Read Barking Detective 04 - The Chihuahua Always Sniffs Twice for Free Online

was Boswell calling you?”
    Jimmy G shrugged his shoulders again. “Don’t know. Didn’t talk to him.” A glimmer of an idea appeared in his brain. “Probably he talked to my girl Friday. Her name is Geri Sullivan. I can give you her number, if you want it.”
    He could see that was effective. The two detectives looked at each other. Jimmy G pulled out his brand-new cell phone and started poking buttons. He found the call log, then realized that it recorded his calls to and from Bickerstaff, then realized they already knew about that. He was getting confused.
    “I think I need a lawyer,” he said. He shoved the cell phone back into his pocket.
    “We’ve already made contact with Miss Sullivan,” said Moore.
    That surprised Jimmy G, but he tried not to show it.
    “Am I under arrest?” he asked.
    “No, you’re free to go,” said Moore, stepping aside. “We’ll be in touch if we have more questions.”
    Jimmy G got up, nodding to both detectives. He ambled out of the room, found his way through the warren of little hallways, and emerged in the lobby. Outside, the sun was just setting.
    As he went through the lobby, a tall, fair-haired man in a tight gray T-shirt got up from one of the benches where he had been studying a newspaper.
    “Ah, Mr. Gerrard,” he said, stepping in front of Jimmy G. He opened the front door with a flourish and waved Jimmy G through. There was a long black limousine idling outside.
    “My boss wants to speak to you,” the man said.

Chapter 9
    The light was beginning to fade out of the sky as we drove off with the snoozing Henry in the backseat. I followed the directions Hugh had given me, heading west, then pulling off the highway about ten miles down the road and following a two-lane road that angled off toward the foothills on the outskirts of Sequim. We passed farmhouses, surrounded by rows of cottonwoods, and manufactured homes that overlooked gardens studded with gnomes.
    Then we went over a rise and entered a valley full of lavender, long rows of rounded purple bushes, slanting across the countryside in the golden light of the sunset. The sweet scent permeated the car.
    A sign on the left read CARPENTER MANOR. I turned and proceeded up a long driveway. At the top was a sprawling Tudor-style mansion. The walls were made of white plaster and crisscrossed with dark beams. The windows were mullioned, and the roof was covered in gray slate.
    The house was perfectly positioned at the top of a low rise. As we rolled to a stop, next to a silver Mercedes, we got a magnificent view of the lavender fields. The sweet scent became even stronger, almost cloying, as it drifted in through the open car window and surrounded us.
    And so did the dogs. Two cocker spaniels, one chocolate colored and one black, came tearing out of the open front door and surrounded the car, yapping and turning in circles.
    “ Hola, fellow perros! ” said Pepe, greeting the dogs through the window. “I am called Pepe. Perhaps you have heard of my exploits.”
    Hearing the familiar sounds of his pack, Henry, with some effort, got to his feet and also looked out the car window. “Woof !” he said with a small wag of his tail. “Woof ! Woof!”
    It wasn’t a very big bark, but it seemed to be a happy one. Both dogs turned and looked at me as if waiting for me to open the door and let them out. Henry, at least, was polite about it. Pepe, on the other hand, was Pepe.
    “ Vamonos, Geri!” he commanded, hopping up and down.
    “OK, OK,” I told him, taking off my seat belt. “When I let you out, you’re not going to cause trouble with these other dogs, are you?”
    “Far be it from me,” he said. “I wish only to investigate, identify, and apprehend the evil miscreant who so vilely attempted their demise.”
    It was clear that my dog watched too many telenovelas. It was affecting his vocabulary. Pepe jumped down, but Henry waited for me to lift him out of the car.
    My pooch’s idea of investigation turned