Three Dog Day (13 page)

The sun was warm beside the barn where she and the puppies could shelter from the wind. The sky was a vivid blue and she held her face up to the light, feeling a little sun-starved as well as fatigued. The puppies ran around, jumping on each other and growling fiercely. She took them back to their pen after about fifteen minutes, loved on Lulu and her aunt and uncle's Boston terriers for a bit, and went into her historic farmhouse to check on her own four dogs and make some lunch. She had bills to pay and lots of planning still to do for Patrick and Tammy's big day.

Mae was working at her desk in the kitchen later when Dory called, wanting to bring a boy named Ray Fenton over to meet her. Dory had mentioned he was the young man who reported the animal cruelty at the puppy mill. She hoped Mae would give him an after school job. Mae told Dory to bring him over around four that day, then dug around in her freezer for some of her apricot-walnut bread—Dory's favorite. She found a loaf and put it on the counter to thaw.

Her cellphone buzzed on the counter. The text was from Jill. “Tough Act can make it on 2-14, will call re details.”

Mae was thrilled by the news. The musicians in Jill's band, Tough Act to Follow, were all excellent, and Jill's voice—smooth, but rough around the edges—complemented her band and vice versa. It would be quite a night. Now, to begin the search for a caterer.

When Miss Dory Clarkson walked into Mae's kitchen at just after four that afternoon, she looked fabulous in a purple sweater dress and high-heeled black boots. She gave Mae a quick hug.

“
This young man is Mr. Ray Fenton.” She presented her slim, teenage companion, who shook Mae's hand.

“
It's nice to meet you, Miss December,” he said. He seemed shy—when he shook her hand his face colored a bit.

“
It's good to meet you too, Ray. You can call me Mae. I understand you've worked with dogs already.” He nodded. Tallulah, her black pug, skidded around the corner and Ray's face lit up.

“
Okay if I pet her?” he asked. Mae nodded. He knelt down and held out his hand. The little pug sniffed him and consented to a belly rub. Mae and Dory smiled at each other. Ray was small for a high school boy. He seemed polite and certainly was good with dogs. Mae knew that he had lost his job after the puppy mill was raided, and Dory said he was a good kid. She decided to trust her own and Dory's instincts and give him a chance.

“
I can pay you six dollars an hour, if you can come three afternoons a week after school and help me with the dogs. I think you could ride the school bus here, and we'd work out a ride home for you, if you're interested.” She gestured at her cast. “As you can see, I could use a hand around here.”

“
Yes ma'am, thank you ma'am.” He got to his feet. “I can start tomorrow, ma'am.”

Mae smiled at his squeaky-voiced enthusiasm. “Good. And really, you can call me Mae. Do you have any questions?”

“
Miss Dory told me you were keeping three puppies from the raid. Could I see them?”

“
Sorry, I don't have time to show you the puppies now, but you can see them tomorrow.”

“
Do you have a pure white one?” She could hear the hope in his voice.

“
Sure do,” Mae said.

“
Mr. Clifton gave me one of the puppies. I named her Pearl Jam. I sure hope she's here at your place.”

“
In that case, go ahead and take a quick look,” Mae smiled at him. “I bet that's the little girl I've been calling Pearl.”

Ray dashed out to the barn and returned with a huge grin on his face. “She's here,” he said. “I'm so happy she's okay. Thank you Miss Mae. I probably need to get home and check on my mom if that's okay.”

Mae gave Dory a loaf of her apricot-walnut bread to take home, walked them out to Dory's car, and said goodbye.

“
Thank you for doing this, honey,” Dory said.

“
Thanks for bringing him over. Oh, and by the way—you know we talked about me helping you with the investigation, not just fostering some puppies.”

Dory paused, her hand on the door handle of her car. “You're right. You can drive, right? Come into the office tomorrow. You can look at the photos from the raid and help me with this report. I need to substantiate the animal cruelty claims. Or we can run out to the site. Maybe that would be even better.”

“
I think that would. Around ten?” Mae asked.

Dory nodded. “Sounds good.” She climbed into her red Thunderbird and closed the door. As she started the car and rolled her window down partway, she noticed Ray, already in the passenger seat.

“
Okay.” Mae waved at Dory and her new hire. “See you tomorrow morning, Dory. Ray, I'll see you after school.”

She watched Dory's car go down her driveway, turn left and leave the valley before she went back inside.
This should be interesting. I've never had an employee before.
She walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of hot tea before going back to the wedding plans.

W
ayne left his hotel in Ypsilanti, and after fighting the wintry roads for almost two hours, he walked into a large brick building near the Capitol in Lansing. He had spoken with Enid Lawton on the phone yesterday and offered to donate to her project. Wayne was eager to meet with her face-to-face. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor and went down the dingy hallway to a door with Enid Lawton, LLC lettered on the glass. A small white card reading “Abused Women's Commutation Project” had been taped below Ms. Lawton's name.

Wayne knocked and a voice said, “Come in.” Inside the door to a small room, a young college-age girl sat at a battered old desk made of oak.

“
Good morning,” he said. “I'm Detective Wayne Nichols. I have an appointment with Counselor Lawton.”

“
Yes, sir. She called to say she's been delayed in court. She should be here in about half an hour, but she said that if she didn't make it back here in time, you should meet with the governor's office staffer without her—her name is Carol Kyle-Norris. The building where you're going to meet is 201 Townsend Street—the Capitol View Building. It's on the third floor, Room 306. It's just a couple of blocks from here. You can get something to eat at the little grill opposite the vital records office. It's also on the third floor.”

“
Okay,” Wayne said. “What time should I be there?”

“
Eleven o'clock,” the young girl said. “Don't worry. Ms. Lawton will join you as soon as she can.”

