Saturday Night Cleaver (A Barbara Marr Murder Mystery #4) by Karen Cantwell Read Free Book Online Page B

large dogs. I’d forgotten about their Great Danes, Frank and Stein. Should have warned Howard.
    The door opened and Christina smiled at us both.
    Too late.
    “Barb!” (head bob) “Howard!” (bob, bob) “What brings you by? Did Callie forget something?” She dropped her smile for a moment while she reprimanded one of the horse-dogs. “Sit, Frank, sit!” Frank didn’t sit, but her smile reappeared anyway when she turned her attention back to us. She stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come in, come in.” (bob, bob, bob)
    Howard motioned for me to go first. I wasn’t sure whether that was a show of gallant manners or a healthy respect for the beasts inside. I knew that Frank and Stein were both sweet dogs, so Howard didn’t need to fear an attack. On the other hand, they had very inquisitive noses.
    Once we were standing in the foyer of their split-level home, I proceeded with our inquiry while the canines proceeded with a little investigation of their own.
    “We’re not here for Callie,” I began. “She noticed that our friend’s car was parked out front, and we’ve actually been a little worried about him.”
    Christina’s head bobbed throughout my explanation while Frank nosed Howard’s crotch. Howard tried to push the animal’s nose away with his free hand, but Frank’s radar was locked on target.
    “Yup, yup,” said Christina bobbing. “Uh huh, uh huh. The car has been there since yesterday.” (bob, bob) “Uh, huh, yup. Yesterday.” She glanced down at Frank as if just realizing that he was probing Howard’s gonads. “Frank! No!” She yanked on his collar, but Christina was small and Frank was the polar opposite of small. Frank did not move. Meanwhile, Stein had been circling Howard like a vulture, seemingly to choose his sniff with more calculation. Christina tugged harder on Frank’s collar, yelling, “Sit!” This time he fell back on his haunches as ordered.
    “I’m sorry,” she apologized to Howard. “They’re really sweet dogs, they’re just so darned big! So why are you worried about your friend?”
    At that very moment, Stein determined that Howard’s rear end was where he should land his cavernous nostrils. And he did. I think Howard actually squealed. Frank, probably not wanting to miss out on the fun, left his sit-position and shot straight for Howard’s crotch again.
    I’d been the turkey in a Frank and Stein sandwich before, so I did feel sorry for Howard, but I wanted to get my information on Colt. I pressed forward, leaving my husband to fend for himself. “He’s been missing for almost twenty-four hours now,” I explained, “and his son is concerned because he missed an important meeting today. It’s just not like him—his name is Colt. Did you happen to see him?”
    Her head bobbed once, twice, three times. “Uh huh, uh huh. Yup, yup.”
    “You did?” I asked with hope.
    “Oh! No! No.” Now she was shaking her head vigorously. “No. I was just listening to your story. I never saw who parked the car there, I’m sorry.” Her eyes suddenly blazed in horror. “Oh, Howard! Lordy, I’m so sorry! Frank and Stein seem to really like you a whole lot, don’t they?”
    Poor Howard was attempting, without much success, to put his buttocks out of sniffing range by shoving back against the corner between the wall and front door. He could have done some damage with his cane if he’d tried, but to his credit, he resisted temptation.
    “Isabella!” shouted Christina up the stairs. “Would you come get your dogs off Mr. Marr?”
    Isabella was down in a flash and with some struggle, pulled them to the back of the house and out the sliding glass door to the fenced back yard.
    Thankful, Howard brushed himself off and asked a line of questions I never would have thought of. “Do you know most of your neighbors?”
    “Yup. Uh, uh. Yup, yup. All of them, yup. Why?”
    “Are any of them single women, not married?”
    “Oh! Nope, nope. Not here. Families all