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toward the elevator. “Bitsy spent the night at our place. Rob asked me to keep her and I couldn’t say no.” She pressed the call button. “If he doesn’t get out on bail, I’ll stop in his apartment this afternoon and gather her things. Someone has to look after her. She’s too tiny to go to a shelter.” She waggled her fingers when the elevator door opened. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
    On the ride up, she gazed at Rudy. “You’re too quiet. What are you thinking?”
    “I got a lot on my brain. Who killed that Carmella person? Why was Bobbi-Rob holdin’ the weapon? What will happen to Bitsy if he gets convicted?” He sneezed. “We have to help them.”
    “My thoughts exactly,” she said as they stepped onto Buckley’s floor.
    “But you shouldn’t get involved in the actual find-the-murderer scenario. This one sounds like a bigger mess than any of the others.”
    She knocked, then used her key to get Buckley, a small black maltipoo with a cranky disposition. “Hey, Buck. How are things?” she asked when he trotted to the door from somewhere in the rear of the apartment.
    “Hazel’s on a tear about my health again, just because I been chewin’ my paws.”
    Ellie stooped to hook his leash to his collar. “So why are you chewing?”
    “Itchy is all. No big deal. But she took me to that dopey pet psychic for another reading.”
    The trio aimed for the elevator. Ellie had four more dogs to retrieve. “What was her name again?”
    “Madam Orzo. According to Hazel, the woman’s a wonder, but she has yet to get me right.”
    No surprise there, thought Ellie. Buckley had a bad opinion of everyone and a complaint about everything. “Hmm, I can’t imagine why,” she said jokingly. “I haven’t seen your mistress in a while. Still off the cigarettes?”
    “She’s been good, but I bet that once the nice weather’s here she’ll start again. She always sits on the patio and takes a hit. Bet she thinks I’m too stupid to figure it out.”
    “She knows you’re a smart little guy,” Ellie said. They arrived on Sweetie Pie’s floor, walked down the corridor, and opened the Westie’s door. “Hey, Sweetie. You ready for us?”
    The adorable West Highland White Terrier greeted Rudy and Buckley in typical doggie fashion, prompting her yorkiepoo to say, “You smell like you’ve been through the wash cycle. Mom using a new shampoo?”
    “Not Babs, but the groomer thought it was a nice change of pace. Personally, I hate it.”
    The details on the Westie’s shampoo sent the dogs off on a tear about groomers that continued until the pack was outside and crossing Fifth Avenue. When they got nitpicky about telling one scent from another, Ellie’s mind went into overdrive. Was it possible Bitsy had smelled something during the murder that would identify the killer?
    She’d never find out until she got the poohuahua to talk, and that might take time. Meanwhile, she still needed to know if Rob had been released. Until then, there wasn’t a thing she could do to help him or his dog.

Chapter 3

    Sam read the caller ID on his cell phone and leaned back in his chair. Paying attention to Ellie now would go a long way toward keeping the peace and deflecting invasive questions later. He had, in fact, expected her to call him before this, but then he remembered that she’d taken home a suspected killer’s dog, which might have caused a problem.
    “Ryder,” he said, though Ellie had to know he’d be the only one on the other end of the line.
    “Do you have time for a few questions?”
    He smiled at the greeting, happy to know they’d grown so close over the past couple of months that Ellie didn’t feel it necessary to announce herself. Positive he knew the topic she wanted to discuss, he heaved a sigh. There was no use trying to pretend he didn’t have the answers, and after only four hours’ sleep last night, he didn’t have the energy to play the avoidance game or give her a lecture, something