Read The Silence of the Chihuahuas for Free Online Page B

loves taxidermy); and the armoire, which we had carried up the stairs at Mrs. Fairchild’s house. It was no longer painted olive green with red roses. It looked like Brad had stripped that off and was working on a new color scheme: sky blue with Pennsylvania Dutch designs of pink hearts and purple birds. Not Brad’s style at all.
    Pepe was standing in front of the armoire, his nose pointed at the doors, one leg lifted the way pointers do when pointing at a pheasant.
    â€œWhat’s in there, little man?” I said, coming over to him. Then I saw the note pinned to the door. It read “Dragon Lady.” As I looked around the shop, I could see other notes pinned to other pieces of furniture. Every one of them read “Dragon Lady.”
    What to do? It made Brad look like a suspect. “I don’t suppose the police will mind,” I said, more to myself than to Pepe as I went around collecting them. He seemed to approve. His tail was wagging. But suddenly his demeanor changed. He looked at the front of the shop and started growling.
    I poked my head through the velvet curtain that divided the front of the shop from the workroom in back and saw, through the big front windows, the big black sedan belonging to the two homicide detectives just parking outside.
    â€œTime to leave,” I said to Pepe. And we hightailed it out the back door. When we got home, I got another surprise. Felix was standing on my front porch, his arms full of bright orange gladiolas.

Pepe’s Blog: Dealing with the Police
    Remember that as a private detective, the police are not your friends. Too often they are trying to investigate the same case that you have been engaged to resolve. Your best bet is to keep silent, as I demonstrated when the police tried to take over the crime scene that I discovered. My partner, unfortunately, did not follow my lead and ended up giving the police some valuable information.
    Intimidation may also work, especially if you are a fierce Chihuahua. But not if your partner picks you up and tucks you under her arm like you are some kind of small purse.
    So then your next course of action is to get to the places and people of interest before the police do. I found many interesting pieces of scent evidence at the shop. I was trying to get Geri to open the cabinet because I could smell a pheasant inside of it. Probably stuffed but one never knows. And the pheasant had the distinct smell of the dead woman. But Geri thought I was pointing at the little signs. So it goes.
    She went around removing the signs. That is one good thing about having a human partner as I am too small and do not have the opposable thumbs necessary to do some of the grunt work involved in detecting. On the other hand, humans are easily distracted. As soon as she saw the dog trainer with his arms full of flowers, well, that was the end of any investigating for several hours. Luckily, Felix had brought along Fuzzy, who had been my faithful assistant in a previous case, and I spent my time catching Fuzzy up to date on the elements of the case. While doing so, I uncovered a new detail I had missed. This is why it is essential to work in a team. I do miss being able to talk to Geri.

Chapter 5
    I had never been so happy to see anyone. It seemed like nothing had gone right today. But I knew Felix would make it better.
    â€œOh, Felix!” I rushed up and threw my arms around him.
    â€œI’m glad to see you, too,” he said, trying to return the embrace while keeping the gladiolas out of harm’s way. It wasn’t entirely successful. One of the stems broke.
    â€œI’m so sorry!” I wailed. “It’s all my fault! Like usual.”
    Felix looked into my eyes and said, “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
    That’s Felix. So tuned in to my every emotion. Meanwhile, Pepe was scratching on the door while Fuzzy, so well-behaved, was merely sitting on the stoop, looking up adoringly at Felix.