M FOR MURDER

Part 2

Doggone

Again in the darkness the phone rings and a dog picks it up. "Murders R Us. You nab 'em, we slab 'em. Number Two here--" A anger voice answers, "Shut up, you fool! You got the wrong one!" Number 2 says, "Calvin Cobb was a worthless idiot." The other voice said, "If we went around bumping all the worthless idiots, you'd be the first one on the list!" "Be careful what you say. YOU could be next!" Voice 2 replied, "And blow you ten thousand clams? Don't get funny. Just get smart and do the job right!" The receiver is slammed down. Lighting flashes as the thunder booms.

Sam sniffs the ground for clues where the Ridgeback fell. "Ah, ha!" He picks up a bit of dirt that had fallen from between Calvin's paw pads. The dirt had bits of sea grass in it. He thought, "Probably was walking on the beach enjoying his last sunset. Poor guy. But why would someone try to bump off Calvin? Horace could have but I don't think it goes that far. That means Calvin was murdered but who was it that murdered him?" Thunder clashes right before Hope & Faith enters from cleaning the rooms. "Oh there you are, Mr. Slade!" The German Shepherd looks at the sisters. "Any luck gals?" he asked. Faith is almost in tears as she said, "Charity is trying 1 more time to reach the authorities. But the connection is so bad.." Hope picks up where Faith left off; "During storms we often lose contact with the main land." Sam thinks for a few seconds before he said, "So.. no chance to send a boat huh?" Faith shook her head. "Stuck on this tiny island with a corpse and a killer." Sam said quietly. Faith wails in fear then quiets when her sister told her to hush. "Killer? I don't want to be stuck on a island with a killer." Hope said briskly. Sam nodded. "That's right. Cousin Calvin didn't die of natural causes, gals. He was bumped off." Charity trotted in, fearfully carrying a platter of sandwiches. "Bumped off?" she asked. Sam sighed then said quietly getting louder with each word, "Rubbed out, iced, disposed of, dispatched, slain, canned, butchered, knocked off.." Charity smacks him on the snout. "I don't think we need a thesaurus right now, Mr. Slade." She said snappy. Sam rubs his snout."I don't WANT to be in a hotel with a..a.." Faith said. Hope wails, "Murderer!!" The French window doors fly open. Sam barks loudly, "Quiet Papillons!" Charity whimpers as she closes the window's door. Hope sits by Sam. "But you can help us, Mr. Slade, can't you?" she asked. Sam clears his throat before saying, "It's my business, dolls. So tell me. What'd you do with Calvin?" Charity answered, "Oh, we cleaned off a shelf of sandwiches in the cooler. Would you care for a sandwich?" Sam pushed the platter away from him. "Not yet. I want to go scope the kitchen out." Sam dashes to the kitchen and the sisters go to clean the upstairs rooms.

Horace hobbles into the lobby with Caroline and Verna close on his tail. The Smooth Collie said, "But Uncle Horace, you're not being fair! I love Tex!" Horace wheels around to face his niece. "That's a stupid reason to get married. You marry for money!" Caroline snaps, "Tex HAS money! He makes $72 every week and all the beef he can eat!" Horace growls, "I mean REAL money pup!" The Smooth Collie began crying loudly. Verna sits on the couch watching them. Horace rolls his eyes, "Stop that infernal noise or I'll take the keys to your Collar closet & the keys to your Impala!" Caroline snaps her head up and said, "You wouldn't DARE!" Horace smiled, "One quick call to my lawyer & your insurance is canceled!" Caroline whimpers as Horace tries to dial. Verna snapped, "You should have done something about this child years ago when she first came to live with you. You've spoiled her rotten and are now just paying the price!" Horace snarled, "And who are you all of a sudden, Dr. Phil?" He slammed down the receiver. "Darn phone's dead!"

Tex bursts through the French window. "Shucks! It's worse 'n a Texas twister out there!" The Smooth Collie's eyes brighten when she saw the Bluetick Hound. "Oh Tex!" She runs to him. "Caroline!" Tex said before the 2 meet and embrace. Horace replied, "Oh gag! Get your paws off her, you..you..horse thief!" He separated the 2 before Tex threw his fists into the air. "Put your dukes up Grandpa!" Horace snarled before Sam entered the lobby with the sisters behind him. "These 2 make Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote look like best friends." He thought. Charity squeaked, "Mr. Slade found out something terrible!"

