Nonstop Spaniels (Novella) (5 page)

Chapter 7

Three more days had passed since Dr. Dan Ideman’s murder. The media remained full of speculation, but so far there had been no arrests.

I hated that the speculation still focused on Ricki.

The poor girl was on hiatus from her internship, so she spent a bunch of time at HotRescues, volunteering. And that meant she talked a lot with me.

She also helped me bring the animals I’d saved from PetForYou from Carlie’s, all with their healthiness confirmed. Even so, they’d remain in quarantine for our standard week.

“This Ivo really is cute,” Ricki said. She and I were in the quarantine building, and I’d told her about the rampage his potential adopter, Warren Bartt, had been on. Right now, Ricki sat on the floor of Ivo’s kennel and hugged the medium-sized Brittany spaniel mix.

I, in turn, was playing with one of the dogs who was even a little older. Unger was a wirehaired dachshund mix, and he just loved to be cuddled. I had a lot of fun obliging. In a few minutes, we’d each switch, since there were two more dogs from PetForYou who needed attention.

We’d already been in to check on, and play with, the two cats, and Itsy and Bitsy looked fine, too. Those were names given to them at PetForYou. I suspected that the two tortoiseshell siblings, who were normal sized kitties, weren’t overly fond of their names.

“She is cute,” I agreed. “So are the others. I just hope . . .” I let my words trail off. Ricki didn’t need to hear me worrying about what would happen with the remaining PetForYou animals now.

“Me, too,” she said anyway. I glanced through the chain-link fencing separating us as we played with the dogs. Her tone had suggested that her concern mirrored mine. “And not just about the animals. Lauren, I know you’ve solved other murders. Do you think you’ll figure out who killed Dr. Ideman? Oh, and believe me,” she said before I could respond. “In case you have any concerns, no matter what I thought about his policies, or lack thereof, at PetForYou, it honestly wasn’t me.”

“I know.” I wished I didn’t sound so grim. “And I did talk with Antonio about possible suspects. I’m not sure who did do it. Not yet.”

“But you’re not giving up?” she said hopefully.

“No, I’m not giving up.”

• • • 

I’d kept in contact with Ellie Hankley, dangling before her the temptation of a possible donation from Dante if she let me know when her emergency board of directors meeting would occur.

It was now scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

And as the designated representative of HotPets and Dante, I was invited to attend.

Would I get any further insight into Ideman’s murder there?

Unlikely. But I also remained concerned about what would happen to PetForYou and all its current inhabitants. That, at least, might approach some kind of resolution at the board meeting.

A decision to join NKLA? We’d see.

The next day, after doing my usual walk-throughs at HotRescues, I sat down and made notes on the computer and prepared the approach I’d take at the meeting.

When the time came, I left Zoey in Nina’s loving care and headed to PetForYou. This time, I didn’t enter through the veterinary clinic but from the shelter’s own parking lot, directly into the facility. It still hadn’t opened for visitations by the general public, which seemed a shame. Everything remained on hold.

That included the lives of the animals who were there. That part made sense. They had to stay alive. I’d make that clear at the meeting, in case there was any doubt.

I hadn’t counted the inhabitants, but if necessary I’d make sure that HotRescues took in as many as possible. I’d find shelters for the rest, too.

I felt certain that members of Southern California Rescuers would help. They all belonged to NKLA.

Ellie, dressed in a white PetForYou T-shirt beneath an open frilly blouse and nice slacks, met me in the building that housed the shelter’s office. “We don’t have a conference room, but the kitchen is large enough, and there’s a table there for people to sit around when they’re on a break—or having a meeting.”

She led me out of the office building and to a much nicer looking structure down a path that eventually merged into the kennel area. This building looked like a fairy-tale cottage from the outside, with decorative yellow shutters and a sloping roof covered in fancy red tiles. It wasn’t visible from the veterinary clinic below since it was set into the hillside beneath the property’s main house.

