Rachel Alexander 02 - The Dog who knew too much

it’ll be nice to meet a couple of young men for a change, I thought, even if at this point in time they were both murder suspects.
    Like I'm perfect.
    “You mean you’ve ignored my request again, Avram ?”
    That was Janet again, Janet Castle, thirty-three, a bodybuilder who earned her living as a personal trainer and, like the others, did t’ai chi on the side.
    “Enough. I want you all to accept her. To help her learn.”
    They all lived in the neighborhood, all close to the school.
    “Where did she come from? Where were you hu - hu -hiding her? Lisa’s only been d-dead two—” A man’s voice.
    “ Enough . This pushing, this ambition, this jealousy, where does it get you? Not where you say you want to go. You come here so full of yourselves, all of you, how can I teach you anything? Look at the sorry lot of you.”
    I could picture their heads hanging, like three reprimanded golden retrievers. If they had tails, just the tips would be hopefully beating against their chairs as they waited for some sign of forgiveness.
    “I was hoping,” Avi continued in a softer voice, “that when she comes, you would welcome her, teach her, embrace her.”
    “Embrace her?” Janet said.
    I let go of Dash’s collar, and together we sauntered into the staff meeting.
    “Ah, it’s Rachel and Dash. Come in, come in,” Avi said, beaming at me as the other three all turned in unison and stared daggers in my direction. “I’d like you to meet the others.”
    “Hey,” I said, offering one of my most dazzling smiles. “Great to be here.”
    There was an empty chair next to Avi , so I took it, dropping the full backpack and the Zen book next to it, then slipping Lisa’s jacket off and letting it drape, inside out, over the back of the chair. I crossed my legs, adjusted the sleeves of Lisa’s soft black cashmere and cotton sweater, and began to play with her jasper necklace.
    Avi extended a big red hand. “Rachel Alexander, Howard Lish —”
    “Hey,” I said.
    “Stewart Fleck—”
    “Hey, Stew.”
    “And Janet Castle.”
    “Hey, Janet.”
    I might have gotten a more animated response from Mount Rush-more.
    The phone rang, and Avi excused himself. It was the first time I’d seen him interrupt anything he was doing to take a call, and I could only think he wanted the others to have a chance at me. You could just see they were dying of curiosity. He’d probably sit in his office listening as they circled and closed in for the kill.
    “Now I see what my problem is,” Stewie said, staring after Dashiell as he followed Avi into the office. “I don’t have a dog.”
    Janet smirked and ran her fingers nervously through her short hair.
    “So, Rachel,” Howie said, his big face flushed, his hands trembling, “ wh - what did you do before coming here?”
    That’s New York for you. Skip the foreplay and get right down to it. I stared for a moment, making him even more nervous than he managed to be on his own. He was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans that both looked as if they had come from Goodwill, and I’d bet a day’s pay he had at least one hole in his socks.
    “I was a brain surgeon,” I finally said.
    I heard a chair scraping in the office. Avi had probably just fallen off it.
    “Oh, great,” Janet said in her Texas twang, “another one. Oddly enough, we were all brain surgeons before finding t’ai chi.” She began to laugh. “Looks like the old man got a live one this time,” she said, “got to give him credit.” Her hair was boyishly short and blond, nearly white, with a small splash of green at the crown, a case of better living through chemistry.
    “We all have d-day jobs, so to speak,” Howie said, his forehead wrinkled as he waited for me to volunteer something. Good fucking luck on that one. I was only sorry I wasn’t chewing gum. It was definitely the missing touch.
    Fuss, fuss. Lisa had been heavily subsidized by daddy, five or ten thousand dollars at a time, for birthdays, Hannukah , Simchas Torah, whatever, in order to have the privilege of being Avi’s apprentice. So what was this all about? Being teacher’s pet?
    “You live in the neighborhood?” Stewie asked.
    Where were his manners? Next he’d be asking me what my rent was.
    “I’m staying at my cousin’s place,” I told him, “for now.”
    “Your cousin?” Janet asked.
    “My cousin Lisa.”
    Stir things up, Frank used to say; it makes the shit float to the surface.
    “You’re Lisa’s cou