Murder at the Pet Spa Page 2

  “I guess we'll find out more and we get to know Karen better over the next couple of days. Hey, at least we got an invitation to check out how a pet spa is run. It's an opportunity to see firsthand what goes on there and to make a decision if this is truly a business for us, or we should keep moving and see if we find something else.” Mandy said.

  Mandy and Jill continued walking around the event trying to find anyone else they recognized who had attended. In the course of their walking the premises, they came across another pet business owner who had seen the commercial with Roger. The woman wondered if Roger was available for a promotion of pet toys. Mandy said Roger was available to promote anything as long as it was a positive project that helped animals in some way. The person said, oh yes, she understood exactly where she meant, and that all her toys were pet and children friendly.

  Mandy and Jill walked around a little more and scanned the place trying to see where Karen had gotten to. They spotted Karen and discovered she had moved on and was heading in the direction of the door, leaving the business festivities to catch up with Allen, who was still outside. Allen continued keeping to himself outside while pacing the sidewalk. Apparently, he felt safer outside, away from the show Karen was putting on for every guy she met.

  Mandy and Jill watched through the glass the argument they were having. Allen seem to be yelling at her and she ignored what he said. This did not bode well for two people who were supposedly in a relationship. Karen and Allen continued engage in their argument until they were out of sight from the windows. Apparently, all was not well in Karen-land.

  Chapter Two

  The next day, Mandy woke up to the dulcet tones of Roger's meowing. Which meant the first thing she did was to feed Roger, so he could shut up, since he was meowing up a storm, wanting his food. Cats are like that. Sometimes, when she slept late, Roger had been guilty of waking her up, asking for food with the same meows he was using now. Cats knew what was effective.

  After a quick shower, Mandy proceeded to make breakfast for herself. As she sat having her breakfast, her thoughts drifted to her meeting with Karen yesterday. What amazing changes Karen had gone through, Mandy thought. However, she came off more than a tad immature trying to get attention from anybody, everybody, especially the men. She learned how to lay it on when men were around. Mandy wondered if this was due to the fact she was trying to drum up business at a business meeting/networking event. Maybe she wasn't as flamboyant during her alone times. Well, she'd find out soon enough, Mandy said to herself.

  Mandy started to focus more on today's activity, exploring firsthand what this pet spa operation entailed. She and Jill had considered it on a couple of occasions, but it was more of an abstract idea. Although it sounded inviting as a business venture to explore on the surface, what were they getting into? She figured, meeting with Karen today they would find out, allowing them to form a decision, once and for all.

  She called Jill to set up a time to meet at the pet spa.

  “Hey Jill, how are you doing?”

  “Actually, I'm putting the finishing touches on a video that I shot in the park of how people spend their Sundays in the park.”

  Jill was a tech guru, amateur film maker/blogger who did top notch work and took her assignments very seriously. In the first book, she filmed the entire breakdown of my former boss who at the time was threatening to kill me in front of an entire audience. That helped greatly as evidence for the case against him later. So, she knew how to stay cool in tense situations.

  “Wow, that sounds great, I'd love to see it eventually.”

  “Well, it will be up on my site in a half hour.”

  “Great, look forward to checking it out. I was calling because I wanted to set up a time to check out the spa where Karen works. I figured this will show us how this business operates and either start making moves in that direction or make other plans.”

  “Well, she said after one o'clock. Why don't we go there at one thirty, we'll get it out of the way early and go on with the rest of our day?”

  “Yep, the earlier we're done, the sooner we're free for other things. After the spa, I'll take Roger for a walk at the park. Hey, maybe I'll appear in your next video of what people do at the park.” Mandy said kiddingly.

  “Hey, you never know. Everybody's game to appear to in the video. I'm not creating a series but it will let me gauge how much interest this sparks in the community. It's a low key subject, but I may find people who are passionate about going to the park.” Jill said.

  “Hey, I'm a big park user. I take Roger there, especially now that he likes to run in the park. When I take off the leash, he chases after birds, sometimes randomly running in any direction. I think he enjoys moving around and the park gives him the space to shake off his excess energy. However, it's funny, in the house he just lies around. It's possible the big open space of the park inspires him to move. But he's definitely one active cat. Sometimes I get to chase after him because he goes so far away. So far, it hasn't become a problem.”

  “Well, have you tried getting him a long leash if he does become a problem?” Jill said.

  “Well, the whole idea is for him to run around freely and I'd hate to curtail his freedom. He's always so happy when he's running around out there. I guess I'll keep an eye how it goes. His instincts always tell him when he should run back, even though I worry when he's far away.” Mandy explained.

  “Anyway, getting back to our meeting with Karen, let's meet at one thirty and take our first foray into the world of the pet spa business.” Jill said.

  “Sounds like a plan, I'll meet you there.”

  They both hung up and thoughts of the pet spa business remained on Mandy's mind.

  At one thirty, Mandy showed up with Roger at the site of the pet spa. Jill was already there. The building was larger than they thought. Mandy wondered, do you need this much space to operate a pet spa? She figured she'd learn more once she got inside.

  “Hi Jill, it seems you beat me to the place.” Mandy said.

