“Why do people poison dogs?” Selby asked.
“For the same reason some people rob and murder,” the veterinarian said. “People in the aggregate are all right, but there’s a big minority that have no regard for the rights of others. In my opinion a person who would poison a dog would poison a man, if he thought he could get away with it. I’d like to see dog poisoning made a state prison offense.”
“To think of a man deliberately throwing a dog poisoned food,” Perkins declared, “makes my blood boil. I’d shoot a man who’d do it.”
“Well, let’s take a run over to your place and look around,” Dr. Perry suggested. “You say the dog hasn’t been out of the yard? We may find some of the poison left there and learn something from it.”
“How about Rogue, can we do him any good staying here?”
“Not a bit. To tell you the truth, Harry, I think he’ll pull through. I’m not making any promises, but I hope he’s over the worst of it. What he needs now is rest. My assistant will keep him under close observation. Have you got your car here?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We’ll drive over with you.”
The three of them drove to the place where Perkins had his undertaking establishment, with living quarters over the mortuary. In back of the place was a fenced yard which led to an alley. There was a gate in the alley.
“The dog stayed in here?” Dr. Perry asked.
“Yes. He’s always in the building or here in the yard.”
Dr. Perry walked around the back yard, looking particularly along the line of the fence. Suddenly he stooped and picked up something which appeared to be a ball of earth. He broke it open and disclosed the red of raw meat.
“There you are,” he said, “a deadly little pellet. That’s been mixed by a skillful dog poisoner. He put the poison in raw hamburger, then he rolled the hamburger in the earth so it would be almost impossible to see. A dog’s nose would detect the raw meat through the coating of earth but your eye would be fooled by the earth which had been placed around it. Let’s look around and see if we can find some more.”
A survey of the yard disclosed two more of the little rolls of poisoned meat.
“Notice the way these were placed along the sides of the fence,” Selby said to the coroner. “They weren’t just tossed over the fence, but were deliberately placed there. That means that someone must have walked through the gate and into the back yard.”
“By George, that’s so,” Perkins exclaimed.
“That’s undoubtedly true,” Dr. Perry agreed. “Now, then, if the dog were here in the yard, why didn’t he bark? Moreover, why didn’t the poisoner stand in the alley and just toss the rolls of meat in to the dog?”
Perkins turned to the district attorney and asked, “What can you do to a dog poisoner, Selby?”
“Not a great deal,” Selby admitted. “It’s hard to convict them, if they stand trial. And when they are convicted a judge usually gives them probation. A judge hates to send a man to jail for poisoning an animal. Usually it’s a property owner and a citizen who’s otherwise respected. However, being caught once usually puts a stop to the poisoning activities for some time.”
“To my mind,” Perry said, “they should be hung. It’s a worse crime than murder.”
“That’s exactly the way I feel about it,” Perkins agreed emphatically.
They walked back through the yard into the back room of the mortuary.
“We’d better take a look around here, too,” Perry suggested. “This commences to look like an inside job to me. It looks as though someone you’d been talking to had casually strolled around here and planted this stuff. Can you remember having had anyone roaming around the place, Harry? It must have been someone who planted the poison right while you were talking with him.”
“Why, yes,” Perkins said, “there were several people in here. I had a coroner’s jury sitting on the inquest on the man who was murdered in the hotel.”
He turned to Selby and said, “That was yesterday, while you were gone. They returned a verdict of murder by person or persons unknown. I presume you knew that.”
“Yes,” Selby remarked. “It seems the only possible verdict which could have been returned.”
He turned to Perry and said, “I’m wondering if you knew the dead man, Doctor.”
“No, I’d never seen him in my life — not that I know of.”
Selby took a photograph from his inside coat pocket, showed it to Dr. Perry.
“I wish you’d take a good look at that,” he said, “and see if it looks at all familiar.”
Dr. Perry studied it from several angles and slowly shook his head. “No,” he said. “The sheriff asked me about him, and showed me the same picture. I told the sheriff I’d never seen him, but now, looking at this photograph, I somehow get the impression I’ve seen him somewhere... you know, the face has a vaguely familiar look. Perhaps it’s just a type. I can’t place him, but there’s something about him that reminds me of someone.”
Selby was excited. “I wish you’d think carefully,” he said. “You know the man had some clippings in his brief case about the litigation you’re interested in.”
“Yes, the sheriff told me that he did,” Perry said, “but lots of people are interested in that case. I’ve had lots of letters about it. You see, quite a few people got interlocutory decrees and then went into another state to get married. They’re worried about where they’d stand on inheritances and such. That’s probably why this man was interested... But he reminds me of someone... Perhaps it’s a family resemblance... Let me see what clippings he cut out and I may be able to tell you more about him. I must have had a hundred letters from people who sent clippings and asked for details.”
“Ever answer the letters?” Selby asked.
“No. I didn’t have time. It keeps me busy running my own business. Paying off the mortgage on this new hospital keeps my nose to the grindstone. I wish that lawsuit would get finished — but my lawyer says it’s about over now. I couldn’t pay him a regular fee, so he took it on a big contingency. He’ll make almost as much out of it as I will.”
“Hope he does,” the coroner said. “He owes me a nice little sum on a note that’s overdue.”
The coroner took out the brief case, suitcase and portable typewriter. “By the way,” he asked, “is it all right to deliver these to the widow? She was in to get them a while ago.”
“I think so,” Selby said, “but you’d better ask the sheriff and get his okay.”
“I did that already. He says it’s okay by him, if it is by you.”
“Go ahead and give them to her, then. But be sure the inventory checks.”
The coroner opened the suitcase, also the brief case.
“Well,” Selby said, “I’m going to be getting on back to the office. Perhaps Dr. Perry can tell us something after his examination of those poisoned scraps.”
“Wait a minute,” the veterinarian said, laying down the newspaper clippings the coroner had handed him, “what’s that over there in the corner?”
Perkins stared, then said, “Good Lord, it’s another one of the same things.”
They walked over and picked it up. Perry examined it then dropped it into his pocket.
“That settles it,” he announced. “It was aimed directly at your dog and it’s an inside job, someone who’s been in here today. Can you remember who was in here?”
“The last man in here today,” Perkins said, “was George Cushing, manager of the Madison Hotel. It’s a cinch he wouldn’t have done anything like that.”