Cindy and I were in bed together. Ginger the dog was lying on the comforter between us. Her little face was scant inches from my face. Her little doggie breath wasn’t so little.
“She needs a doggy mint,” I said.
“She doesn’t have bad breath,” Cindy said.
“I beg to differ.”
“You’ve done enough begging for tonight.”
“True,” I said. “Still, I’m surprised you can’t see the green radioactive cloud hovering over her head.”
“You have a sensitive nose.”
“I have a sensitive something else, too.”
“Sometimes too sensitive.”
“Let’s change the subject.”
Ginger got up and stretched, legs vibrating down into the bed. She turned two circles, lay again and burrowed her little muzzle under her front paws, sighing loudly, absently licking her front paws, eyes closed. I’m not even sure she was awake.
“Any leads on the other vandal?” she asked.
“I’m looking into it,” I said. “According to the police, Jolene Funkmeyer denies having an accomplice.”
“The word ‘accomplice’ suggests something more grandiose than vandalism.”
“How about vandal buddy?”
“Better.”
“Anyway,” I said, “turns out Jolene has been arrested before.”
“For?”
I hesitated. “Arson.”
“Shit.”
“Spent a year in prison.”
“What did she burn?”
“An abortion clinic in Buena Park. No one hurt. The clinic had been vandalized weeks on end prior to the arson.”
“So the vandalism escalates into something more than vandalism.”
I nodded again. “She was arrested with her boyfriend.”
“You have his name?”
“Chad Schwendinger.”
“You think he’s our man?”
“A good chance,” I said. “The Irvine Police checked out his last known address this afternoon. He moved out long ago. And no leads where he might be. Yet.”
“Maybe he’s been shacking up with his vandal girlfriend.”
I shook my head. “I checked out her place this afternoon. She lives alone. Although one neighbor mentioned she had seen a middle-aged man in a BMW come by on a few occasions.”
“Maybe he will want revenge for the arrest of his girlfriend.”
“What he wants and what he gets are two different things.”
“But you’ll still watch over me just in case?”
“Like a hawk,” I said.