Chapter 5 The Case of the Dirty Windows

There was the usual morning chaos at the King household the next day. Lee had shown up fifteen minutes early to take Amanda to work and was now sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee in awe of the commotion in which he hoped to someday be a part.

"Philip," Amanda called from the bottom of the stairs, "you'd better get down here soon or you'll be late for swim practice."

"Okay Mom. I'm almost ready."

"Don't forget your towel," she reminded him.

"Jamie," Amanda scolded, catching a glimpse her son giving Marty a piece of his toast through the plastic gate holding the dog in the laundry room, "don't feed that dog from the table."

"But I'm not at the table," he remarked not taking his eyes off his new pet.

"You know what I mean. Do you have your skateboard? Mr. Krammer will be here any time to take you and Billy to the skateboarding park. Remember you have a dentist appointment at 11:30 today, so don't stay at the park past 10:30 and be sure to let the dog out before you leave for the dentist. Did you clean up after him this morning?" "Yes, Mom." Jamie answered standing to go after hearing Mr. Krammer's beeping horn.

Philip emerged from his the stairs and joined Lee at the table.

"Morning, Lee," he said with a groggy voice as he reached for the cereal box Amanda had put on the table for him.

Lee nodded a return greeting.

Without warning, the air was filled with Crispy Bears cereal.

"Philip," wailed Amanda.

"I was only trying to open it," Philip pleaded.

"Go get the broom and clean it up," Amanda sighed, spotting Lee hiding a smile.

As he retrieved the broom from the laundry, Marty escaped into the kitchen and began to gobble up the scattered cereal.

"I don't think I need to sweep and more," Philip informed his mother pointing to Marty who gave him a stern look in reply.

"Good morning, Lee. I didn't know you were here already," gushed Dotty just then coming down the stair hairbrush in hand. "Now remind me Amanda of the schedule today. I have to take Philip and Paul Henderson to swim practice this morning, but Paul's mother is picking them up. Correct?"

"Right so far," responded Amanda hurriedly trying to clear the breakfast dishes from the table. She picked up the coffeepot and waived it toward Lee who shook his head no.

"Then, Jamie has an appointment with Dr. Anderson at 11:00."

"No, Mother. The appointment with Dr. Anderson is at 11:30."

"Oh! Good, because I have a hair appointment this morning at 9:00. Just a cut and styling, not a wash, so I'll be able to be home well before 11:00 to take him," continued Dotty more to herself than to Amanda. She reached for a coffee cup from the cabinet and held it out for Amanda to pour her some coffee.

"Mother," said Amanda putting down the coffeepot and picking up an envelope lying on the island. "There are some college students coming by the morning. One of them is Mrs. Henderson's nephew. They weren't able to find jobs this summer so they are doing odd jobs around the neighborhood. I told her that they could wash the windows on the outside. The second story really needs it. The ladder is in the garage. I put the bucket, window cleaner and rags on the front porch this morning and here is the envelope with their pay. They were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago, so if they come before you leave, please tell them where everything is and give them the money."

"Okay."

"Lee are you ready to go?"

Lee stood up saying goodbye to Dotty and Philip who returned his greeting.

A few minutes after Lee and Amanda left for work, a gray van pulled up in front of the King house.

"Now let me do the talking," Roy told Jake. "You just keep quiet. I'm going to tell them that the dog belongs to my dying sister's little girl. That ought to work."

"I didn't know we had a sister," a puzzled Jake said.

"We do for the time being."

"What's her name?"

"That's why you need to keep quiet," replied a discussed Roy.

The pair got out of the van and approached the house. Just as Roy was about to ring the doorbell, the door flew open startling the parties on both sides.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're finally here," began Dotty before Roy even had a chance to speak. "The ladder is in the garage and the rags and cleaners are right here in this bucket. Philip, grab the envelope on the island and bring it to me. I'm happy to see that Amanda has finally decided to hire the windows done. You know last year she fell off the ladder and sprained her ankle. It was quite painful for several days, but of course she would never let on how much it hurt. Please do a good job and don't leave streaks or dirt in the corner."

She handed the envelope with the money to a perplexed looking Roy who had no choice but to take it.

"Come on Philip. We don't want to be late and we still have to pick up Paul," Dotty said as she opened the car door. "Those boys look awfully old to be college students," she remarked to Philip when out of earshot of Roy and Jake.

"Yeah, they look kind of dumb too," observed

"What are we going to do now?" questioned Jake when the car was out of sight.

"Wash the windows," Roy responded.

"Why don't we just break in, grab the dog and run?"

