When the Cookie Crumbles (7 page)

“That’s great,” Olivia said, forcing a show of enthusiasm, “and I’m sure you’ll handle it beautifully.” She figured it was useless to mention that Paine had asked—more like demanded—that the sheriff keep the block clear of gawkers. “I really think the reporters will understand when you explain the mansion is again a private residence and
that—” Olivia heard a sharp intake of breath and knew she was in for another explosion.

Ellie tapped on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Shall I give it a try?” Olivia held her hand over the mouthpiece as Ellie added, “Karen and I often run together. She can easily outpace me, so she feels a certain benevolence toward me.”

Olivia mouthed a heartfelt “yes” and handed the phone to her mother.

Using her patient-parent voice, Ellie said, “Hello, Karen dear, it’s Ellie. Olivia has been summoned to resolve a store crisis, so I offered to help you with your dilemma.”

Olivia sank onto a kitchen chair. Maddie reached for the plate of cookies and brought it to her. “This should be both interesting and instructive,” Maddie whispered. “Perhaps even amusing.”

“Yes, dear,” Ellie said into the phone, “I most certainly do understand how important this is to you. And for your future.” She paused for Karen’s reply before saying, “Oh, I don’t think it would completely destroy your chances, but I can see that if this celebration goes well, it will showcase your considerable leadership skills and administrative talents.”

While Ellie listened to the mayor, Olivia nibbled on a shortbread cookie in a butterfly shape with pink and lavender wings. The cookie worked its calming magic on her. She ought to go out to the sales floor and help Bertha, but she felt glued to her seat. So, apparently, did Maddie and Lucas, both of whom hung on Ellie’s side of the phone conversation.

“Yes, I see the reasoning in everything you’ve argued,” Ellie said. “I was thinking, though.… Perhaps I might throw out another strategy, simply for you to think about?
I’ve always been most impressed by congresspersons who project a calm presence and are skilled negotiators. Of course, anyone of average ability can negotiate successfully with a reasonable opponent, but…Yes, I agree completely. An angry, obdurate opponent is more of a challenge. Only a truly gifted leader should even try to negotiate with someone like that.”

Olivia was fairly sure she was being insulted. If it got her out of another visit to Chatterley Mansion, though, she’d take it with good grace.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Ellie said, “although I wonder about…but of course you were only joking about that. You’d never do such a thing. I wish you every success, Karen dear. Do let me know how it goes.” Ellie hung up and beamed at her rapt audience. “Karen intends to speak with Paine herself,” she said, “and I need a cookie.”

“You deserve one.” Olivia passed her mother the last cookie on the plate, a yellow and blue winged butterfly. Ellie took a bite and moaned with pleasure.

“Mom? What was the thing you said Karen would never do?”

“Oh nothing, I’m sure. Karen was feeling feisty, which is a good thing. Within reason, of course. It was a show of bravado, that’s all.”

“What was a show of bravado?” Olivia asked.

“Oh, you know how it is. Karen was simply expressing her frustration. She said she’d get Paine Chatterley out of her way even if she had to strangle him.”

Spunky insisted on a walk in the cool of dusk, and Olivia allowed herself to be persuaded. After a steamy summer, it felt good to need an extra layer of clothing. She considered leaving her cell phone at home, fearing she could expect another frantic, demanding call from the mayor. At the last minute, she slipped it into the pocket of her thigh-length sweater.

After locking the store behind her, Olivia asked, “Where to, Spunks?”

The little Yorkie yanked his leash in a northerly direction. Olivia knew better than to object. Spunky was particular about his walking route, preferring to avoid such irritants as heavy traffic or rowdy teenagers. Guarding The Gingerbread House all day was a demanding job. For his evening outing, Spunky required peace and quiet.

As Spunky sniffed every inch of a fire hydrant, Olivia’s cell emitted a garbled tune from the recesses of her pocket.
She checked caller ID and saw her younger brother’s number. “Jason! How’s life inside the Beltway?”

“Technically, I’m not inside the Beltway, Liv,” Jason said. “In fact, I guess I won’t be in DC at all pretty soon. That’s why I’m calling. I’m moving back home.”

