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and watch the birds and squirrels outside. At night I put the lights and the radio on a timer. They get a little bored and lonely, but most pets would rather be at home alone than with strangers in a strange place.”
    He was watching me closely. “You really like doing this, don’t you?”
    “Does that surprise you?”
    “It just seems like a big jump, from deputy to pet-sitter.”
    I shrugged. “It’s really not so different. You always have to be alert, you always have to expect the unexpected, and every now and then somebody tries to hump your leg.”
    He laughed and then sobered. “Do you have any idea who the dead man is?”
    “Not a clue. Do you?”
    “We’re checking it out.”
    That meant he wasn’t going to tell me.
    He said, “We’d like to keep the details of how he was killed quiet as long as we can. Have you told anybody about him being taped to the water bowl?”
    I shook my head. “I haven’t told anybody anything.”
    “Good. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t. Some reporter will get your nine-one-one call and report it, but until somebody does, we’re not going to make that public.”
    “Is Marilee a suspect?”
    He shrugged. “Everybody’s a suspect.”
    I had scarfed down a whole slice of bacon before I realized that included me.
    Guidry tossed bills on the table and stood up. “You’ll be around?”
    I nodded. “I’ll be on the street behind Marilee’s this afternoon walking the Graysons’ dog. I’ll stop by while I’m there.”
    “Okay.”
    He left without any “See yous” or “It’s been nices” or “Glad to meet yous.”
    As soon as he was out of sight, Judy plunked herself down opposite me with coffeepot in hand.
    “Okay, who is he?”
    “He’s a detective. There’s been a murder at one of mypet houses and he’s the investigator. I found the body, so we ate while he questioned me.”
    “Well shit, I thought he might be a man. You know, a man for you. Who got murdered?”
    I ignored the part about a man for me. In spite of the fact that Judy has had terrible luck with men, she persists in thinking it’s time for me to get one.
    “I don’t know who he was.”
    “Shot?”
    “I’m not sure. I turned on the kitchen light, and there he was, stretched out on the floor.”
    “No!”
    “Yep, DRT—dead right there.”
    “Good God. Did you freak out?”
    “Come on, I used to be a deputy, I don’t freak out at things like that. Well, I freaked out a little, but just for a minute.”
    “Who’s house was he in?”
    “Marilee Doerring’s.”
    “I know who Marilee Doerring is. She’s a piece of work. You know her?”
    “Just from taking care of her cat. She’s always been fine with me. Pays on time, takes good care of her cat. I don’t have any complaints about her.”
    Judy looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and leaned closer. “See that man at the counter reading the paper? That’s Dr. Coffey. He’s a heart surgeon. He and Marilee Doerring were engaged a couple of years ago.”
    A bell dinged from the back to get Judy’s attention, and she got up with her coffeepot to go pick up an order.
    I studied the man at the counter. He was lean to the point of boniness, with sharp shoulder blades jutting from his back like mountain ridges. His dark hair was shorn high, with a longer shock flopping down to meet theshaved part. It was a cut for a much younger man, a cut meant to be cool and mellow. It made him look like the nerdy kid in high school who never quite fits in, the one who’s always on the sidelines watching the popular kids. He was wearing the Siesta Key male uniform—khaki shorts, short-sleeved knit shirt, and docksiders, which exposed a lot of straight black hair on his arms and legs. For a quick second, I imagined running my hands down his bare back and felt my fingers tangle in a thicket of hair. Ugh.
    Somehow I couldn’t imagine him with Marilee, but if they’d been engaged, he must have known where she went on her business