Murder at the Pet Spa Page 8

  “We'll get together tomorrow, even thought I'd love to continue discussing this tonight. These dinners with Fred are really helping him out, they're very important to him. I can't shut him out, while we speculate what this thing is. Besides, he may shed additional light on what's going on. I'm sure he'll give me his lecture not getting involved with this murder. But how can I help it? These things keep landing on my lap and every time we turn our attention to what's going on in these circumstances, something always leaps out, and it's not what we thought.” Mandy said exasperated.

  “Poor Mandy, the reluctant sleuth.” Jill said jokingly.

  “Well, I'm not soliciting or looking for dead bodies. Ever since David, they keep showing up and I get dragged into these situations because I do have a stake in the matter. In this particular one, Karen's death. I mean, she was turning her life around, we reconnected, why did somebody kill her?” Mandy said.

  “Somehow, I get the feeling we're going to find out. Whether we like it or not.” Jill said ominously.

  Jill and Mandy hung up. After hearing Jill's words Mandy wondered if maybe she should give the book to Fred and stay out of this? However, she thought if she was honest with herself, she did bring a new viewpoint to these cases, and it's possible with her knowledge of bookkeeping and the fact she found the notebook, this may be her little contribution to the case.

  Mandy figured she would eventually let Fred have the notebook, but for the time being, she wanted get more insight into what's actually happening with the figures. She thought that would be more helpful to Fred. In addition, she thought Jill is bound to get some ideas as to what this could be. So, in the meantime, Mandy felt she was doing no wrong as long as she stuck to the notebook. She's wasn't going to go around snooping, or asking questions, or following people like she's done in the past. She's just analyzing a notebook.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mandy looked at the clock and realized she needed to start getting ready to meet Fred for dinner. She was also becoming aware that although this started out for Fred's benefit, it gave her another social out. Most of the time she spent her time with Jill, and now she could add Fred as one of her social buddies. Even though she was still just a listener, it gave her a chance to know Fred better as well. And she was beginning to realize she liked that aspect too.

  They met at Joanie's, since that was a one stop shop for meals, for space and for general good vibes. Joanie's food was great, and she welcomed all her friends from high school. So, she was very glad when she saw Fred and Mandy.

  “I have this booth set out for you, I'll be bring the menus by soon.” Joanie told Mandy.

  “Thanks Joanie. Looking forward to seeing what you have tonight.” Mandy said.

  Fred sat, said hi to Joanie as she walked away and said hello to Mandy.

  “Hi Mandy, so nice to see you again, not in a formal setting.”

  “Yes, these dinners are fun. I know you started them to get away from the office but I find them fun too.” Mandy said.

  “I'm so glad to hear it Mandy. I didn't want a scene between us where you were being nice to hang out with me and inside you couldn't wait to get home.” Fred said with a laugh.

  “Nah Fred, I've known you way too long to keep that a secret.” Mandy said jokingly.

  “That's true, I'm sure you would have given me my walking papers.” Fred said.

  “Never, you're good company Fred.”

  In the middle of this, Joanie served appetizers for them to try out and gave them their menus.

  “I'm trying these out. Give me your honest opinion of what you think of them.” Joanie said.

  “Oh Joanie, we know they're going to taste great, like everything else you make.” Fred said.

  “These are good.” Mandy said. “What are they?”

  “They're zucchini fritters in a special batter.” Joanie replied.

  “Well, they got my vote of confidence. Really Joanie, I don't know why you even bother letting us try this before you serve it on all your customers. You know whatever you make we're gonna love.” Mandy said.

  “I guess I just enjoy serving them to my friends first.” Joanie said, and they laughed.

  Afterwards, Mandy and Fred continued talking.

  “So, hopefully you had a good day today?” Fred asked.

  “It was nice. We wound up volunteering at the pet spa where Karen worked, since none of the workers wanted to come in.” Mandy said.

  “What?” Fred said surprised.

