The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder (16 page)

“Done by our residents,” Bella said with pride. “We have an art program staffed by volunteer artists. Everyone loves it. We have an art show and sale. I’ll let you know when it’s on. I’m sure you’ll want to buy something to support us. You’ll notice the fabulous mural painted on the walls and door from the units. Our volunteer art coordinator did those. It makes it feel a lot less like a secure unit, although it is.”

I turned and glanced back at the wall and the door we’d come in. Sure enough the mural turned a bland bit of institution into a lush green garden surrounded by trees. It was quite a powerful transformation.

“I love it.”

Bella nodded. “Some things make a difference in how you perceive the world around you.”

Ten minutes into the job and already I’d learned something valuable. Bella laughed and enjoyed talking to the residents. She was free with the hugs. She spoke to everyone by name and was up-to-date on what was happening to each one.

Of course, she knew who the good dog candidates were. She told me not to worry if someone didn’t react to Sweet Marie or didn’t seem interested. “It can take a while, and dogs are not for everyone. Some never will respond. But you will be doing a lot of good for the ones who can interact with this little darling. She will leave good feelings swirling behind her.”

We didn’t get far before we hit pay dirt. A sprightly man with no hair and a smile as big as his chair lit up at the sight of my little dog. He reached out toward Sweet Marie, and Bella expertly guided his hands. Bella said, “Joe, this is Sweet Marie and Charlotte. They’re here to visit. Let’s see if she wants to be stroked.” She did. In fact, the pooch was a lot less nervous than I was. By the time we’d reached the end of the hallway and visited a few rooms, we’d met plenty of dog lovers and Sweet Marie had been patted and talked to. Her tail was still wagging. I had to admit the smiles were worth all the effort.

As we neared the end, Bella said, “You’ll find that there are some weeks that are better than others. When a resident doesn’t feel well, he or she may not be able to respond. People won’t remember you or Sweet Marie as a rule, so don’t let that bother you. It’s just beyond them. But some of them will start to find the experience familiar. Those positive feelings are so good for our fragile residents. You’ll see it in time.”

As we exited, Bella thanked us and said she was so happy we could do this. “We’ve been waiting for a therapy dog forever. Too bad you couldn’t bring in the two of them.” Candy shook her head and I could tell they’d had that chat before.

In the hallway, Candy told me that the initial visit had gone very well and Sweet Marie had been amazing. She said she’d be glad to accompany us on another visit and I was grateful. Another barrier passed. I hoped I would be able to do it well and make a difference.

For an entire hour, I had been too busy to think about Mona.

The door to CYCotics jingled as I opened it. I was holding on to Sweet Marie’s leash and bearing two large lattes from Ciao! Ciao! I also had a small bag of dog treats for the little hero and for the poor abandoned brother, in case Jack had run out of them. Truffle jumped off the desk chair and bounded toward us barking in reproach. I trotted back to the Miata to get the beef-and-barley soup and crusty rolls that had been the day’s special. I’d had soup on the brain since my visit to Mona’s that morning. Of course, I had Mona on the brain too.

Jack was standing and examining what I knew to be a snowboard. He said, “I’m thinking about bringing in more boards next year. I had a lot of people in asking for them. We sold a couple of used ones as a favor to some friends and word started getting out. I think I’d do a good snowboarding business. The bike business is a bit too quiet in the winter. So I’m hoping it would be a complementary product line. There’s good business in gear and clothing for snowboarders too.”

While it would be nice for Jack to branch out, I thought he could use a quiet season to polish off his PhD. I knew better than to mention that.

“Jack. I need to talk to you.”

“Shoot.”

“It’s about our time at St. Jude’s.”

“Sure.” I noticed his eyes drifted toward the snowboard.

“You’ll have to pay attention.”

“Sorry.”

Jack’s three-
S
beginnings, “shoot, sure, and sorry,” didn’t bode well for the conversation. “I need you to help me here. And don’t say ‘swell.’ ”

To do him credit, he nodded and gave the impression of being fascinated.

“It’s about all that bullying that went on with the girls.”

He shrugged. “Like I said, except for that incident with Mona, I was only vaguely aware. Guys didn’t pay much attention to girl politics, you know. For one thing, it seemed dangerous, and for another, it wasn’t all that interesting. And for a third, I don’t think we saw much. I think people like Serena and Jasmin and Tiffanee and Haley kept their machinations secret. The kind of thing they did to Mona would turn off any decent guy.”

“I would hope so. I wonder why we misfits got off easy?”

“I suppose with me it was sports. I was good at basketball. It helped a lot. It’s when you’re perceived to be marginal that the hyenas cut you off from the pack. No one bothered you much either. Maybe because your mother was famous.”

I made a face. “You think that was it?”

“You never seemed all that vulnerable. And you were kind of bossy then too. The kind of kid who might take legal action. I think it was that.”

One of the reasons it’s not a good idea to eat soup with Jack is that he almost always makes me laugh.

“I’m worried about Mona.”

“Did you talk to Pepper?”

“Yeah. And she’s telling me to butt out.”

