Chapter Ten: The Figure in the Window
Like a true bloodhound, Suzy held his nose to the ground and led the way to the school. I’m not sure if it was the pollen levels or the scent of tracks that caused him to sneeze uncontrollably. After a brief hiatus to let Suzy regain his composure, we continued toward the school.
As we approached the school, we noticed that the window to the music class was half open.
“Shhh,” I whispered to Sara. “Let’s get a closer look.”
We crept the rest of the way to the school and crouched beneath the window. I peered through the window to spy a man standing on a ladder and reaching toward the ceiling. To my surprise, it was Mr. McCarthy. Before I could process my observation, Suzy blew our cover.
Upon seeing Mr. McCarthy, Suzy wedged his head inside the open window and began barking viciously. Startled, Mr. McCarthy fell from the ladder to the floor. Displaying the instincts of a bloodhound again, Suzy feverishly fought to squeeze his body through the window. Although I tried to contain him, his will was stronger than the grasp that I had on the leash. The leash slipped through my hands as Suzy scooted through the window to stand guard over the fallen mailman.
Much like he had done earlier in the week, Suzy was once again standing atop Mr. McCarthy’s chest starring at his necks as if it were a Ribeye steak fresh off the grill. Unlike their previous encounter, Mr. McCarthy was not begging for mercy. In fact, he wasn’t moving at all. Fearing that he might be injured, I tried crawling through the half-open window. With a shove from Sara, I managed to wedge myself through the opening and landed with a thud on the classroom floor. Once on my feet, I grabbed Suzy’s leash and pulled him away from Mr. McCarthy.
“Is he alright?” Sara asked after crawling through the window.
“I’m not sure,” I answered. “He isn’t moving.”
“I’m ok,” Mr. McCarthy mumbled. “I got the wind knocked out of me, but I’m alright.”
Suzy charged forward and resumed his attack when Mr. McCarthy attempted to rise to his feet.
“Get this dog off of me!” he shouted.
I wrapped the leash around my wrist several times to where Suzy couldn’t get far from my reach. Even though I had a firm grip on the leash, he still struggled to break free to get to Mr. McCarthy. While I held Suzy at bay, Mr. McCarthy was finally able to get to his feet.
“What is it with that dog?” he asked. “Is he following me? What are you doing here anyway?”
“We’re investigating the time capsule break-in. We saw the light in the window and thought we should investigate,” I answered. “What are you doing here?”
“I just finished changing the light bulb when that dog of yours decided to make his presence known.”
“I don’t quite understand,” I responded. “
“We need a couple of light bulbs at our house too. Can you replace them when you bring our mail by?” Sara asked.
“I work at the school on the weekends performing routine maintenance and basic janitorial work,” he explained. “Mr. Brady had heard that they were looking for someone to do some part time work at the school and asked me if I knew of anyone who might be interested. “I told him that I could use the extra money and took the job myself.”
“We thought you might have been a burglar,” I said.
“If I was, I’m wouldn’t be a very good one. Your dog seems to have my number,” he joked.
This was the first hint of a sense of humor he had shown since I had met him. Not that I could blame him. I’d be mad too if some dog kept attacking me. Nevertheless, I figured I’d use the opportunity to make amends.
“I’m sorry about all the trouble he’s caused,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to encountering dogs along my routes, although I’ve never met one quite as determined as Suzy. He’s given me a few scares recently.”
“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt.”
“Besides having the wind knocked out of me, I might have been in a state of shock. I’m on top of a ladder one minute. I’m staring at the ceiling with angry dog on top of me the next minute.”
“I’ve been trying to make sure he’s in the house when you come by with the mail. I’m just glad you’re not making us pick our mail up from the post office. I thought you might quit after he tore your mailbag up.”
“I thought about it, but everyone deserves a second chance. I thought the dog biscuits might do the trick. He seemed more interested in getting into my mailbag than he did the dog biscuits. I hope he eventually got a chance to enjoy them.”
“He still won’t touch them. He might have come around if he still thought it was a gift, but my dad spoiled that idea.”
How’d he do that?”
“After Suzy ran off, I left the box on the kitchen table. When my dad got home from work, he saw the package and thought it was a gift for him. I tried to warn him, but it was too late. He didn’t say anything after he opened it up. He just shook his head and set the box on the shelf.”
“Did you ever find the pocket of my bag that he tore off?”
“No, Suzy hid it good. I hope there was nothing important in there.”
“It was just junk mail. Don’t worry about trying to find it. The bag wasn’t any use with the pocket ripped out of it, so I threw it away. Luckily, I had a spare.”
Suzy was starting to grow restless. Despite Mr. McCarthy’s kindness after being attacked, Suzy was still ready to pounce on him. Although he couldn’t get far, he clawed at the concrete in attempt to free himself from the leash. I passed the leash off to Sara, while I tried to wind down the conversation.
“We’d better get going. I’ll make sure Suzy stays clear of your path from now on,” I said.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“Back to the investigation.”
“How’s the investigation going?”
“We’ve run into a few stumbling blocks, but we’re not giving up.”
“Have you got any leads?”
“I think it could be one of the contestants in the Doodle Soup competition. This will be the first time in several years that someone’s got a chance to win besides Mrs. Doyle. Mrs. Doyle’s recipe would pretty much guarantee victory.”
“Mrs. Doyle’s Doodle Soup is certainly the best in the world,” he agreed.
“If anyone’s soup tastes like Mrs. Doyle’s, it’ll be a dead giveaway that they’re the crook,” I continued.
“I heard that the festival is supposed to be spectacular this year.”
“I’m going to be in the county spelling bee,” Sara interjected. “There’s going to be reporters there and everything.”
“You should come join the fun,” I added. I even entered Suzy in the dog show. We might make it on TV even if we don’t solve the mystery.”
“I’ll definitely be there. It sounds like the place to be. Besides, I want to make sure I’m there to tell the reporters all about Suzy’s talents after he wins the dog show,” he joked.
Mr. McCarthy walked us down the hall and to the exit. After getting to know him, he seemed like a pretty nice guy. Suzy, however, was not impressed. He scratched and growled maniacally at the door after it closed. Sara and I both yanked on the leash in an effort to get him to follow us. After a few minutes of resistance, he finally realized his effort was futile and gave up. He followed us across the school yard, but kept looking back in the direction of the school. For whatever reason, Suzy was not a fan of Mr. McCarthy.