  “Yes, Cynthia called us in a panic because she had to get the pets back to their owners and attend to the remaining animals and she couldn't do all this by herself. So, she reached out to me and Jill we decided to assist with the care of the animals. It was fun, and Roger has a new friend, a cat by the name of Lana.” Mandy continued.

  “Well, I'm glad you two turned a very horrible situation into a positive. This is still under investigation and I'm still no closer to solving this crime. There's been no contact from the boyfriend, the National Guard won't tell us his whereabouts. All they say is they will pass the message along. Apparently, they don't know where he is either. That's the only suspect so far, with the motive being a domestic brawl between two people that escalated into something horrible. This guy Allen is my number one suspect, there's an APB out on him, we're hoping somebody catches him and brings him in. Meanwhile, the lab guys found the place clean, just the prints of the people that should be there, and nothing strange in the spa.” Fred said.

  “Yes, I saw one of the lab guys, Tom, at the crime scene today.” Mandy said.

  “Yes, they've combed the place and haven't been able to come up with a clue. Not even a toothbrush out of place. So, I'm still saying it's a domestic argument, with Allen as a person of interest.” Fred said.

  “Yes, I agree, other than that, what else could have happened?” Mandy said. As she said this, she thought of the notebook and said to herself 'Well, he is still investigating and I still don't know what else this could be, so I'll just keep working on this by myself.'

  “Also Mandy, please don't get involved trying to solve this murder. I'm aware that Karen was your friend, but this is pretty much an open and shut case. As soon as we get a hold of Allen, we can start figuring out what happened, and who else would murder her, if he didn't kill her. We didn't find any prints at the murder scene, so inasmuch as this could be been a crime of passion, he certainly took the steps to cover his tracks.

  “What we have so far is there wasn't even a scuffle when the crime was committed and the time it happened. Other than that, we're still in the dark. If it was Allen, then there's a motive. But other than that, we can't figure out a motive here. Nothing was stolen, nothing is missing, she didn't have enemies, and for the most part, she went to work every day and worked out regularly at the gym.” Fred explained.

  “That was part of her routine for getting herself together. It's possible you don't remember Karen from high school, but she was a mess back then. So it's doubly difficult for me to accept that somebody who worked so hard to get herself together and to succeed in life, should come to this end.” Mandy said sadly.

  “Well, once we figure this out, I'm sure we'll get some answers. But that's all the shop I'm going to talk, as you remember, no talking shop in these sessions.” Fred reminded her.

  “No, you're right, talk only of fun things. So, are you doing more positive things with your day-to-day life?” Mandy asked.

  “Well, you're not going to believe it, but I'm taking singing lessons. You remember back in high school I was in a band.” Fred said.

  “Yes, I remember it well. 'The Disenchanted' was the name of your band.” Mandy said.

  “Yeah, senior year, and believe it or not, during that year is when I met Jessica, my former wife. The romance continued into college.” Fred said reminiscing.

  “I remember when that happened.” Mandy said, not wanting to elaborate because she knew their relationship didn't end well.

  “Yeah, well, t
he band was certainly fun, and I truly enjoyed singing. But it started interfering with my studies and I had to make a choice to continue to pursue the music, or get a degree, and I chose degree. Believe or not, Jessica wanted me to continue with the band, she liked the parties and being the girlfriend of the lead singer. She was very upset when I decided to focus on my studies. I should have known that was an omen not to continue the relationship.” Fred said.

  “Well, don't dwell on the past, tell me what you're doing at present to have fun.” Mandy said, trying to steer Fred away from negative emotions.

  “Well, I hooked up with this very eclectic singing teacher. She works on the principle of starting with the kind of music you most gravitate towards and taking it from there so the student has fun and improves his voice at the same time. There are vocal exercises, but I put together a small collection of songs and she selects the one that would help me the most at this time. So, even though it's been two lessons, I can tell I'm onto a good thing. She even has an open mike every month so the students get a chance to sing in front of an audience. She rents out a bar or a restaurant and people take their turns singing. I hope you'll come by to see me sing.” Fred said jokingly.

