A Dog's Life

by Myra Love

       Chapter VIII 

Tim Coolidge lived just on the other side of the county line.  Anita reminded me as she drove up to his house that we were now outside of my jurisdiction.  I resented that, but only a little.  I knew I hadn’t handled the interaction with Tad out at the cabin very well and was determined to do better this time.  So Anita’s warning was deserved, I thought, but not really necessary.

The Coolidge house was on a deserted road, and it looked deserted as well.  Nothing in the dusty front yard, no curtains on the windows, and no functioning doorbell.  Anita rapped on the door with her knuckles.  “Hello, Tim.  I’m here with your pen.”

“I don’t think anyone is home,” I grumbled.  Just then I heard footsteps and the door opened.  “Come on in,” a deep voice said.  I didn’t see anyone at first, but when Anita walked through the door, I followed her.

Tim Coolidge looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t have said where I’d seen him.  He peered out at me from under bushy, gray eyebrows.  “Andy Searle, right?” he rumbled.

He stuck out his left hand.  “I’m Tim Coolidge,” he continued.  “I’d give you my right hand to shake, but my right arm is immobilized at the moment.”  He leaned his head toward his right shoulder, and I noticed that his arm was in a cast supported by a sling.  I hesitated for a second then shook his left hand with mine, not quite certain if I ought not to have done it right-handed since there was nothing wrong with my right arm.

“Come take a seat,” he said, ignoring my confusion.

I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tad, but he was nowhere in sight.  Anita sat down on the one armchair in the living room, so I tentatively seated myself on a folding chair next to her.

“My wife took most of the furniture,” Coolidge announced apologetically.  “I haven’t gotten around to replacing anything since she left.”

“When was that?” I blurted out from sheer discomfort.  “And what did you do to your arm?”

Anita glared at me, but Coolidge seemed happy that I’d asked.  He sat down on the folding chair across from me.  “My wife left me, let’s see, it’ll be two years ago next month.  And I fell out of a tree and broke my arm.  That was, lemme see, about three weeks ago.”

I nodded, wanting to ask where Tad was, but when I looked over at Anita, she was just about to speak.

“Here’s the pen, Tim.  I took the liberty of filling it for you since you’d have a hard time doing that one-handed.”

Tim took the pen from her with a smile.  “Thank you very kindly, ma’am.  I appreciate your taking the time and trouble to help me out.”

I cleared my throat, but Anita gave me a warning look, so I didn’t say anything.

“Can I get you folks some coffee?”  Coolidge offered,  “Tad made me a pot before he went out.”

I felt deflated.  So much for our plan of talking to Tad.

“He really didn’t want to see you,” Coolidge continued to Anita.  Then he  peered at me.  “He’s pretty upset at Miss Carswell, for leading you to him.  Says you pulled a gun on him and threatened to arrest him.  Don’t they teach you not to draw your gun unless you intend to use it?”

I didn’t reply, but Anita chimed in.  “Andy and I believe Tad was exploited by CC Clausen.  We’d like to give him a chance to put the blame where it belongs.”

Coolidge gave a loud harumph.  “So you need him to pin the dog theft on Clausen, do you?  Well, I’d advise him to mind his own business, but he’s pretty steamed at CC for firing him, so you might have a chance. Then again, I’m not sure he has any inclination to talk to you. Pulling a gun on a youngster like him just wasn’t smart.”

I really wanted to say something in my defense, but Anita shook her head.  “He’s not a youngster.  He’s a grown man.  He could have gotten into a lot of trouble.  I know he’s a bit limited, but that wouldn’t have stopped the state’s attorney from charging him with theft.”

Coolidge didn’t argue.  “Do you want coffee or not?”

Anita shook her head.  “No, thanks.  We’ve taken up enough of your time.”
Coolidge grinned at her.  “Got nothing but time.  I can’t work with my arm like this.”  He shook his head.  “Tad is in St. Louis, at the employment office.  He’ll be back tonight.  I’ll tell him what you said.  Maybe he’ll come to see you.”  He was speaking to Anita, not to me.  Anita smiled.

“Good, Anita said crisply.  “If he doesn’t come up with a job before then, I may know someone who needs a bit of yard work.”

Coolidge shrugged.  “I’ll tell him that too.”

“I hate to admit it, but the chief is probably right.  This case isn’t going anywhere,” I grumbled, once Anita and I were back in the car.  When she didn’t respond, I glared at her and added, “This is all your fault, you know.”