  “Well, I was lucky I didn't run into any traffic and that it's a quiet day.” Jill said.

  “This is a big building, are we going to need this much space to run a spa?”

  “Well, this building houses other businesses. Let's hope that it's not as big as it looks.” Jill also had the same concern as Mandy, if you require this much room, this may not be the business to be getting into.

  “Let's go inside and see what we find out.” Mandy said.

  As they climbed the stairs to the main door, a guard sat outside the building. Although the door was open, it appeared as though he was there mostly to make sure undesirables didn't sneak in. When he caught sight of Roger, he became very friendly and excited.

  “Oh, what a beautiful cat. What's his name? I had a cat once but unfortunately, he went to the rainbow bridge. I truly loved him. Can I pet your cat?”

  Mandy and Jill looked at each other and realized that the guard was mentally challenged, although they did not know to what extreme. Apparently, this profession worked for him as a way of making a living, and he appeared to be a nice enough person.

  “Well, he reacts different to different people, let's see if he wants to be petted.” Mandy said.

  The man put out his hand to test if Roger was in the mood for attention. Roger let the man pet him without any problems.

  “Wow, he's such a nice cat.” The man continued. “I could never bring myself to get another cat after losing my Twinkles. I called him Twinkles because he had bright eyes. What's your cat's name?”

  Mandy said “Oh, that's a nice name you gave your cat. My cat's name is Roger. I'm so sorry for the loss of your cat, but I'm sure Roger likes you, if he let you pet him.”

  “Really, do you think so?” the man said excitedly “That just makes my day.” He smiled in a child-like way but at the same time, he was aware of his behavior.

  “Well, I'll let you ladies get on your way, I don't want to keep you cause of my love for cat
s. Thank you very much for letting me pet Roger. My name is Vance, by the way.”

  “You're welcome Vance, pleased to meet you. I'm Mandy and this is Jill.” Mandy said. They exchanged more pleasantries before walking away.

  Once inside Jill said to Mandy “Well, he seemed nice and everybody in this world needs a chance. I'm glad that he had gotten to a point where he can make support himself and not be assisted.”

  “Yeah, nobody is ever aware of the amount of work it took him to get to the point to function in everyday society.” Jill said. “It's very admirable in a way.”

  A sign said that the pet spa was on the second floor. There was no escalator or visible stairs so they took the one elevator. The door opened the lobby where a blazingly loud argument was underway.

  “Karen, there's no need to flaunt yourself at every guy that comes your way. I can understand that you may have some security issues, but the way you stand and pose, anytime any guy asks you a question is too much. The only reason they want to talk to you is because you look good. You're just adding gasoline to the fire when you lead them on.” Allen was yelling.

  “I don't lead anyone on. You're just jealous because I get so much attention. I worked hard to get this body and I'm not gonna start covering it up because of your hang ups regarding other guys.” Karen was yelling back.

  “Ok, you know what? You can parade yourself as much as you want, I'm not going to be around to be part of this circus anymore, I'm leaving.” And with that, Allen opened the door to what appeared to be fire stairs and ran out.

  Mandy and Jill were taken aback after watching this show. At that moment, Karen realized that they were standing there.

  “Oh Mandy, Jill, I'm so sorry you were a witness to that spectacle. Allen is so immature sometimes and he truly gets under my skin. This is not the first time he gets extremely jealous every time we walk down the street. What am I supposed to do, make believe it's the nineteenth century and dress how an Amish woman dresses? No, I worked too hard to get to this point to hide myself from the world, just because some guy has issues with me presenting myself in the best way possible.”

  Before Mandy and Jill could reply, another woman entered the lobby.

  “Hi Cynthia, I guess you heard the ruckus.”

  “Yeah, I ran out to make sure you were alright, Allen sounded extremely upset.”

  “He'll get over it, he's having a hissy fit because guys were talking to me. By the way Cynthia, this is Mandy and Jill, friends of mine from high school. Cynthia is the co-manager of the spa.”

  Mandy and Jill shook hands with Cynthia and exchanged pleasantries. Cynthia was a short woman, early thirties, brunette, dressed in leisurewear. She was friendly and had a contagious smile.

  Karen said, “I'm so sorry that you were submitted to that whole scene between Allen and me. I going to make a new rule in my life, don't allow boyfriends to visit me at my job. My original plan was to give you a tour of the spa, but now this intrusion by Allen has delayed some things I had to do, and I am not in a good mood. This is probably not the best time to show you the place.”

  Mandy said, “We understand, we can come back another time.”

  Cynthia said, “I can show them around. Things are chilled right now.”

  “Oh Cynthia, that's great of you, I'd hate give Mandy and Jill a bum steer after not being in touch with them in so many years.” Karen said.

  “Sure, no problem.” Cynthia said.

  Karen went into the business office and Cynthia led Mandy and Jill to the rest of the spa.

  “Is Karen going to be alright? That was quite an argument she was having with Allen.” Mandy said.

