The Pomeranian Always Barks Twice

by Alex Erickson

“He never tried as far as I’m aware. I think he wanted you.” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Was that respect I saw there? “The kid’s tough.”

  “He is.” But for how much longer? Sitting behind bars couldn’t be easy on him. Ben had never been in trouble like this before in his life. He’d never even gotten a detention, or even so much as a warning when he was in school. I wasn’t going to say he was a complete angel, but if anyone was a near thing, it was Ben.

  We came to a stop outside a closed door. “All right. Here’s the rules.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it quickly when Cavanaugh’s eyes narrowed.

  “You get five minutes,” he said. “If that’s a problem, then you can turn around and walk away now.”

  “Five minutes is fine.” Though, honestly, it sounded like no time at all.

  “Understand, I don’t have to let you see him. He’s being held because he’s a suspect in a serious crime. He’s cooperated so far, but I feel he might know something more. Talking can only help him in the long run.”

  “I see.”

  “I will be in the room when you talk to him. He has yet to request counsel, otherwise we’d be waiting for the attorney to arrive.”

  “My husband is contacting someone for him,” I said.

  Cavanaugh nodded. “It will be made clear to Ben, as I’m making it clear to you now, that anything he says can be used against him. Do you understand?”

  “I do. And thank you,” I said. Maybe my first impression of Detective Cavanaugh had been wrong. He might be tough, might be investigating my son for murder, but he seemed like a fair man.

  “Go in and take a seat. I’ll go get him and bring him to you in a few minutes.”

  I nodded, unsure I could speak. I was starting to shake, and my throat felt tight. I was going to see Ben. What if this was the last time I’d get a chance to sit down with him outside a prison?

  Cavanaugh strode away, and I shook off the unpleasant thought and entered the room.

  It was the same room in which Cavanaugh spoke to me before, yet somehow, it felt darker, colder. I took a seat, nervously glancing at the camera in the corner. No one else was in the room with me. I could hear voices from down the hall, and a clunking sound, like someone was repeatedly kicking the wall.

  “Everything’s going to be all right,” I muttered, needing to hear the sound of my own voice, lest I drive myself crazy. The room was too quiet, despite the sounds from elsewhere in the station. I felt horribly alone, and could only imagine how Ben must feel.

  It took Cavanaugh a good ten minutes to return. Ben was cuffed, and was wearing a set of blue clothing with Grey Falls Police Department written across the left breast, and GFPD on the back. It broke my heart seeing him like that. It made him look guilty, even though I knew deep in my heart he wasn’t.

  “Hey, Mom,” Ben said, a nervous smile on his face. He was trying to play it cool, but I could tell he was scared. I wouldn’t even have to have seen him to know that. There was a faint tremor to his voice, a strain that wasn’t there before.

  “Ben.” I forced myself to return his smile. I was pretty sure it looked just as shaky as his own.

  “I’ll be right here,” Cavanaugh said, closing the door. He took up position next to it.

  “Thank you,” I said, and then motioned for Ben to take a seat across from me.

  He sat down awkwardly, thanks to the cuffs. I considered asking Cavanaugh to remove them, but figured I might be pressing my luck if I did. He’d already conceded more than he probably should have by letting me speak to Ben.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked.

  “Okay, I guess. I’m still trying to process exactly what happened.”

  “Me too.” I glanced at Cavanaugh, and then scooted my chair around to the side of the table so I could take one of Ben’s cuffed hands. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  He shrugged one shoulder, looked down, past our hands, to the floor. “It’s not like I’m doing backflips of joy,” he said. “But no one has mistreated me. And while they think I killed Mr. Fuller, they haven’t yelled at me or threatened me in any way.”

  “Good. Have you talked to anyone yet? An attorney?” While Manny was going to call Lester, it didn’t mean Ben hadn’t already talked to someone.

  “No, just the cops.” Ben shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Detective Cavanaugh already gave me the whole spiel about implicating myself and whatnot. He told me I could have an attorney present if I wanted, but, right now, I’m okay. I mean, it’s just you.”