Wayne squared his shoulders. He was intimidated by the thought of meeting with a staffer from the governor's office by himself, but he had some ammunition now. Jocelyn said she hadn't been assigned an attorney. If her memory was correct, that could be grounds for her release.

Just as he was about to enter the revolving door of the Capitol View Building, someone tapped his shoulder.

“
Are you Detective Nichols?” a woman asked. She was short, ruddy cheeked, and wearing a dark, hooded parka. He recognized her raspy smoker's voice from their phone conversation. She had caught up with him on a sidewalk that ran in front of the large buildings. The wind was blowing hard, swirling sleet pellets around their faces.

“
Yes, and you're Enid Lawton.”

“
I am. And I'm very appreciative of your offer to donate five thousand dollars to our project. That goes a long way on a shoe-string budget like ours. Let's get a sandwich and talk before we go meet with the staffer from the governor's office.”

Over stale, plastic-wrapped sandwiches and dispenser machine coffee, Wayne told Ms. Lawton about the years of abuse that Jocelyn endured before she killed Aarne. Enid's dark eyes sparked when he told her Jocelyn hadn't had an attorney.

“
In the past, the old boys' network thought a woman, particularly an Indian woman, could be denied due process without any repercussions. That day is over, thank God. And prejudice is waning. Do you know about the process of getting prisoners released, Wayne?”

“
No, my work usually involves getting them locked up, not released,” he said and made a wry face.

“
Right. There are three avenues of approach. The first is to fill out a commutation form. If that's denied, then we request a hearing before the parole board.”

“
She's already tried asking for parole twice. They turned her down.”

“
Perhaps with me writing the appeal letter asking them for a parole hearing, they'll agree to hear her case. If that fails, the third option is to get the case re-heard by a judge. The judge can refuse to hear the case, can deny release, or can grant the attorney's request to release the prisoner. I read the case file Evangeline sent me. Jocelyn should have been convicted of manslaughter and served a maximum of six years. Her murder-two life sentence was a travesty. Were you able to determine what kind of a prisoner Jocelyn has been?”

“
I met with the social worker at the prison yesterday after I saw Jocelyn. According to her, Jocelyn has been a model prisoner. She taught inmates how to read and write. She learned sign language and translated for the deaf when they watched movies. She served in the kitchen every day.”

“
Okay, that's good. What about Aarne's family—would they oppose her release?”

“
All dead.”

“
It's usually helpful to have others write letters of support. Is there anyone left we could ask?”

“
I learned something from Jocelyn on my visit yesterday. A neighbor woman found Jocelyn crying by Kurt's grave. Her name was Becky Wilshire. I think she would testify to Jocelyn's profound grief when she discovered that her son had been murdered.”

“
Okay. Try and track her down then. I'm going to hit this with a three pronged approach. First, I'll submit the commutation form. Assuming we'll be denied, I'll also request a hearing by the parole board. They'll need letters from the social worker and the teachers in the educational unit about Jocelyn's signing for the deaf and teaching inmates to read. See if you can get those. I'll also request a letter from the Warden at Huron Valley, providing she's in support of Jocelyn's release. At the same time, I'll start preparing a Habeas writ for the judge to ask for her release on the basis of time served.” Enid Lawton glanced at her watch and said it was time to meet with the governor's staffer.

They met briefly with Miss Kyle-Norris. She was a skinny woman in her early thirties with dark reddish hair and bright
blue
eyes. Wayne introduced himself and then sat back while the two women negotiated a time for Ms. Lawton on the governor's busy calendar. Having the governor pardon Jocelyn would be their last hope if the parole board denied her release again and if the judge wouldn't hear her case. Walking back to Ms. Lawton's office, as the wind thudded against them, Enid told Wayne she would get to work immediately.

“
Before I file any briefs, though, you need to find Mrs. Wilshire and see what she remembers.”

“
I'm on it,” Wayne said. “There's one other thing you need to know. Jocelyn has stage four lung cancer. She's going to start chemo soon and they don't expect her to recover.”

“
I'll use that,” the attorney said in a cheerful voice. Seeing his distressed expression, she apologized. “I'm sorry, Wayne. It's just that her cancer might make the judge feel more sympathetic. We can ask for compassionate release.”

All the way back to Rosedale, Wayne prayed that Becky Wilshire was still alive—that she would remember the day she found Jocelyn wailing at Kurt's grave and would be willing to testify to what she saw and heard. None of this would happen, however, if he couldn't find the woman or if she was already dead.

D
eputy George Phelps bustled into Ben's office and stopped in front of the sheriff's desk.

“
Yes, George, what do you need?” Ben said, looking up.

“
It's Dory.”

Ben took his eyes from his computer screen. “What about her?”

“
She just called.”

As a stand-in office manager or even a receptionist, Deputy Phelps left a great deal to be desired. Dory and Mae had left the office an hour or so earlier, headed out to the Clifton property. Ben was apprehensive about sending Mae out there with her wrist in a cast, but she'd said she wanted to see the conditions at the puppy mill for herself.

“
You know you can buzz me, right, George? You don't have to walk down here.”

His deputy smiled. “I know I can, Sheriff.” George patted his ample belly. “Dory said it's good for me to get up from the desk and move around. Helps keep me trim.”

“
Right.” Ben tried not to laugh and failed. “Did Dory say what she needed?”

“
Said she and your lady friend apprehended a suspect. They want you to come on out there and arrest him.”

Ben leaped to his feet. “Why the hell didn't you say so?”

Deputy Phelps opened his mouth, then clamped it shut. He followed as Ben grabbed his coat and hurried down the hall. Rob Fuller's door was open.