  “Karen has had many incidents like this. You have to understand, it takes two to tango and Karen isn't quite accepting her role in this. I love Karen, but she has, how can I say this delicately, a flirting issue. She flirts with every guy she meets, even if she's with her boyfriend, which is the reason for these arguments. She acts as though she has to get approval and admiration from the opposite sex constantly, which doesn't make sense because she's a beautiful girl. Meanwhile, Allen goes ballistic because, he gets shoved to the side. And he's a very nice guy and you've seen what a hunk he is, I don't understand why Karen acts the way she does when she has a guy like Allen on her side.”

  “We could fill you in on the reason why.” Mandy said.

  “Oh, please do.” Cynthia said interested.

  “Well, back in high school, Karen was not attractive at all. She was overweight, she ran around with this Goth group and her hair was always dyed black. She got in trouble regularly. She was a mess, the poor thing. We met her yesterday at the business meet after many years and we didn't recognize her. We still don't recognize her. She became a completely different person. She has re-made herself completely.” Mandy said.

  “Wow, that's a real shocker. I figured that's the way she has always looked.”

  “Well, she looks great, but my guess is now she's trying to compensate for those days of old, or she still has a need to be re-assured constantly that she's no longer that person from the past. That explains this flirting issue you mentioned. We caught it in full force at yesterday's event, she loved posing and showing off, which of course, upset Allen.” Mandy said.

  “Allen is a nice guy who also has gotten his life together.” Cynthia said. “He was in the army in Iraq, and when he came back, he was pretty messed up, suffered from PTSD, and it took him a couple of years for him to get himself together. Now he's with the National Guard and he's become very health conscious. He has a serious and dedicated workout regimen and keeps himself healthy. Karen met Allen at the gym that they're both members of. Those muscles and build are no accident.

  “However, these bouts with Karen are taking him to a dark place and they're making him angrier. I just hope that he doesn't have a relapse of his PTSD. I hate to say it, but I don't think Karen is the right girl for him. He needs a mellower girl, one that appreciates him, and is secure enough not to be throwing herself at every man that comes her way. Another thing is Allen is younger than Karen, so my guess is he looks at the world differently than her.”

  Jill said, “Cynthia, did you ever talk to Karen about this? You have a good grasp on what's going on.”

  “Well, I tried it once and the upshot of that experience was, she is unaware of it. She truly believes she's just being friendly. I tried to explain to her that with her looks, being friendly to guys sends the wrong message, and the way she goes about it appears as though she's coming on to them. I told her she doesn't need to be putting herself in their faces so much. She said that I have an overactive imagination. Can you believe it?

  “She is intelligent and from what you tell me, has come a long way from who she was. Unfortunately, she's still myopic when it comes to perceiving herself as the rest of the world sees her, and she still doesn't get that she's the one causing these problems in her relationships with men.

  “At one point, she was dating the spa owner, but he dumped her because of her flirting. He's older than Karen, so I imagine he didn't have any patience for that sort of behavior. They went back and forth like cat and dog for a couple of weeks. During that time, the atmosphere here was not one conducive to work. Of course, I'm not supposed to know that they were having a relationship, even though everybody knew it, but I remember those weeks.” Cynthia rolled her eyes at the memory of that time period.

  “Anyway, to change the subject, what brings you to the pet spa, are you considering bringing your cat in? By the way, your cat is so beautiful.” Cynthia said.

  “Thank you. His name is Roger. Actually, we considered perhaps going into the pet spa as a business and we wanted to get a better idea of what actually goes on at a pet spa and if it's a business that we should consider.” Mandy said.

  “I see. Well, it's a lot of work and you must love animals, otherwise, you're not in the right business.” Cynthia said.

  “Well, we love animals, but we're here to find what you folks consi
der 'a lot of work'. Mandy said.

  Jill said, “I've worked for years at an animal shelter, so I have experience dealing with large numbers of animals over time.”

  “Well, that's definitely good experience for this kind of work.” Cynthia said. “Let's start in the room where we're keeping pets that are regular spa members. We have another room for those that just stay overnight.”

  They went to a room that was large and resembled a kennel, but they had cats too. They weren't too many animals in there though.

  “Even though they're resting now, during the day they must be exercised, groomed, fed and exercised again. Some are friskier than others and we gotta make sure that everybody plays nice in the sandbox. We don't want to be in a position to explain to any owners as to why their cat or dog got mauled when they were supposed to be taken care of at the pet spa.” Cynthia said this half joking and half serious, knowing that there's always s a possibility for animals not getting along.

  “Here's the grooming room. As you can see, plenty of towels to dry the animals and wrap them up after their bath.” The room was full of towels and cleaning supplies for pets as well cushions and blankets. In the center of the wall was a large sink that looked like a mini-bathtub. It was big enough to fit every kind of domestic animal. White tiles cover the walls and everything was neat and clean. Looking around the room, Cynthia noticed a sweater that that didn't belong in there.

  “Hold on, I'll be right back. The last people to pick up their pet left this sweater behind. I'm going to bring this to the front desk in case they come back looking for it.”

  Mandy and Jill took inventory of their experience so far.

  “Mandy, I'm having reservations about this business. This appears to be too big an operation for two people to be handling. We'll definitely need to hire others if we go into this venture.” Jill said.