David Rosenfelt - Dog Tags

“What’s going on?” I ask, leaving the question open-ended.

“What’s going on? Your partner killed a guy with a sledgehammer that’s attached to his shoulder.”

“A guy who was attempting a kidnapping with a deadly weapon,” I point out.

Pete nods. “Don’t worry; you don’t have another client on your hands. Willie’s clean on this.”

I’m surprised that he’s making such a definitive statement so early in a situation like this. “Who’s the dead guy?” I ask.

“Name is Ray Childress.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” I say.

“It rings plenty of bells,” Pete says. “You just can’t hear them.”

“Enlighten me.”

“He is, or was, available for hire. Not usually for kidnappings, almost always for hits. And believe me, he didn’t come cheap.”

That explains why Willie is finding a receptive audience for his recounting of the events. It’s completely credible that Childress had bad intentions, and Willie’s reactions were perfectly logical and legal. “Any idea who hired him this time?” I ask.

“I could ask you the same thing. You know more about this situation with the dog than I do.”

I shrug. “Anything I might know is protected by attorney–client privilege.”

“I got you the damn client,” he points out.

I nod. “I know; I’m so grateful my eyes are filled with tears. You can take comfort in the fact that I don’t have a clue what’s going on.”

“What a surprise,” he says, and goes back to work.

It’s another three hours until I can get Willie and Sondra out of there. We spend the time taking care of the dogs, which is especially important since the volunteers are turned away from the crime scene.

As we’re getting ready to leave, I tell Willie that I’m going to keep Milo at my house for a while. “He can stay there without having to leave, and the backyard is fenced in and protected.”

“Andy, I want to be a part of this,” Willie says.

“Part of what?”

“Finding out what the hell is going on. Somebody sent that piece of shit to hold a gun on Sondra; I want to find out who that is and deal with him.”

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the look on Willie’s face that I see now. If I don’t get him involved, he’s going to go off on his own. “I hear you,” I say. “You can be a big part of it.”

He nods. “Good. Damn good.”

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.