Chapter Text
Duchess whined and pawed at the door of the maintenance closet.
“What is it girl?”
They were in the parking garage of a new office building where an important businessman had been murdered, and hung up from the ceiling. All the secretaries had seen him when they came into work the next morning. Had given some of the girls a nasty scare.
Columbo called the security man over. “Guard can I get the key to this here door?”
The guard nodded, and efficiently found the right key and unlocked the door. Hesitantly, he also leaned down and fluffed the top of the little dog’s head and murmured something agreeable to her, making her wag her tail. She was a bit more friendly than she had been when he got her, at first she had seemed like she considered herself too good for most people (and animals). It must be Dog’s complementary influence on her he thought. The two had come to be good friends and Duchess likewise acted as his protector from overly rambunctious dogs at the park.
Of course, dogs weren’t allowed down here, but something about the delicacy of the poodle’s manner made it so security guards and other such types didn’t want to oppose to her presence. Somewhat different than the way people reacted to Dog in places where he wasn’t allowed, which was most places, where they were usually almost too embarrassed to say anything about the drooling mound.
They had already looked over this closet, but not while he was with Duchess. She seemed to sense something in that small space. It was kept neat, for an out of the way box like that.
“Say, what do they usually keep in here?”
“Car stuff mostly, jacks, tools for replacing tires, it’s a service they do for the workers here when something goes wrong with their vehicle.”
“That’s real nice, I wonder if they wouldn’t give my car a once over.’
The guard glanced piteously at Columbo’s Peugeot which was sitting parked slightly askew in a spot nearby, as if to say, ‘not on your life, pal’.
Columbo looked intently over his notebook and put his chin in his hand. “Gee, I think there’s something missing here.”
After a thorough re-inventory, he put Duchess in her purse and continued his investigation through the building, going where the trail was leading him into byways and boiler rooms. This murderer character knew the place well.