A Shot in the Bark: A Dog Park Mystery

Epilogue

Epilogue

Bailey was such a dupe. I so tired of listening to her nauseating New Age baloney. So delicious to turn it against her! Few people knew she was bi-polar. All I had to do was dump out the medication in her capsules and fill them with powdered aspirin to send her into a manic state. Then there were those two capsules I filled with a special chemical cocktail designed to push her over the edge. Easy enough to do since I knew where she hid her spare key.

A few suggestions of web sites touting a ridiculous theory about reincarnation, and Bailey became a woman with purpose. She'll never know I was the one responding to her posts on that forum, egging her on. Regrettable that she chose Lia as her first target, but I knew she didn't have it in her to pull the trigger. Foolish woman, trying to explain herself, as if she were going to get Lia's approval for her plan to send Lia out of this life and into the next one!

As much as they want to, they'll never connect Bailey to Luthor's murder. They'll either resign themselves that Catherine did it, or they'll have to let it go. The waters are sufficiently muddied and I am still under the radar.

I am fascinated by the new possibilities this event raises, achieving my aims through the manipulation of others. An elegant solution to the problem of establishing an alibi, as well as making it possible to remove more than one person from the same environment at the same time. Presuming the one manipulated is not as thorough as I am, they should get caught, eliminating themselves.

I am of two minds about this last round. On the one hand, I caved in to anxiety and broke my rules. It is questionable whether my actions after removing Luthor served a purpose. It is possible that had I just followed the rules and kept still, that everything would have been just fine. I could have disposed of the phone and no one would have ever connected me to Luthor, even if they suspected. But do I venture to say that this was invigorating? Even highly amusing? It was so satisfying to smash Catherine in the head with a rock! And the memory is so pleasurable. A clean, quiet removal has its rewards, but I was getting bored. Perhaps it's time to make the game more interesting.

I must consider this carefully, determine the ramifications. For now, all is well in my little world. I no longer have to endure Catherine and her narcissistic preening, Luthor and his drama, or Bailey and her mumbo-jumbo. Terry's going to be in casts for months, then physical therapy. That won't improve his political position, but at least when he's spouting off, I can look at his casts and remember booby-trapping his ladder. My mornings are pleasant again. And that's as it should be.