Three Dog Day (28 page)

“
Those are our staff,” Ruth O'Connell said with pride. “Everyone who's worked here for a year gets a photographic portrait taken with their pet at the vet school's expense. We frame them and they're hung throughout the building.”

“
Let me know if you see Gretchen's picture,” Ben said quietly to Mae, who had stopped to study one of the portraits.

“
That's her.” Mae angled her head toward a portrait at the end of the row. A young brunette woman with a long-haired white cat in her lap looked back at them from the wall.

Ben looked at the label on the bottom of the frame, which read ‘Gretchen and Maia.' He nodded at Mae and tapped Rob on the shoulder. “Keep an eye out for her,” he told the detective, who glanced back at the picture and raised his eyebrows.

They finally reached the lab with “Bill Weil, Principal Investigator,” lettered on the door.

“
Here you are,” Ruth O'Connell said. Ben thanked her and held the door for Mae and Rob to enter the lab. A smell assailed him, but Ben couldn't quite identify it. It might have been ammonia. A girl—her long hair caught up in a ponytail, young enough to be an undergraduate—looked up from her desk.

“
We're here to see Dr. Weil,” Ben said. “This is Miss December, who's consulting on one of our cases. I'm Sheriff Bradley and this is Detective Fuller.” The lawmen showed the girl their credentials.

“
He slipped his leash,” the girl said in an ironic tone and grinned at their perplexed expressions. Mae stifled a giggle. “I'm kidding. That's just what we say when someone's out of the office.”

“
When did he leave?”
Ben
asked. “Specifically, we need to know whether he was in town the first week in January.”

“
He and Mrs. Weil were in France then. It was their twenty-fifth anniversary or something,” the girl said.

“
Is he still out of the country?” Rob asked.

“
Oh no, he got back on January tenth. He's just not here today, went to a meeting in Memphis. He'll be back tomorrow.”

“
Who's in charge of the lab in his absence?” Ben asked, thinking if Dr. Weil and his wife had been in France the first week in January, he wasn't their guy.

“
That would be Gretchen. I'm Megan, by the way,” the girl said cheerfully.

“
Pleased to meet you.” Rob gave the ponytailed girl an extra-bright smile.

“
Gretchen Wilkes?” Ben asked. That would be a lucky break. All Cam had found online was that she was employed by the vet school.

“
Yep. She's gone, too.” Megan gave him a little grin. “Went with Dr. Weil to the conference. They never take student helpers along, what a surprise. We just stay here, handle the phones, take care of the mail, and call the students when their experiments need to be checked. What did you want to see Dr. Weil about?”

“
Just need to ask him some questions. When did you say he would be back?”

“
Tomorrow.”

“
We'd very much like to talk to him as soon as possible. Could you leave him a note to call our office?”

Just then a willowy young woman came through the lab door. Seeing the sheriff's uniform, she said, “Can I help you, sir?”

Ben and Rob again produced their credentials. Mae introduced herself as a consultant after a quick glance at Ben.

“
They're looking for Dr. Weil,” Megan offered.

“
We're here to speak with him in connection with a crime. What's your name?” Ben asked.

“
I'm sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Julia D'Amato. I'm a PhD student working on a project on Canine Parkinson's under Dr. Heisey's direction. Is there something I can help you with? I'm sort of in charge at the moment.”

Rob Fuller was the first to speak up. “Do you use puppies for studies done in the lab? Pit bull puppies?”

“
Yes, we do, for Canine Leukemia studies and Parkinson's. I do the Parkinson's work. As you probably know, Parkinson's is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor, but it can progress rapidly in a dog.”

“
What do you use the puppies for?” Mae asked, giving Julia a serious look. “And what happens to them afterwards?”

“
Dogs with Parkinson's are often anemic. We give them transfusions. Whole blood transfusions from young animals that helps them enormously, but the puppies aren't harmed. As soon as they recover, we find good homes for them, don't worry.” Julia gave Mae a quick smile. “Once the older dogs' iron levels are stabilized they can have the deep brain stimulation surgery we've developed here. We're implanting what's called a brain pacemaker with quite good results.”

“
Who supplies your pups?” Rob glanced at Ben, who gave a slight nod.

“
A man named Web Johnston brings them to the lab on a weekly basis, although I haven't seen him now in a couple of weeks. We've been trying to reach him with no luck. If you give me your office number, I'll have Dr. Weil call you tomorrow.” Julia picked up a pen.

“
No need to write it down. Here's my card,” Rob said.

“
One more question,” Ben said. “You mentioned Dr. Heisey. Do you work in his lab also?”

“
No, Dr. Heisey's my dissertation director, so I meet with him weekly to go over my results. The transfusions are all done here in Dr. Weil's lab.”

“
Does Dr. Heisey supervise any other faculty or students who work with the pit bull puppies?”

“
Yes, there's one other student, Anthony Puglisi, but he already defended his dissertation and went home to see his parents just after the first of the year.” At the name ‘Anthony,' Mae stiffened beside him.

“
Thank you, Miss D'Amato. We'd appreciate your asking Dr. Weil to come to our office first thing tomorrow morning. Could you help us find our way out?”

“
I'll take them out, Julia,” Megan said. “I can hear your blood monitor beeping.”

They followed the helpful Megan through the lab complex until she opened two large metal double doors into a delivery bay.

“
Just head to the exit door,” she said. “It's to the right of this cargo bay. This is where Mr. Johnston delivers the puppies. You can see the parking lot from there. I'll put a note on Dr. Weil's calendar to come see you as soon as he gets back.”

When Megan left, the three walked along the side of the large cargo bay to the door.

“
Not much point staying around to talk to anyone else until we talk to Dr. Weil,” Ben said. “Certainly the slender Miss D'Amato, who is right-handed as I noticed when she grabbed her pen, couldn't have overpowered Web Johnston.”