  “Yeah, it’s just me.” And I prayed I didn’t do or say something to make his situation worse. I scooted closer to Ben, lowered my voice. “What happened at that house?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if Cavanaugh was listening in, but if he was, I wanted to keep whatever was said between my son and me private, at least until I knew whether or not it would help.

  “I don’t know,” Ben said, keeping his own voice lowered. “I didn’t know he was dead until the police showed up.”

  “You didn’t discover his body?”

  “No.” He shuddered. “If I had, I probably would have freaked out. Knowing he was dead was bad enough.”

  I started to ask another question about Mr. Fuller and his family, but caught myself. I needed to start from the beginning.

  “The girl, Selena, do you know her?”

  “Yeah.” He paused. “Well, I don’t really know her. I’ve seen her around town once or twice, but we’d never talked. Today was the first time I’d actually spent any time with her.”

  “How long were you with her? Before the murder, I mean.”

  “Right up until the police showed up.” Ben released my hands, folded them in his lap as best he could. “I went over because, well, you saw her.”

  “I did.”

  “I couldn’t resist.” Some of the old Ben came back when he smiled. “We talked for a few minutes and I guess we hit it off pretty good because she invited me inside.”

  “Really?” I asked in my mom voice.

  He rolled his eyes. “We were just hanging out,” he said. “Besides, I’m twenty-two. It’s not like we were doing anything stupid or illegal.”

  “I know that.” Though it was easy to forget sometimes. As any mother knows, you never truly look at your children as anything but, no matter how old they get.

  “So, we were together, hitting it off pretty good, when I heard the sirens. We went to see what was happening, and I saw the police go into Mr. Fuller’s house, and then around back, to that red barn of his. There were ambulances coming too. I went over to make sure he was okay, and the cops wouldn’t let me in. It didn’t take long before I realized the guy was dead. I was about to call you when one of them cuffed me and read me my rights. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

  My heart went out to him. “You didn’t see anything or anyone strange hanging around?” I asked, knowing it was unlikely. Once Ben was in a woman’s orbit, he paid everything else little mind.

  “No. Mr. Fuller—Junior, not the older one—and his wife showed up shortly before they cuffed me. He completely lost his mind when he heard his dad was dead. I guess I don’t blame him.”

  “Lost his mind, how?”

  Ben shrugged. “Started yelling. One of the cops had to restrain him at one point because he was trying to get into the barn. I think they took him inside the house after, but by then, I wasn’t paying much attention to him. I had problems of my own to deal with.”

  “What about Timothy’s nurse?” I asked, imagining the scene. It had to have been chaos.

  Ben shook his head. “I never saw her. I assume she was still there because someone said she found the body.”

  “You’re sure no one else was hanging around,” I asked, not really sure who I expected there to be.

  “Pretty sure,” Ben said. “But I wasn’t really aware of much. Once you left, I only had eyes for Selena. If I hadn’t heard the sirens, I doubt I would have even known a
nything was going on next door.”

  “Ben, a witness saw you enter Mr. Fuller’s house before the police arrived,” I said. “And he said you ran off after only a few minutes.”

  Even as I spoke, he was shaking his head. “No way. I didn’t even make it that far. The police stopped me. And I definitely wasn’t over there before the police got there. You can ask Selena.”

  I might have to do that, I thought. “He said he saw you specifically,” I prodded, hoping he could tell me something that would explain how Clarence could be so wrong.

  “It’s not possible,” Ben said. “I was with Selena the whole time. I swear!”

  I studied him, tried to determine if he was lying to me for some reason. I wasn’t sure why he would, not unless something really had happened between him and Timothy Fuller that he didn’t want me to know about.

  “Think carefully, Ben,” I said. “The man I talked to was pretty sure he saw you. He had no reason to lie.”

  “Well, he’s not telling the truth either,” Ben said. “Because I never left Selena’s house; not until the police showed up.”

