. She may not be easy to reach to check on her availability, so I figured I’d let you know. Can you be there, or can you get someone else?”

“Sure, I can come. I’m on standby for the production, and I can just let the staff know to get someone to cover for me here—although we might be pretty shorthanded tomorrow.” Her round face looked drawn all of a sudden, and tears appeared in her light brown eyes. “Word’s gotten out that the police are questioning Carlie about the death of that jerk Hans Marford.” Surprise must have shown on my face, and she gave a bark of a laugh. “We’re a pretty close-knit group here at Fittest Pet. We saw Carlie leave with that guy in a suit. We also knew when Marford was hanging around her
Pet Fitness
set and when she finally had the sense to dump him.”

I wasn’t sure who dumped whom, but that didn’t really matter. The problem was that it seemed clear that people
knew about their aborted relationship. And that they’d been in contact again. And argued.

I suspected that the investigation I was about to conduct was even more imperative than I’d first thought.

It might be the only way to keep my dear friend Carlie out of jail.

Chapter 9

As soon as I got back in my car, but before I started driving away, I made a phone call—one I didn’t really want to make but felt I should.

I called the local TV station, where Carlie’s boyfriend worked. The relationship was only a few months old but I figured that Liam Deale should at least know what was going on—if he didn’t already. The media had jumped on reporting Hans’s death. Maybe they were following the situation closely enough to know when a “person of interest” was being interrogated, and I assumed that was what the authorities would call Carlie, at least for now.

Watching the parade of animals being led in and out of the busy veterinary clinic from the lot where I was parked, I used my smartphone to find the number, then called KVKV.

Liam responded almost immediately. “Lauren? What’s
going on with Carlie? One of our reporters was at the Devonshire station and said she was brought in there a minute ago. He wasn’t allowed to speak with her, and her phone is turned off so I can’t talk to her either. I assume this is about the death of the director of that movie she’s providing veterinary care for. Did she see something?”

Good. He knew about the film and Carlie’s connection to it, and he apparently didn’t suspect her of anything.

“Not that I’m aware of,” I answered, “but even so, the detectives looking into the director’s death want to talk to her some more about it.”

“Is she a murder suspect?”

“Possibly,” I said slowly.

“Ridiculous! Hell, I’ll get my reporters on it right away and find out what’s really going on. Meantime—are you looking into it?”

Liam had been dating Carlie during the last bit of investigating I’d done so he knew about my past involvement in investigations.

“I might be, but that’s not for publication.” I certainly didn’t want him to get any of his crews to interview me.

“Whatever you say. But let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.” Another pause. “I know Carlie’s protective of animals, not people so much…She couldn’t really be involved, could she?”

I didn’t like his changed tone—too much speculation and not enough denial.

“Of course not.” That must have come out pretty loud, since a woman passing by with her corgi on a leash looked in at me with a startled expression. “Of course not,” I repeated
more quietly. “Keep me informed if you learn anything, and I’ll do the same.”

My irritation with Liam didn’t spill over into my driving as I headed to HotRescues.

I thought about it, though—a lot. But my poor friend had enough to worry about without my suggesting that she upend her current love life. Once she was free and clear of suspicion, I might find a way to hint that a change might be in order. She shouldn’t stay with a man who didn’t fully trust her, and might even consider using her as the focus of a reputation-damaging story. Did Liam suspect, or even know about, Carlie’s past relationship with Hans? Of course I didn’t know that he would do something to harm her—but I had seen stories he had worked on for his station and some had seemed less news and more sensationalism.

I said hi to Nina, then took Zoey on a regular walk-through of my shelter. All the animals looked fine, for pets without their own homes. At least they had people who loved them, including me, my staff, and our volunteers.

Usually, just visiting them was enough to distract me from whatever problems were on my mind. But not today.

My disquiet must have been obvious. Volunteers with dogs on leashes drew close but just said hi and walked on rather than engaging me in conversation about their wards, which was the norm.

Fortunately, Dr. Mona wasn’t there. I didn’t want to have to explain my distress to her, and I had no doubt she’d read it on my face.

Eventually I returned to the welcome area and talked to Nina about some potential adopters who’d come in, fallen in love, and filled out forms. I’d have to meet them before deciding whether the animals they’d chosen were good matches.

My mood for now was such that I’d probably hate every human who came in, so I needed to wait.

Maybe I was wrong about Liam.

And maybe helping Carlie would be easier than I anticipated. I hoped.

It was late, time for Nina to go. “Are you okay, Lauren?” she asked first. “I’m going to the East Valley Animal Shelter to volunteer for a few hours tonight, but I could stay here with you.”

“I’m fine.” I tried to convince her as much as myself.

She still looked dubious but she left.