“
It could have been that Puglisi guy she mentioned,” Rob said. “Depending on when he left campus after the first of the year.”

Mae raised her hand as if she were in class. “Gretchen said something about a boyfriend named Anthony when she came to my house.”

“
Or this Dr. Heisey,” Ben said. “If he supervised several students who were using pit bulls in their research, having the supply cut off could have led to a confrontation. But the first thing we need to do is talk to Dr. Weil. He couldn't have murdered Web if he was in France the first week in January. We'll need to check his passport. He probably knows whose studies would have been most impacted by the loss of the pit bull puppies.”

“
Just what I was thinking.” Rob gave a slight nod. “He can probably give us contact information for this Puglisi guy, too. Our window began January first. Puglisi might still have been in town then.”

D
ory brought Dr. Weil into the conference room after buzzing Ben to say he had arrived. Ben walked into the conference room as Dory was getting Dr. Weil coffee.

“
Dr. Weil, do you take sugar or cream in your coffee?” Dory asked.

“
Cream, thank you,” Dr. Weil said.

“
I attended the Clifton puppy mill hearing, where I heard your testimony,” Dory went on. “I was very impressed.”

“
Oh yes. I remember that the judge didn't call you to testify. Miss Seng was going to call you, but the judge declined your testimony.”

“
That's right. It was going to be my big moment.” Dory shrugged and smiled. “You did a wonderful job describing the animal care tree that the vet school uses.”

Detective Rob Fuller came into the room and said good morning to Dr. Weil. Dory caught Sheriff Bradley's glance, said goodbye to Dr. Weil, and departed.

“
Good morning, Dr. Weil. Thank you for coming to the office,” the sheriff said. “This is my colleague, Detective Rob Fuller.” The two men shook hands.

“
Happy to help. What's this about?” Dr. Weil asked.

“
It's about Web Johnston, the man who delivers puppies to your lab for experiments.”

“
He hasn't shown up since January first, when I left for France. I was surprised when I got back to find that several experiments had to be shut down because we hadn't heard from him. I had our lab manager call the campus cops to try to locate him.”

“
I'm afraid Mr. Johnston is dead,” Ben said, watching Dr. Weil's face. His surprise was genuine and Ben felt a brief sense of discouragement. Weil didn't look like their guy.

“
My goodness, and he was so young,” Dr. Weil said. “What did he die of, if you don't mind me asking?”

“
He was murdered,” the sheriff said.

Dr. Weil was silent for a few moments as the information sank in. “Do you consider me a suspect in the crime, Sheriff?” he asked, frowning. “Is that why I'm here?”

“
We need to talk to everyone who knew Mr. Johnston,” Detective Fuller said. “That's the reason we asked you to come in. If you don't mind, we will be taping this interview.” Dr. Weil nodded and Detective Fuller clicked on the audio capture, murmuring, “Sheriff Bradley and Detective Fuller interviewing Dr. Sheldon Weil, January twenty-second.”

Dr. Weil got a sharp look in his eye and said, “When was Johnston killed, Sheriff?”

“
During the first week in January when I understand you and Mrs. Weil were in Paris,” Sheriff Bradley said.

“
That's right. We celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary in Paris. I can bring my passport to your office if you need to confirm the dates.”

“
We'll need to see it at some point. Once we confirm the dates, we'll be able to eliminate you,” the sheriff said. “We hope you can tell us something about the researchers and other students who used the puppies Mr. Johnston supplied to your lab.”

“
There are only two students, and no other faculty beyond Dick Heisey and me, who work with transfusions. I understand you met Julia D'Amato already. She and Anthony Puglisi are the only students using transfusions of whole blood from young animals. Dr. Heisey and I supervise both of them.”

“
And do you or Dr. Heisey need puppies for your own work?” Detective Fuller asked.

“
I don't. I'm not an active researcher now. I'm nearing retirement age and am in the enviable position of not having to write grants or teach any more. I just putter around the lab and keep an eye on the student research studies.”

“
And Dr. Heisey?” Sheriff Bradley asked.

“
Dick's only part time now. He's the dissertation director for my two students, but doesn't do studies of his own.”

“
Was Dr. Heisey around during the first week in January?” Detective Fuller asked.

“
Certainly. Both of us can't be gone at the same time,” Dr. Weil frowned. “However, if you're considering Dr. Heisey as a suspect, you'll shortly be able to drop him from the list.” His voice was dry. “He suffers from Parkinson's himself and is confined to a wheelchair. His muscle strength is minimal at this point. He doesn't own a gun and couldn't have shot Web.”

“
Actually, Mr. Johnston was killed in a knife fight,” the sheriff said.

Dr. Weil gave a little half smile. “In that case, Dick Heisey certainly isn't your man. He can barely lift his arms. In fact, he's dying. He's been my best friend for fifty years.” A shadow crossed the man's face.

“
I'm sorry to hear that,” Sheriff Bradley said. “We'll check Dr. Heisey's whereabouts as a matter of form, but it sounds like we'll eliminate him as well. We don't believe that Julia D'Amato is strong enough to have been the killer. However, I'd like to ask Mr. Puglisi some questions. Do you have his cellphone number, Dr. Weil? I understand he is visiting his parents.”

“
Yes, he was planning on leaving for his home town of Benton the day he passed his PhD defense.”

“
What was the date of that defense?” Detective Fuller asked. He had a small notebook and pen in his hand. “Did he pass?”

“
January third, I believe,” Dr. Weil said. “And yes, Heisey sent me a text saying Puglisi passed. I have Anthony's phone number in my phone. Let me get that for you.” He pulled his cellphone from his pants pocket and gave the sheriff the number.