  “I wouldn't miss it for the world.” Mandy said, happy Fred was doing different things with his life.

  *****

  Meanwhile, across the street Jack was watching his assigned quarry at Joanie's. He makes a call to Jeffrey to show him how he's progressing.

  “Jeffrey, Jack here. Listen, just calling to tell you, I followed Mandy, and she's having dinner with the captain of the police. Either they're good friends or they're dating, but I thought I'd let you know. “

  Jeffrey listened to Jack, wondering what those two were doing together.

  “I guess we'll continue following Mandy. Maybe it's nothing, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.” Jeffrey said.

  “Well, from what I'm seeing they seem to be having a social night, he's out of uniform and they're very relaxed.” Jack replied.

  “We'll follow her for a little while longer, and if she's not constantly at the police station, we'll chalk it up to she and the captain are friends and there's no skullduggery involved. Listen Mandy and her friend Jill volunteered to help out Cynthia with spa duties, for the sake of animals. People like that don't have any axe to grind. Chances are we'll be safe from Mandy.” Jeffrey said.

  “Well, it's a shame she's seeing this guy, cause I'd like to get to know her better. She's cute.” Jack said.

  “Listen, we gotta keep our eyes on the business side of things. Right now, things are too crazy. Maybe when a couple of months go by, you can come by the spa and I'll introduce you to her, if she's still coming by, and see what happens.” Jeffrey said, hoping he'd lose interest by then.

  “Ok, I'll keep it in mind.” Jack said.

  Jack and Jeffrey hung up. Yes, the more he thought of it, he definitely did not want to encourage any romance those two. Jack had a big mouth, and the last thing he needed is somebody babbling about their money laundering activities to somebody who has the ear of the police captain. In his mind, the meeting between Jack and Mandy was never going to happen.

  *****

  Later that night, Mandy headed straight home. She had enough of being out for the night. In spite of enjoying these soirees with Fred, she was really a home body. She fed Roger and sat at her kitchen table. Roger came by later with a toy so Mandy could play with him.

  “Oh, so you want me to throw the toy so you could catch it and bring it back. Ok, show me how fast you are. Catch!”

  Mandy threw the toy across the room and Roger ran after it like greased lightning. He grabbed it with his mouth and brought it back to Mandy. They carried on like this for a while.

  “I hope you're enjoying your little dates with Lana, Roger. Maybe she could stay with us for a while.” She told him as she picked up the toy and threw it again.

  After a while of playing with Roger, she remembered the notebook.

  “Well baby, I going to do some work now, but we'll play later or watch TV together.” Mandy and Roger would sit together on the sofa, Roger just keeping her company. Mandy made believe Roger was watching TV with her.

  She got up and took the notebook out of its hiding place. Looking at it closer, Mandy could see what this notebook represented, and none of it was good. The way she saw it, these people were either selling contraband, or it was a money laundering scheme. As she saw the significance of this, Mandy thought to herself, what had Karen gotten herself into?

  However, there was the additional possibility this wasn't Karen's book. She didn't know Karen's handwriting and she couldn't show Cynthia. Maybe Jill would have a better idea. But she wasn't going beyond sharing it with Jill. The less people knew about this, the better. Then, her phone rang,

  “Hi Mandy, it's Cynthia. Listen, I spoke to Jeffrey, and he said it was ok for you to take Lana home while they're cleaning and re-doing the spa. It makes sense, I don't want any animal breathing in those fumes and the dust that will be raised when they replace those rugs.” Cynthia said.

  “Oh, that's great. That means Roger will have a playmate and he won't get lonely. I don't think he gets lonely but he certainly bonded with Lana.” Mandy said excitedly.

  “Great, we'll speak tomorrow morning, before I go pick up Lana. I want to get her out of there early, before the contractors come to give an estimate on the cleaning job.” Cynthia said.

  “Well, I'm an early riser, so that's no problem.” Mandy replied.

