Page 87 of Little Bitter Truths
“That’s a long time,” I said.
“Tell me about it.Moose is … well, not just my dog.He’s everything to me.He’s all I have.”
It wasn’t the best motive for murder I’d ever heard, but it wasn’t the worst.
“You don’t have any family?”I asked.
“None I keep in contact with anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is to take a step back, even when you’d rather not.You can’t help people who aren’t willing to help themselves.”
The defenses he’d built around himself were beginning to crack, and for the first time, I caught a glimpse of the man beneath the anger, a gentler side of him that I hadn’t expected.
“How would you describe him?”I asked.
“Moose?”
“Yeah.”
“Seems like a strange question, but all right.He’s a good boy.The friendliest dog you’ll ever meet.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
He tipped his head toward Mia’s house.“Inheryard.I saw him over there, and I called him home.He started to come, and then I got a call, so I walked back inside the house.A few minutes later, I realized he wasn’t in the house, and I went up and down the street trying to find him.He was just … gone.”
“Do you think someone took him?”
“I don’t know what happened.”
“But you suspect Mia had something to do with his disappearance.”
“I neveraccusedher of taking him.”
“She believes you did.”
“I may have said something to her about how much she hated him, so yeah, the thought of her getting rid of him crossed my mind more than once.”
“Sounds like an accusation to me.”
He sighed, shaking his head like my comment irritated him.
Good.
People sometimes revealed more when they were uncomfortable.
“It’s an observation,” he said.“I’ve been out all morning putting up flyers.And listen, I don’t think she took him.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Then why suggest it?”I asked.
“I was angry.”
“About the note?”
