1 PAWsible Suspects Read Online Free Page A

her expression, it would only be a few minutes before she realized my claim to fame and understand why I was asking about Ruby’s dogs. I wanted to use that time before she started wondering if I was the real thing or a charlatan. People rarely had a moderate opinion of me.
    “No, I’m an investigator who was asked to look into her disappearance by a friend,” I said, dancing better than Fred Astaire. She could never accuse me of lying to her.
    The woman just grunted and showed me into the living room. She plopped down into a chair and motioned for me to sit on the sofa. There was a Scottie hiding in the doorway, and I assumed that Ida had picked up Della from her sister’s house. The little terrier timidly approached me and sniffed my hand. Her tail wagged, and she jumped into my lap. She definitely remembered me and my hot dogs. Ida had not made the place pet-friendly at all. The carpet was the color of coffee with too much cream. I wondered how long it would take Della to leave her mark on the house.
    “Well, if the dog vouches for you, I guess you’re okay.” She snapped her fingers. “You’re that guy who talks to dogs, aren’t you? You look a little different than you did on the TV.”
    I suppose that publicity never hurts anyone. I didn’t bother to ask what looked different. I didn’t want to hear about the weight I’d lost this winter or that my hair was too long now. Sometimes mysteries are just fine with me. “So have you heard from Ruby?” I asked, wanting to get back on topic.
    “Nope. Not a word. She’s not usually a big talker anyway, but I haven’t heard from her in a while. I can tell you one thing. She’d sooner be dead than leave those dogs alone. She told me once that she had a fortune invested in them.”
    I nodded my head, thinking about how much Bruno cost me each month. I tried to talk to him about getting a part-time job, but he pretends that he can’t understand me. “When was the last time you heard from her?”
    “It would have been Christmas. I brought over some turkey and fixings to her house and we ate a meal together. Just the two of us and those dogs. I’ve tried to invite her over here, but she always wants to bring the dogs with her. I have a niece who is allergic to dog dander, and I hate to have to get the house steam-cleaned before she can visit.”
    I thought of the children that my mother had mentioned to me. This might be a chance to talk about Ruby’s moral side. “I heard about your nieces,” I said without lying.
    “I bet you did. Melissa and Marie were the two girls’ names. Ruby never got over what happened with the older one, Melissa. She’d met a man when she was only 19 years old. She fell in love and got pregnant. The man, of course, denied the whole thing and skipped town before she even gave birth.”
    “Couldn’t she trace him?”
    “He told Melissa that his name was John Smith. How are you going to trace that? Anyway, Melissa was in pretty bad financial trouble and she asked Ruby for some help. Ruby always had money around. She kept it hidden in case she needed it.”
    “And Ruby said no?”
    Ida’s eyes got large. “Ruby said a number of things, and ‘no’ was the smallest of the things she said. She pretty much just cut the girl off entirely, which was too bad, because Melissa just adored Ruby. She lost the baby – miscarriage, and she lost a favorite aunt. Everything gone in a matter of months.”
    “Is she the one who’s allergic to dogs?” I asked, wondering if I might get a chance to meet these women.
    “No, that’s Marie, the younger one. Melissa doesn’t come around too often these days. Just on holidays and such. She is still pretty bitter about the whole thing with Ruby.”
    “But Della’s here now?” I reminded her.
    “You don’t need to remind me. I already know that I have to clean the house from top to bottom before I have anyone over again, but if I had let those dogs go to the pound, Ruby would have had my