“You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not.” He quirked a meaningful eyebrow. “And guess who’s getting married soon.”
“Dewey Toneu.”
“Think that maybe our friend Toneu wasn’t as forthcoming as he claimed? That maybe Dotty tried her routine on him and he took the bait and they were going to tell Marsella?”
“If that’s true, it’s one hell of a motive for murder.”
“I’ll say it is.”
“What are they talking about, Max?” asked Dooley.
“Well… you know how a married couple promise each other to be faithful?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Calista was running a business that tested this promise. If Dotty could seduce a husband or a fianc? to, um, kiss her, that meant he’d failed the fidelity test and they informed the partner. If he couldn’t be seduced, he passed the test and everything was hunky-dory.”
“And now they think that maybe Marsella hired Calista to test her fianc??”
“It’s a distinct possibility,” I said. “And if they did, and he failed, maybe he found out about the test and killed them both before they could tell his future wife.”
“That reminds me ofPassion Island, Max.”
I laughed.“It does, doesn’t it?”Passion Island was a reality show Odelia had infiltrated a while back. It involved couples being sectioned on two different islands, the men on one island and the women on the other, with both being subjected to temptation. It was pretty perverse, if you ask me, but then a lot of these so-called reality shows are like that now.
“Do you think a lot of men failed Calista and Dotty’s fidelity test, Max?”
“No idea, Dooley. But looks like they found their niche.”
“And paid for it with their lives.”
Chapter 14
Our next port of call wasn’t one of my favorite places to be, even though it was named after Dooley’s human. The Vesta Muffin Animal Shelter had been founded by Charlene and Uncle Alec in Vesta’s honor, though apart from the name she wasn’t actively involved. It certainly was a big improvement over the old pound, which didn’t hold a lot of fond memories for any of us. At least Marsella did a great job at the new shelter, and treated the animals she housed there with the kind of tender loving care one would hope to see.
“You’re here about Windex, aren’t you?” said Marsella when we found her in the reception area of the shelter. “So how is she settling in? Fond of her already, are you?”
“Absolutely,” said Chase. “She’s a lovely little thing. But we’re actually not here to talk about Windex, Marsella.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard,” said Odelia, taking over, “but two women were found murdered yesterday.”
“Dreadful business, isn’t it? And you’re in charge of the investigation, Chase?”
“Yes, I am. So we talked to some of the girls who worked for Calista Burden, and they told us she took on clients who paid her to seduce their future husbands.”
Marsella stared at the detective, clearly not having expected this.“Come again?”
“One of the two women who was murdered,” said Odelia, “Dotty Ludkin, seduced men to see if she could get them to be unfaithful to their wives or future wives. And then Calista would inform their partners about the result of this so-called fidelity test.”
“So now we were wondering…” Chase began, but stopped when Marsella held up her hand.
“I know what you’re going to say, and the answer is no. No, I didn’t hire these people to spy on my fianc?.”
“It’s not exactly spying,” Odelia clarified.
“I know, but I didn’t do that. I would never do that.”
“You and Dewey Toneu are engaged?”
“Yes, we are, but I didn’t hire anyone to try and seduce him. So you can put that theory to rest right now, detective, and look for your culprit elsewhere. It certainly wasn’t me.”
“We were thinking more of Dewey,” Chase admitted. “If he hired Dotty’s services—”
“He didn’t. Dewey simply isn’t that kind of man. He doesn’t need to hire anyone’s ‘services’ because very soon he’s going to be a happily married man.” She spoke these words with some vehemence, as if trying to impress it upon us that we were barking up the wrong tree.
“All right,” said Chase. “I believe you.”
“You’d better, cause it’s the truth.” She looked up when she noticed a young blond woman standing at the entrance. How long she’d been standing there was hard to know for sure, but it certainly seemed to annoy Marsella to a certain extent. “Yes, what do you want, Shelley?” she asked with a hint of iron in her voice.
“I’ve finished cleaning out the cages,” said Shelley, giving her boss a look of uncertainty.
“Thanks. You can go now.”
“See you tomorrow,” said Shelley.
“Yes, see you tomorrow.”
The girl dawdled for a moment, then turned on her heel and left.
And so did we, since it was clear from Marsella’s demeanor that she had nothing more to tell us.
We caught up with Shelley as the girl mounted her bicycle.
“How much of that did you overhear?” asked Odelia kindly.
The girl’s cheeks flamed. “I… a lot, actually.”
“How well do you know Marsella?”
“Pretty well. We’ve always had a great relationship. Which is why I was surprised that she was so snappish with me just now.”
“Do you think she might hire an escort service to try and seduce Dewey?” asked Chase.
The girl hesitated, clearly uncomfortable to divulge her boss’s secrets.
“It’s important,” Odelia stressed. “Two women were murdered, and we’re trying to catch the person responsible. So anything you can tell us that might help…”
“Of course,” said Shelley, nodding. “The thing is that several of Dewey’s old girlfriends have contacted Marsella recently, trying to warn her about him. Apparently he has quite a reputation as a ladies’ man, and even dated five women at the same time for a while, until they all found outabout each other. It’s all Marsella can talk about lately, what with the wedding coming up and all. I told her to hire a private detective and have him followed around, just to see if he’s still involved with other women, but she said just this morning that she decided against it. She’s simply going to trust Dewey. He says this was all years ago and he’s a different man now, but I don’t know.” She gave a light shrug.
“So you think Marsella might have hired Dotty Ludkin to test Dewey?” asked Chase.
“Honestly? I can totally see her do a thing like that. Though if she had, she probably would have told me. We’ve become very good friends ever since I started volunteering here, and she’s been pretty open with me about her doubts and frustrations.”
“Okay, thank you, Shelley,” said Odelia. “We appreciate your honesty.”
“Please don’t tell Marsella,” said Shelley. “It’s a delicate subject.”
“We already got that impression,” Chase grunted.
Chapter 15
Back in the car, Odelia and Chase discussed their most recent interviews. Dooley and I sat quietly in the back, not feeling one little bit at ease, I must say.
The trip to the shelter had brought back the notion that Windex was in our own home right now, sleeping on our couch, eating our food, and generally making herself comfortable in our favorite spots—possibly even relieving herself in our litter boxes!
It wasn’t a pleasant prospect, and one that made me positively afraid for the future.
Snippets of conversation drifted in our direction.
“Not a single fingerprint found at either crime scene, can you believe it?” Chase was saying. “Which means the killer wiped everything. Every surface which he possibly could have touched. No phones, no laptops, no trace of any electronic device, so he took them all.”
“There must have been something on those phones that could point to him,” said Odelia.
“Absolutely. We already talked to the provider and I’ve got officers poring over both victims’ list of calls but so far nothing that stands out. And listen to this: no calls to connect Calista and Dotty or even any of the other girls.”