  I didn’t think Clarence was lying outright, but he must have been mistaken.

  Of course, there was one other explanation as to how Clarence could have seen someone wearing a shirt with Ben’s name on it. Everyone knew Ben and I wore those shirts. It wouldn’t be hard to get one made. In fact, the shirts were made at a local graphic design place downtown. If someone was planning on killing Timothy Fuller, they could very well have had shirts made ahead of time.

  But that would require prior knowledge of our visit. Who all knew Ben and I were going to pick up Stewie?

  Timothy did, of course, but I doubted he planned on murdering himself. His son and daughter-in-law were new in town, but I found it unlikely they knew Ben’s name before we got there. Nurse Meredith would have known about our visit, but it would be kind of hard to mistake her for Ben, even from as far away as Clarence was.

  Duke knew you were coming.

  And I didn’t know where he was when the murder took place.

  I couldn’t believe I was entertaining the thought that Duke Billings would frame Ben for murder, but I couldn’t help it. Nothing else made sense.

  “I’m going to figure this thing out,” I promised Ben.

  “I hope so,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  Which reminded me of something . . .

  “The police say there was blood on your shirt. If you never went over to Timothy’s house, how did it get there?”

  “I don’t know,” Ben said. “I wish I did.”

  I did too. “Your dad’s calling Lester Ives for you in case you need him. He’ll want to talk to you soon, probably today.”

  Ben paled, as if mentioning the attorney by name had suddenly made everything real.

  Cavanaugh stepped forward. “I’m sorry, but I have to take him back now.”

  I rose, and then gave Ben a hug when he did the same. “Stay strong,” I whispered into his ear. Ben merely nodded.

  Detective Cavanaugh took Ben’s arm and led him away as soon as we parted. I waited in the interview room for Cavanaugh’s return.

  “He’s innocent,” I said as soon as he stopped outside the door.

  “I’m sure you believe so,” he said. “And if it’s true, neither of you have anything to worry about.”

  “He couldn’t have done it,” I said, unsatisfied by his confident tone. “He was with a woman at the time, one who can verify his story.”

  “Selena Shriver,” Cavanaugh said, gently taking me by the elbow and leading me out of the room and back down the hall. “I know.”

  “Did you talk to her?” When he didn’t answer, I pressed. “She should be able to confirm his alibi. Talk to her if you haven’t. And find Duke Billings. He might have something to do with Timothy’s murder.”

  Detective Cavanaugh’s jaw tightened the more I spoke. He guided me all the way past the front desk, and then right out the door. He didn’t release me until the sun was shining on both our faces.

  “Mrs. Denton, please let us do our jobs. We know what we’re doing.”

  “But Ben . . .”

  “If he’s innocent, then he’ll be fine. I can’t have you pressuring me or anyone else involved in the case. We’ll talk to everyone and get their statements. I’ll figure out what happened.”

  “What about bail?” I asked, mind searching for any way I could take Ben home with me.

  “It hasn’t been set. At this time, we’re just holding your son, not charging him. Because of the nature of the crime, I’m keeping him for thirty-six hours. I might apply for more time if no new evidence appears.”

  “But . . .”

  “Mrs. Denton.” The tone of his voice said he was done humoring me. He was likely regretting ever letting me talk to Ben, which didn’t bode well for any return visits I might make. “It’s better I hold him without charging him, even if it’s longer than you’d like.”

  I lowered my head and nodded. I didn’t like it, but he was right.

  “Go home,” Cavanaugh said once he was sure I wasn’t going to argue any longer. “Get some rest. If I need to talk to you again, I’ll call on you. Otherwise, you have no reason to be here.”

  Another “But” formed on my lips, but I bit it back. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll go.”

  He patted me on the shoulder, nodded once, and then stepped back to watch me go.

  I did leave as I said I would, but home was not my destination. Ben’s life hung in the balance. I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.

