Lost & Found - Jacqueline Sheehan [61]
The doctor knelt by the dog. He was too big for the steel table. She ran her hand along the back of his leg.
“Yup, no dewclaw, but I would have known him anyway. I know my patients. This is Cooper. Liz didn’t want him to have a chip installed, no matter how much I tried to convince her. He was pretty popular here. Some dogs just are. Other dogs get traumatized by a medical procedure and for the rest of their days coming to the vet is an ordeal for everyone. Cooper always acted like he knew we were doing the best that we could. The dewclaw was the worst we had to do to him, and it wasn’t that difficult.”
The doctor checked the shoulder area where he had been injured over a month ago.
“This is what you were talking about, right? Dogs heal so quickly. Once they begin to mend, you might never be able to tell they had surgery. But I can see he lost some muscle and he might keep the limp.” She explored the area with fingers that read his body like Braille. She stood up.
“So now what? You’ve identified the dog. What are you going to do with him?”
Rocky had hoped that bringing him here would clear something up, and it hadn’t. She had dragged Tess and the dog all the way to Orono for nothing.
“Liz’s parents are coming to the island tomorrow to get him. Right now he’s under my custody,” said Rocky. She was startled by her use of the word custody, as if this was a divorce case involving children, or as if Cooper was in prison. “Do you have any idea what Liz’s wishes would have been?” asked Rocky.
“She was a good pet owner, one of the best. She seemed like she might be sort of impulsive in other parts of her life. But not about taking care of Cooper. They were devoted to each other. Sometimes you see that with a dog like this; they become companions. So I guess she would want him to have a home where people cared about him. What about the boyfriend? The last time I saw her, which was back in May, she had a boyfriend living with her. I only know this because she said he tried to make Cooper sleep outside the bedroom, but the dog made such a fuss that even the boyfriend gave in.”
Rocky looked at Tess at the mention of a boyfriend and they both factored in one more person.
“Did he get along with the dog? I mean was he jealous?” asked Tess.
The doctor took the moment to check the dog’s ears. “No, Liz said he wanted the dog to like him more, but Cooper politely ignored him. Wouldn’t do one thing he asked him to do. Are we done here?”
Rocky remembered what she’d brought, what she had thrown in her pack at the last moment.
“I brought the arrow,” she said.
Both Tess and Dr. Harris looked at her.
“The arrow that was surgically removed, the one someone used to shoot him.” Rocky took her small black daypack off her shoulder. She put it on the examining table and unzipped it. She pulled out a manila envelope, straightened the two arms of the clasp and held it up so that the arrow slid out with a sharp clack from the point and a more stunted sound from the shaft. Only about four inches remained of the shaft. The doctor picked it up.
“Traditional bow hunter. I have to say that I admire this more than the other type. If you can be accurate with a traditional bow, you are part of an elite group. But you don’t have the power of a compound bow, which is what may have saved our friend here.” She nodded her head at Cooper, who had decided to sit on Rocky’s feet. “If you’re wondering if I knew anything about Liz’s archery, I don’t. When people come here, they only talk about their animals, or that part of their life that relates to their animals. She was a good, responsible pet owner.” Dr. Harris looked down at the dog. “He’s taken you on, hasn’t he?”
Rocky noticed the weight of his rump on her feet and how he kept her from floating away.
“Yeah, we seem to be operating hip to hip these days. But that’s one reason why I really want to find out if Liz would want him to go to her parents. Wasn’t she out of touch with her family?”
Dr. Harris put her hands in the pockets of her vest. “You’re an animal control officer?