Partner In Crime

“It’s Sadie,” Joa

“I’ll be right there,” Butch said.

Hanging up, Joa

Inside the office waiting room, Je

Joa

Je

Since Je

Initially, Joa

And if Je

Fifteen minutes after his phone call, Butch drove up and parked beside the Eagle. When he entered the waiting room, a buzzer in the back of the office a

Butch took the chair on Je

Je

Butch held her and stroked her hair. “There, there,” he said, while his eyes sought Joa

Joa

“I’m sorry, Jen,” Butch continued, holding her tightly. “I’m so very sorry.”

Je

Seeing the grim expression on the vet’s face, Joa

“Sadie is Je

Millicent sighed and nodded. “Very well,” she said. She eased her stocky frame into another of the waiting-room chairs. “I’ve looked at the X rays. Sadie has a large tumor on one of her lungs and a smaller one on the other. The larger one is affecting her heart.”

“Tumors?” Je

“It’s like that with animals sometimes,” Millicent Ross explained gently. “Tumors come on swiftly. A few months ago, when Sadie was here because of that poisoning incident, there was no sign of a tumor. Now there are two. Her lungs are filling up with fluid. That’s why she’s having such difficulty breathing.”

Je

Dr. Ross shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing, really,” she said. “Sadie’s in pain and she’s suffering. The longer we wait, the harder it will be for her.”

“You mean we should put her to sleep?”

While Joa

“Yes,” the vet replied.

“When? Now?”

“There’s no sense in prolonging it, Je

“No,” Je

“That’s really not necessary,” Dr. Ross said. “She’s still strapped to the gurney…”

“Sadie doesn’t like being at the vet’s, and she hates those metal tables,” Je

Millicent Ross nodded. “Good thinking,” she said. “If you’ll come with me, then…”

Still clutching the blanket, Je

As the door to the back office closed, Joa

“Je

“She’s one smart kid,” Butch said admiringly. “I wonder where she gets it.”

I MADE MY WAY back uptown and located the Copper Queen Hotel. The closest parking place was two perpendicular blocks away. There was no bellman, but my room was ready. I checked in and then took myself downstairs to the restaurant. My scanty airline breakfast had long since disappeared. I was more than happy to mow my way through one of the Copper Queen’s generously greasy hamburgers. I hadn’t had one that good since Seattle’s old Doghouse Restaurant closed up shop years ago.

Joa

None of the information in Latisha Wall’s file had seemed so volatile or critical or even confidential that it couldn’t have been faxed back and forth to Cochise County without a problem. Due to that AG-enforced lag time, Joa

And so, using a paper napkin from the other, unused, place setting at my table, I began making notes. There were really only a few possibilities. One: Rochelle Baxter/Latisha Wall had died of accidental or natural causes. In either of those instances, no one was responsible, and both Joa