  7

  Duke Billings lived just outside of town, in a large ranch house that sat on about three acres dominated by trees. The house felt warm and inviting from the outside, and I knew from experience, it was the same on the inside. There was a sort of rustic charm to the place, everything being done in shades of brown and green. It was about as close to living in a log cabin in the woods as anyone could come without actually doing so.

  A black cat lay atop the front stoop, washing its paws. As soon as I pulled into the gravel driveway, it leapt up and bolted around back.

  I’d only been to Duke’s house once before, and that was when his wife had broken her ankle three years ago. Even though he worked with Courtney, we got along well enough, so I decided to bring them a cake decorated with get well puppies. Both Duke and his wife seemed to have appreciated the gesture, though I never was invited back.

  I approached the front door with trepidation. What if Duke had framed Ben? He wouldn’t be happy about seeing me now. If he’d killed one man, what would stop him from doing the same to me? I doubted our history, limited as it may be, would save me.

  The door opened as I stepped up onto the stoop where the cat had been. Sasha Billings filled the space, a curious look on her face. She was a big woman, and I didn’t mean fat. She stood nearly six feet tall, had midnight-black skin, and was built like a linebacker. When she’d broken her ankle a few years ago, it hadn’t been doing dainty work, but rather, in one of those competitions where contestants flip gigantic tires and uproot trees with their bare hands.

  Needless to say, she scared me.

  “Liz,” she said, crossing her massive arms across her chest. She made broad-shouldered Duke look small. “For what do I have the pleasure?”

  “Hey, Sasha. Is Duke home? I’d like to talk to him for a few minutes.”

  “Sorry, he’s not. I think he’s on a run with Courtney, but he could be out with a few of his friends by now. Said he needs to blow off some steam.”

  “Do you happen to know where he’s going?” I asked, thinking that if he and Courtney thought they could swoop in and steal Stewie now, they’d have a serious fight on their hands.

  She shrugged. “I never asked. I don’t expect him back until later tonight. Do you need him now? I could call him if it’s important.”

  “No, that’s okay.” While I wanted to talk to Duke, I didn’t want to drag Sasha into
it. She might not know anything about the murder, or Ben’s involvement.

  Sasha and I faced each other wordlessly as I debated on what to tell her. Her dark eyes bore into mine, making me feel smaller and smaller by the moment. There was no malice there, just intensity. She’d give Detective Cavanaugh a run for his money if it ever came down to a staring contest between the two of them.

  “I ran into Duke earlier,” I said, finally breaking the silence. “There was some miscommunication between us and we ended up on the same job. It was mostly Courtney’s fault, but we’ve got it all worked out now.” I hoped.

  “That’s good.”

  “Unfortunately, the man whose dog we were picking up died. The cops are saying he was murdered.”

  Sasha’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s terrible.”

  “The police think Ben did it.”

  “Well, now, that’s just stupid. He’d never do such a thing. You raised that boy right.”

  I felt all warm and fuzzy from the compliment, but didn’t let it sway me from what I had to say. “It’s why I was hoping to talk to Duke,” I said. “I was with Courtney when the murder happened. Duke was supposedly running errands at the time, and I was hoping he might have stopped by the Fuller house while doing them. He might have seen something that could help Ben.”

  “Supposedly?” Sasha’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “What are you implying?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, taking a quick step backward. I didn’t think she would actually hurt me, but just the thought that she could if she wanted to, was enough to make me nervous. “I didn’t mean it that way. Courtney could have told him to go back to the house in the hopes Timothy would give up his dog while I wasn’t there,” I said. “If that was the case, it would make sense that she would lie about where he really was. I’m trying to piece together what happened for Ben, not start anything with Duke.”

  Sasha seemed to accept my explanation because the muscles in her arms stopped bulging. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. Duke left this morning to pick up an animal and has yet to return home. As far as I know, he’s still with Courtney, and if he’s not, he planned on getting together with a few friends later. There’s no telling when he’ll be home.”