Page 75 of Little Bitter Truths
“Are you certain his dog is to blame?”
“Positive.I’ve caught him in the act on more than one occasion.It was enough for me to want to smack that guy right across the face.”
Giovanni looked away, as if he was trying not to laugh.
“I’m serious,” Mia said.
“I don’t doubt it,” I said.
“At first I tried being polite, and I told Adrian what happened.He apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again, and then it did.”
I took a sip of my coffee.“Go on.”
“One morning, I walked outside barefoot.”
Realizing where the story was headed, Giovanni lost his battle for composure and burst out laughing.
“Once I stepped in … well, you know what, that was it,” she said.“I lost it.”
“What did you do?”I asked.
“I scooped it into a bag and left it on Adrian’s doorstep.”
Now Giovanni and I were both laughing.
“You two are enjoying this too much,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I said.“What happened next?”
“We exchanged more words, and then something strange happened.His dog disappeared, and he blamed me.”
“What did he say?”
“He came over and pounded on my door.He was furious, and he accused me of taking revenge by getting rid of his dog, which is absurd.”
“How long has the dog been missing?”
“Six weeks, maybe longer.”
“How did the conversation with Adrian end?”
“I slammed the door in his face, and things have been tense ever since.I didn’t mention it before because, even though the guy’s a jerk, I never thought him capable of committing murder.”
Sometimes that was how murderers escaped suspicion, by blending into the background and presenting themselves as harmless when they were anything but.
“And now, do you think he’s capable of violence?”I asked.
She hesitated.“I don’t know.I feel like I’m going crazy.Like I said before, I’m suspicious of everyone at this point.”
I was too, but somewhere in the mix of scattered pieces in this investigation was the truth, and I needed to find it.
30
Mia’s admission about Adrian had me thinking.
“The day I met Adrian, he was standing in his front yard, staring at your house,” I said.“He had a curious look on his face.I didn’t think much of it at first, and then after everything fell out of my handbag, Adrian walked over to help me gather it all back up, and we talked for a minute.He asked about the investigation, and he said the two of you didn’t know each other well.”
“We don’t, and I’m sorry I didn’t mention him sooner.The argument we had over his dog was ridiculous and petty, too petty for me to believe he’d commit murder because of it.”
