I felt even worse the next morning as I waited outside for Shelby with a peace offering. I stood facing the front door, so she couldn’t plan an escape.
“What do you want?” she asked with a scrunched face.
I waved a white tissue in one hand while I held the other out to her. She was about to walk right on by me when she paused. She looked at what was in my hand. “Is that for me?”
“It is.” I gave her a bag of assorted candy that Kristos told me was her favorite. “It’s a thank-you for yesterday. And an apology for making you leave the Lacys’ early. And well, I know you think you don’t need help—”
“I know I don’t need help,” she insisted. Her head suddenly tilted at me. Then she narrowed her eyes as she looked me up and down.
Oh no. She was doing her thing to me. I immediately tensed up, not wanting to hear whatever she had to say. Especially since there wasn’t anything she was going to tell me about myself that I didn’t already know, I hoped.
Her scowl softened slightly. “This long of a verbal sabbatical with your father must be arduous.”
She knew. Of course she knew. (At least I think I knew what she was talking about.)
Dad didn’t call last night. I sat, like a total chump, with Mom’s phone on my lap, waiting for his call. When he was ten minutes late, Mom grabbed her phone and locked herself in her room, and I could hear her leaving messages, her voice getting louder with each one.
His response? Zip. Zilch. Nada. Diddly-squat.
Maybe I should hire Shelby to solve the case of the disappearing dad?
“We don’t have to talk about it,” Shelby offered.
So Shelby could read social cues.
I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want to even think about it. It was too painful. What I did want was to get back to this case. I needed something to distract me. Something that would make me feel useful.
“Thanks.” I stood up a little straighter, hoping to appear more confident. “Listen, it’s obvious you don’t need my help solving the case, but I figured that maybe I could help you deal with the Lacys. They seem like a handful.”
It was the only thing I could think of to get her to agree to let me help her—to make the Lacys seem like the problem.
Shelby paused for a moment. She untied the bag and put a few Swedish Fish in her mouth. After a few moments of consideration (and chewing), she finally said, “They have proved to be rather troublesome. With such dissonance amongst them, I wouldn’t have blamed Daisy for running away.”
I debated saying more but realized it was best to leave my argument as basic as possible.
Shelby took another handful of candy. My teeth hurt just watching her inhale all that sugar.
She nodded. “Fine, but at no point are you to impede my investigation.”
“Of course!” I replied, even though I wasn’t sure what impede meant. I figured it was her way of telling me to stay out of her way.
“Yes!” I threw my fist in the air, excited that I was able to go back to the Lacys’ and figure out what happened to Daisy.
Shelby shook her head. “Thank you, Watson, for the candy … and for making me already regret my decision.”
An hour later, we were in the elevator on our way up to the Lacys’ apartment. Shelby informed me on our subway ride that her goal for the day was to examine the apartment and make an official list of suspects, which currently included the five family members, even Tamra.
As we knocked on the front door of the apartment, I felt nerves in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t know anything about solving crimes, but I planned on sticking close to Shelby to figure out how she did it.
“Hi, Shelby and John,” Mrs. Lacy said after opening the door. She looked exhausted.
“Any word on Daisy?” Shelby asked.
Mrs. Lacy shook her head. “Nothing. As you can imagine, it was a rough night.”
The three siblings were sitting in the living room. Zareen sat with a scowl on her face next to Zane, her arms folded. Mrs. Lacy sat next to Tamra, who sported bloodshot eyes. “Shelby, Tamra informed me that you’re known around school as a bit of an amateur detective.”
“There’s nothing amateur about what I do,” Shelby said to the shock of Mrs. Lacy (okay, and me—who would talk to an adult like that?).
“Ah,” I interrupted in an attempt to make peace (yeah, the Lacys were the real problem), “we’re simply here to help, Mrs. Lacy. Shelby has solved a bunch of crimes, so she’s the best person for the job. You should see the respect she has in our neighborhood. She’s like a celebrity!”