“Oh.” Olivia restrained herself from adding her next thought:
Yay!
She hadn’t been happy with her brother’s decision to follow his girlfriend when she moved from Chatterley Heights back to DC. Charlene had abruptly closed her new business, a health food store, after her abusive ex-husband sneaked into town and got himself murdered. Olivia had worried that Jason’s devotion to Charlene had more to do with overprotectiveness than love. She rather hoped they had split for good. Jason deserved better. “So,” she asked, “are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Things just got…well, you know how it is. I couldn’t find a job, with this recession and all. I wasn’t about to live on Char’s money.”

“I can understand that,” Olivia said. “It’s a tough situation.”

“Yeah.” Jason was silent so long that Olivia thought he’d hung up. He startled her by saying, “I called Mom and Allan, and they said I could stay with them till I can afford a place of my own again. That’ll be weird, but…hey, the good news is Struts said I could have my old job back.”

“That’s great!” Olivia wasn’t surprised. Struts Marinsky owned Struts & Bolts, Chatterley Heights’s garage. She was a gifted mechanic and a great boss. She recognized skill when she saw it. “It’ll be good to have you around again.”

“Don’t get all mushy on me. Bye.” Click.

Happily distracted by Jason’s news, Olivia strolled another block before she realized Spunky was retracing their morning route to the Chatterley Mansion. And no wonder. During
their visit to the mansion that morning, Hermione Chatterley had slipped Spunky a bite of meat. Olivia had not objected, but only because she’d hoped for Hermione’s help to convince Paine to open the mansion to strangers. Naturally Spunky would head back in hopes of another tasty treat.

“I’m on to you, kiddo,” Olivia said to her determined little dog. “Let me remind you that I am bigger than you, and I’m not about to follow you back to that mansion for every walk from now to infirmity.”

Spunky paid no attention. He turned north onto Sycamore Street, which would eventually lead them past the mansion. When Olivia slowed her pace, Spunky strained at his leash until it pulled his front paws off the sidewalk. Olivia picked him up and tucked him under her arm. “You’re lucky I bought you a harness leash so you wouldn’t strangle yourself,” she muttered. Spunky let out a yap in response.

“Shush, boy.” Something in her voice made an impression on the Yorkie, who for once obeyed her command. They had come within sight of Chatterley Mansion, where Olivia saw a car parked in front. The car, a red Cadillac, looked familiar. As she crossed Frederick Street and headed north up Sycamore, she saw the driver’s door open. A shapely leg emerged, followed by the rest of Mayor Karen Evanson. Karen paused to straighten the jacket of her suit and fluff her hair before striding toward the Chatterleys’ front door.

Olivia’s first thought was to call her mother and tell her she was a genius. But she wanted to put some distance between herself and the Chatterley Mansion in case Karen glanced down the street while she waited for someone to answer the front door. Knowing Karen, she would corral Olivia into helping her manipulate Paine Chatterley. Going around the block was Olivia’s safest option.

“Sorry, Spunks, no forbidden treats this evening. We’re
going home.” As she bent to put Spunky down, he jerked the leash from her grasp. She grabbed at him, but he was too quick for her. Olivia sprinted after him, consoling herself that at least he was heading north, not toward the mansion’s front door. Spunky, though, had another surprise for her. He suddenly veered to the right and disappeared. Olivia realized at once that he’d found the alley behind the Chatterley Mansion. Perhaps it was merely a coincidence, but Olivia suspected he’d planned the whole maneuver.

Olivia followed Spunky into the alley, strolling, in case anyone was watching. At first, she couldn’t see the tiny dog ahead of her. Then she spotted him next to a short trash can behind Chatterley Mansion, his tail wagging at warp speed. Spunky was positioning himself for a jump. Before Olivia could capture him, his little hind legs and fluffy tail disappeared inside the can.

“Oh, Spunky…” Olivia peered into the can. Garbage filled about half of it, which might explain why it hadn’t toppled as Spunky leaped inside. A furry Yorkie face gazed up with delight, though not at the sight of his mistress. Between his teeth, he held a piece of red meat. To be precise, a small steak, cooked rare. “You are a bad, bad boy.” Olivia’s admonition had no effect, probably because she’d whispered it.

