Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 01 - Bogey Nights (21 page)

“Stop that!” I commanded
. “Right
now
!”

She whined louder and dug deeper.

“If I have to come out there…” I took a step out the door.

Watson abruptly stopped digging
. Her tail stuck straight out, no longer wagging. She gave out one loud whine and picked something up. Turning, she brought it to me and gently laid it at my feet. She’d brought me a gift. She whined again, but this time it was the most soulful sound I’d ever heard a dog make. She nudged the gift she’d brought me with her black nose and turned a pair of sad brown eyes in my direction. Sherlock stood beside her, almost as though he was there to support her in her mission.

I took a good look at her gift before turning back to the office where I could find my purse and cell phone.

“Come,” I called softly to the dogs. They followed me inside.

Chapter Twenty-three

I
called Chris first. I wanted to speak to him before calling Janet. I didn’t know why, but I needed Chris by my side when the police arrived. What had started out as a decent day was turning into something just short of a dark and stormy night.

“You’re joking, right?”
Chris sounded perplexed more than upset.

“No, Chris, the dogs found a bone
. And it looks suspiciously human. Remember when they were digging by that tree in their little yard? That’s what they were digging for.”

Sherlock and Watson
sat, one on each side of me, watching my face. It was almost as though they were waiting for reassurance about what they’d dug up.

“Are you sure it’s a human bone?” Chris asked.

“I’m pretty sure, although I certainly don’t have a medical degree. And the dogs are acting very odd. I think you should drive over here.”

“I’m on my way,” Chris said
. “Go get Big D and ask him to take a look at the bone. His father is a doctor, so Davey should know something about bones. Don’t call Janet until I get there.” He seemed to feel the need for a united front, too. We weren’t involved in the crimes, but they were going to have a dramatic effect on us and our livelihood. If only our dogs weren’t diggers; our lives would be so much simpler.

We hung up and I walked through the restaurant, looking for Big D, while the dogs shadowed me so closely that I was afraid they’d
trip me. I found him in the front yard talking to a couple of the workmen.

He smiled at me
, leaving his employees to their work and approaching me. “Hey, Pammy, thanks for the burgers. The guys…”

He took a closer look at my face and glanced behind me at the dogs, his smile still in place
, but changing from friendly to concerned.

“What’s wrong?
You look upset and the dogs are acting weirder than usual. They look, well, clingy. Are you okay?”

“
They are clingy. My Labs may have made what some people would call a startling discovery. Davey, do you think you could identify a human bone if you saw one?”

His smile disappeared in a heartbeat
. “Yes, I probably can. My dad is a doctor. I learned a lot from him while I was growing up.”

“Yeah, Chris told me
. Would you come with me please?”

The guys studied us, sensing something was wrong
. They stood up as though to follow us, and Big D waved them off. “I’ll call you if I need you,” he said. They stood back, watching us enter the house and talking quietly to each other. We walked right through and out to the yard, with the dogs following.

“Can you put the dogs in the car or something?” Big D asked.

“I’ll close them in the office.” I told them to sit and closed the door behind Davey and myself.

I watched as he studied the bone the dogs had found
– and as his shoulders slumped. I knew he had bad news for me.

“It
’s human,” Davey said. “This is a tibia, or a shin bone. Is this the only bone they found?”

I nodded
. “Chris is on his way.”

“Good.”

I surveyed the back yard. “I wonder if there are many more bodies buried here. The count’s up to two now.”

“Don’t know,” Big D said
. “I think I’ll go out front and send the boys home. The police are probably going to dig things up around here. And just so you know, Sharon is on her way over. She wanted to take you by surprise and ask about those letters. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. You know how she is.”

“Now would not be a good time
for her to try to bully me about the letters,” I said. I began to feel slightly shaky, and I was cold, even though it was a warm day. A second body wasn’t supposed to be in the day’s plans, but I guess things don’t always go the way we want them to.

“I think it’s too late to call her off,” he said
. “I hear her out front talking to a couple of the guys right now.”

H
is hearing must have been better than mine. I couldn’t hear a thing except the dogs scratching on the door, wanting out. Every so often they whined, sounding mournful.

Big D opened the office door and squeezed through without letting the dogs out
. As he entered the house, Sharon came walking around the side, looking like a woman with a purpose. I was that purpose, I felt sure. I turned away from her, facing the hole the dogs had dug.

“Pamela, I want to talk to you
. Why didn’t you share those letters with me? You specifically said if I – ”

I turned on her like a whirlwind
. “Not now, Sharon. I’ve got other things to worry about besides you and whether or not I told you about some letters.” I didn’t recognize my own voice – it sounded high and squeaky to me.

She opened the fence gate and walked up to me
. She started to say something, but seeing my face she stopped. “Pamela? What’s wrong? You look like somebody who’s got a bigger problem than a nosey reporter.”

“You hit
that
one on the head,” I said.

She took a step forward
and I held my hand out to stop her.

“Look out or you’ll step on the bone.”

The look of shocked surprise on her face was priceless. “Bone? What bone?”

I glanced down at the tibia and her gaze followed mine.

“Another
body
?” She had the nerve to sound excited.

“Don’t know,” I said
. “But the dogs did find a bone. I’m waiting for Chris to get here and then I’m calling the police.”

“Your Labs seem to have a penchant for finding bodies
. What is it with those two? Are they cadaver dogs or something?”

