Chow Down (A Melanie Travis Mystery)

substantially.”
    I decided to take that as a yes. Which led to my next question.
    “What did you do at the end of that first meeting?”
    Dorothy’s eyes narrowed. “I assume you’re asking where I was when Larry took his unfortunate fall?”
    I nodded.
    “To tell you the truth, I don’t have any idea. I stayed behind for a few minutes to chat with Simone. I used to work in public relations myself back in the day. I thought perhaps we might find a common chord.”
    Or more likely, she’d thought to increase MacDuff’s chances of winning by ingratiating herself with yet another of the judges.
    “Then I made a pit stop at the loo. After that, MacDuff and I took the elevator down to the lobby. I’ll tell you exactly the same thing I told those two officers. Since I don’t have any idea exactly when Larry met his demise, I could have been doing any number of things at the time.”
    That didn’t help much, did it? I sat back in my seat. My toe nudged Faith, who lifted her head. “Good girl,” I murmured. “We’re almost there.”
    “And?” Dorothy said sharply. I realized she was still staring in my direction.
    “And what?”
    “I certainly don’t see why I should be the only one to furnish a description of my whereabouts. Where were you when the dire deed occurred?”
    “On the stairwell,” I mumbled. As if there was any hope she would find that answer satisfactory. When Dorothy continued to stare, I offered up a more detailed explanation.
    “Too bad you weren’t paying more attention,” she said at the end. Her tone was more than a little accusatory. “The police could have this whole thing wrapped up by now, and we wouldn’t have to go around wondering which one of us was busy hatching plots against the others. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about already.”
    “You mean the contest.”
    “Of course I mean the contest. What else would I be talking about? MacDuff and I have made it this far, and we intend to go all the way. All I can say is, nobody had better try and stop us or they’ll be sorry they ever got in our way.”
    “You realize,” I said mildly, “that now it sounds as though you’re the one making threats.”
    “Don’t be silly. How could anyone possibly find MacDuff and me threatening? We’re the senior citizens of the group. You know what that means, don’t you?”
    The first answer that came to mind was that it didn’t require either youth or strength to push someone down a flight of steps if you caught them off guard. Since I doubted that that was where Dorothy was headed, however, I kept that thought to myself and shook my head.
    “It means that we’ve been around the block a few times. We’ve got the experience and the know-how to be winners. Maybe we don’t look as formidable as some of the other finalists, but nobody should make the mistake of underestimating us. We’ve got a few tricks left up our sleeves yet.”
    Perfect, I thought. That was just what this contest needed. More tricks.

    The bus double parked on a busy cross street just around the corner from the south end of Central Park. Horns blared, streams of pedestrians filled the sidewalks, traffic eddied around us in fits and starts. Welcome to the big city.
    Faith had her ears flattened against her head. I wished I could do the same.
    Instead I reached down and checked the clasp on her leash and collar, making sure that everything was hooked up tight. My Poodle was dependable off leash, but in the midst of this much noise and confusion I wasn’t about to take any chances.
    As soon as the bus stopped moving, Doug stepped up to the front to make a brief announcement. “In just a minute, we’ll be heading across Fifth Avenue and into the park. Once we’re there, I want each of you to do whatever makes you feel comfortable with regard to your own dog. My only request is that you try to stay at least somewhat loosely grouped. We, the judges, will be observing your interaction with the public and Charlie will be capturing much of what happens on film. So we don’t want to have to be looking all over trying to figure out where everyone went. Okay?”
    Dutifully we all nodded.
    “Field trips,” Ben muttered under his breath. “You gotta love them. It’s just like being back in elementary school.”
    “At least we don’t have to wear name tags and hold hands,” Allison Redding replied. Ginger had ridden into the city on the seat beside Allison and her husband. Now she hopped the