dogs. And if they donât win, well . . . youâd better believe everyone else is keeping score.â
âBut Rick and Jenny were winning, werenât they? She told me something about a top Cocker . . . ?â
âThat would be Charlie. Champion Shadowlandâs Super Charged. He is good. I think he even has a shot at the Quaker Oats Award this year. Of course, now with Jenny out of the picture, that may change.â
Aunt Peg had been coaching me on how dog shows worked for nearly half a year now. Little by little I was getting so I could understand most of the shorthand. All of the different breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club are divided into seven groups, according to form or function: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding. The Quaker Oats Award is an extremely prestigious prize given out just before Westminster to the dog in each group that had won the most group firsts during the preceding year. Jennyâs Cocker Spaniel would have been competing in the Sporting Group.
âRick will continue to show the dog, wonât he?â
âI imagine he will. Of course that will be up to Mrs. Byrd, Charlieâs owner, but this close to the end of the year, theyâd be foolish not to go for it. Charlie was Jennyâs dog, though. Iâm sure the judges thought of them as a team. With Rick, it just wonât be the same.â
Aunt Peg turned and looked across the room. âI imagine Harry Flynn will be pleased about that. I wonder if thatâs why heâs here.â
A thin stoop-shouldered man was standing off by himself next to a spray of lilies. His wiry hair had receded back to the middle of his head and was graying slightly at the temples. His suit, a drab shade of brown, had been paired with a loud multi-colored tie whose tails hung down below his belt. Despite the two âNo Smokingâ signs posted at either door, heâd cupped his hand around a lit cigarette he held down at his side.
âIs that who you were staring at before?â
âStaring?â Aunt Peg mused. âWas I really? I just hadnât expected to see him here, thatâs all.â
âWhy? Who is he?â
âAnother sporting dog handler. Heâs got a Cocker and a Springer of his own and theyâve both been bumping up against Charlie all year. After heâd lost one too many times, I gather he lodged a complaint accusing one of Jennyâs dogs of being dyed.â
âDyed? Is that possible?â
âItâs more than possible, it happens all the time in Poodles and in some of the other breeds as well. The Cocker in question was black, and Harry alleged that the dog had a rather large white spot on his chest that was being covered up. If that was true, the dog would have been disqualified and the AKC would have taken punitive action against Jenny as his handler.â
âAnd what happened?â
âAs things turned out, not much. At the moment, the American Kennel Club doesnât have a testing procedure in place for proving or disproving an allegation like that. And to disqualify an entry simply on the basis of hearsay? I canât think of anything that would expose them to a lawsuit faster.
âIn the end, there was nothing they could do. The black Cocker quietly finished his championship and went home, while Jenny continued to win everything in sight with Charlie. Of course, thereâs been bad blood between Harry and the Maguires ever since.â
âIt does seem surprising heâd come here then, doesnât it?â
âAfter all the years Iâve been showing Poodles, nothing surprises me anymore. I think weâve stayed long enough. How about you?â
I nodded and we headed for the door. Aunt Peg has always been pretty crafty and I wondered later whether her sudden desire to leave was prompted by the fact that Harry Flynn was also making a move in that direction. Whether by accident or