“Are you sure?” I asked in a small voice.
“Absolutely. It’s important that we find out what’s going on with this choir business.”
I shared a look of concern with Dooley. But then like the brave little soldiers that we are, we decided to risk all for the sake of the investigation and our human.
After all, maybe this little dog’s bark was worse than his bite?
5
“This is terrible,” said Janette Bittiner as she shook her auburn curls. “Simply terrible. Murder, you say? Actualmurder?”
“Yes,” Chase confirmed. “Does this come as a surprise to you, Mrs. Bittiner?”
“Miss Bittiner. And yes, it does come as a surprise. Of course it does. I saw Neda just this morning, at choir practice, and now this…” She shook her curls some more. I noticed how glossy they looked, and even though the woman’s face was lined, I couldn’t detect a single gray hair in her hairdo, which was full and luxurious, like in one of those shampoo commercials.
The little doggy she called Sugar was lying next to her on the sofa, and had his beady eyes fixed on me, gauging the potential danger in this feline intruder, no doubt.
“Did you know Neda Hoeppner well?”
“Of course. We were members of the same choir, and had been for years. In fact Neda was one of my dearest, closest friends. And certainly one of my oldest ones, too.”
“She was your dear friend?” asked Odelia. She couldn’t hide her surprise, and I didn’t blame her, after what this woman’s gardener had told us about this choir rivalry.
“Yes, she was. We’re the same age, you see, and have known each other since we went to kindergarten together. Though she used to take away my toys and I used to hit her over the head with a tennis racket.” She laughed. “At least that’s what our teacher Mrs. Willems used to say. I honestlycan’t remember, and neither could Neda.”
“So you were at choir practice this morning?” asked Chase, as Odelia shot a glance in my direction, urging me on to talk to Sugar, and verify Janette’s claims.
“That’s right. Every Monday morning from nine till eleven we have choir practice. And then on Sunday, of course, we sing during morning mass. You have seen us, haven’t you, Miss Poole? Or I should probably say Mrs. Kingsley now,” she added with an indulgent smile.
“I think I’ll keep my maiden name,” said Odelia, returning the smile.
“Oh,” said Janette, her smile wavering, as if she didn’t approve such extravagance.
“But to answer your question, I have seen you sing, and most importantly heard you. Though I have to admit that we don’t come to mass as often as we probably should.”
Janette sniffed.“Of course you don’t. Not many young people do, and even then only on the big days, like Christmas. But we’re there every week regardless,” she added as she flicked away a speck of dust from her blouse. “Singing our hearts out for the Lord.”
“So what did you do after you left choir practice?” asked Chase.
“Oh, this and that. I dropped Sugar off at the pet salon, as I do every Monday, and then I had some errands to run in town.”
“Is there anyone who can confirm that?” asked Chase.
Janette frowned.“Why? I’m not a suspect, am I? I just told you that Neda and I were best friends.”
“Someone told us that you and Neda didn’t see eye to eye lately,” Chase explained.
“Not see eye to eye!” Janette exclaimed. “Who told you that?”
Chase’s response was a shrug, indicating she wasn’t going to get that kind of information from him.
“Well, I can tell you that whoever has been spreading these foul lies about us is very much mistaken. Neda and I were dear, dear friends, and that’s the absolute truth. And if you don’t believe me, you can ask anybody. Ask Father Reilly—he’ll tell you.”
“Oh, we will, Miss Bittiner,” said Chase as he gave her the kind of look he reserved for people who lied to him. It wasn’t a very friendly look, but Janette took it in stride.
Sugar had finally taken the leap from the couch, after spending the last half hour trying to hypnotize me with his intent gaze, and had started approaching us with a slight sense of trepidation. He kept glancing over to Janette, clearly wondering if she’d stop him from giving these intruders a closer inspection, but Janette was still trying to convince Chase that she and Neda had indeed been the best of friends. The very best.
“Hi there,” I said as the small ball of fluff joined me and Dooley on the carpet. He was of the Shih Tzu persuasion if I wasn’t mistaken, and I just hoped he wouldn’t suddenly jump out at me and dig his tiny sharp teeth into my nose or something.
“Hi,” said Sugar. “What’s your name, cat?”
“Max,” I said with what I hoped was a disarming smile, screwing up my charm to make sure we wouldn’t become victims of a sudden attack.
“I’m Dooley,” said Dooley, who’d crept back a little and was using me for cover. I must say it was a sound strategy, as I’m twice Dooley’s size, so if Sugar, for reasons only known to him, would suddenly get it into his nut to attack, he’d find a bigger target in me.
“Nice place you got here,” I said, continuing to ooze charm from every pore.
“It’s all right,” said Sugar dismissively.
“So how were things at the pet salon?” I asked, deciding to get our mission on the road. I had no intention of remaining in Sugar’s company any longer than I needed to.
“Fine,” said the doggie, who clearly was one of those strong and silent types.
“What do they do at these pet salons?” asked Dooley now, and I could tell that in spite of himself, he was genuinely curious.
“Oh, this and that,” said the small dog.
“This and that what?” Dooley insisted.
“Well, they shampoo you and they trim you and then they primp you and they groom you. Why? I thought cats didn’t like to go to the pet salon? I thought you guys didn’t like to have your hair cut, or to be washed and shampooed and have people fuss over you?”
“Oh, no, that’s definitely true,” I agreed. “We don’t necessarily enjoy people sprinkling water on our precious coats and then attack us with comb and scissors. But we do enjoy a new experience as much as the next pet, isn’t that right, Dooley?”
“Absolutely,” said Dooley. “We went to a pet salon once, when Odelia flew us to LA.”
“Odelia is your human, yes?” said Sugar. “That pretty blonde over there?”
“She is pretty, isn’t she?” said Dooley proudly.
“Very pretty,” I agreed, equally proudly.
“And that beefy guy is her husband?”
“Yes, that’s Chase,” I said. “He’s a police detective, and he is very strong.”
“He saved our lives many times,” Dooley confided. “He’s a superhero.”
Sugar gave Chase a skeptical look, then dismissed the burly cop out of paw.“Yeah, right.”
“No, he really is. He saved our lives from two homicidal seagulls only recently.”
“Of course he did,” said Sugar with an indulgent grin.
“And right now he’s looking into the murder of Neda Hoeppner,” I said. “Did you know Neda Hoeppner, Sugar?”
The doggie, who’d decided to finally halt his progress in our direction, probably feeling he was close enough, and had plunked himself down on the carpet, said, “Sure I knew Neda Hoeppner. She was only Janette’s biggest enemy in the whole wide world.”
“Enemy?” I said. “I thought Neda was Janette’s best friend since kindergarten?”
“Don’t believe everything Janette tells you,” said Sugar with a smirk. “She hated Neda’s guts, and the feeling was entirely mutual.”
“But why?”
“Long story,” said Sugar with a slight yawn.
“Tell us,” I said. “We like long stories.”
“We do,” Dooley confirmed. “My favorite story has been running for almost sixty years.”