Would you recognize a serial killer if you talked to one every single day?
Starving artist Lia Anderson doesn't. Neither do her friends at the Mount Airy Dog Park. Then the violent death of Lia's newly-ex boyfriend brings Detective Peter Dourson...
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Bailey twitched the mosquito netting in place on their improvised butterfly house.
"It's a bit much, isn't it?" Lia asked, eyeing the plethora of hanging baskets full of Fuchsia and Tuberous Begonias. Pots of Geraniums in every color were stacked around the pavilion's support posts and along the perimeter of the tent.
"But it's made her so happy. Our Catherine loves overkill. The butterflies will certainly be entertained. They aren't native, but they will make a lovely splash of color, and she can decorate her deck with these after the party's over."
"I'm so impressed. You've got her being smug about her plants not being jammed in like sardines."
"It just took citing a few eco-conscious Hollywood types who've gone the native plant route, giving her a few names to drop. She now knows she's in exalted company."
"Lia! Bailey! Have I told you how wonderful this is?" Catherine picked her way across the stepping stones in her 'koi moat' to the little island. Lia watched her totter across the creek in her spike-heeled sandals and mentally shook her head. "How brilliant of you to come up with a canopy of mosquito netting so the butterflies would have sunshine. Is everything ready to let them loose?"
"Whenever you say," Lia responded. "We've placed extra pots of flowers for them to feed on while they're in here."
"It looks lovely! I thought about waiting until everyone was here later this evening, but then I thought, why keep them cooped up any longer? Their lives are so short, they should get all the sunshine they can."
"If you want, you can sit in the tent and open the hatchery. You'll get to watch them come out, and you can spend some time alone with them."
"What a marvelous way to get ready for the party!"
Lia pulled the hatchery out from under the bench. "We'll leave you, then. Just be sure to close the netting all the way when you come out." She showed Catherine the strips of magnets designed to ensure the flaps sealed securely.
They left Catherine to enjoy her island paradise and strolled the path, savoring bright splashes of blossoms. "It turned out well, didn't it, Bailey?"
"I'd say so. Maybe some of Catherine's society friends will want one of their very own."
"You going to be okay now?"
Bailey sighed, "For a while I was wondering if I was going to be able to see it through. Thanks for running interference."
"Hey, what are friends for? I could wait awhile before we tackle another one. I swear, I'll never agree to such an insane schedule on a big job again."
"It's like childbirth. They tell me you forget all the pain and that's the only reason anyone ever does it again."
"Yeah, you're right. I get in the middle of some huge project and I promise myself I'm never going to do it again and then I turn around and make a proposal for something twice as big. Come on, girlfriend, let's go put on our party shoes."
