*
OF COURSE, AS soon as I was back in Trey’s car, I remembered exactly where I’d seen the ring—in Rufus Manning’s photograph. The close-up shot of the couple’s clasped hands. I thought back to the photo and the way the diamond shimmered in the sun. It was the very same square setting, I was sure of it. The ring was so unique, it had to be the same. Immediately, I took out my phone and called Sean, but it was too late. He wasn’t answering. Probably in that meeting he’d told me about. I was going to leave a message, then realized his meeting would take some time. By that time Rufus would likely be setting up for another day at the expo and Sean or one of his officers would have to come down there to ask about the photo—meaning one more indication to his sergeant that Sean was wasting time on a closed case. But I’d be at the expo soon after that anyway; I could at least save that much effort for Sean before I called him back. So I just hung up before leaving a message. I’d see him later at dinner anyway. I glanced at my watch. The expo was due to start in just a couple of hours. Enough time for me to swing back by the office and get a few things done before I was due at the Arts Center.
However, things didn’t go quite as I’d planned. When I arrived back at the office, I found Vicky standing next to her desk with a worried look on her face. “Lila, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. “All the other agents are out for a late lunch and then heading straight to the expo.”
“What’s going on?”
She held up Olive’s leash. “Olive needs to go for a walk. If she’s not taken soon, she’ll have an accident. But I hate to leave the office unattended.” As if on cue, Olive began whimpering. She looked like she had her paws crossed.
I reached for the leash. “I still have my coat on. How about I take her?”
Vicky exhaled. “Thank you, Lila. Besides, Olive and I could use a break from each other. It’s been quite the morning.” She reached in her desk and grabbed something. “And don’t forget these.”
I looked down and saw a plastic roll in my hand. “What’s this?”
“Bags.” She raised a brow at my dumbfounded expression. “For after Olive does her business. It wouldn’t do to leave a mess for others to happen upon.”
“No, that wouldn’t do,” I said with a roll of my eyes. I pocketed the bags and hooked up Olive’s leash. Outside, I paused at the top of the steps, picking her up and holding her close to my chest as we navigated the stairway down to the back lot, though not too tightly for fear of an even worse accident than one on the office carpet. As soon as her little paws hit the ground, she scurried over to a set of evergreen bushes. I got a bag ready.
“Better now?” I asked, after completing cleanup detail, dangling the warm baggie of her business in my hand. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes for half a second before darting away again. With a tug of the leash, she started off in another direction, her nails scraping the pavement as she tried to pull me along. I laughed. “Okay, Olive. We’ll go for a walk. Besides, we could both use the exercise.”
As we passed by, I glanced wantonly toward Espresso Yourself, wishing I could take the dog inside and order a caramel latte. What I wouldn’t do for a sweet caffeine jolt and one of Makayla’s muffins! It’d been a long morning already and I was half starved. But instead, I barely had time to deposit the baggie in the receptacle outside the door before Olive pulled and sniffed her way through the lot and around the corner. Eventually, after several pit stops, we made our way onto High Street, where I tossed a wave at Jay Coleman at the Constant Reader. He was inside his front window dusting the books on display. Farther down the street, I ran into Ruthie Watson, my friend from Sherlock Holmes Realty. She was making her rounds to the downtown businesses, delivering the latest edition of Valley Homes—a real estate brochure listing local residences for sale. She oohed and aahed over Olive while we chatted awhile. Next up was All Creatures, Feathered and Furry. I stopped on the walk outside and looked down at Olive. “Shall we go inside and say hello to your old friends?” I asked. She barked her agreement.
Matt immediately stopped what he was doing and came over to greet us. “Hello, Olive! How are you, girl?” He bent down, petting her behind the ears and looking up at me. “Is she behaving?”
“Not really. You didn’t tell us she was part beaver.”
His face scrunched. “Huh?”