Murder of a Creped Suzette

Skye pulled into the Fraynes’ driveway at a quarter after seven. She had fifteen minutes to convince Owen to watch Toby and to make it to the high school on time. Drat! Another day of running as fast as she could just to keep up.

The white two-story house was to her left. Its door was closed, the shades down, and there was no sign of Owen. In front of Skye was a garage and an equipment shed; to her right was the barn.

To Toby, Skye said, “I’ll be back in a second. Good doggies do not chew on genuine leather seats or expensive wooden steering wheels.”

Tossing a mental coin, Skye chose to try the barn first. It felt a little like déjà vu, but unlike yesterday’s barn, this one was clearly a working enterprise. Bales of hay were stacked along one end of the interior and stalls lined either side. The animals had already been released into their paddocks for the day, but their odor lingered.

Skye called out, “Yoo hoo! Owen, it’s Skye. Are you around?”

There was no answer, but as she strode through the building, she noticed evidence of Owen’s recent presence. The stalls had been mucked out; the rake, shovel, and pitchfork were back in their assigned places; and all the metal troughs were full of water.

She tried again, raising her voice. “Owen, I need to ask you a favor.”

Silence. Okay, he was probably in the equipment shed. If he was anything like her father, when all the other chores were done, he tinkered with his machinery.

The shed’s only entrance was a towering metal door that had to be rolled to the side. Skye managed to shove it far enough open to squeeze through, but the gap didn’t allow much light. The interior was one cavernous room with a packed-dirt floor. Arranged in rough rows were tractors, combines, threshers, and a variety of implements she didn’t recognize.

She picked her way carefully down the center walkway, peering into the shadows and calling out Owen’s name. Darn ! He wasn’t here, either.

Crossing her fingers, Skye headed to the garage, murmuring under her breath, “Be there, be there, please be there.”

Both overhead doors were down, which was not a good sign, but Skye forced herself to remain optimistic as she walked over to the pedestrian entrance and opened it. Inside, one space was empty, clearly where Trixie parked her Honda Civic, but the other half was occupied by a dusty black pickup.

If Owen’s truck was here, where was he? As Skye pondered that question, something nibbled at the back of her mind.

Good gravy! Owen’s pickup looked just like the one that had dropped off Suzette at the trailer Saturday night. No. Skye shook her head and scolded herself. Don’t go there. A lot of men drive dusty black trucks. Surely Suzette’s date hadn’t been Owen.

CHAPTER 10

“Act Naturally”

Even if Skye had been willing to risk cat-canine combat and doggy destruction, it was too late to take Toby back home. The clock was ticking, and she had run out of options. Toby would have to go to school with her.

Yeah. Like that would work out well.

Sheesh! If she had known this would turn into Bring Your Pet to Work Day, she’d have left the dog at home and brought Bingo. He slept twenty-three out of twenty-four hours, used a litter box rather than the great outdoors, and rarely made a sound.

As she drove, Skye tried to look on the bright side. At least the junior high’s weekly Pupil Personnel Services meeting had been postponed until Wednesday, and she could spend the entire day in one building. So, taking into account a midday potty break, she’d have to smuggle Toby in and out only twice.

Another plus was that the high school had several classrooms with doors that opened directly to the lawn. Now all Skye needed was to find a teacher with one of those rooms who would be willing to look the other way when Toby needed to be walked.

Skye was still mentally scrolling through the staff roster when she pulled into the parking lot. She chose an isolated space partially blocked from view by a storage shed, and tried to figure out a way to sneak Toby into her office.

Taking an inventory of what she had to work with, she remembered the large computer paper carton that she’d stowed in the Chevy earlier that morning. It currently contained dog food, two bowls, and a chew toy, but there was plenty of room for the little dog. If Toby would keep quiet, that would be his magic carpet into the high school.

She used a pen to poke a few air holes in the side of the box, then scanned the nearby area for witnesses. There was no one around. Quickly scooping up Toby, she tucked him inside the carton and moved the rawhide bone into his sight. He immediately curled up and started gnawing.

Before putting on the lid, Skye instructed, “Okay, boy. No barking.”