I didn’t understand why it wasn’t closer to the metal shed where food was apparently kept—when there was any. But maybe no animal meals were prepared here, just people lunches.

Inside the kitchen, there were seven chairs around a thick wooden table. Four were occupied, including one by Spencer, Ellie’s boyfriend. That was interesting. Was he on the board, too?

The place looked like a regular kitchen, with a counter and pantry cupboards around the perimeter. The refrigerator in one corner appeared to be nearly antique, but who cared, as long as it worked?

Ellie introduced me as Lauren Vancouver, shelter administrator. There was some apparent interest from the other board members, or at least their expressions seemed curious. But when she said I represented Dante DeFrancisco of HotPets, there was a lot of smiling and shifting in their seats. Obviously everyone had heard of Dante—and, undoubtedly, his wealth.

Then Ellie asked everyone to introduce themselves. The three people I hadn’t met were a frowning retired pet store manager named Joe Sargamel; the PetForYou veterinarian who was now in charge of the PetForYou clinic, Dr. Mort Gerald, a middle-aged African American man; and—very interesting to me—Janine Norgram, Dan Ideman’s ex-girlfriend. She was the woman Warren Bartt had told me about, but he hadn’t mentioned she was on the shelter’s board of directors. Maybe he didn’t know. She was a thirtysomething paralegal, so perhaps she helped to give the board some direction and advice. And presumably their breakup had been somewhat amicable, since she was still around, at least for this purpose.

But maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to slough her off as a possible suspect.

Ellie showed me to an empty seat and she sat in another one. She apparently was the board’s chairman—pro tem, at least—since she opened the meeting and seemed ready to preside over it.

“Let’s start with a moment of silence in memory of our former chairman, Dr. Dan Ideman.”

Everyone bowed their heads, including me. But I kept mine at an angle where I could see all the other attendees. Each appeared to take the direction seriously—all except the vet’s ex, who was doing just as I was.

Our eyes met for an instant. Hers were dark brown and cold. Did that indicate animosity? If so, toward whom? Ideman? Me? Other board members?

I was not the kind of person who jumped to conclusions, but Janine was, at the moment, near the top of my suspect list—just because of first impressions. And because, as an ex, she presumably would have at least a possible motive. Anger? Revenge? I’d have to find out.

Chapter 8

The official meeting started then. I wasn’t the only non–board member there. Spencer couldn’t vote either, although I heard it confirmed that he, a CPA, provided financial advice to the group.

The first motion was to elect Ellie the ongoing chairman. That passed unanimously.

They next discussed other business matters that weren’t directly related to care of the animals. I wasn’t especially interested, so I tuned them out.

Then Ellie said, “Lauren, I’d like you to talk to us next about Dante DeFrancisco. I gather that he is generously offering to make some kind of contribution to help keep PetForYou going. Is that right? Please tell us more about it.”

Everyone smiled, and I even got a smattering of applause. I doubted they’d applaud once I explained the conditions of Dante providing help. I began with saying how impressed I was with the facility, and I’d told Dante that. Smiles widened . . . for now.

“I’m actually not sure how much assistance Dante will want to provide, but it would help if you’d put together a list of how much food and all you require on a weekly basis. He’ll have his people look at it, and then we’ll be able to let you know how many weeks’ worth he’ll be able to contribute from HotPets, and how much in the way of funds he’ll provide, too.”

“I’ll do that,” Joe Sargamel said, and the choice made sense since, as a former pet store manager, he’d undoubtedly be able to estimate their needs.

“Great. Now, I’m certain that Dante will want PetForYou to join the NKLA Coalition.” In case any of the board members didn’t yet know what it was, I explained it. “HotRescues is a proud member,” I stated. “I had the impression that PetForYou is pretty much no-kill anyway—”

“Absolutely,” said the vet, Dr. Mort Gerald. “I wouldn’t have served on the board here if it had been otherwise. Of course, our veterinary practice does sometimes have to put an animal down for health reasons so it doesn’t suffer, but that’s all.”

