The Fashion Hound Murders Read Online Free PDF

battered pots and old knives. Alyce adored kitchen gadgets and lusted after a hundred-dollar panini press. That was a love Josie could never understand, but their odd friendship worked. Their personalities blended perfectly, like the offbeat ingredients in Alyce’s recipes.
    Alyce surveyed the beige brick building and almost-empty parking lot. “Looks like your basic big box store. Tell me why Pets 4 Luv is dangerous.”
    “The chain’s headquarters suspect some of their stores are selling puppy mill dogs.”
    “That’s cruel to the little dogs,” Alyce said, “but I’m not sure how it’s dangerous to people.”
    “Millions of dollars are at stake,” Josie said. “There’s major money in selling puppy mill pets.”
    “Has anyone been threatened?”
    “Not that I know of.” Josie watched the blue-coated woman push through the doors. “Finally. The store is open. I’m turning on the purse cam. We’re going in.”
    Alyce giggled. “You sound like a SWAT team leader,” she said.
    Pets 4 Luv was bigger than Josie’s supermarket. Endless aisles were crammed with toys, treats, pet clothes, and food.
    Josie didn’t have to ask the first question, Where are your pedigreed pets? The animals were displayed near the doors. Cats were in common wire cages with carpet-scrap floors. Long-haired Persians looked down their short, flat noses at ordinary striped kittens. Mice, rats, hamsters, and other pet rodents were in plastic corrals. Bright parrots, parakeets, and canaries were protected from drafts in Plexiglas cages.
    The pedigreed pups were showcased like fine jewelry behind heart-shaped windows. Portugese water dog pups, the First Dog choice, had pride of place.
    “The water dogs’ popularity went up since they became the White House pet,” Josie said.
    “I see plenty of pop princess favorites,” Alyce said. “Those Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, and papillons are real fashion hounds.”
    “I may overdose on cuteness,” Josie said.
    Piles of pups slept, yipped, or wrestled with one another. A tiny pug chased his own curly tail. A few pups pawed the glass and whimpered for attention.
    “May I help you?” The store clerk had a face like a graying basset hound. He seemed too dignified for the bright yellow Pets 4 Luv shirt. His name tag featured a plastic puppy saying, I’M JIM, PANTING TO HELP YOU. Josie almost felt sorry for the man.
    “I was admiring your pedigreed puppies,” Josie said.
    “Cute, aren’t they? All our puppies are purebred,” Jim said. “They’re USDA inspected and have American Kennel Club papers.”
    Jim reached into a cage and handed Josie a pug so tiny she could hold the warm little creature in the palm of her hand.
    “There,” he said. “It doesn’t cost anything to hold one. Isn’t he sweet?”
    The puppy squirmed. Josie was afraid she’d drop the little fellow.
    “He is cute,” Josie said. “May I see his breeder paperwork?”
    “Sure, sure,” Jim said. “I don’t have it right this moment.”
    “What about the vet records?”
    “I can’t get those right now, but all our pups are veterinarian inspected and perfectly healthy.”
    “Terrific,” Josie said. “Would you put that in writing for me?”
    “What?” Jim looked like a cornered animal.
    “Would you put it in writing that your pups are vet inspected and perfectly healthy?”
    “Uh, I’m not authorized to do that,” Jim said.
    “May I speak to the manager?” Josie asked.
    Jim looked wildly around the store, then said, “She’s not here. I have to unload a shipment of cat litter.” He disappeared down a dog food aisle like a gopher down its hole.
    “Wait!” Josie called. The pup in her hand tried to wiggle free. She struggled to hang on to the slippery little fur ball, but he made a leap and landed on a stack of dog food bags. The pup looked outrageously happy on the dog food mountain. He tore at the paper bag with tiny, needle-sharp teeth.
    Josie grabbed the pup and shoved him back into his