She smirked.  “Is that so?” she replied mildly.  “Does that mean I’ll get all the credit when it works out?”

I grunted.  “It’s not going to work out.  Clausen and Jim and anyone else involved got away with their scam.”

Anita rolled her eyes.  “Andy, they got away with nothing whatsoever.  Mattie has her dog.  No money changed hands.  You just didn’t make an arrest, and that’s about to change.”

“Yeah, right!  Now you’ve added fortune-telling to your résumé.”

With a sigh, she shook her head.  “Jim’s computer is still at the state police lab.  There may be a lead there.  And Tad is in need of a job.”

“What does Tad’s employment status have to do with anything?” I demanded.

“He’s developmentally challenged, Andy.  He’s not going to come up with anything in St. Louis.  I’m willing to bet he’ll be ringing my doorbell once his uncle lets him know I have a way for him to get work.”

She was indulging in wishful thinking, I was sure, but I didn’t argue.  We pulled into the space in front of the police station and went our separate ways.

I had a lot of work to catch up on, so I didn’t see Anita for almost a week.  Lisa and I kept arguing about our wedding plans, and that put me on edge.  I’d never expected to get married, and every now and then, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea.  I loved Lisa, but sometimes I didn’t like her all that much, especially when she acted stubborn and reminded me of her father.  Mr. Dunn was not my favorite person in the world.

So, I wasn’t in a positive frame of mind when Anita called me late Friday afternoon.  I was just about to leave the station, and I didn’t want to talk.  She could tell, of course, but she wasn’t offended.

“I’ll make it brief, Andy.  Tad Jackson came back to talk to me about some work, and we got to discussing CC Clausen and the theft of Mattie’s bulldog.  He’s willing to talk to you if you promise not to pull your gun on him, threaten him with arrest, or yell at him if he’s slow to answer your questions.”

“Those are an awful lot of conditions,” I grumbled.  “If he knows something, he needs to come forward and tell us.  Otherwise he’s an accessory.”

I heard her sigh.  “Andy, do you want to talk with him or not?”

“All right,” I said grudgingly.  “When and where?  This better be good!”

“Don’t do me any favors,” she snapped.  “If meeting with Tad is too much of an imposition, I can call the chief and let him handle it.”

“No,” I replied, “it’s not an imposition.  I’d like to talk with him.”

“My house at two tomorrow,” she said curtly and hung up.

The clock in my cruiser read 1:45 when I pulled up to Anita’s house.  I’d left early to catch her alone.  I wanted to get back on good terms with her.  Our phone call had been tense and ended so abruptly.  But when I got to her front door, I heard voices inside the house.  Tad was already there.

“What’s that thing?” he asked.

“A loupe,” Anita’s hoarse voice replied.  “I use it to examine the nibs on fountain pens.”

“Oh yeah,” Tad replied.  “You collect those things, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

There was a momentary pause.  “Why?” I heard his voice again.  “Are they easier to write with than regular pens?”

Anita chuckled.  “For me they are.  And more fun too.”

I could hear Tad’s breathing.  He had a cold.  “The one you’re holding looks nice,” he said.  “Pretty colors.”

I’d listened long enough, I thought, so I knocked.

“Come on in, Andy,” Anita called out.  “The door’s not locked.”

Tad gave me a scared look as I entered the living room.  I nodded to him.

“Hello, Tad.  Thanks for agreeing to talk with me.”

He relaxed a little, letting himself sink back into the sofa, and I sat down on the chair across from him.  Anita was standing at the small table right on the other side of the sofa.  She put down the pen she’d been holding and seated herself next to Tad.  That seemed to relax him even more.  He grinned broadly and announced, “Guess what?  Miss Carswell found me a job!  I’m going to be Mrs. Euler’s gardener.  She has a big yard and her gardener had to quit.  He’s in the reserves and got called up.”
Marian Euler was one of Anita’s oldest friends.  She was also the town’s funeral director.  I wondered if Tad was afraid of ghosts.  I’d known a few people who refused to work anywhere near the Euler place because they believed the house was haunted.

Anita nodded.  “Marian was more than happy to have Tad work for her.”

Tad beamed.  “I’m a good gardener.  I like plants.”

