Free Pawing Through the Past by Rita Mae Brown

remarks. And I accept your apology.”
    “Mom is growing up at last.”
Tucker felt quite proud of her human.
    Before more could be said, Mrs. Hogendobber opened the back door. “Cynthia Cooper here to see all three of you.”
    They trooped back in, feeling a bit sheepish.
    Cynthia noticed their demeanor and after a few pleasantries she asked them about the shoot, if they noticed anything un-usual about Charlie, if they had any specific ideas.
    Each person confirmed what the other said. Nothing was different. Charlie was Charlie.
    Cooper stuck her notepad in her back hip pocket. “Harry, I need to see you alone.” She shepherded Harry out to the squad car. Mrs. Murphy and Pewter watched through the window. They could clearly see from their perch on the divider.
    “What’s going on?”
Tucker, intently staring out the window, asked.
    “Mother is frowning, talking, and using her hands a lot.”
    “I can see that. I mean what is
really
going on?”
the dog snipped.
    “H-m-m.”
Pewter blinked, not pleased with the turn of events.
    The air-conditioning hummed in the squad car. Empty po-tato chip bags lay on the seat. Harry removed them to the floor.
    “Whatever possessed you to tell Charlie Ashcraft he’d die before you’d sleep with him?”
    “Coop, I don’t know. I was mad as hell.”
    “Well, it doesn’t look good. Because of that outburst I have to consider you a suspect. It was a dumb thing to say.”
    “Yeah . . .” Harry bent over, picked up the potato chip bags, and folded them lengthwise. “I hated that guy. But you know perfectly well I didn’t kill him.”
    “Can you account for your whereabouts from six-thirty to eight last night?”
    “Sure. I was on the farm.”
    “Can anyone corroborate this?” Cooper wrote in her steno pad.
    “Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker.”
    “That’s not funny, Harry. You really are a suspect.”
    “Oh come on, Cynthia.”
    “You are a member of the country club. It wouldn’t have been difficult for you.”
    “No, I’m not,” Harry quickly spoke. “Mom and Dad were but after they died I couldn’t afford the dues. I’m allowed to go to the club once a month, which I usually do with Susan if she needs a tennis partner.”
    “But your presence at the club wouldn’t seem unusual. Everyone knows you.”
    “Coop, let me tell you: there are old biddies, male and female, who have nothing better to do than cast the searching eye. If I had been there, you can be sure someone would have reported me because I’ve already played with Susan this month. I’ve used up my allotted time.”
    Cynthia flipped her book closed. “Do you think you could kill?”
    “Sure, I could. In self-defense.”
    “In anger?”
    “Probably,” she replied honestly.
    “He sexually baited you.”
    “He’d been doing that since high school.”
    “You snapped.”
    “Nope.” Harry folded her arms across her chest.
    Cynthia exhaled through her nostrils. “Rick will insist on keeping you an active suspect until better shows up. You know how he is. So don’t leave the state. If an emergency should arise and you need to leave Virginia, call me.”
    “I’m not leaving. Now I’m insulted. If you don’t find the killer, I will.”
    “What I’d advise you to do, Harry, is watch your mouth. That’s why we’re sitting in my squad car on a hot August day.”
    “I suppose BoomBoom couldn’t wait to tell how I lost my temper.”
    “Let’s just say she performed her civic duty.”
    “That bitch.”
    “Yes, well, if that bitch winds up dead you are in trouble.”
    “Coop, I didn’t kill Charlie Ashcraft.”
    Relenting, dropping her professional demeanor, Cynthia replied, “I know—but shut up. Really.”
    Harry smoothed the folded potato chip bags on her thigh. “I will. I don’t know what’s come over me. It’s like I just don’t give a damn anymore.” She stared out the window. “You think it’s this reunion? I’m getting stirred up?”
    “I don’t know. Your