Page 64 of K-9 in Pursuit

“Connor told me how you helped him out when he was first arrested,” Chloe said.

“Unfortunately, there’s not much more I can do to help him,” she said. “This case is way out of my jurisdiction. But I’ve been keeping my ears open for any news.”

“My lawyer called today to tell me the prosecutor is convening a grand jury to consider charging me with murder.” His voice broke on the last word and Chloe reached out to grip his hand.

“Sit down.” Connor cleared coats from a pair of chairs. “Whatever you need, you’ve got it.”

“We’re hoping you can help us find out more information about a woman named Bunny Allerton,” Chloe said. “She came to my salon a couple of days ago and made a point of booking a bunch of services with me—enough to keep me occupied for an entire afternoon. But she never showed up for the appointments and while I was at the salon waiting on her someone broke into my apartment and wrecked the place.”

“Wrecked as in vandalized?” Stacy asked.

“I’m not sure how to tell the difference, but this looked like they were looking for something,” Chloe said. “Though I can’t imagine what.”

“That’s not the end of Bunny acting suspicious,” Brian said.

“She was waiting for me at the salon the next morning,” Chloe said. “She apologized for her failure to show. She said her mother in Florida had been hospitalized and she had been so upset she forgot to call me. She booked a manicure right then. I had just shown up to work and had to get things ready while she waited, but I didn’t think anything of it until I got ready to leave for the day and discovered my purse was missing. She knew where I’d stored it when I arrived, and I left her alone up front while I adjusted the heater, turned on the rest of the lights and made coffee.”

“That night, someone tried to get into the salon with a key,” Brian said. “But we scared them away.”

“It does sound like someone was looking for something,” Stacy said. “When they didn’t find it at your apartment, they targeted your shop. Do you have any idea what it might have been?”

“No idea,” Chloe said. “But I wonder if it’s connected somehow to Sharee’s murder. It seems like too big a coincidence that Sharee was killed and then I’m the target of two break-ins.”

“And whoever broke into Chloe’s apartment had a key,” Brian said. “And Sharee’s house key, which she should have had with her when she was killed, is missing.”

“Bunny left a phone number when she made her first appointment with me,” Chloe said. “When I called it the day of her appointments, either she didn’t answer, or I got a busy signal. But when I tried to call again the next day, the number was disconnected.”

“That does sound suspicious,” Stacy said.

Chloe turned to Connor. “Brian said you might know how to find out if someone rented a resort property,” she said. “If we could find where she stayed during the time we know she was in SkyCrest, maybe we could look and see if she was also in town when Sharee was killed.”

“We can do a search of resort properties for anyone with that name,” Connor said.

“Did she have an ID or a credit card in that name?” Stacy asked.

“If she did, I never saw it,” Chloe said. “She paid for her manicure in cash. And honestly, I’m not sure Bunny Allerton is her real name. The way she dressed—a wig, heavy makeup and kind of an over-the-top wardrobe—made me wonder if she was wearing some kind of disguise.”

“I can’t look for the information myself,” Connor said. “But I know someone.” He glanced at Stacy. “I don’t know if snooping is really illegal, but it’s definitely against company policy.”

Stacy held up both hands. “I’m staying out of this.”

“Let me call my friend in the resort offices and see if she can help us.” Connor took out his phone. “It would probably help if we had something to bargain with,” he said. “Something to persuade her to take the risk.”

“Tell her I’ll give her a full spa day if she helps us out,” Chloe said. “Massage, manicure, pedicure, hair and makeup.”

“That might do the trick.”

He made the call and explained what they wanted. Though his friend—Stevie—was hesitant at first, when she learned of Chloe’s offer, she became more enthusiastic. “She says she can meet at her office at six thirty tomorrow morning,” he said after he ended the call. “She can give us twenty minutes.”

BRIAN HAD SPENT plenty of early mornings at the ski resort, arriving before sunrise and in the midst of heavy snowstorms to mitigate avalanche-prone ridges and slopes. But he had never been to this part of the resort so early in the day. The six-story office building was set amid high-end condos, most of the windows still dark. As he and Chloe, along with Connor, walked to their meeting with Stevie, he had to fight the urge to constantly look over his shoulder. Their footsteps echoed on the stone floor of the darkened lobby, their shadows suddenly leaping up as they passed through pools of light cast by strategically placed lamps. No one spoke, the silence adding to the eeriness of the moment.

A tall blonde woman with an elfin face met them at the elevator on the fourth floor. “I’m tucked away in the back where no one can see us,” she said, and led the way past rows of vacant desks with darkened monitors. Brian had to stop and untangle himself from a massive ivy that spilled from the top of a bookcase.

“I’ve been searching for the name you gave me, but not coming up with anything,” Stevie said as she sat and rolled her chair close to a monitor. “No Allertons at all, actually. If she booked with a private owner, though, we’re out of luck. I checked ski passes, too, and she’s not there, either.”

“She never mentioned skiing,” Chloe said. “What about Theresa Douglas?”

Brian frowned. “You said she was for certain at home when Sharee was murdered and when you met Bunny.”