Animal Appetite

Mayhem. I didn’t mention it.
    “I saw that Shaun McGrath was killed,” she said. “He died in a car crash. Was that
    “It wasn’t murder. It really was an accident.” I outlined as briefly and neutrally as possible what I’d learned about Jack’s death, the police investigation, and the assumption that Shaun McGrath had committed the murder. Tracy’s portrayal of the relationship between Jack and Shaun was different from the others I’d heard. According to Tracy, there hadn’t been any real bitterness or enmity. Jack’s complaints about Shaun had focused on trouble between Shaun and the other employees. Tracy seemed to have no idea that Jack had ever had any serious financial troubles at home or at work. (“In case you wondered,” she said, “I always paid my own way.”) No, the police had never questioned her. No one had. Dog people might have asked about Jack, she guessed, but she hadn’t been to a show since Jack died. Every once in a while, she ran into someone who remembered her, but she’d been shy back then, and no one was ever surprised when she said almost nothing. She’d never considered going to the police. What would she have told them?
    The truth, I thought. “Tracy, about Chip?” I asked.
    Again, the elfin smile. “Did I steal Chip?”
    “Jack’s wife didn’t want him.”
    “Well, we did co-own him, but I’ve never been sure of the legalities. I wasn’t showing anymore, and I didn’t want to breed, so it didn’t really matter. You want to know what happened?”
    “Yes.”
    “Like I told you, I went to Jack’s funeral. You know that she never cried? I watched. I was curious. I was probably staring at her. I sat up near the front, toward the side. I was so shy then, I don’t know how I had the guts. But I did. I watched her. She didn’t shed a tear. There were a lot of people there, a lot more than I expected, which was good, because no one asked who I was or what I was doing there. Jack had a lot of friends. So, from the obituary, all I knew was that he was dead. It was only there, at the funeral, that I overheard all this talk about suicide. And of course, I’d never seen her or the kids before. And the whole thing really threw me. I left the second the service was over.”
    “Of course.”
    “And then the weirdest thing happened. I was walking to where I’d left my car, in a parking garage, and I passed this convertible parked on the street. The top was up. One window was half down. And there was Chip. Sticking his head out. I didn’t think about what I was doing. It didn’t occur to me to do anything else. I reached in and unlocked the door, just like it was my car. I got Chip, and I walked off with him.”
    “And?”
    “And nothing. Chip lived to thirteen. End of story.”
    I left for Cambridge early the next morning. When Rita stopped in during a free hour in the afternoon, I told her all about my long conversation with Tracy. “I understand perfectly,” Rita said. “The woman groomed Rowdy’s ancestors and uses the same esoteric brand of dog shampoo you do. Consequently, it makes complete sense for you to suspend your critical faculties and unconditionally accept every word she said. Do I have that right?”
    “Yes,” I told Rita. “You do.”
     

Twenty-Six

     
    “This Tracy person was pregnant,” Rita said. “Her lover was married. At a minimum, she might’ve expected some financial support from him. Do you have any decaf?”
    “Would you not call her ‘this Tracy person’?” I said. “And, no, all I have is the real thing. You want tea? You want a drink?”
    “No. I still have clients. Tea would be nice.” As I filled the kettle and dug out tea bags, Rita exercised her imagination. “For all you know, this Tracy expected him to leave his wife and marry her, and when he refused—”
    “I told you. Jack never made any false promises.”
    “This story she’s told you is unverified,” Rita pointed out.
    “There’s no reason to assume she’s lying. Presumed innocent?”
    “Let’s set aside guilt and innocence for the moment and simply consider a rather different scenario.”
    “Fine. Claudia isn’t so oblivious to Jack’s secret life after all. She knows about Tracy. Maybe she even knows Tracy is pregnant. Anyway, from Claudia’s point of view,; Jack is a terrible husband. He throws money away. She hates him. She hates his dog. Chip would definitely have been tied up if Claudia had been in Jack’s office that night. And