“That’s right,” said Janine. “That’s one of the reasons for confirming Ellie as the chairman of the board, so she could continue running PetForYou in her grandfather’s shoes, and what I always heard about him is that he did everything possible to take care of the animals, not kill them.”

The others agreed.

“Then none of you agree with Dr. Ideman’s position about not joining NKLA?” I had to ask, to see their reactions . . . in the unlikely case that issue had provided a motive for someone here to kill him.

There was some discussion. No, none agreed, and a couple said so vehemently. But I couldn’t immediately leap on any of them as the killer because of it.

“Then I’ll provide you with information about how to join NKLA,” I finally said, practically beaming. I’d feel so much better about how all the animals here were going to be dealt with, whether or not I observed. Then I continued, “The final thing Dante will need to do, to assist in determining whether he’ll be able to provide ongoing help, is to audit the PetForYou financial information over the past . . . say, six months.”

This time, they all looked at Spencer, and I glanced in that direction, too. Interesting. He had a deer-in-the-headlights look that disappeared almost immediately. But why?

“Well, sure, if the board agrees,” he said. “I can provide a copy of the audit I’ve started preparing for the transition, after the loss of Dr. Ideman. I could give you a preliminary accounting right away and confirm it in a few days.”

He scanned the board members, but the smile on his face looked forced. In fact, I had the impression that the man I’d figured to be maybe late twenties, like his girlfriend Ellie, had suddenly aged by ten or more years. Why?

The obvious answer was that there was something wrong with the PetForYou books, and he knew it. And for him to know it—did that mean he’d somehow been involved?

And if he’d been involved, did that mean Dr. Ideman had been aware of any discrepancies? If so, that was a fine motive for murder.

Okay, I was really reaching here. Maybe because I didn’t want Ricki to be the number one suspect any longer. I’d already mentally leaped on Janine as climbing toward the top of my list. And now, just because the guy seemed nervous, I’d pasted Spencer above her.

I was second-guessing myself a bit now, even as I said, “Thanks. That will be helpful.” But I trust my instincts. A lot. And so I also said, “But I know that Dante will want to have his own audit conducted. In fact—”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and pushed the button to call Dante’s direct line. He answered immediately.

Smiling from one curious board member’s face to the next, I explained to Dante where I was. “Can you tell me who you’ll send here, and when, to audit the PetForYou books?”

“Ah,” he said into my ear. “Do I detect some suspicion that an audit is more than necessary?”

“Could be,” I responded. “So you can send someone right now?”

“Really? That urgent? Well, sure. I’ll have to figure out who, but assume that I’ll get someone from our accounting staff who knows what to do there within the next hour.”

“Great. Within the hour? Thanks. And I gather that the board is really excited that you’re willing to help out.” Once again, my gaze darted between the board members, and each, in turn, nodded. I had another thought—premature, maybe, but I was about to do a bit of prodding that might wind up being out of line . . . or not. “Oh, and by the way, you’ve got my friend Antonio’s phone number, don’t you? He’s such an animal lover, and I promised to keep him informed about what’s going on here.”

“The LAPD detective?” As I’d been throughout this conversation, I was glad no one else could hear what Dante said. “Yes, I know how to contact him. I’ll really be interested to hear what’s going on there, Lauren.”

“I’ll bet you will,” I agreed.

After I hung up, though, I aimed my eyes toward Spencer. No smile on his face. Apparently Ellie had noticed that, too, since the stare she leveled on her boyfriend was frozen.

His frantic expression told me I was most likely on the right track. Was he making it too easy? Was I jumping to conclusions so fast that I was absolutely wrong about the direction I faced?

I actually hate to second-guess myself but I was doing it again. If it turned out I was wrong, no harm done.

But if I was right . . .

“Er . . . Lauren,” Spencer said. “I wish you’d checked with me first. I unfortunately can’t stay to wait for Dante’s auditor. In fact, I need to leave now.”

