eb93c43e214c621f9157c05b4b6a6878

“But how could he not know that she was a call girl?”

“If they hardly saw each other, it could have made it easier for her to lie about her secret life. Her dad didn’t know about that side of her either, and he probably saw her more often.”

Chase ended the conversation and thoughtfully tapped the phone against his chin.

“Who was it?” asked Odelia.

“Rilla Nyzio. Said she remembered something that she reckons might be important. Calista ran a second business. Wives could hire her to test their husbands and see if they took the bait. If they did, they knew their husbands weren’t as faithful as they claimed to be. If they didn’t, they could rest easy. She even offered a discount for fianc?s. Take them for a test run, so to speak. And get this. Dotty was her number-one girl for this special service.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not.” He quirked a meaningful eyebrow. “And guess who’s getting married soon.”

“Dewey Toneu.”

“Think that maybe our friend Toneu wasn’t as forthcoming as he claimed? That maybe Dotty tried her routine on him and he took the bait and they were going to tell Marsella?”

“If that’s true, it’s one hell of a motive for murder.”

“I’ll say it is.”

“What are they talking about, Max?” asked Dooley.

“Well… you know how a married couple promise each other to be faithful?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Calista was running a business that tested this promise. If Dotty could seduce a husband or a fianc? to, um, kiss her, that meant he’d failed the fidelity test and they informed the partner. If he couldn’t be seduced, he passed the test and everything was hunky-dory.”

“And now they think that maybe Marsella hired Calista to test her fianc??”

“It’s a distinct possibility,” I said. “And if they did, and he failed, maybe he found out about the test and killed them both before they could tell his future wife.”

“That reminds me ofPassion Island, Max.”

I laughed.“It does, doesn’t it?”Passion Island was a reality show Odelia had infiltrated a while back. It involved couples being sectioned on two different islands, the men on one island and the women on the other, with both being subjected to temptation. It was pretty perverse, if you ask me, but then a lot of these so-called reality shows are like that now.

“Do you think a lot of men failed Calista and Dotty’s fidelity test, Max?”

“No idea, Dooley. But looks like they found their niche.”

“And paid for it with their lives.”

Chapter 14

Our next port of call wasn’t one of my favorite places to be, even though it was named after Dooley’s human. The Vesta Muffin Animal Shelter had been founded by Charlene and Uncle Alec in Vesta’s honor, though apart from the name she wasn’t actively involved. It certainly was a big improvement over the old pound, which didn’t hold a lot of fond memories for any of us. At least Marsella did a great job at the new shelter, and treated the animals she housed there with the kind of tender loving care one would hope to see.

“You’re here about Windex, aren’t you?” said Marsella when we found her in the reception area of the shelter. “So how is she settling in? Fond of her already, are you?”

“Absolutely,” said Chase. “She’s a lovely little thing. But we’re actually not here to talk about Windex, Marsella.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard,” said Odelia, taking over, “but two women were found murdered yesterday.”

“Dreadful business, isn’t it? And you’re in charge of the investigation, Chase?”

“Yes, I am. So we talked to some of the girls who worked for Calista Burden, and they told us she took on clients who paid her to seduce their future husbands.”

Marsella stared at the detective, clearly not having expected this.“Come again?”

“One of the two women who was murdered,” said Odelia, “Dotty Ludkin, seduced men to see if she could get them to be unfaithful to their wives or future wives. And then Calista would inform their partners about the result of this so-called fidelity test.”

“So now we were wondering…” Chase began, but stopped when Marsella held up her hand.

“I know what you’re going to say, and the answer is no. No, I didn’t hire these people to spy on my fianc?.”

“It’s not exactly spying,” Odelia clarified.

“I know, but I didn’t do that. I would never do that.”

“You and Dewey Toneu are engaged?”

“Yes, we are, but I didn’t hire anyone to try and seduce him. So you can put that theory to rest right now, detective, and look for your culprit elsewhere. It certainly wasn’t me.”

“We were thinking more of Dewey,” Chase admitted. “If he hired Dotty’s services—”

“He didn’t. Dewey simply isn’t that kind of man. He doesn’t need to hire anyone’s ‘services’ because very soon he’s going to be a happily married man.” She spoke these words with some vehemence, as if trying to impress it upon us that we were barking up the wrong tree.

“All right,” said Chase. “I believe you.”