The Tenth Life Read online

  The Tenth Life

  A Captain Heimrich Mystery

  Richard Lockridge

  For Hildy

  1

  It was a few minutes after six in the afternoon, and the afternoon was in mid-July. Across the Hudson, the sun was declining, but not hurrying about it. When they had come out of the house and onto the terrace, the temperature had been 94. Possibly it was, this half hour later, down to 92.

  Inspector M. L. Heimrich, New York State Police, and Susan Heimrich would have been cooler in the house, with the air conditioning on. They were quite aware of this. They could have sat by the big west window and watched the sparkle of the declining sun on the wide river. Oh, not as well as here on the terrace, partly in the shade of the big ash tree. That shade would not last long. When the sun got a little lower, its rays would slant under the ash’s lowest branches. Eventually, it would dazzle into their eyes. Already it was reaching Mite. The big black cat, who had so absurdly outgrown his name, twitched his skin, to make the too-hot sun go away.

  It didn’t work. Mite stretched, without getting up. Then he got up and stretched again. Then he moved a foot or two into deeper shade and lay down to rest. He did not curl. He lay stretched to his full length.

  “He’s really a very long cat, isn’t he?” Susan Heimrich said and swished the gin and tonic in her glass so that the ice tinkled.

  Merton Heimrich made the appropriate response, which was “Mmm.” He added to it. “Remember when Colonel—?” He did not finish, since there was no need to finish. It would have been foolish to finish, since of course they both remembered the day their Great Dane had come home from somewhere with a small, wet and indignant black kitten in his mouth and put it down on the terrace flagstones for their approval. And got his nose scratched for his trouble.

  “Where is that damn dog?” Heimrich said, not as a question to be answered. Susan merely shook her head.

  She looks cool, Heimrich thought. How does she manage it? Of course, that scant dress she’s wearing leaves a lot of her exposed to what stirring of air there is. A stirring, of course, from the southwest. Which meant that the weather forecast almost certainly was right. “Hot and humid through Sunday, with a chance of afternoon and evening thundershowers.” The same forecast as for this Saturday, although as yet no thundershowers, and no sign of any on the way. But here, miles above the city, in Van Brunt, Putnam County, New York, the temperature would edge down after sunset. Well, after ten o’clock, anyway. At least they weren’t in the city. And tonight they would leave the air conditioning on, for the first time this summer.

  “Possibly chasing rabbits,” Susan said. “Although not so much anymore. He’s getting along, Merton. Like—” She did not finish that, because of the way her husband looked at her. It was not the look of a man who thinks his wife is getting on, or looking it.

  “They’re not a long-lived breed,” Heimrich said. “I read that somewhere, didn’t I?”

  “Possibly, dear. The purebreds, anyway. The show types. They pretty much bred the insides out of them. To make them what the judges call ‘proper conformity.’ Which, with Danes, seems to mean thin in the middle. Yes, mutts tend to live longer. And Colonel must be getting on for—”

  She did not finish. The big Great Dane named Colonel came through a gap in a stone fence a hundred yards or so from the terrace. It was a fence which Colonel had usually jumped; jumped, anyway, until a year or so before.

  And, crossing the field toward the terrace, the big dog had bounded. Until a year or so ago, anyway. Now he walked slowly, as if it were a great effort to walk at all. The old boy is getting to be a very old boy, Heimrich thought. Of course, it’s a very hot afternoon. This kind of humid heat takes it out of everybody.

  He handed Susan a lighted cigarette. He lighted one for himself. Her glass was still half full; his own was lower. But there was no hurry about it. On this mid-July Saturday there was no hurry about anything. There had not even been much hurry at the barracks of Troop K. In the city, violence flared in hot weather. Not so much here in the country. Except, of course, violence by motorcar, which was not—which usually was not—of immediate professional concern to Inspector M. L. Heimrich, Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

  They watched Colonel coming toward them. He was making heavy going of it, certainly; heavy, panty going. And his big head was drooping, as if it were too heavy for his high, thin body. He did not look up to see that they were waiting for him.

