Dog Tags

CHAPTER 32

LAURIE AND I HEAD HOME WITH A NEW PROBLEM. It’s not just how to successfully defend Billy, or figure out what the hell is going on. This particular problem is sitting in the backseat, head out the half-opened window, smiling as if he’s the Grand Shepherd in the Rose Bowl Parade.

“How are we going to take care of and protect Milo without all of us getting killed in the process?” I ask. “The floor is open to suggestions.”

“I think you should work out of the house for now,” Laurie says. “That way we’ll be around more to watch him.”

“Good idea.”

“And we need to get Marcus. He should be Milo’s bodyguard.”

“Been there, done that,” I say. Marcus had watched over a show dog that I was involved with in a previous case, and who was also in danger, though for very different reasons. The major drawback was that feeding Marcus proved to be a full-time job; his capacity to eat is stunning, and he does it at all hours of the day and night.

“It’s either Marcus or you have to bring in a marine battalion,” Laurie says.

“They would probably eat less.”

“Andy, this is a serious threat we’re dealing with. Sondra could have been killed today, to say nothing about Milo.”

I know that she’s right, but since it makes me somewhat uncomfortable that Marcus and I even occupy the same planet, the idea of once again having him as a housemate is daunting. “Don’t you need him as an investigator?”

“Not right now; if I can’t handle things on my own I’ll bring somebody else in.”

“What about Willie? He wants to help catch the bad guys.”

I know Laurie isn’t thrilled with that idea. She loves Willie and respects his physical ability and street smarts, but she believes that investigators should be professionals. “If I can use him I will,” she says.

I spend the next few minutes pondering the recent changes in my life. I’ve got a new client that I don’t want, a murder trial that I dread, a new dog that’s a direct descendant of Jesse James, and a full-time houseguest that could kick the shit out of Godzilla.

And then there’s another problem. “Who’s going to tell Tara about Milo?” I ask.

“She’ll be fine,” Laurie says. “She loved having Waggy around.” She’s referring to a show dog who stayed with us, a wild puppy with whom Tara showed incredible patience.

“I’m telling her that it’s your fault,” I say.

When we get home, we bring Tara around to the backyard and do the introduction there, since we’ve had good luck with that in the past. It is rather uneventful; Tara and Milo spend a few minutes sniffing various parts of each other’s bodies before Tara lies down.

Milo, for his part, seems more interested in exploring his new surroundings. Once he’s done so, we bring them both inside. They lie down near each other and go to sleep.

“See?” Laurie asks. “I told you there would be no problem.”

“So far, so good.” My admission is grudging, because I know what’s coming.

“Do you want to call Marcus, or should I?” she asks.

“You should.”

Laurie nods, picks up the phone, and dials the number. What follows is a perfectly normal situation; in a million years I would never guess that she was talking to Marcus.

When she hangs up, she says, “He’ll be here at four o’clock.”

“Okay. I’ll go rent a moving van.”

“What for?”

“Food.”

Before I start making the rounds of grocery stores, I turn my attention to the impact that today’s events will have on Billy’s case.

My initial goal is becoming more clear each day. While Eli will attempt to portray Erskine’s death as a simple robbery-murder, I must find a way to introduce the outside elements into the case. Included in this will be the mysterious envelope and what it might say about Erskine’s past and shady dealings.

It will not be easy to get evidence like this admitted, and I’ll have to learn much more before I have a chance. But events like today’s can only help. A hit man trying to steal or kill Milo shows that there are other bad people and motives involved in this case. If I can present this kind of evidence to a jury, with a credible theory behind it, it can’t help but introduce some element of reasonable doubt.

I tell all this to Laurie, after which she says, “And he knows something important.” She’s pointing across the room at Milo, now sharing a dog bed with Tara. “It’s hard to imagine, but under those great ears lies the secret to the case.”

I nod. “But he’s not talking. I called Juliet Corsinita, the dog trainer, and she has some ideas, but warned it will be tough.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

I shrug. “Maybe. As long as Marcus is able to keep him from getting killed first.”

“They’re not trying to kill him,” Laurie says. “Willie was right about that. Hit men don’t behave the way this one did if the goal is to kill. They take their best shot the moment it presents itself, and that would have been as soon as Milo got out of the car.”

Laurie and Willie are both clearly right. The area behind the foundation building was secluded and the perfect spot for Childress to have shot Milo, if that was his intent. There would have been no reason to take him somewhere else to do it.

“Childress is a key,” I say.

“Or he would have been if Willie hadn’t smashed in his skull.”

“That’s unfortunate, but it still leaves us an area to pursue. At the risk of a bad pun, Childress had no dog in this fight. Somebody bought him, and the person who did that is the one we want.”

“Those kind of people don’t leave tracks,” Laurie says. “They don’t make these kinds of purchases with credit cards.”

“That’s why investigators like you exist,” I say. “That’s why I pay you the big bucks.”

“You aren’t paying me a dime.”

“You’re forgetting room and board, use of a car, sexual favors…”

“I think we need to renegotiate the terms,” she says.

I nod. “Okay, everything is on the table except the sexual favors. That’s a deal breaker.”