Beach Blanket Homicide (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 1)

“A little,” she admits.

“Can I ask you what he was brought in for?”

“Dog bite.”

“He was bitten by another dog?”

“No. He bit his…well, I guess she’s not his owner since you have the dog. This is all pretty confusing. It reads here that a woman by the name of Jane Smith brought the dog in last week for a rabies test. She said he’d bit her, and she wanted to make sure that he wasn’t rabid. The chip I.D. said that the dog was registered to a woman named Susan Van Dyke and he was current on all his shots, so that was that. But we always open up an account for every client who comes in the door.” There’s a pause. “Uh-huh.”

“What?”

“Whenever a dog bites a human, we’re required to report it to the city, in case the dog has a history of aggression. Since the owner, er, this Jane Smith person seemed okay, we let her take the dog home, but there’s always a follow up. There’s a note at the bottom of the record stating that when animal control went out to the address she’d given, it didn’t pan out. It was an abandoned lot.”

“Did this Jane Smith pay with a credit card or a check?”

“Cash.”

“Which makes her basically untraceable.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Do you remember what she looked like?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t here. But like I said, no worries about your credit card being compromised. Oh, hold on. Dr. Brooks might remember her.” In the background I hear Emily and Dr. Brooks exchange a few words.

“Lucy? This is Dr. Brooks. How is Paco doing?”

Paco is currently wolfing down a piece of pizza that he’s stolen off my plate, anchovies and all, but I think I’ll omit this piece of information. “He’s doing great, thanks.”

“Emily told me about the mix-up with the account. So sorry about that. I knew I remembered seeing Paco, but the circumstances were just so different, it didn’t come to me until now.”

“Did you see the person who brought him in? This Jane Smith person?”

“I remember she was pretty upset about being bitten, and the dog seemed so hostile toward her. He kept barking and snarling. It really worried me at first, but when we got him alone, he was the sweetest little thing. We checked him out, and he was fine. But we still had to report it to the authorities.”

“What did Jane Smith look like?”

“Let’s see, I’m so bad with faces. I’m much better with dogs, you know? But if my memory serves me right, she was probably in her late thirties, maybe early forties. Long blonde hair with some gray. Yes, that’s it. I remember now thinking how much younger she’d look if she washed the gray out.”

“Okay, thanks.”

I can’t get off the phone fast enough. My hands are shaking.

Holy wow.

I’d bet my spot on Muffin Wars that Gloria Hightower is the mysterious Jane Smith.

I think back to the morning that she came into The Bistro with Victor and Phoebe and Paco went crazy barking. I’d assumed his hostile demeanor had all been for Phoebe, but now in hindsight, I realize it must have been Gloria he was barking at.

But why on earth would Paco bite Gloria? He’s the sweetest dog ever.

Except when someone he cares about is being threatened.

Could Gloria have done something to Susan Van Dyke to cause her heart attack?

I have to tell Travis ASAP. Except, Travis thinks I’m crazy. He’s never going to take me seriously. But Jim will. I quickly put on my sneakers and grab a jacket. I might not have his phone number, but I know where he lives.

“I’m going out for a few minutes,” I tell Paco. “You be a good boy and stay put. No getting into any of my medication—”