through the opening and shut the door behind us. Compared to the brisk temperature outside, the air inside the house was stiflingly warm. I reached up and unwound my scarf, then unbuttoned my coat. Inside for only a moment, I was already hot.
âIâm Betty Bowen,â the woman said. âHenry and I have been neighbors here for more than twenty years. John and I moved into this house as newlyweds all that time ago. Donât think we ever expected to be here this long.
âLots of people, they feel the need to trade up when they start a family, but we never did. Good thing too, since John didnât live past his forty-fifth birthday, and Johnny and I ended up with a house that was mostly paid off soâs we didnât end up on the street.â
âJohnny?â I asked, even though I knew I probably shouldnât.
Betty Bowen reminded me of my next-door neighbor, Edna Silano. Edna was an older woman, living alone, who didnât have that many people to talk to. Get her started and she would tell you her entire life story, beginning with her trip to America from the old country.
âMy boy. Thatâs his picture there.â Betty gestured toward the mantelpiece. The wooden ledge was covered with framed photographs. At a glance, they seemed to chronicle the highlights of her sonâs life. The most recent picture was a high school graduation shot. Alice walked over for a closer look. If theyâd have been dog pictures, I might have done the same. Since they werenât, I stayed where I was.
âSo you must know Henry pretty well,â I said, trying to steer the conversation back on topic.
âItâs a terrible, terrible thing.â Betty sighed loudly.
âWhat is?â I asked. Alice looked up.
âWhat happened to poor dear Henry.â
For a single beat, my heart stood still. I knew I should ask, but I couldnât bring myself to do it.
Alice managed for me. âWhat are you talking about?â
âIâm sorry to have to be the one to tell you,â Betty said. âBut Henryâs gone to his rest. That poor man died the night before last.â
5
âO h no,â I said softly.
Alice looked similarly stricken. âHenryâs dead?â she repeated.
Betty simply nodded.
âWhat happened?â I asked. âWe just saw him on Monday. It must have been very sudden.â
âIt was,â Betty confirmed. âAnd unexpected, too. He just keeled right over. I guess it was his heart that went. He was outside with those big dogs of his when it happened. Johnny came right in and called nine-one-one but there wasnât a thing anybody could do.â
âIâm so sorry to hear that.â There was a chair beside me. I sank into it gratefully. I hadnât known Henry well, but he had seemed like a genuinely good person. âSo you thought we were his daughters?â
âThatâs right. Come to see about the arrangements. Iâve been expecting them for two days now.â
âDo they live around here?â asked Alice.
âNot even close. Oneâs in California and the otherâs in Alaska, if you can believe that. Both all grown up and out on their own. They donât spend much time around here. Henryâs been in that house a good ten years, and I canât say that I recall ever meeting either one of them. I assume the authorities have notified them. And they damn well better show up soon because something sure as heck needs to be done about Pepper and Remington.â
âAre they the dogs?â I asked. âThe two Golden Retrievers we just saw?â
âThatâs them. Henry loved those two like nobodyâs business. Now theyâre just sitting over there in that house waiting to see whatâs going to happen to them next.â
I stared at her, horrified. âYou mean nobodyâs taking care of them?â
âI wouldnât say that exactly. Iâve looked in