byAs Detective Maggie Swain entered the foyer of the elegant Vickers mansion, she was greeted by a laughing young girl, who was doing her best to fend off an overly-friendly Irish setter that was shaking its mud-covered body frantically.
“Karen,” called out a tall woman coming down the carpeted hallway, “I told you to take Colleen to the mudroom and clean her up before our guests arrive.”
“But, Mom,” said the girl, grabbing the setter’s collar, “why do I—”
“Because you let her run in the garden and get muddy. And be careful—it looks like she picked up some burrs.”
After Maggie introduced herself, the woman, Mrs. Esther Vickers, said, “Please excuse the uproar, Detective, but all I need is a friendly, mud-covered dog running amuck on today of all days.”
“My dispatcher said you had a ro
