"No, not Raymond," June said soothingly. "We wanted to talk to you about Scarsdale."
Lucy's eyes widened, and a distraught expression crossed her face. "Why do you want to talk about him?"
"We just wanted to know if you happened to see the medication that Dr. Masterson planned on using," Sara Lee said gently.
Lucy gasped. "The... the..."
"Yes, dear. I'm so sorry to ask."
"Well, yes." Her eyes teared up as her brow furrowed. "Um… the tech came in and gave Scarsdale an injection to make her sleepy. Then Carl came in. I don't remember much. I was holding Scarsdale, but he… he… took his last breath in my arms.” Her voice broke, and a tear slid down her cheek. “He didn’t even need the medication. And then Carl checked Scarsdale’s heart, and I buried my face in his fur and didn't pay attention to anything else."
“Did you happen to see what happened to the syringe… afterward?”
Lucy wiped her eyes, her composure crumbling. "I just don't understand—" she gasped suddenly, her eyes flying wide open. "You think I did something?—"
"No, no, we don't," June assured her quickly. "We’re just wondering if you saw the tech leave it, or if Carl handed it off."
"No," Lucy said, her voice thick with emotion. "Carl asked me about it, and so did the sheriff. But I was distraught. I called Helena and left a message for her to come be with me.”
“Helena was there?” Sara Lee asked.
“No… she was out in the county with Pete on a visit. She called Diane to come to drive me home."
"Diane?" June and Sara Lee asked simultaneously, exchanging a quick glance.
"Yes. She came to be with me since I couldn’t stop crying."
"Diane was in the veterinary room with you?" June asked carefully.
"No... she was waiting for me in the lobby." Lucy looked between them, confusion replacing her tears. "Why? What does this have to do with anything?"
June reached over and patted Lucy's hand. "Nothing, dear. We're just trying to understand the timeline of things. I'm so sorry we brought up such a painful memory."
Sara Lee waited until Lucy was more composed, then asked, “What happened at the festival. Why did you throw the lemonade at Raymond?"
Lucy's jaw tightened, but she met June's gaze steadily. "He mentioned not having seen me without my dog." Her voice wavered slightly on the word 'dog.' "He didn't know Scarsdale had died, but he was just being nasty. Making some cruel comment about how I looked incomplete or diminished without him." She paused, her hands clenching in her lap. "I threw my cup at him and stormed off before I cried in front of him. I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction."
"What happened after that?" June asked quietly.
"Orville rushed over and led me away. We didn't stay much longer at the festival after that. Came home and had dinner. Orville just wanted me to feel better, kept asking what he could do." Lucy's expression softened slightly at the mention of her husband's concern. "We went to bed early. I just wanted the day to be over."
She looked directly at June, her voice firm despite the emotion underneath. "Raymond was despicable. If he caught you at a weakness, he would exploit itwithout mercy. I hated him for that. But I didn't kill him, June. All my thoughts were on my broken heart, on missing Scarsdale. Raymond Melton wasn't worth another second of my time."
They left shortly after. Outside, Sara Lee turned to her grandmother as they walked back toward home. "Diane was there. At the clinic. The day Lucy's dog was put down."
"Yes," June said thoughtfully. "And Carl, his tech, and Lucy walked to place Scarsdale in the back, leaving the room unoccupied.”
“But Diane was in the lobby, waiting. How could Diane have taken it?" Sara Lee's voice was barely above a whisper.
June didn't answer immediately. They walked in silence for a block before she finally spoke. "Tomorrow, we can go to the library and talk to Diane.”
22
SARA LEE
The next day, Sara Lee and June finished the breakfast dishes and were ready to head to the library. Pippi's ears perked up, and she scrambled from her spot under Sara Lee's feet, nails clicking across the hardwood floor as she rushed to the front door. Mister Smee wandered along the hall, unhurried and unworried.
Her heart did a small flip when she looked through the window and saw Carl standing on the porch. He was wearing jeans and a faded blue T-shirt, his hair slightly rumpled, like he'd been running his hands through it. Even from here, she could see the tension in his shoulders.