"Because stupid, they know what we look like. Come on let get this job done. Maybe I'll think of something else."

"I thought we would barbecue tonight," Dotty said greeting Lee and Amanda as they stepped out of the corvette parked in the drive. "It's too hot to cook in the house, but just about right out here in the yard. I was going to fix those pork chops that Lee brought over Friday. You know the ones we were going to cook that night but you two got called out."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Amanda in a tired voice.

"Oh, and Jackie called to say he would stop by after picking up Stacy from day camp. He should be here any time."

As if on cue, a small man dressed in tan cargo shorts and matching shirt rounded the corner of the house a large case in one hand and a strawberry blond little girl in the other.

"Oh, Stacy!" exclaimed Dotty scooping up the little girl in her arms and smoothing her short, soft curls.

The girl responded with a big smile and a tremendous hug.

"Do you think that Stacy would like a chocolate chip cookie? I just baked some yesterday," Dotty asked Jackie as she patted Stacy on the back.

"I'm sure she would, but why don't you asked her yourself?" Jackie answered. He dropped the case on the grass and began showing Dotty how to ask Stacy if she wanted a cookie in American Sign Language.

Dotty put Stacy down to imitate Jackie. Stacy, of course, knew before she completely finished what Dotty was trying to ask, having watched her father. The little girl began to sign excitedly.

"I guess that means 'yes'," laughed Dotty taking Stacy by the hand and leading her into the kitchen.

"Hi, Jack King," Jackie said turning to Lee holding out his hand to shake, a friendly smile on his face.

"Lee Stetson."

The two shook hands and then Jackie turned to Philip. "Where's my newest client?"

"He's in the house with Jamie. I'll go get him," Philip volunteered disappearing through the same door as Dotty and Stacy.

"Thank you so much for coming over. How is every one at your house?" asked Amanda.

"Still working on a few adjustments from the move, but overall doing fine. Say, we're going camping and rappelling the second weekend of July. Would the boys like to come?"

"They probably will, but I need to check their schedules."

"Hi, Uncle Jackie," called Jamie as he opened the kitchen door.

Marty pushed past Jamie and Philip trying to make it out into the yard first. Spying Jackie, he began to bark loudly. Jackie bent down on one knee and held a fist out for the barking dog to sniff.

"Come here little guy. You don't need to be afraid of me."

Marty stopped barking and took a hesitant step toward Jackie. Jackie urged him closer. The dog slowly came to him, allowing Jackie to touch him at last. Jackie began to pet the furry creature and talk to him in soothing tones.

"Have you named him yet?"

"Jamie named him Marty," answered Philip quickly before Jamie would respond.

"After Marty Martinson the drummer for the Screaming Chickens," added Jamie.

"Well, he kind of looks like his name sake," Jackie said jokingly. "He certainly has an impressive coat. He has the kind of coat that won't shed much, but he'll need daily brushing to keep it from getting matted. Marty is obviously not a purebred. What did the people at the pound think he was?"

"They thought he was some kind of poodle mix," Jamie responded.

"Which pound did you get him from?"

"Animal Haven."

"Oh," said Jackie a hint of amusement in his gray eyes.

"Why, is that a bad place?" asked a concerned Amanda.

"No, they're just seem a little overprotective. But a good place compared to most. We tried to adopt a dog from them when we first moved here in January, but we didn't have the proper reference. They wouldn't even let us take a dog home when I told them I was a vet and worked for the zoo. I think it was almost easier to get approved to be foster parents," he said with a laugh. "What else did they know about him?"

Jamie related all that the pound had told them.

"Sound's like they didn't know very much, but I'd agree with everything they said. I'd say he also has some cocker spaniel. He's must be standard poodle too. Let's have a closer look," continued Jackie keeping his eyes on the dog's face. He took the animal's muzzle into his hands and gently pulled down the animal's eyelids. Then he lifted Marty's upper lip to inspect his teeth and gums. He looked into Marty's ears. With a practiced hand, he began to feel over Marty's chest, back and abdomen.

"What's this?" he said holding up some of the abundant fur from Marty's abdomen to reveal a two-inch long scar. "Wonder how he got this? Guess we'll never know."

"What is it?" asked Amanda.

"A small scar on his abdomen. Not a typical place for a surgical scar. Looks like it's been stitched though. Maybe he cut himself somehow. Looks fairly recent. Not something to be too concerned about," Jackie related as he continued his examination.

