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18
C o
He turned when he heard Sweet Thing scratching at the door between the kitchen and the front hall, and he swung the door open for her.
“What’s up, girl? Need a quick trip out?”
The dog went directly to the back door.
“I’m taking that as a yes.”
Co
He opened the door and Sweet Thing shot out. By the time Co
“Hey, girl, where are you going?”
A loud growl came from around the side of the house. Seconds later, he heard Sweet Thing snarling, and then a high-pitched scream.
Co
“Come down now, slowly. And when you hit the ground, I want you facedown in the dirt.”
The figure did not move.
“I’m going to say this one more time.” He drew his gun. “And if you don’t come down on your own, I’ll shoot you down. Understand?”
“It bit me! The dog bit me!”
“If you don’t start coming down from that tree, you’re going to have more than a dog bite to worry about.”
“Make the dog go away.” The voice from the tree was smaller, younger than Co
Co
“Come down slowly, and step over here where I can see you.”
“You have a gun.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to shoot me?”
“Only if you don’t come down and do as I say. Lie on the ground, facedown, hands behind your back.”
The figure came down slowly, then backed away from the pine.
“Out here, away from the trees.” Co
“Co
Chief Thorpe slammed the back door of the patrol car and turned to Co
“I do, thanks.” Co
“Sure.” Thorpe turned and waved to a young patrol officer who was chatting with two others down near the parking lot. “O’Brien. I need you and your partner to watch the house until Agent Shields is finished with the suspect. Get Officer Silver up here with you.”
“Yes, sir.” The officer went off in search of his partner.
“I’m going to run inside and make sure the house is secured, but I should be right behind you, Chief,” Co
“I’ll see you at the station.” Thorpe nodded and headed off for his vehicle.
Co
“You’ve got yourself a pretty damned good watchdog,” he told Daria. “She knew that kid was out there, made a beeline for the trees the minute I opened the door.”
“Who is he?” Daria frowned. “And why was he watching the house?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out.” He slipped his gun back into his holster. “There are two Howeville cops outside to keep an eye on you until I get back. I doubt there’s going to be any more activity tonight, so I suggest you two go back to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”
“Why’s that?” Daria asked.
“Because we have a meeting with Mr. Cavanaugh at his house, if you feel up to a drive.”
“I’m up to it, yes, definitely.” She nodded.
“Who’s Mr. Cavanaugh?” Mia asked.
“An antiques dealer who might have sold one of the artifacts to one of the victims,” he told her. To Daria, he said, “Go back to sleep. Get some rest.”
She nodded again and the two women started out of the room.
“Come on, Sweet Thing,” Daria called to the dog. “My hero…good girl!”
“Hey,” Co
Daria smiled and met his eyes. “Anytime.”
Co
“What’s your name, son?” Co
“How old are you?”
Nothing.
“Want to tell me why you were hiding in the bushes outside Dr. McGowan’s house?”
The boy’s eyes seemed to narrow, but he did not speak. He sat with his arms flat on the table.
Co
“How about you tell me whose number this is programmed into your phone?” Co
It was like talking to a stone wall.
The kid scratched at his left forearm with his right hand. He acted as if he were the only person in the room.
“Have it your way, kid,” Co
He met Thorpe in the hallway.
“I see you had about as much luck as we did,” Thorpe told him.
“Someone trained him well. He’s not offering a damned thing.” Co
“Prepaid to prepaid. There’s no record of anything. We called the number several times. The first two times, a man answered, but nothing after that.”
“He could have figured out that his little buddy here had been picked up.”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
They walked back into the room from which Thorpe had watched Co
“You took his prints?” Co
“First thing we did.”
“You run them against the prints you took from the library?”
“Not yet, but we will.”
“Start with the prints you took from the basement door,” Co
Thorpe turned to stare at Co
“The boy has marks on his arm that look like a dog bite. The detective from Delaware told me the blood type from the back door of Cross’s house did not match the victim’s. When I opened the door of the house tonight, Sweet Thing took off like a rocket.”
“Sweet Thing?” The chief raised his eyebrows.