Rodney & Rhonda run through the lobby. Rodney is holding his sister's Barbie doll. Rhonda screams, "Give me my Barbie!" Verna whips her head around to watch them, "Talk about something awful!" Rodney laughed, "No! Barbie bumped off Ken, so she's going to stand trial on Court TV." The 2 pups run to the inside pool. Horace sighed before he said, "I'd like to bump of a few dogs myself!" Sam faces Horace before saying, "Appears to be catching!" Tex cocks his head. "Cousin Calvin was murdered." Caroline asked, "But HOW?" "He was poisoned! There's enough arsenic in those clams to bump off half of the freshman class at Wolf Sage State." Sam held up a spice jar for everyone to see. "It says onion powder, right? Wrong. It's full of arsenic." Verna stood quick and yelled, "That's easy! Whoever cooked the clams killed Calvin!" All the dogs but Sam howl with anger.

Lila dashes in. "Sam? What's going on?" she asked. The other eyes fell on her accusingly. Faith pointed and shouted, "SHE cooked the clams!" Hope replied, "That's right! She wanted Horace to taste her new recipe so he'd promote her to his test kitchen!" Horace towered other her and gruffly said, "Test kitchen! Now the only kitchen you'll go to is at the jail! For life!" They all surround her but Sam stays close to his lady. Sam led her to the corner and explained everything to her. "Funny my recipe didn't call for onion powder. Besides I haven't known Cousin Calvin for a long time. I couldn't have done anything to him!" Lila nuzzled Sam warmly before the 2 walked up the stairs to their rooms. Verna, Tex, and Caroline are the only ones left in the lobby. Verna leans down to pick up something as Caroline cuddles in Tex's strong arms. Someone in a clown suit walks up from behind the desk and taps Verna's shoulder. The Silky Terrier looks behind her and screams. Tex & Caroline wake from through love trance. Verna swoons into Tex's arms. Caroline screams as she looks at her fainted aunt. "By jingo, this is a pudgy little heifer!" Tex shouts. Caroline barked before she snapped at the clown, "That was a dirty trick whoever you are!" The dog removed the mask, it was Holly. "I'm sorry for scaring you Miss Clamskey. Horace designed it for our franchise." Tex lifted Verna into a chair before saying a comment, "That's a right scary get-up Holly." "It looks like something from Mutant Clowns Unleashed!" Caroline barked. Verna moans as she slips to the floor. "Help me to my room and get that thing off of you!" As Caroline helps Verna stand, Holly removes the costume. "I thought the Colonel was down here. So I wanted to show him." Verna screeched, "I should have known it was HIS idea! He knows I have a weak heart. Maybe he wants me DEAD too!" Holly helps Verna up to her room. Caroline sighed, "I wish Uncle Horace would just shake off a bit." Tex nuzzles her and replied, "He said no again didn't he." The Smooth Collie nodded yes then laid down. "He won't budge! What can I do for him to like me?" Tex asked. "You need to be filthy rich." Caroline said. Tex looked at her before sitting down. "I love you Caroline! I want to marry you but there has to be a way!" He looked around then spotted the clown costume. He goes over and picks it up. "Come on Caroline! I got a idea!" Tex dashed off as Caroline gave him a puzzled look. She shrugged before racing after him.

Lila & Sam entered from the kitchen. "So where were the sisters?" Sam asked. "They went upstairs to put towels in the bathrooms." Lila answered. Sam stopped and Lila almost ran into him. He whipped around and asked, "So there's another way into the kitchen?" Lila nodded before answering, "An old circular staircase at the back of the upstairs hall." Sam wagged his tail and said, "You know what that means? Anyone could have put the poison in the clams!" Lila barked happily, "That's great!" Sam smiled, "Yeah but not for Cousin Calvin." Lila hugs Sam, "Oh I'll know you find who did it before the storm clears." Lila kisses him warmly before trotting up to her bedroom. "Every job got its perks! Dang what a angel!" Sam thought before he leaped in the air with joy. Then he raced to the kitchen again. Mortimer sneaked down the stairs and made sure no was watching. He walked down the steps then placed an envelope on the hotel desk. He heard the Papillon sisters and ran back up stairs. The sisters enter the lobby. Hope sees her name written on the envelope and went to pick up. She opened it and bursts out in tears and races off to her room. "Hope!" Faith cried. "Leave me alone!" answered Hope. Caroline pushed against the hall as Hope ran past then she trotted