Page 4 of Pied Sniper

A few minutes passed before the young man wearing the PPP logo returned, a deli bag in his hand, and went inside. We watched through the glass-fronted windows as he handed out sandwiches and chips to the other employees.

“He’s my top suspect,” said Solomon.

“Why?”

“He’s in huge debt from veterinarian college, he hasn’t secured a fulltime job, and he lives way beyond his means for a parlor technician. Nice apartment, no roommates. BMW. He just paid for a vacation to Hawaii.”

“Maybe his parents fund him?”

“They just filed for divorce and their house is in foreclosure. The dad gambles and has already maxed out his credit.”

“I see your point.”

The young man left the parlor again and walked further down the street, our view unimpeded by traffic. He walked into a small grocery store on the corner and we lost sight of him as he strolled down the aisles.

“What about the other employees?” I asked as we waited.

“There’s the owner,” said Solomon when a woman with brown hair swept back by a slim, yellow headband stepped into view. “She’s fifty years old and lives in the apartment upstairs. She has a small mortgage on the whole property but no other debts. She doesn’t live the high life. There are two other employees. One is a retired veterinary nurse who takes extra shifts at the parlor. She’s married with two grown sons, and lives well within her means, thanks to the pension fund she and her husband accrued. She works only because she wants to, not because she needs to financially. Finally, the owner’s seventeen-year-old daughter works in the parlor on weekends and plans to attend the University of Chicago next year although her mom prefers that she go to community college.”

“Maybe she needs the extra money to fund that?”

“Her grandparents set up a small trust for her when she was born. They invested in stocks that do pretty well although they won’t cover everything. The daughter invested in a second-hand car with her parlor savings and has the usual teenage expenses. Movies, clothes, makeup.”

“Those are my expenses too,” I pointed out, “and I’m much older.”

“She has a car though so one could say she’s one step ahead of you in life stages.”

“Thanks for rubbing it in.”

Solomon glanced at me. “You do need to buy another car.”

“I know! I have a house,” I added, thinking about my other expenses. “I have a savings account too. I’m a bona fide adult.” After saving to finally purchase my dream yellow bungalow, I officially moved into Solomon’s house. Thankfully, I found a lovely family to rent it. Although I wasn’t sure I would live in the house again, I couldn’t bear to part with it. Plus, it’s good to have financial independence despite a well-functioning marriage. If anything goes wrong, I’ll never be destitute. Although Solomon made it clear that I would always be looked after should anything happen to him, I like knowing I can always rely on myself.

“Does it have wheels?” asked Solomon.

“No, but have you seen some of those tiny houses on wheels? Adorable!”

“A little obvious on a stakeout. I’m not knocking your achievements, although I do question some of your responses. I’m just pointing out that a teenager is more physically mobile than you are.”

“I have an Uber account. My rating is 4.88.”

Solomon glanced at me and shook his head.

“I bet yours is 5-stars, isn’t it? Such an overachiever.”

“I don’t even have an account! I drive my car. By the end of the week, you should also be driving your own car. Your insurance money came through. I saw the check.”

“Fine. I’ll buy a car, but this time, I want a fire retardant one.” The young man came out of the grocery store with a grocery bag in each hand. I nudged Solomon. “There’s your suspect. What do we need to catch him doing?”

“It’s unlikely we’ll catch him doing anything red-handed. The dogs aren’t being snatched from the parlor. They’re stolen from their homes after they’ve been pampered; and in one instance, when the dogwalker let the pooch off the leash in a dog park. Before you ask, I already cleared the dogwalker,” explained Solomon. “I’ve set up a stooge to go in with a dog descended from two prize-winning show animals and a busy lifestyle, requiring him to be out of the home quite often. We’ll see what happens.”

“Who’s the stooge?”

“Delgado.”

“And the dog?”

“A Pomeranian. Tiny dogs are very popular.”

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