Though I was relieved that Tad was in a talkative mood, I wanted to turn the conversation to the theft of Mattie’s dog.  I didn’t exactly know how to do it without reminding him of the last time we’d had dealings.  So, I sat fidgeting, while he prated on about all the different kinds of plants he’d tended during his life.  Anita smirked at me.  She could tell I was impatient and was not about to help me out.

Finally, Tad ran out of gas.  He stopped talking and looked from Anita to me and back to Anita again.   Anita smiled at him and then turned to me.

“Andy, Tad told me he’s willing to tell you exactly how he came to be looking after your aunt’s dog, but you have to let him tell the story without interrupting him or asking questions, or else he’ll get confused and lose track of what he’s saying.”

I glared at her.  “Is it okay if I take notes and ask questions afterwards?” I asked sullenly.

I was surprised when Tad answered.  “Sure, that’s okay,” he said.  “I just need to tell it the way it happened or I get confused.  And Miss Carswell has to stay.  I already told her what happened, and I’ll feel better if she’s here to hear me tell it again.”

I nodded, a bit surprised that he was so forthcoming.

“Okay, Tad,” I said, pulling out my notebook, “I’m ready when you are.”

Tad’s story was surprisingly coherent.  He’d been sweeping the car lot early on Thursday of the week before Dr. Phil disappeared.  Clausen called him into the showroom, where he found Mattie and Jim drinking coffee.  Tom Willard came in soon afterwards.  Mattie and Jim had both been present when Clausen told him he’d get paid overtime for looking after Dr. Phil.  Mattie left shortly after that, and Jim stayed around to arrange for Tad to pick up the dog.  Clausen gave Tad the door chain and made sure he knew how to install it so that it could be opened from the outside using a long wire with a hooked end.  When Tad went to the house to get the dog, he didn’t see Mattie.  Jim told him she’d gone to get her hair styled.  Jim put a leash on Dr. Phil and handed him over to Tad.  Then he got into his car and ordered Tad to put Dr. Phil in his truck and follow.  They drove out to the cabin where Jim supervised the installation of the chain and then left him with the dog.  Bags of dry dog food and dishes for food and water were already in the cabin when Tad got there.

I didn’t really have any questions.  I was disheartened by Mattie’s role in the proceedings, but I didn’t see how to proceed in the investigation to an arrest.  I believed Tad, but I didn’t think his word would stand up to cross-examination.  I doubted that he could hold his own in a private confrontation with Clausen, Willard, and my aunt and uncle, if it came to that.  Not unless Anita was there to hold his hand anyway.  So I was sure he’d fall apart in public in front of a judge.

I thanked him and told him that I’d be back in touch..  He looked from me to Anita and then back to me again.  “You can reach me at my uncle’s place,” he said, “or at Mrs. Euler’s during working hours.”  Then he thanked Anita and left.

I got to my feet.  “Well, thanks for arranging that.”  I hoped my voice didn’t betray my disappointment. “I don’t think we can go anywhere with the information, but now at least I know.”

Anita sighed.  “Sit down, Andy.  Or better yet, come into the kitchen.  I’ll put on water for tea.”

I hesitated.  I’d intended to repair my slightly frayed relationship with Anita, but now that I had the chance, I didn’t feel like it. “I don’t want tea,” I replied peevishly.  “I’m bummed.”  I took a couple of steps towards the front door.

When Anita asked, “About what?” I stopped in my tracks and looked at her with my mouth hanging open.

Anita laughed.  “Incredulity does not become you, Andy.  Sit down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?” I repeated without sitting down.  “My aunt set me up, that’s what.  She was in on the scam.”

Anita smiled and shook her head.  “I think you’re jumping to conclusions.”

“What?  Weren’t you listening to Jackson?  She was there in Clausen’s office…”

Anita sighed impatiently and cut me off. “Do you want Mattie to be guilty?  Is that what this is about?”

I stared at her.  “Of course not.”

“Well then, stop thinking like an aggrieved relative and start thinking like an investigator.”

“Okay.  Why don’t you help me since you have all the answers.”

She sighed again.  “You have been in the most trying mood, Andy. What’s wrong?  Are you and Lisa having problems?”

“We’re not having problems.  She’s being a stubborn mule just like her dad.”

Anita nodded.  “Well, we can talk about that some other time.  But for right now, you need to focus on what you actually know rather than what you’re afraid might be the case.”

“Can I have that cup of tea?” I asked.

© 2015 Myra Love - All Rights Reserved