  The terrace was less than a foot above the lawn the big dog was trudging over. But when Colonel came to this curb, he stopped and looked at it as if he had never seen it before; as if it had not been for years something to take in stride, something not to be noticed. Finally, he lifted one forepaw and then the other. His hind legs dragged as he climbed to the terrace—staggered to the terrace.

  They were both watching him by then. Mite rolled to his feet to watch his friend, who was moving so unlike the way his friend usually moved.

  On the terrace, but still not in the shade of the ash, Colonel lay down. With a thump, pretty much as always. For the big dog, lying down had always been a form of collapse. But, down on belly, he had always lifted his head to gaze at whatever was in front of him with sad, discouraged eyes. Life had always seemed to discourage Colonel, if one could accept the expression of his eyes.

  This time he did not lift his head. He supported it on outstretched paws.

  “The heat?” Susan said.

  “Perhaps. If he’s been running in the sun. Only—”

  Susan, who was now sitting on the chaise she had been lying on, said, “Yes, I wonder too.” She said, “Colonel?” to the dog who had been hers before he became theirs. Ten years ago? Had it really been that long? He had been not much more than a puppy when he came to live with a well-loved woman and an unknown man in the house above the Hudson, which once had been a barn. So, Colonel was over ten. A considerable age for a Dane.

  Mite got up from the flagstones. He walked toward the collapsed dog. He walked slowly, cautiously. It was almost as if he were stalking his lifetime friend. When he was two feet or so from the prostrate dog, Mite stopped. He appeared to sniff the dog. Then he made a low, mewing sound and turned away. He walked to Merton Heimrich and sat and looked up at Heimrich. It was almost, Heimrich thought, as if the big black cat were asking a question, seeking to have something explained to him.

  “Yes, Mite, I’m afraid so,” Heimrich said and then, to Susan, who had left her chaise and was crouched beside her dog, “They always seem to know, don’t they? When another of them is sick?”

  “He’s breathing,” Susan said. “Just managing to, it feels like.” She had a hand on the big dog’s side. “The vet, dear. Maybe there’ll be something he can do. Dr. Barton?”

  There were two veterinarians within reasonable distance. Dr. Peabody was the nearer, but he was primarily a big animal man, a man for horses and cows. Cows are not too numerous in the vicinity of Van Brunt. There are more horses. A few miles south, just over the Westchester County line, there is even a hunt.

  But the biggest dog does not constitute a “big animal” in veterinarian usage.

  Adrian Barton, DVM, was another matter. He had a small animal hospital a few miles up NY 11F, a little their side of Cold Harbor. His patients were largely canine, although he accepted cats, of which some veterinarians are wary. Cats are inclined to die suddenly and unexpectedly. They are also almost certain to claw and, as opportunity offers, bite. No cat ever believes something unpleasant is being done for his own good. Dogs are more amenable. And their claws are not so sharp.

  Also, Colonel had been to Dr. Barton’s hospital once when he had mistakenly thought a porcupine might want to play.

  Colonel had always enjoyed ridi
ng in an automobile, had always bounded through an opened car door and taken over the back seat. Heimrich backed the Buick as close to the terrace as was possible and opened its nearside door. Colonel heard the sound and, just perceptibly, raised his heavy head. Then he put it down on his paws again.

  Merton Heimrich carried the heavy dog to the car. Heimrich is a big man. Susan let Mite into the house. She promised him that he would, eventually, be given dinner. Mite didn’t believe a word of it and said so. It was time for Mite’s dinner. It must be almost time for theirs. Susan looked at her watch. Not for theirs, not at six thirty.

  Still, they had better make sure Dr. Barton was still at his hospital; still available. She looked in the telephone directory. “Barton A DVM.” She dialed. She got the ringing signal; got it again and again. Probably Dr. Barton kept office hours; possibly, like some doctors who treated two-legged animals instead of those with four, veterinarians closed up shop on Saturdays. Some doctors of humans also took Wednesdays off. Like barbers, Susan thought, and let Barton’s telephone ring on. After all, animals in a hospital would not be left totally untended. Surely—

  “Dr. Barton’s office. Can I help you?”

  The voice was female. It was a young voice.

  “Mrs. Heimrich,” Susan said. “Mrs. M. L. Heimrich.” The “M. L.” might help. It denoted a State Police inspector. “We have a sick dog we’d like Dr. Barton to look at. Is the doctor there?”

