Chow Down (A Melanie Travis Mystery)

were having a very enlightening discussion.”
    Doug steered me toward an alcove on the side of the lobby. The other four finalists were waiting there, bunched together in a tight little group. Nervousness emanated from them like a palpable wave.
    Doug growled under his breath. He was clearly not amused by my excuse. “Now is not the time for enlightenment.”
    “On the contrary, it may be the only time. Or the last chance we’re going to get.”
    “For what?”
    “To figure out who murdered Larry Kim.”
    We’d almost reached the alcove. Abruptly Doug stopped walking. Since he was still holding my arm, I got yanked to a halt, too.
    “That’s not why we’re here.”
    “It should be.”
    “What is the matter with you?” He jerked his hand back and forth, giving me a rude little shake. “Don’t you understand what’s at stake here? This is a huge PR opportunity for everyone involved. Champions Dog Food is about to award someone an advertising contract worth one hundred thousand dollars. Think about that for a minute. And think about what you might be jeopardizing if you continue on with this crazy behavior.”
    “I have thought about it.” I stepped away and pulled my arm free. I’d had just about enough of Doug’s bullying. “And I’m not the one who’s acting crazy. Nor am I jeopardizing anything, because I already know what my chances are of winning this contest. They’re zero, nada, zip. And you know how I know that? Because the outcome was fixed from the start.”
    Somebody gasped. I didn’t see who it was, but the small sound was enough to let me know that the other contestants were listening to our conversation.
    Ben stepped forward from the group. Brando was at his side. “What are you talking about?”
    “Nothing,” Doug said quickly. “Melanie doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
    “I know exactly what I’m saying. This contest is a sham, it has been all along.” I turned and addressed the other finalists. “All the events we’ve attended, the competitions we’ve participated in, they were just a waste of time. Chow Down’s spokesdog was hand-picked before the other four of us were even selected to be finalists.”
    Dorothy looked shocked. Lisa was shaking her head vehemently. Allison and Bill were paying attention though.
    “Who is it?” asked Allison. “Who’s the winner?”
    “Good God!” Doug roared. “You’re about to ruin everything.”
    His hand raised. For a moment I wasn’t sure whether Doug meant to hit me or clap his palm over my mouth to shut me up. It all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to move to defend myself.
    It turned out that I didn’t have to. Ever attuned to the mood of the humans around her, Faith took care of that for me.
    As Doug’s hand came up, she leapt toward it. Her teeth closed over his wrist and dragged his arm back down. Only when his hand was back at his side did she let go. The Poodle’s dark eyes fastened intently on his and their message was clear. Don’t try that again.
    The other finalists were all dog people. They didn’t even blink when Faith leapt to my defense. Besides, they had bigger things to worry about.
    “The contest couldn’t have been decided that early,” said Ben. “Cindy told me just last week that she’d been able to sway a couple of votes in my direction.”
    “Cindy wanted to date a television star,” I said. “She’d have said anything she thought would keep you happy.”
    “ You were seeing Cindy?” asked Bill.
    “What of it?” Ben turned on the other man. “It’s not like the rest of you wouldn’t have used something to your advantage if you could. Take Dorothy, for instance. She sold Chris Hovick a Scottie puppy. His pet dog is related to MacDuff.”
    I remembered that Ben had been sitting near Dorothy and me that day on the bus. He must have been eavesdropping on our conversation.
    “They’re not the only ones that are related,” I said. “Dorothy is Chris’s aunt.”
    Doug spun around to face her. “Is that true?”
    Dorothy glared at me, then reluctantly nodded.
    “That’s against the rules,” said Lisa.
    “Don’t tell me about rules,” Dorothy snapped. “I should have been the one to make up the rules. After all, I’m the one who came up with the idea for the contest in the first place.”
    “No, you didn’t.” Doug sounded a little desperate. He looked like a man who knew he was losing control of a situation and had no idea how to regain order. “The