I can’t do my normal superstitions because we’re not in Paterson. For example, usually during a jury verdict wait I go to Patsy’s for pizza. Unfortunately, Patsy’s is currently seven hours away.
I think I want a quick jury verdict this time; that reflects my confidence. Not that I am verbalizing that confidence to Laurie or anyone else; that is a superstition no-no.
I visit Matt at the jail, and as I expected, he asks me my prediction. I don’t tell him the truth; I blab something about how unpredictable juries are. Which they are.
“I think we’re going to win. You were amazing.”
Clearly I can’t argue with that.
As I’m getting ready to leave, the door opens. It’s a guard, and with him is Charlie Tilton.
“They have a verdict.”
Matt looks at me. “Is that good news or bad that it came so fast?”
“One or the other. One or the other.”
Matt turns to Charlie, who says, “I agree with Andy.”
It is impossible for there to exist on this planet a more nervous time than waiting for a jury to give its verdict.
Everything moves in slow motion. The arrival of the judge, the jury filing in, the handing of the verdict to the clerk … each event takes a month to transpire.
I feel like I lose a year of my life to stress every time, and I’m not the one facing prison. I simply do not know how defendants survive it.
Matt seems more calm than most; certainly more calm than me. I can also see the anxiety in Charlie’s face; he initially wanted no part of this, but he has bought in big-time. The gallery is full; this has been a big deal locally from the start, and that hasn’t changed at all.
Judge Pressley tells us to stand for the clerk to read the verdict. As we do, Matt whispers, “I can’t feel my legs.”
I look down. “They’re there.”
I put my arm on his shoulder, which is my lucky pose. Charlie puts his arm on Matt’s other shoulder, and we gear ourselves for what we are going to hear.
“We the jury, in the case of the State of Maine versus Matthew Jantzen, as to count one, the homicide of Ms. Tina Welker, find the defendant, Matthew Jantzen, not guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree.”
The clerk reads the second count, but I don’t think anyone hears it, including me. There is no way they could convict on one and not the other, and they don’t.
The gallery explodes, which in Maine is much more restrained than a New Jersey explosion. Or New York. Or wherever.
“My God, you did it,” Matt says, and hugs me and Charlie. I turn and see Laurie beaming at me. Next to her is Matt’s sister, Mary Patrick, who is in full-blown sobbing mode.
George Steinkamp comes over and offers his hand. “Congratulations. You did a hell of a job, and justice was probably served.”
I nod. “Good when it turns out that way.”
“Come back anytime.” He smiles. “But come for a vacation, not to practice law.”
Picking Ricky up at camp today was fantastic. When we first saw him, he was about a hundred yards away.
He ran that distance toward us, and I think Laurie and I were both wondering who he would run to and hug first.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t me.
But I was second, and it was damn good.
We brought the dogs with us, and Ricky does a double take when he sees Hunter. “We got another dog?”
“It’s a long story,” Laurie says.
We head back north because we have a victory party planned for tonight at the hotel. In addition to our family of three humans and three dogs, Marcus, Corey, Sam, and Simon Garfunkel are here, as are Matt, Mary Patrick and her husband, and Charlie Tilton.
Matt is staying with the Patricks, so fortunately I didn’t have to take another suite.
It turns out that King Eider’s also runs Stone Cove Catering, and they provide the food. At my request it includes lobster rolls, since I’ve got a hunch I won’t be having one for a while.
“Man, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Charlie says.
“You were a worthy partner.”
“What was said in court that day that tipped you off?”
“When you were questioning our expert, she talked about irradiating blood degrading DNA. It just all clicked into place. And Nichols had said the militia was looking to detonate a ‘significant device.’ I knew he must have meant a dirty bomb, and that cesium was what they needed. But I wasn’t positive until Mitchell confirmed everything.
“Well, you can come up here and try a case anytime. New York is lucky to have you.”
I don’t bother to correct him; I surrender.
Mary Patrick and her husband come over and she hands me a check. I look at it; it’s for $1,000. “It’s a start,” she says. “We’ll be sending you seventy-five dollars a week, as promised.”
“No, you won’t.” I hand her back the check. “I was here on vacation.”
“Enjoy your brother,” Laurie says. “You guys make a wonderful family.”
Matt comes over while they are with us and hugs me again. Courtroom hugs are one thing; party hugs I’m not crazy about. But I don’t fight it, and it’s over quickly.
“I owe everything to you and him,” Matt says, pointing to Hunter.
“About that,” Laurie says. “We were going to offer him to you, but he loves Tara so much that we can’t separate them. I hope you understand.”
Matt smiles. “Totally. I’ll be heading to the shelter tomorrow to get one of my own.”
ALSO BY DAVID ROSENFELT
ANDY CARPENTER NOVELS
Silent Bite
Muzzled
Dachshund Through the Snow
Bark of Night
Deck the Hounds
Rescued
Collared
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas
Outfoxed
Who Let the Dog Out?
Hounded
Unleashed
Leader of the Pack
One Dog Night
Dog Tags
New Tricks
Play Dead
Dead Center
Sudden Death
Bury the Lead
First Degree
Open and Shut
K TEAM NOVELS
Animal Instinct
The K Team
THRILLERS
Black and Blue
Fade to Black
Blackout
Without Warning
Airtight
Heart of a Killer
On Borrowed Time
Down to the Wire
Don’t Tell a Soul
NONFICTION
Lessons from Tara: Life Advice from the World’s Most Brilliant Dog
Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID ROSENFELT is the Edgar Award–nominated and Shamus Award–winning author of more than twenty Andy Carpenter novels, most recently Silent Bite; nine stand-alone thrillers; two nonfiction titles; and two K Team novels, a new series featuring some of the characters from the Andy Carpenter series. After years of living in California, he and his wife moved to Maine with twenty-five of the four thousand dogs they have rescued. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Begin Reading
Also by David Rosenfelt
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are ei
ther products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
DOG EAT DOG. Copyright © 2021 by Tara Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Rowen Davis and David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photographs: pug © Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images; man © Magdalena Russocka/Trevillion Images; donut © Pets and Foods/Shutterstock.com; donuts © Uzuri/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Rosenfelt, David, author.
Title: Dog eat dog / David Rosenfelt.
Description: First Edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2021. | Series: An Andy Carpenter novel; 23
Identifiers: LCCN 2021008171 | ISBN 9781250257123 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250257130 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3618.O838 D63 2021 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021008171
eISBN 9781250257130
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2021
Dog Eat Dog Page 21