Lucy thought it was an apt comparison. She figured Skip was talking from experience. “That was a nice thing you did. The lady in the house behind also tried to give him food.” She looked at the rows of meats and cheeses in the display case. “What a shame.”

“Yeah,” said Skip.

“How’d the investigating go?” asked Phyllis, when she returned to the office.

“It’s just tragic,” said Lucy, slumping into her chair. “So many people tried to help him. The lady in the house behind the IGA put out food for him, so did Skip. He’d take what they left but if they tried to talk to him he ran away.”

“Crazy.”

“Maybe,” admitted Lucy. “But I still think he came here for a reason.”

Phyllis slapped a stack of dummies on her desk. “This is the fall home and garden supplement. Ted wants you to check it for typos.”

“Today?”

“Yeah.” Phyllis was sympathetic. “It goes to press tomorrow.”

Lucy sat down at her desk and reached for the phone. She’d promised Willie that she would pick up the girls today but faced with the entire home and garden supplement there was no way she could do it.

As she expected, Willie wasn’t pleased. “This is so typical,” she fumed.

“Well, it was sprung on me at the last minute. I’d really appreciate it if you could get them today. I’ll pick them up tomorrow and Wednesday.”

“I guess that will be all right,” she said, adding a big sigh.

Lucy didn’t get home until almost eight, long after Bill and the girls ate dinner. But she was greeted by Libby, who was a bit unsteady on her feet but wagged her tail as enthusiastically as ever.

“What did the vet say?” she asked Bill, who was filling her bowl with water.

“She’s gonna be fine. But she can only go out on the leash, no exercise, for two weeks. And we have to check her incision for swelling and redness every day.”

Lucy stroked the dog’s silky ears. “What did you eat, you silly girl?”

“This,” said Bill, producing a bit of plastic.