Chapter Eighteen
Minutes later, Samwas back home.Arlo greeted her enthusiastically, nuzzling her leg as she walked inside.
Her phone rang.Sam glanced at the screen, smiling when she saw Ginny’s name there.Ginny was the president of the local agility club that she and Arlo belonged to.Arlo loved the exercise and the interaction with the other dogs there.And Sam liked all the club members.“Hi Ginny,” she said.
“Hey there!Pixie is losing her mind with boredom, so I decided to make an impromptu Saturday afternoon agility gathering.Are you and Arlo in?”
Pixie was Ginny’s Jack Russell, and she had just about as much energy as Ginny did, which was saying something.At first, Sam didn’t think she felt like she could rise to the occasion.Then she realized it might be just what she needed.And it would be good for Arlo, too.He was smiling his doggy grin at her, tail wagging as if he somehow knew who was on the other end of the phone.
“Sure.Right now?”
“Come on by!”said Ginny.“I’ve already called some of the others.See you soon.”
It wasn’t long before Arlo and Sam joined the group in the golden light of the late afternoon.The dogs were playing freely on the field.Dave’s border collie, Rocket, was fruitlessly trying to herd everyone while Ziggy, the whippet, was making huge loops on the field.Arlo was trying to keep up on his short legs.Sam felt herself laughing, feeling the tension slowly releasing from her body.
No one was talking about murder, either.They were talking about the types of dog food they were giving their animals, about agility training and how their dogs were doing with it, and Sam’s young friend, Franklin’s, agility course that he’d made behind the community center.
Lucy, Ziggy’s owner, approached Sam with a couple of water bottles and Ziggy at her heels.“Sam, do you have a minute?I need to bounce something off you.”
“Sure, no problem, Lucy.What’s up?”
She leaned forward.“I hope you don’t mind me being nosy.But I heard you were at Charlotte’s bookstore when Margaret was found.I’m sorry.Was she a friend of yours?”
Sam thought wryly that she should have known she couldn’t completely stay away from talk about the murders.She still hadn’t gotten used to living in a small town and how quickly gossip could spread.“No, Margaret was a new acquaintance of mine.We were in book club together.But it was still very shocking.”
Lucy nodded, looking sober.“I bet it was.It’s hard to believe something like that could happen in Sunset Ridge.And in Twice-Told Tales, of all places.”She paused.“I didn’t know Margaret, but I’d kind of gotten a bad impression of her.Was she always hard to get along with?”
“She could be, I think.Margaret had sort of a prickly personality from what I could tell.”
Lucy said, “I saw Margaret recently, as a matter of fact.”
“When did you see her?”
“It was just a day or two before she died.I was walking Ziggy through downtown after we’d hit the trails.Margaret was arguing with Claire Mills.Do you know her?”
Sam said, “Yes, she’s our book club president.”She frowned.“Could you hear what they were arguing over?”
“Not much.Of course, I was trying to act like I wasn’t listening in.Margaret said something about Claire should be thankful for her honesty.But Claire didn’t look thankful at all.She was crying.Like, a lot.”Lucy made a face.“I was wondering if I should say something to the police.I feel like I’m the town busybody.I know I had to talk to the cops about something during that last investigation, too.”
“You’re just someone who’s really observant and who covers a lot of ground with those long walks of yours.It’s not like you’re trying to impose yourself in the middle of other people’s business.”
“Well, it sure feels that way,” said Lucy wryly.“Anyway, I thought I’d bounce that off you.See what you thought.I guess I’ll give a statement to the police.I just hate doing it because Claire has always been really nice to me.I feel like I’m throwing her under the bus.”
“No, she’s already on the police radar as a member of book club.And I think they’d appreciate getting a little more perspective on who had issues with Margaret.”
Lucy nodded, looking relieved.“Okay.Thanks, Sam.I feel better about it.”She stood up.“Come on, Ziggy.Let’s see if you can keep up with Rocket.”
The whippet bounded around her, and Sam watched them rejoin the group.Across the field, Ginny was orchestrating what looked like an impromptu game of chase, with Pixie yapping orders at dogs three times her size.