With a stethoscope, he listened to the dog's heart, lungs and abdomen. Showing Jamie how to hold Marty motionless, Jackie took the dog's temperature. Taking a needle, syringe, spray bottle and tourniquet from his pack, he applied the tourniquet to Marty's front leg and sprayed an area on his foreleg with water revealing a small vein. He adeptly inserted the needle into the vein and withdrew a blood sample.

"Now you said he has had his vaccinations right?" Jackie looked at Jamie who nodded yes. "Did you collect that sample I asked for?"

"Yeah, it's in on the kitchen table. I'll go get it," said Jamie as he turned to retrieve the specimen.

"Bring Stacy out too."

Jackie, still on one knee petting Marty turned to Amanda, "I think he'll make a good pet for the boys. If you have any concerns, call me anytime."

"Thank you so much. Would you and Stacy like to stay for dinner?"

"I can't tonight. I'm helping to coach Tasha's softball team and then there's a Boy Scout meeting."

Jamie returned with the sample, a clear bag with Marty's stool inside. Stacy and Dotty came with him.

"You kept this on the kitchen table?" Jackie asked with a grin.

Jamie nodded yes.

"Next time why don't you leave it outside, okay guy."

"Okay," replied Jamie having noticed his mother and grandmother's horrified faces.

"Do you have any questions or concerns before I leave?"

"Yeah, Marty threw up this morning after he ate. Do you think he could be sick?"

"Dogs will sometimes do that when they have a change in diet or any change for that matter," he shrugged. "If he starts to act sick, like he's not wanting to play, or he won't eat or it looks like he's in pain, just give me a call."

Jackie turned to Stacy and signed something to her. She shook her head and then turned to Dotty and spoke in sign.

"She's saying thank you for the cookie," he interpreted brushing the remains of the cookie from his daughter's face.

"See you later. Good to meet you, Lee," he said retrieving his bag and standing to go.

"Nice to meet you too,' Lee replied watching Jackie leave, Stacy skipping along beside him.

During dinner that evening, Dotty related the story of the window washer. "I think they did a good job, but they really were a strange pair."

"Well, you know how college students are now-a-days," was Amanda's reply, not really paying attention. "Lee, do you feel like a walk this evening?"

"That would be nice," replied Lee.

"I'll take Jamie's turn doing the dishes tonight," teased Philip picking up the paper plates and plastic silverware from the picnic table.

"No you won't!" shouted Jamie.

"Gosh, I didn't get to see you all day," observed Amanda after they had walked the first block in silence.

"I was pretty busy following up on a few tips about the Fourth of July celebration."

"Did you find out anything important?"

"Not really, just a lot of rumors with dead ends. What happened in the staff meeting this morning."

"We've picked up three of those new KGB agents that Mr. Melrose talked about Monday."

"I'm sure we were meant to find them. There are probably others out there. Those are the agents we need to be worried about, but may never find."

"That's exactly what Francine said. Oh, and that vial of bacterial is definitely missing. The vial needs to be kept warm or the bacteria will die. Mr. Melrose put a team on the case today. They said the pharmaceutical company had the bacteria so it could gather some of the toxins to use on some kind of plastic face surgery. Isn't that really strange?"

Lee made no reply and the couple strolled silently hand in hand for two more blocks. Coming to a park bench, they sat down.

"Jackie seem like a nice guy," Lee said, finally breaking the silence.

"Most people like him. I've never seen him in a bad mood."

"It's too bad about his little girl. Being deaf, I mean."

"Oh, they knew Stacy was deaf before they adopted her."

"She's adopted?"

"Yes, all of his kids are adopted. I guess the King brothers each have their own way of saving the world."

"So, is Marty working out okay?"

"He seems to be. Mother is even growing kind of fond of him. He hasn't dug up any of her flowers. yet."

"I think I'm kind of jealous. Marty gets to spend the night and I have to go home to my lonely apartment," teased Lee.

"Oh, I'm sure we could find you a spare blanket, but you might be a little crowded in the laundry room. After all there's not much room in there."

Lee chucked at the Amanda's jest pulling her closer.

They continued to enjoy the cool evening breeze and each other's company for some time.

"Oh my gosh, look at the time. We'd better get back," Amanda said rising from the bench to go.

Amanda and Lee were surprised to return to an empty house. Empty, that is, except for Marty penned in the laundry room. There was a note from Dotty; 'Went to the drive-in the see the Raiders of the Lost Arc and some other movie I've never heard off. Will be back before midnight. You two have fun, but not too much fun. Love Dotty'

"Your Mother dropping some more of her little hints?" commented Lee with a grin.

"Say what you will, but at least we have about 3 hours alone."