Once Bitten (A Melanie Travis Mystery) by Laurien Berenson Page A

insinuated themselves up into my lap. Maris didn’t seem to mind, so I let him keep climbing.
    “What are the other reasons?”
    “I got a message from Sara last Sunday, too. I was at the show, but she left it here on my answering machine. I figured she didn’t have the nerve to face me in person.”
    “What was it about?”
    “Business.” Her tone was curt. Maris was back to being annoyed. “Sara left me her whole week’s worth of clients to take care of. Said something about it being too last-minute to cancel on them and she was sure I wouldn’t mind filling in.”
    “Let me guess. You did mind.”
    “Of course I did. For one thing, my own schedule was already full. For another, she had me baby-sitting a Siamese cat over in Rowayton.” She shuddered slightly. “I’m a dog person. I don’t do cats. Adding insult to injury, Sara bills her regular clients monthly. I didn’t see any money for all the extra work I did, and I probably never will.”
    I scratched behind the Wheaten’s ears and gave Maris a moment to cool off. “Considering she felt free to call you like that, I guess you and Sara must be pretty good friends.”
    “Most of the time. I’m sure you know what Sara’s like. She means well and she’s lots of fun to be around, but the usual rules of friendship don’t really apply. I mean, no matter what’s going on, it’ll never be about your life or your problems. In Sara’s mind, everything is always all about Sara.”
    Pretty much the same thing Bertie had said.
    “On the other hand, I’ve never known her to just pick up and disappear. Sara thrives in a social context. It doesn’t seem at all like the type of thing she’d do. I hope she’s okay.”
    Maris held out her hand and snapped her fingers. Immediately the Wheaten Terrier left my lap and went to her. “What about Titus? Where’s he?”
    “As far as we know, she took him with her. He wasn’t at her house. Can you think of any reason why Sara might have chosen to run away?”
    “No. If something was really wrong, I imagine she would have talked about it. I know she’s been going through a bit of a rough patch lately . . .”
    “Problems?” I prompted when her voice trailed away.
    Maris looked up. She seemed almost surprised to discover that she’d spoken aloud.
    “It was nothing Sara couldn’t handle,” she said firmly. “Having Delilah for a mother, one thing that girl knows how to do is cope.”
    “Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Sara?”
    Maris stopped to think before answering. In fact, she thought for so long that I began to wonder if I was about to hear about that recent rough patch. Alas, it didn’t happen.
    “Sara isn’t always the easiest person to get along with,” Maris said finally. “But for someone to actually want to do her harm? That seems pretty far-fetched. Unless of course you want to talk about Debra Silver. Not that I think she’s the violent type or anything, but she hates Sara with a passion. Has for years.
    “I think it goes back to something that happened when they were showing against each other in junior showmanship. How anyone could hold a grudge for an entire decade, I have no idea, but you know dog people. Whatever happened, Debra has neither forgotten nor forgiven.”
    “I heard a story,” I said. “Something about Sara poisoning a competitor’s dog?”
    “Yeah, that’s the one. Frankly, it’s old news. I don’t know the whole story and I never cared enough to chase the rest of it down. If you’re interested, I’m sure Debra will be happy to fill you in.”
    “Thanks.” It sounded like a long shot, but it wasn’t as if I had any better ideas. “Do you know how I can get in touch with her?”
    “Look in the Greenwich phone book.” Maris wrinkled her lips in distaste. “Debra married well, and she never lets the rest of us forget it. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble tracking her down.”
    “I’ll do that,” I said, rising. “I