“
No.” I really
didn’t
feel like talking at the moment. One body was one thing, but with the finding of another one, I knew the police were going to rip our restaurant and yard to shreds. Who was the second victim, assuming it was another murder? Of course it was, or why would the body be buried in the yard? Were we looking for a serial killer? Considering the ages of the people who were involved, would the killer still be living?

I thought about Sherlock and Watson
. I’d read about cadaver dogs, and as I recall, they reacted similarly to the way my Labs had. They seemed to almost take finding a body personally, and they were stressed out.

“Maybe it’s just one bone,” Sharon said, not actually sounding hopeful.

“Where there’s a tibia, there’s probably a fibula and whole lot of other bones. This is turning into a nightmare.”

“Any idea who it might be?”

“I’ve got a few, but I’ll let the police sort it out.” I was sure it was either Shipley or Long. Of course, it could be Alice Frye, although the bone looked rather large for a woman. She’d lived here during the early forties, too. Could we have missed someone else?

“Come with me, Sharon
. Let’s go wait for Chris in the office.”

She pulled out her cell phone.

“Sharon! Really? You’re going to call this in before the police have even been here?” She was beginning to get on my nerves – every one of them.

“No, but I
’m going to take a picture of that bone.”

“Don’t you think that’s kind of gruesome?
And tacky?”

Sharon had the decency to look embarrassed, but she took a picture with her cell phone anyway
. “It’s just an old white bone, no skin or tissue. This isn’t gruesome. Somehow an old bone just isn’t the same as a fresh, new body.”

There was no holding back this time
. I rolled my eyes so far back in my head that I figured they’d finally stick in that position, just like my mother had warned me they would. After unrolling them and blinking a couple of times, I glanced at Sharon. She hadn’t even noticed my performance.

Opening the office door, I told the dogs to sit and stay
. Bless their hearts; they obeyed me, although not too willingly.

Sharon followed me inside
. “You don’t have any chairs,” she said, complaining. “Where am I supposed to sit?”

“I’m just starting to bring things in
. You can sit on the edge of the desk,” I said. “But if you scratch it, you buy it. Got it?”

Sharon ignored my threat and threw her purse on the desk, glancing at the dogs as though she thought they might rip it up if they got their paws on it
. She hurried over to the window and watched the yard.

“Are you afraid someone will take the bone?” I asked.

“No. Being here when you found the first body was coincidental, and I can’t believe my luck to be here right after you found a leg bone. What are the odds?”

“Okay,” I said, “that’s enough
. You do realize that the bone means there’s a body somewhere, right? And a body means that someone’s life has been snuffed out. We’re talking about a second murder here. Have you no compassion, Sharon? What’s the matter with you, for crying out loud?”

“Of course, I have compassion
. But I also have a story to write.” I was surprised that she didn’t rub her hands together with glee. “A talented reporter has to have thick skin. I can’t let things bother me or I won’t get a good story.”

“Your last story was supposed to be about putting a
positive spin on our restaurant. You broke your promise to us. Why would I want to help you with an article now? I think maybe you should leave.”

“Pamela, I will keep my word; just not now
. When the time is right, I’ll do a story that will absolve your restaurant and you of any involvement in this fiasco. I’ll make people
want
to eat here, no matter what crimes took place. You’ll be the talk of Los Angeles County, and that’s a huge area. Besides, this will be a matter of public record in no time. So I get the details first, and you get a great story later on.”

Surprisingly, I had a feeling she’d do exactly as she said she would
– as long as she got the story she wanted.

“Well, why don’t you wait here with the dogs while I go outside and watch for Chris?
I want him here when I call the police.”

“Why is that?” Sharon asked.

“I have no idea. It just seems like he should be here. Is that alright with you?”

She didn’t respond to my sarcasm, but pulled a pad of paper out of her purse and began writing with one of the pens I’d left on the desk
. She wasn’t wasting any time. I grabbed the rest of my office supplies and shoved them in a corner, far from her grabby little hands.

I said a brief prayer, asking for more patience, and headed for the front of the house
. Before I reached the door I heard Chris’s voice and saw him talking to Big D. They appeared totally serious, with none of their regular joking. Chris looked up and waved me over.

Climbing down the front steps, I said, “
Can you believe this, Chris? I can’t believe this is happening. Should I call Janet now?”

“Yeah, no reason to put it off any longer,” Chris replied
. “I don’t want her to have a beef with us because we didn’t call her right away about a second stiff.”

“Where’s Sharon?” Big D asked.

“Is that dizzy broad here?” Chris asked.

This time I ignored his use of the term
dizzy broad
. “She’s in my office, and she’s already writing a story.”

“I
’m not surprised,” Davey said. “She’s trying very hard to get that reporter’s job. She says she can’t stand doing the
fluff stuff
anymore.”

“What reporter’s job?” I asked.

“There’s an opening at the newspaper. One of the beat reporters is moving out of state. She wants his job and I don’t think she’s going to let anything stop her this time.”

“I give up,” Chris said
. “Let her do her little story. How much harm can she do to us? A second body is definitely going to make the papers, and it might as well be her story.”

“Very magnanimous, Bogey Man,” I said
. “She swears she’ll take care of us with a story when the time is right.”

Pulling out my cell phone, I entered the phone number for the police department and asked for Janet
. I found it interesting that I already had the number memorized. Miracle of miracles, she was in, but I had to wait for a minute because she was on the other line.

“What’s up, Pamela?”

“Uh, we have a problem here.”

“Where?
Did someone break into your house again?” She sounded pleasant, like she was having a good day, but concerned at the same time.