“I assume other board members know how to get into the accounting records,” I said, not looking at any of them yet. “They’re all on computer files here, aren’t they?”

“Well, yes, but only Dr. Ideman and I have—had—access to them. I helped him keep track of everything.”

“Then PetForYou is a client of the accounting firm where you work?” I asked.

I noticed frowns now on the faces of all of the board members. Apparently this was news to them. Or if not, no one was stepping up to take the pressure off Spencer.

“Well, no. I just started helping Dr. Ideman after Ellie introduced me to him and he learned I was a CPA. He asked me some questions, and before I knew it I was helping with all the PetForYou accounting.”

He once more attempted an ingenuous smile, but it melted quickly when I said, “Great. Then you probably have some of the answers I’m looking for. I had a guy accost me at HotRescues yesterday who seemed desperate to adopt the spaniel Ivo. He said he’d been talking to Dr. Ideman a lot, contributing quite a bit of money to PetForYou to encourage him to approve the adoption fast, but nothing had happened. I haven’t gone over everything yet about the adoption, but I think he’ll be able to adopt Ivo from HotRescues now. I’m sure he’ll want an accounting of how his contributions were used here. I certainly couldn’t tell him, especially after Ellie and you showed me that the shelter’s cupboard was bare, so to speak.”

“We’ve had major contributions lately, and not from the veterinary practice?” That was Mort’s question, and he looked angry.

“I—er, Dr. Ideman was in charge of that,” Spencer said.

“But you just said you knew it all,” I reminded him. “Where did that money go?”

“I don’t . . . It wasn’t . . .” He pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at it. “Sorry, like I said, I have to go. We can talk about this later, but I really don’t have much to tell you. I just crunched the numbers that were there.”

Okay, maybe it was premature, since I hadn’t seen Antonio arrive, but I decided it was time to press.

As I looked toward the open kitchen door, though, I saw a uniformed cop standing there already. Apparently, Dante had gotten word to Antonio quickly, and my detective friend had sent a preliminary contingent of whatever officer happened to be in the area just to make sure all was well. Or not. Maybe, since PetForYou was already on the police radar, the authorities remained on standby in the area. I’d ask Antonio when I could.

But no matter why the cavalry had arrived so fast, I could do what I wanted with some degree of safety.

Following up on the accountant’s words, I said, “I have a feeling, though, Spencer, that you also crunched Dr. Ideman.” I heard the collective gasp in the room and saw Ellie start to rise, then sink back into her chair. “Rather, you stabbed him. Is that true?”

Apparently Spencer had been preparing for an accusation, or at least a way to fight back if anyone tried to stop his pending departure. He obviously knew the layout of the kitchen, since suddenly he was standing near the sink. He opened a nearby drawer and extracted not a scalpel this time, but a large, vicious-looking knife with a serrated blade, perhaps one that was used to slice meat for animals or humans.

“I think we have an answer,” I said. As he lunged toward me, wielding it, the cop and a couple of others who’d been behind him dashed into the room.

“Drop it,” the first one said. All had their guns raised and pointed toward Spencer.

The accountant looked around frantically as if begging help from Ellie or anyone else here. Or maybe he was looking for an exit or some other way of saving himself from arrest.

But unsurprisingly seeing none, he knelt, put the knife on the floor, and started weeping. “I didn’t mean it,” he cried. “But he . . . I . . .”

I started breathing again, no longer in danger. One of the cops started reciting his rights to him, and Spencer shut up.

That was when someone else appeared in the doorway. “Hi, everyone,” he said uncertainly. He looked geekish, and that was confirmed when he said, “I’m Howard. My office isn’t far from here, and Dante DeFrancisco asked me to come right away to conduct an audit. And since it was Dante, I dropped everything, and . . . Is this a good time?”

I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh, partly out of sheer joy that all was under control, and partly because of the comic relief provided by Howard.

The board members joined in.

All except a crying Ellie.