“Not very diplomatic.”Or smart.
Mendoza shook his head.He was watching the traffic on Thompson Lane, and when he spotted a gap, he punched the gas.We shot across four lanes of traffic and into the far lane that would be going south at the intersection with Nolensville Road.I swallowed a shriek as we came close to being creamed by an oversized SUV coming up behind us.The driver lay on the horn.Mendoza flipped a switch on his dashboard, and blue lights flickered in the sedan’s rear window.The SUV fell back, and Mendoza flipped the switch off.“Works every time.”
I hid a smile.“So what else did the girl say?Her name wasn’t Tatiana, was it?”
He shook his head.“Susan.”
“And did she know Anastasia?”
“She said she didn’t,” Mendoza said, and took the turn onto Nolensville Road without slowing down.“To me and to Zachary.”
“And?”
“He asked her if there were any other Russian or Eastern European businesses where Anastasia might work.Or where they might know her.She referred him to the bulletin board.”
I pulled out the business card I had appropriated.“Ta-dah!”
Mendoza squinted at it.
“Eyes on the road,” I told him.“It’s a club called Stella’s.They’re advertising the old cliché: women, wine, and song.”
Mendoza arched his brows and I added, “Music, dancing, girls.I’ll let you see the card, but not while you’re driving.I want to get there in one piece.”
“Tell me where to go, then.”
I did.“It’s just below the entrance to the zoo.On the other side of the street.”
The car zoomed down Nolensville Road, past Boling & Howard Funeral Home.We were already almost back to Southern Hills Hospital.The entrance to the zoo was coming up on the right.
“You said you talked to Araminta Tucker earlier,” I said.
Mendoza nodded.
“Did you happen to bring the conversation around to Edwina?”If Araminta was Griselda Grimshaw’s nearest relative and heir, chances were Edwina’s fate was in her hands.
I tried to imagine Edwina living in the fussy living room with the big screen TV.Those big bat ears would probably take a beating from the volume.The poor thing would go deaf in no time.
“She doesn’t want Edwina,” Mendoza said.
“Are you sure?”
“It’s a pet free zone.And she wouldn’t want Griselda’s animal, anyway.She said to take her to the pound.”
My jaw dropped.“Surely not?”
“That’s what she said.”
“You aren’t going to, are you?”
He shot me a look.“I planned to tell her that the dog’s taken care of.If she chooses to believe that I took her to the pound, then she can believe that.”
“Thank you.”
After a second I added, “So you’ll let me keep her?”
“I thought I’d give you first refusal.If you don’t want her, I’ll find someone else.But I’m not taking that sweet little dog to the pound.”
Good.“I’ll keep her,” I said.“I didn’t realize I wanted a dog.Or… I didn’t want a dog.But I kind of like having a dog.”