  There was a pause, apparently for reflection.

  “Well, yes. But the office hours end at five. Anyway, I think he’s operating. Of course, if it’s an emergency, Mrs. Heimrich?”

  “Yes,” Susan said. “We’re afraid it is. Can I speak to the doctor?”

  “I can’t interrupt him while he’s operating. But, if it’s really urgent, I suppose you can bring the dog along. Is it a big dog?”

  “A Great Dane,” Susan said, and got a tentative “Oh” for an answer. A “well” was added to it.

  A very young voice, Susan thought. Almost a child’s voice? A child timorous about the arrival of a Great Dane, who was not called “great” by accident?

  “My husband can handle him,” Susan said. “My husband’s rather a big man, Miss—”

  “Carol Arnold, Mrs. Heimrich. In—oh, about half an hour, I guess. Doctor ought to be finished by then. He’s spaying a cat.”

  There seemed to be nothing to say to that except “In about half an hour, then.” So Susan said it. She sidestepped Mite, who was rubbing against her ankles. Mite again spoke about dinner. This time, he got it.

  “He’s still alive,” Merton Heimrich told her when she was back at the car. “Just barely, I’m afraid. Susan, I’m afraid—”

  “Yes,” Susan said. “So am I. I called the vet. He’ll be expecting us. In about half an hour. If he’s finished spaying a cat. I got his secretary. Or nurse, or something. She’s going to tell him.”

  Heimrich drove the Buick down the steep drive, between the boulders; down the steep, winding blacktop called High Road to NY 11F, which there is still Van Brunt Avenue. When a car he is in starts to move, Colonel usually sticks his head out a window. This time he did not move; he lay stretched on the back seat. But they could hear him breathing as they turned north toward Cold Harbor. It was gaspy breathing.

  Heimrich did not drive fast. Cold Harbor was only about twenty minutes away; Dr. Barton’s office was this side of Cold Harbor.

  The sign said “Barton Lane,” and it was on the right as they drove north. The lane was narrow and blacktopped. Heimrich turned the Buick into it. After a couple of hundred yards, the lane twisted sharply to the left. Then they came up to a low, rectangular brick building. Beyond it, but close to it, was a white frame house; a rather large house. A sign in front of the brick building read, SMALL ANIMAL HOSPITAL. ADRIAN BARTON, DVM.

  It was Susan who went to the door of the small animal hospital; Merton opened a car door and regarded Colonel, who, this time, raised his head a little and opened his eyes. They were always sad eyes. This time they were sadder than ever, and Heimrich imagined there was a question in them.

  “I don’t know, old boy,” Heimrich told the dog. Colonel closed his eyes again. It was, Heimrich thought, as if the big dog accepted an answer. Anyway, he was still alive, and he was certainly big. It wouldn’t be easy to get him out of the car, unless the vet was inclined to give a hand, or to send somebody who could. Heimrich put a hand on the dog’s head. Colonel twitched an ear.

  There was a sign by the hospital door. It read “Ring and Walk In.” Susan rang and tried the door. The sign was more encouraging than accurate. Susan rang again. This time she heard footfalls beyond the locked door. They were quick and light. And the door was opened.

  It wasn’t a child who opened. It was a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, or approaching them, and certainly very pretty. Her blond hair was softly smooth on her head and her blue eyes were noticeably large. She was wearing white slacks and a white tunic; she could have been a registered nurse in a hospital for humans. Her smile was almost as impersonal as an R.N.’s smile. She said, “I’m sorry. We keep it locked after five. Are you the one who called? About a sick Great Dane?”

  “Susan Heimrich, yes. Is Dr. Barton ready to see us?”

  “I’m sure he will be very soon,” the girl said. “I’m Carol Arnold. I’m sort of helping Doctor out during the summer. Actually, I’m studying to be a veterinarian. At Cornell. I suppose you could say I’m kind of interning. You say the dog’s a Great Dane?”

  “Yes, Miss Arnold. Shall I have my husband bring him in?”