Olivia reached into the can and clutched the meat with her bare hands. As she tried to pull it out of Spunky’s mouth, he growled and backed up to the edge of the garbage can. The can shifted, scraping the pavement. Olivia saw no other option; she let go. She was grateful the mansion’s only window onto the alley was in the kitchen door, which was several feet away from them.

While she considered her dilemma, it occurred to Olivia to wonder why the Chatterleys had tossed the steak into their garbage. Even if Paine refused to eat it, why wouldn’t
Hermione have done so? She felt a chill as she remembered Hermione’s comment that Paine thought she was poisoning him. But no, Spunky weighed only five pounds; if he’d eaten a piece of poisoned meat in the morning, he’d have shown symptoms before evening.

And why was the garbage can already more than half full? Maybe Paine and Hermione were cleaning out items the workers had left in the house, like old wallpaper? Olivia didn’t care enough to examine the can’s contents. She wanted to go home.

Olivia lifted Spunky out of the garbage can, steak and all. As she did so, she noticed an empty whiskey bottle lying amidst the trash. She wondered if perhaps a neighbor had used the mansion’s garbage can to dispose of telltale evidence. A heavy drinker might want to avoid putting too many empty bottles in his or her recycling bin. On the other hand, Snoopy Sam Parnell might have been right for once. Maybe Paine Chatterley did have a drinking problem.

Olivia grimaced at the bloody object hanging from her otherwise sweet pet’s mouth. “That’s probably spoiled. You’ll get sick, which will serve you right.” Olivia felt a guilty twinge. She reminded herself that Spunky had spent months on the loose after his escape from the puppy mill. He’d eaten out of many a garbage can without becoming ill. However, she’d have to find a way to separate dog and meat. Later.

First, Olivia had to get them both away from Chatterley Mansion and back home, as quickly as possible. The most direct route was back the way they’d come. That meant crossing Frederick Street in view of the mansion’s front yard. Well, it couldn’t be helped.

Once he realized his mistress wasn’t trying to steal his delicious prize, Spunky allowed Olivia to carry him off. They left the alley and headed south, toward home. Before
leaving the cover of a cottage on the corner lot, Olivia peeked down Frederick Street. It looked deserted. Mayor Karen Evanson’s car was still parked in front of Chatterley Mansion, so Hermione, at least, must have been willing to talk to her. If Karen succeeded in gaining Paine’s cooperation, it would be a miracle.

With his teeth sunk into a hunk of meat, Spunky couldn’t yap, for which Olivia was grateful as she carted him across the street in sight of the mansion. Spunky concentrated his energy on trying to chew the meat without letting go of it. It wasn’t going well, but Spunky was a terrier, after all. Giving up was not in his nature.

When The Gingerbread House came into view, he still held that bloody mess clenched between his teeth. By then, Olivia estimated, half of Chatterley Heights had seen them, laughed, and taken pictures on their cell phones. Olivia’s only hope was that the evening light had faded enough to make Spunky’s plunder unidentifiable.

Exhausted and embarrassed, Olivia entered the foyer of her Queen Anne and plunked her pup onto the doormat. Gritting her teeth, she took hold of the meat with both hands and played tug-of-war with the tough little Yorkie. Spunky threw himself into the game. He growled, Olivia cajoled, and they were getting nowhere. The deciding factor turned out to be Maddie, who heard the ruckus and flung open the door of The Gingerbread House.

Spunky’s protective instincts kicked in. He began to yap fiercely, which required him to open his mouth and drop the steak. Olivia, caught off guard, fell back against the foyer wall and slid to the floor, still clutching the meat.

“If you’re going to play rough,” Maddie said, “don’t you think you should go outside? This is a place of business, and you’ve gotten blood on the rug.”

“There are cell phone cameras out there,” Olivia said.

“Ah. That’s unfortunate. So I guess we’ll be seeing this in Binnie Sloan’s blog?”