Shelby slowly turned toward me. I was waiting for her to make some snide comment or put me in my place, but she simply turned back to the family.
“We’ll take all the help we can get,” Mrs. Lacy continued. “What do you need from us?”
Shelby got right down to it. “It would be helpful if you could each tell me where you were the morning Daisy went missing.”
“I was here the whole time,” Zareen stated quickly. “I didn’t leave. Ask security!”
Hmm. She seemed pretty agitated. And really insistent that she was innocent. Anytime I watched a cop show, it was usually the guilty people who were the most annoyed at being questioned.
Zane went next. “I went to play some ball with my boys, around eight. I didn’t see or hear Daisy or Roxy before I left. I went straight to the courts over at the Great Lawn. I had no idea Daisy was missing until Tamra called me. I think that was about two hours later.”
“Okay. Mrs. Lacy?”
“I was at a seven a.m. Pilates class. I didn’t see either dog before I left. I assumed they were in the dog room. Ed left for work at the same time. It wasn’t until I got back that we knew she was missing.”
Shelby walked over and studied each member of the family. Each person shifted uncomfortably when it was their turn. Honestly, they all looked guilty, although I would’ve probably acted the same way during one of Shelby’s examinations.
“Mrs. Lacy, how often is the laundry done in the house?” she asked.
“Almost every day. With five people, we go through a lot of clothes.”
“I see.” Shelby was pacing back and forth. “So it is more than likely that you are each wearing a clean set of clothes.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Lacy replied while the others nodded.
“And are the dogs allowed on the furniture?”
“No.”
Where was she going with this?
“And I’m assuming the floors are cleaned regularly?”
“Yes, with two dogs, we try to keep the place clean. What does—”
But before Mrs. Lacy could finish her question, Shelby knelt down in front of Zareen.
“Hey!” Zareen protested as Shelby seemed to pinch her leg. “What are you doing?”
Shelby held up something that I couldn’t see from across the room. “Roxy is a black-haired dog. I believe this is a white dog hair, is it not?”
The three other Lacys stood up quickly and examined the piece of hair.
“Could you please tell us, Zareen: if you’re wearing a new outfit and the house is regularly cleaned for dog hair, how is it that you have a piece of hair that appears to match Daisy’s?”
Zareen’s mouth fell open. “I—I—I …” she stammered.
“I KNEW IT!” Tamra got in her sister’s face. “YOU DID IT!”
“I didn’t!” Zareen protested. “I was at the dog park this morning! There were other dogs everywhere! That’s probably where it came from!”
“Girls, we discussed this: no more fighting, please,” Mrs. Lacy begged. “Zareen, honey, if you know anything about Daisy’s disappearance, you have to tell us. You won’t get in trouble. We only want her back.”
A tear began rolling down Zareen’s cheek. “I can’t believe you don’t believe me. I didn’t take her.”
Zane hugged his twin. “It’s okay, Lil’ Z. I believe you.”
Zane had to believe his own sister, althou
gh Zareen’s case wasn’t looking good. I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her since she was crying and her own mother basically accused her of stealing Daisy. If it wasn’t Zareen, who else could it have been?
“I didn’t do it,” Zareen said in a small voice.
Everybody looked over at Shelby.
“Do you have anybody who witnessed that you were at the park this morning? Preferably someone with a white-haired dog.”
Zareen nodded, but then everybody’s attention went to something behind me.
“Where on earth have you been?” Mrs. Lacy asked, desperation in her voice.
I turned around and saw an older white guy with black hair that was graying around his temples. While this was the first time I’d ever seen this dude, I wasn’t going to ignore the large piece of evidence in his hands: Roxy, who was as quiet as could be.
Maybe there was someone else who could’ve taken Daisy.
CHAPTER
12
“We’ve been trying to reach you all day yesterday and this morning! Daisy’s gone missing!” Mrs. Lacy threw her hands up in the air in frustration.