  Susan looked around the air-cooled room as she went into it and, vaguely, remembered it from the porcupine time. It had been midafternoon then, and the small room had not been empty. It had been almost full of humans and smaller animals—dogs on leads and cats in carrying boxes. One of the cats, Siamese by its voice, didn’t want to be in a box, or at a place which smelled of other animals, and was mentioning it. When Siamese cats mention things they can be heard.

  There were no other patients waiting to see the doctor this evening. The green fabric of the small sofa was just as morose as it had been a year—was it really a year?—before, when Colonel had walked in; been tugged in, actually. He, also, hadn’t liked the smell of the place.

  “I’ll get something to put him on,” Carol Arnold said. “If you’ll just ask Inspector Heimrich to bring him in, please. Doctor ought to be free any minute.” The pretty young woman went through a door, out of the waiting room. Susan went to the other door and beckoned to Merton, who began to extricate Colonel from the Buick. It was—as he had expected—going to be harder getting him out than it had been getting him in.

  A tall young man wearing a summer sports jacket and red slacks walked from the large white house behind the hospital. He stopped by Heimrich.

  “Big one, isn’t he?” the young man said. “Give you a hand? Maybe go around the other side and give a push?”

  “It’d help,” Heimrich said.

  The volunteer did help. They got Colonel out of the car, and Heimrich carried him to the hospital door. Susan stepped back from it to let them in. The young man came after them. And Carol Arnold came through the other door, dragging a pad. The helpful stranger moved, quickly, to aid her.

  She said, “Hi, Lathe. I’m making out. You can just lay him down on it, Inspector.”

  Heimrich put Colonel down on the pad. Colonel was accepting.

  “He’s pretty old, isn’t he?” Carol Arnold said. “It’s beginning to show on his muzzle.”

  Colonel’s muzzle was graying. Now, to both Susan and Merton Heimrich, it seemed grayer than it ever had before. He was pretty old.

  “Inspector?” the man in the red slacks said.

  “Yes. State Police, Mr.—?”

  “Doctor, actually. Latham Rorke, M.D.”

  “Latham is a friend of mine,” Carol said. “Now and then he just—drops by.”

  Rorke said, “Attagirl,” for no reason appar
ent to either of the Heimrichs. He said, “Dropped by from White Plains, where I’m a lowly intern. With my one night a month off.”

  “One a fortnight,” Carol said. “It could be Doctor went out the back way. Is at the house eating dinner. Only—”

  “Only, I just came from there,” Rorke said. “No Adrian. And Louise said to tell him dinner’s ready. More than. And to tell you too, Carol. Unless—what about the Bird and Bottle?”

  The conversation, to Susan and her husband, was scrappy. Casual, as between two who knew each other well, yet, Susan thought, with tension in it. The Bird and Bottle clarified things slightly. It was a restaurant a few miles away—a moderately celebrated restaurant.

  Dr. Rorke said, “Yes?” to the pretty young woman. The Heimrichs might well have been somewhere else, somewhere a good distance off.

  “I don’t know,” Carol Arnold said. “Louise has got dinner ready.” She seemed suddenly to become conscious of the Heimrichs. “That’s Mrs. Barton,” Carol said. “I’m staying with them for the summer. You’re sure he isn’t at the house, Lathe?”

  “If he is, Louise doesn’t know it,” Rorke said. “The Bird and Bottle, Carol child?”

  “Maybe,” the blond girl said. “After Doctor has looked at the dog. If he doesn’t need me to help him. He ought to be out any minute now, Mrs. Heimrich. He’s spaying one of Mrs. Cummins’s cats, Lathe. It doesn’t usually take him long. A Siamese named Jenny she’s selling to somebody, I suppose. Somebody who doesn’t want to breed. Just wants a pet.” She looked at her watch. “But it is taking him a long time. I hope there aren’t complications. Particularly with a Linwood cat.”

  “You could knock on the door and ask him,” Rorke said.

  “When Adrian’s operating, I’m not supposed to distract him. You know that, Lathe. Ought to, anyway.”

  “I like ‘distract,’” Rorke said. “I like it very much.”

  There was, Susan thought, bite in his voice. It’s nothing to do with us, she thought. Why doesn’t this damn vet come out and do something about our dog? She looked down at Colonel. Anyway, he was still breathing. No thanks to Adrian Barton, DVM.