Alibis & Arranging by Nancy McGovern

Author:Nancy McGovern [McGovern, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGovern Books
Published: 2020-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

15

Emmanuel Can't

In the car, Aurora kept staring at the statue of the dog, transfixed. Joy shifted gears and drove back home at a slightly more sane pace than earlier.

″Alright. Color me confused,″ Joy said. ″I have no idea where that dog has come from. Maybe it's magic.″

″Maybe someone wanted us to think it was smashed,″ Aurora said. ″For their own twisted reasons.″

″So this psycho someone—″ Joy paused. ″This psycho entered our house, hit you over the head nearly killing you, stole the statue, deliberately planted fake smashed up ceramic pieces to make us think the statue was gone and then gave the dog back to Rosa??″

″That's my explanation,″ Aurora said. ″Can you think of a better one?″

″Sure. What if there's more than one statue, for example? That's a solution.″

Aurora shook her head. ″Nope. Right under the tail, I'd noticed an odd chipped off part that kind of looks like a whale. It's still there. This is Emmanuel, the original, sadly.″ She sighed. ″So what do you say to that?″

″I say that I wish dog statues could talk.″ Joy shook her head.

″Sadly, Emmanuel can't.″ Aurora hugged the dog to her chest. ″You know, this will sound crazy, but I'm becoming kind of fond of him.″

″Crazy? It's par for the course at this point. This whole dog disappearing, you getting conked on the head, Hilda dying episode is crazy. All of it. The world's gone cuckoo.″ Joy twirled a finger around her head. ″I need a nice, thick shake to cheer me up. Or a drink. What do you say?″

″I'm still on meds, so no alcohol. But I'll take that shake,” Aurora agreed. ″Maybe a frappe? Think Cafe Ricci is still open?″

″I'm sure of it. Besides, Aunt Giulia and Uncle Pietro will love to fuss over you. I had to restrain them from bringing the entire clan over and parking in front of the hospital.″ Joy grinned. ″Speaking of crazy.″

″Don't be mean. I love that they care so much.″ Aurora smiled.

″Well, sure. But they should care from three steps back, I feel.″ Joy laughed. ″Well, maybe not. The other night, they all showed up at the house when Chief Brooks wanted to talk.″

″Did you know Chief Brooks is retiring?″ Aurora asked. ″He came to interview me early this morning. He had his replacement with him.″

″Oh yeah? What's that guy like? Some old, graying raven, I'd bet,″ Joy said. ″For all his flaws, Brooks was a nice guy. I hope this new fella doesn't try and boss us all around.″

″I didn't really pay attention to him.″ Aurora shrugged. ″But he looked…tough. Like he can take care of himself in a nasty crowd.″

″Bent River doesn't really need tough,″ Joy said. ″Someone too rigid would ruin the equation here. We need someone who understands that when Uncle Beppe gets drunk, he needs a night in the tank and then a quick release. Not a proper criminal procedure. Or when JoJo and his wife throw plates at each other, they just need a talking to. This guy…I hope he gets that not everything is about arrests and numbers in a town this small.

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