A Woof of Murder by Gayle Susie

Author:Gayle, Susie [Gayle, Susie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery
Published: 2017-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

* * *

Two hours go by. Every time the door to the pet shop opens and a customer walks in, I expect it to be Sarah, returning from taking her mother to the hotel—or Patty Mayhew, coming to arrest me for knowing about the blackmail scheme and not reporting it.

But neither come.

Dennis, meanwhile, is like a whole different person without his henpecking, overbearing mother around. He smiles and talks and looks me in the eye, and he even helps a customer or two find something they’re looking for. It’s such a difference that I’m almost ashamed that I suspected he could have snuck away earlier in the day to steal a car and hit a woman in the street.

Almost.

“So, Dennis,” I ask casually after ringing up a customer, “what do you think of Seaview Rock?”

“It’s nice,” he tells me. “Real nice. Better than stuffy Scarborough, where everyone walks around like they’ve got a stick up their… you know. But this place? Looks like it belongs on a postcard.”

“Yeah, I say the same thing.” I chuckle a little. “And what about the comic book store? What’d you think of that?”

The kid’s not stupid. He picks up right away on my line of questioning. His smile evaporates. “It’s alright. Kind of small.”

“Yeah, it is small,” I agree. “Too small not to notice someone. We checked it, and you weren’t there. And your mom, she just accepted what you said as if it were the truth. So where’d you really go?” I hold my hands up in a half-shrug. “No judgment.”

He sighs. “Alright. You got me. I peeked into the comic book shop, but that’s not where I went. Look, Will, you seem like a really nice guy, and I’m glad to see Sarah happy. But we just met, you know? And… a guy like me, maybe it could mean trouble. I don’t want that.”

I nod slowly. Despite almost fourteen years between us, my basic translation of his statement is, “Sorry, dude, I can’t trust you.”

“Okay, Dennis,” I tell him. “You don’t have to tell me. But you should know that there are people in this town that might care an awful lot… about where you went.”

This time he nods slowly. “I get you.”

The door opens yet again, and I turn—both hoping and dreading at the same time—and this time, it really is Sarah. She drags her feet like she just ran a marathon.

“Hey,” I say awkwardly.

“Hey,” she says back, standing just inside the entrance.

Dennis clears his throat. “I’m, uh, going to go for a quick walk. Like ten minutes?” He strides briskly out the door.

As soon as he’s gone, I launch into my apology. “Sarah, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. I feel like a colossal—”

“No, don’t apologize. You weren’t wrong.”

“Wait, what?” I ask, dumbfounded.

She looks up, her gaze meeting mine. “You weren’t wrong about any of it. You said all the things I’ve wished I could say to her. The thing is, there’s something about my mom that you should know, that I should’ve told you before she ever came.

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