“What?” the man replied as Roxy licked his hand, as happy as she could be in his arms.
Tamra and Mrs. Lacy gave him the basics while Zane filled Shelby and me in: this man was Theo Emerson, Daisy’s trainer. He’d been away because of a family emergency involving a sick aunt but had been due to arrive back that morning. They hadn’t heard from him all week.
“She couldn’t have gone far,” Emerson said as he placed Roxy on the floor. Roxy, in turn, ran right up to Shelby and me and started barking fiercely.
At least everybody was now aware that we couldn’t have taken Daisy.
Zareen picked up Roxy and took her out of the living room while Shelby approached the trainer and studied him intently.
“I’m sorry. I don’t believe I’ve met your friends.” The trainer nodded to us and seemed unnerved that Shelby was only inches away from him.
“Hello, I’m Shelby Holmes,” she stated. “If you dab a washcloth in some cooled Earl Grey tea, it will help with your sunburn.”
It was then that I realized his nose and cheeks were rather red and peeling. The rest of him was tan, which wasn’t surprising, since it was the end of summer.
“Yes, well, I was …” he muttered as he took a step away from Shelby.
“Then again, Cozumel is quite sunny this time of year, isn’t it?”
“I—I—I wouldn’t know.” He looked guiltily around the room. “I’ve never been.”
“My mistake,” Shelby said, even though I doubted she was ever mistaken. I knew she was setting a trap, and I couldn’t wait for him to fall for it. “Do you mind if I ask where you acquired your necklace? I believe it’s black coral.”
The trainer reached up and touched a black necklace that was peeking out of his white button-down shirt. “This necklace?”
“Yes, that would be the exact necklace I’m referring to,” Shelby stated drily.
“Oh, it was a gift. I’ve had it forever.”
“I think it looks great on you,” Tamra commented. “Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear it before.”
Another clue! He was obviously lying. This trainer had to have taken Daisy. Roxy hadn’t barked at him. Plus, he was mysteriously “out of town” all week.
Maybe I wasn’t so bad at this sleuthing stuff.
Shelby got up close to Emerson—she only came to his elbow. “Do you happen to have video of Daisy on your phone? I’d like to see her in action, please.” Shelby looked up and batted her eyelashes at this guy.
He had no clue this seemingly sweet little girl was setting him up (okay, maybe Shelby wasn’t that bad of an actress after all).
“Sure.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Shelby got on her tiptoes, and her face was only a couple of inches away from the screen as he brought up a video of Daisy competing in her last show.
“What an amazing creature! Do you train other dogs competing on Saturday?”
“While I do train others, Daisy’s the only dog I have on Saturday. Instead of sitting around watching videos, why aren’t we doing something to find her?” He shoved his phone back in his pocket.
“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Mrs. Lacy stated tersely. “Nobody in security saw her leave the building yesterday morning, so she must be somewhere nearby. Shelby is here to help, as is her friend John.”
“You know,” Shelby interjected, “I’m sure you want to catch up with Mr. Emerson, so Watson and I will go in the room next door to give you some privacy.”
I couldn’t believe Shelby was going to leave the room when the trainer was certainly guilty … of something. Of what, I wasn’t sure, but Shelby would know.
“Thank you, Shelby,” Mrs. Lacy said as the group sat down.
Shelby turned to leave, then tripped and went flying forward, knocking the trainer to the floor.
Just when I thought she knew what she was doing …
“I’m so, so sorry!” Shelby exclaimed as she reached her hand down to the trainer to help him back to his feet. “I’m such a klutz. I’m just glad I didn’t break any valuables or a limb!” She then laughed so hard she snorted. “Silly me!”
The trainer stared at her with his mouth slightly open, probably in shock that such a tiny person could knock him down.
“Sorry, again!” Shelby called after the group as we retreated to the adjacent TV room.
“What was that all about?” I asked when we finally were out of earshot.
Shelby slowly turned around and held out something in her hand.
It was the trainer’s phone.