“Maybe you should butt out.”

“But Mona isn’t at work today. No one knows where she is. Her coworkers are worried. Her neighbors are worried. I’m worried.”

“Does this remind you of the last time?”

“Of course it does, Jack. I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

“But, Charlotte, you have to leave it to the cops. They’ll solve it. Let them have sick feelings in their stomachs. They get paid the big bucks for that.”

“I’m not sure the bucks are that big and trust me, I’d love to be able to leave it to them. I am not trying to solve a crime. I just want to find Mona and help her. She told me she was going into hiding because someone is trying to implicate her in these hit-and-runs. And yet, the other day, I could have sworn she was mad enough to run down any of these women. She’s acting very strange. I think she’s having some kind of breakdown and she needs help. I should have done more when I was at school. Now I feel like crap that I didn’t.”

“You were always kind to her, Charlotte. You were nice to everyone.”

“You just said I was bossy.”

“That too. But in a kind way.”

“She turned to me this time. I think her crazy talk is a cry for help. I can’t refuse to get involved.”

“Yeah, you can.”

I didn’t hang around to argue with Jack anymore. It was definitely a lose-lose situation. And I could see his point. I just couldn’t get Mona and her problem out of my mind, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

Truffle decided to go back to the one real chair. Jack hopped out to make room for him. He didn’t seem to mind. “I’ve got lots to do standing up. He’s barky today, so I haven’t had any worries about burglars. It’s too bad he couldn’t go with you. I think he might have been offended that you left him behind.”

“He’s a dog, Jack. He doesn’t have human emotions. And even if they did let me take two dogs there, I don’t think I could manage them. You have to make sure the dogs are comfortable and not stressed. And you have to talk to the residents and take care that everything’s going all right. I’ll just have to alternate them.”

Jack said, “I could always come with you.”

“What?”

“I could come with you. We could each have one and that would be a real party.”

“But what about the shop?”

“I’m here six days a week, on Saturdays and plenty of evenings, even Sunday morning this week. Whatever your regular schedule is, I’ll just open a bit later on that day. Do you want to ask Candy if that would be all right? I did go to the orientation sessions so that I could help you with the training, if you remember. It seems a shame to leave one of the little guys alone.”

“I’ll check with Candy. I’m sure she’d love it if you came along with Truffle. As you said, you were there for the sessions too. You’d have to join Woodbridge Therapy Dogs.”

Of course, there are few dog-related organizations in Woodbridge that Jack is not a member of. I didn’t see this as much of an impediment.

Jack said, “I’m up for it. I’ll get one of my repair guys to cover the shop if I have to. Find out if we can do it.”

Jack of course didn’t worry about a thing. He didn’t ask himself what could go wrong. He didn’t worry and plan. He was always just ready to roll.

Five minutes later we had a date with Candy and Bella for the next morning. Our regular schedule to be determined. I raced home to try to catch up on the day’s business.

As I was getting ready to leave for my Monday course, Lilith called back to say she’d love to work on Hannah Yalden’s kitchen.

“Are you kidding?” she said. “I’ve been dying to get inside one of those places. They look gorgeous. This is the only way I’m going to do it. I managed to rejig my schedule tomorrow and Thursday so we can go there early. Is that right? I love the kitchen cupboard cleanups. Maybe I’ll score some of those utensils for the youth center. They always need cooking gear. Okay, gotta go. I’m seeing Seth tonight before the bedtime shift at Belleview.”

Now that brought a smile to my face. Lilith was the opposite of the shy Seth, but their unlikely romance had blossomed during one of our organizing projects. It was a good news story.

I wasn’t so lucky with Mona. She did not call back and say that she had been just overwrought and didn’t feel murderous toward Serena and her friends or that she’d been mistaken about someone trying to implicate her or even that she had changed her mind about going into hiding. Luckily, I had that course to take my mind off Bethann’s and Tiffanee’s deaths and Mona’s bizarre behavior. I knew I couldn’t actually go searching for Mona. I still had Pepper’s warning ringing in my ears. I settled the pooches comfortably on the sofa and made my way out to the winter wonderland.

The Monday night session was Taking the Nightmare out of Your Mornings. I was expecting mostly moms of young children and teens, and that was what I got. I figured that the organized moms wouldn’t be at my session. They wouldn’t need to be. I glanced around the room and saw a number of tired and frazzled folks. I had tons of tips for them, mostly involving small changes to routines and habits, as well as for preparation the night before. I knew even without having children that if every child has a central place for school permission sheets, schedules, notes from the teacher, and any paper that might be needed, life might still not be perfect, but would be less stressful. For every parent who knew that, there seemed to be one who’d never thought of it. I was keen to pass on my own habits of preparing all but the last-minute bits of breakfast the night before, of setting the table and having lunches ready to go. Kids can do a lot of that on their own. I also recommended having every family member set out what they would wear—right down to the underwear. I said cheerfully, “If you watch television, use the ad time to knock off these little chores. Somehow four minutes the night before saves twenty in the morning. Don’t ask me to explain why time behaves like that, but it does.”