  Meanwhile, back at the spa, in a cage in the back, Lana was sleeping away, dreaming of Roger.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next day, Mandy woke up, still thinking about Lana, all alone in that pet spa. It was great that Cynthia had called last night and told her that she could baby-sit Lana at her house. It didn't make any sense to keep one single cat alone while the other animals had been removed from the spa. Cynthia still had not been able to get in touch with Lana's owners, said they were out of town. Why do people get a pet if they're not going to spend time with it? I mean, Lana was a beautiful animal. Did they think that she was yet another decoration for the house, something that matched the décor, but not necessarily something that they wanted to take care of? Well, hopefully she'd meet them someday and get a better idea of what they're like. Meanwhile, Mandy was ready to meet Cynthia, eager to bring Lana home. The phone rang.

  “Hi Mandy, this is Cynthia. Why don't you meet me at the spa? You can pick up Lana and that will help her be in a better environment than being alone there. Besides, those contractors are coming in today to give an estimate on cleaning the spa, and then there are the rug measurers, it's going to be a big mess, and all that noise is bound to spook the little kitty. She'll be much better off at your house.”

  “Oh that's great. Roger will love playing with his new best friend and I'll feel much better regarding the whole situation. I felt so bad for her last night, alone in the spa.” Mandy said.

  “Yeah, it's not a great situation. Hopefully, once we get past this phase, we can bring back the animals and re-create the healthy environment that we've always had. And I'll be able to work here. It will take me a while until I can get that image of finding Karen out of my mind.” Cynthia said.

  “Oh, I imagine that must be awful. Well, I'm here if you need me for anything Cynthia, I may have lost Karen as well, but I'm sure I gained a new friend.” Mandy said this sincerely as well as trying to make Cynthia feel better.

  “Oh Mandy, that is very sweet of you to say so. I never made many friends here and the closest thing was Karen. We were developing a good relationship, and she was helping me on how to how to best approach finding a boyfriend and what I could do in the meantime to develop a great life. She recommended a collection of good books to inspire me. But still, it was having her there as a coach that helped me the most, and now she's not around anymore.” Cynthia was trying hard not to start crying.

  “I'm so sorry Cynthia. Well, you're still yo
ung and I'm sure you can find a great guy and enjoy a great relationship. Just keep at it.” Mandy said encouragingly.

  “Well, I may have to put that on hold, while I try to help the spa together.” Cynthia said.

  “Well, you may want to consider everything Cynthia, I mean, it's possible the spa has run its course and perhaps it's time to start thinking about what else you can do with your life. This looks like a very demanding job, and it's possible you can find something else, that might give you more free time to yourself.” Mandy said.

  “You're right Mandy. I'm need to look at my life and see what else is there for me. I've been caught in this loop of going to work and coming home each day that I never get the time to think: is there something else out there?” Cynthia said.

  “Well, Rome wasn't built in a day. You're aware that I read Tarot cards and do astrological charts.” Mandy said.

  “Really, I didn't know. Have you done this a long time?”

  “Yes, and you can get great insights into your life from what the cards say and your astrological makeup. I'd be happy to do this for you.” Mandy said.

  “How much does it cost?” Cynthia asked.

  “Oh Cynthia, don't be silly, it wouldn't cost anything. I'm trying to help you out here, not make a buck.” Mandy said laughingly.

  “Oh that's great Mandy, I'd love to hear what the stars say about me.” Cynthia said excitedly.

  “Sure hon, don't worry, we'll set up a time in the near future and I'll do your chart.” Mandy said.

  “Great!” Cynthia was looking forward to this.

  “Okay. Let me start to get ready and I'll meet you there.” Mandy said.

  “Give me a little time to get Lana ready so you can come by and pick her up.” Cynthia replied.

  “I'll give you a ten minute lead. It's ok if she's not ready, it's not like I'm a client.” Mandy laughed.

  Mandy started to get ready to leave for the spa.