Annie, not knowing what to say to their introductions just nodded to the two men. Licking her lips, she began to feel the nausea rising as she wondered if these detectives coming into her clinic had anything to do with Stoney. Oh, Jesus. Please don’t let him be in trouble.
“What can I do for you?” she asked, trying to steady her voice. She felt a presence at her back and realized that Leon and Suzanne has moved forward to flank her, providing her with whatever comfort they could.
“We have some questions for you and would like you to come down to the station with us.”
“Questions?” Her voice was definitely shaky now, “Questions about what?”
Before they could answer, Suzanne piped up from behind. “Do you have a warrant? Is she under arrest? Should she have a lawyer?”
Turning to shush her tech, Annie couldn’t help but wonder about the answer to those questions herself. Turning back to the detectives, she squared her shoulders and looked them in the eye.
“Detectives, as you can see, I have a business to run, and as I am the only veterinarian here, my business depends on my being in this clinic. Is this something that can wait? What is this in regards to?”
“No Dr. Donavan. You are not under arrest, but you are a person of interest in a case. We do need to speak to you and we need you to come with us as soon as possible.”
A person of interest? What the hell are they talking about? Pulling herself together, she turned to Leon and Suzanne. “I want to get this over with as soon as possible. Please call the afternoon appointments and tell them that we have to reschedule. I’ll be back when I can, please just lock up when you’re finished.”
Leon put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her in. “Doc, you don’t have to go now. We can find out what is going on and we can call the lawyer that drew up the contract for the business. Don’t know if he is that kind of lawyer, but he can suggest someone.”
“I’ll be fine,” she whispered. Giving Suzanne a quick hug, she retrieved her purse and turned to the detectives. “Gentlemen? Shall we go?” she said with her most authoritative voice, but even as she spoke she knew the tremors in her voice gave her fear away.
* * *
Within the hour, Annie found herself seated at a gray metal table in a gray metal chair in a grey painted room – as uncomfortable to sit in as it was to look at. Detective Carter was seated in front of her with a file folder on the table and Detective Dixon was standing next to the door, arms crossed over his chest. He had ditched the jacket as soon as they had arrived at the police station and she noticed that his biceps were straining the material of his short sleeve dress shirt. I wonder if he busts out of his clothes like the Incredible Hulk. As quickly as that bizarre thought came, she shook her head to clear her thought tangled mind. Focus. Answer their questions and get the hell out of here.
“Dr. Donavan, have you seen anything like this before?” He pulled a photograph out of his file and pushed it forward to her.
Looking down at the picture, she was surprised. Certain that she was going to be seeing a picture of Stoney, she was looking instead at a sausage link. Crinkling her brow, she raised her eyes back to Detective Carter. “It’s sausage. A sausage link. It looks like sausage?” She realized that she was babbling, but her surprise over the picture had stolen her ability to think straight. “You brought me here to ask about this?”
Hearing a growl near the door, she turned her confused look over to Detective Dixon as he peered at her, unsmiling. Licking her lips nervously, she looked back down at the picture.
“Anything else it reminds you of?” Detective Carter prodded. “Anything recently?”
“I removed some links like this in two dogs recently. But you have to understand, dogs will eat anything. I’ve removed rocks, baby toys, paper, string, even half a steak with the bone in it… everything you can imagine. A dog swallowing a whole sausage link isn’t that unusual.”
“What made you decide to remove it?” Detective Carter continued.
Entering an area that Annie felt confident in, her voice was stronger as she explained. “When an animal eats a foreign object, the best we hope for is that it will pass. If it doesn’t, the animal needs surgery to remove the object. I had a dog dropped off at the clinic about a month ago. It was near death. Some kids in the neighborhood found it and brought it in. They just left it and I couldn’t just let it die, so I did the surgery. After it recuperated, I had it taken to a local pet adoption service.”
“Where is the…sausage?” Detective Carter asked.
Crinkling her brow once again, she asked, “The sausage? That I removed? You want to know where the sausage is?”