CHAPTER
13
“You stole his phone?” I asked a bit too loudly.
“Shh!” Shelby brought the screen to life and put in a four-digit password. “I’m merely borrowing it for the sake of my investigation. I’ll return it once I am satisfied with the evidence I’ll no doubt obtain.”
That’s why she asked to see the footage. She was certainly close enough to see his password.
Mental note: if Mom ever lets me get a cell phone, don’t use it anywhere near Shelby Holmes.
“Hello! What’s this?” Shelby exclaimed as she started scrolling through photos of the trainer on a beach with a younger blonde woman. “He was in Cozumel, and just yesterday. I knew it. Granted, he could’ve acquired black coral in Hawaii or New Zealand, but since he was only gone for a few days, Mexico seemed most likely.”
“Is there anything you don’t know?” I blurted out. I’d never heard of black coral, let alone know where it could be purchased.
“It’s important to be well-rounded if you want to catch somebody in a lie.”
Another mental note: never lie to Shelby Holmes.
“Here’s my question for you, Watson.” She pulled up a photo of the trainer at a candlelit dinner with the same woman. “How can a dog trainer afford such an expensive vacation? This is an all-inclusive resort, which isn’t cheap, although it is August, so not peak season for Mexico, but still. His clothes also told me that he doesn’t have a lot of expendable income: his shoes were significantly worn; the cuffs on his pants were tattered. Plus, he was with a much younger woman. She’s in her early thirties while he’s in his late fifties, divorced, has a couple kids, probably has to pay child support. Yes, he certainly isn’t telling us the truth.”
“He doesn’t sit well with me, either,” I confessed. “But if he’s Daisy’s trainer, what would he have to gain by stealing her? Wouldn’t he make more money training a winning dog?”
“It depends on who he’s betting on.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You mean, like, gamble? Do you really think that people gamble on a dog show? I mean, come on!”
“Well, there’s really only one way to find out.”
Before I had a chance to ask her how she was going to do that, Zane came into the room. “I can’t take much more of this m
issing-dog drama. And you have to believe me when I say that there’s no way Zareen took her. Just no way. I know her better than anyone, and she didn’t do it.”
Maybe Zane was right. Yeah, just a couple minutes ago, I was convinced it was Zareen. But now we had the trainer, who’d been caught in a lie. It was crazy how quickly things could change in this investigation (and in life).
Shelby, however, didn’t seem swayed either way by Zane. “We shall see where the facts lead us.”
“Do you really think you can find Daisy? Because I know if you do, Zareen’s innocence will be proven.”
Shelby nodded. “Of course I’ll find Daisy.” She said it like it was a fact. But we hardly had any evidence to tell us who took Daisy, let alone where she was being held.
“I hope so.” He slumped down on the couch next to Shelby.
“So where do you play ball?” I asked. As much as I was enjoying this case and watching Shelby work, I wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to make a new friend, especially a guy friend.
Most of my friends back on the post were guys. I liked being around other dudes. No offense to girls, but my guy friends were always a little more chill. There was no judgment. There were no expectations. My old buddies and I would just play some ball, watch some movies, and hang. I missed that. I really wanted that again. The only people I knew here were Mom, Shelby, and Mrs. Hudson.
I so needed to hang with some dudes.
“We play over in the park,” Zane answered. “You should join us sometime.”
“Yeah, that’d be cool. Thanks.” I tried to be cool.
“You know”—Zane turned his attention to Shelby—“I like Emerson and all, but it bothers me that we’ve been trying to get ahold of him for over a day and he’s been unreachable.”
See! Even Zane thought the trainer did it.
Shelby’s head jerked as if something had snapped into place in her head. “Interesting. Tell me, you’re a year older than Zareen?” She moved forward so she was practically on top of Zane.
He leaned back into the couch cushions with an alarmed look on his face. “Uh, no, I’m fourteen minutes older than her. We’re twins. What does that have to do with anything?”