The Comfy Canine Murder Case

by Adele M Cooper

  River frowned. “Do you think that’s where he was killed?”

  “There’s a possibility,” Paige said. “But, if he was killed there…then who killed him? Alice has a rock-solid alibi. At the time of the murder, she was at a doctor’s appointment in Newport. She couldn’t have committed the murder without someone noticing that she was gone.”

  “Everyone else has an alibi too,” River said. She gulped. “Except me.”

  “Unless someone is lying,” Paige pointed out.

  “They would have to be a more successful liar than I am,” River said with a wry twist of her mouth.

  They sat there for a long moment in silence, looking at the papers scattered over the table. Paige tried to reconcile the idea of Alice being both the kidnapper and murderer. But it didn’t add up. She knew emotions weren’t evidence, but she had run into Alice curled up at the place Jonathan had been discovered. Alice hadn’t expected to be intruded upon there, so she hadn’t been there just for appearances.

  Was her grief real? Paige had thought so. There were also few things that made sense, if it was Alice. Why had she begged the entire class to help the police, and conspired with Jack to get everyone together so he could question them? Why had she left River to clean out Jonathan’s place, when she could have done it herself and found the journal that her partner was writing in? If she was the kidnapper, surely she would have suspected that he had written possibly incriminating knowledge in it? If Paige was the criminal, she knew looking for that journal would be the first thing she would do, and Alice had the advantage of having access to Jonathan’s apartment at any time.

  “Let’s just wait and see,” she said to River with a sigh. “The police are going to look at the journal tomorrow. Right now, I think we should just sleep on it and wait for them.”

  “Good idea,” River said, standing. “Thank you for doing this for me, Paige.”

  “It was no bother,” Paige assured her.

  She saw River out, waving to her as she drove away. Then she sent her mother a message, telling her that she was on her way to pick up Barkley.

  She felt bad for lying to River. No matter what she said, she had no intention of leaving this alone now. She had a possible crime scene.

  So she was going to get there first and have a look around.

  Chapter 18: Otter Crest Loop

  18: Otter Crest Loop

  Barkley, it appeared, did not appreciate being shaken awake as the sun was coming up. He attempted to snuggle back into the bedcovers, but Paige simply picked him up and took him outside. He very sulkily went to the toilet, but his tail started to wag when she fed him and then brought out the leash.

  “It’s a nicer day today, so let’s give Otter Crest Loop another try,” she said to him.

  Barkley barked excitedly and leaped into the car when she let him outside; all tiredness forgotten. Paige chuckled as she sipped at her coffee; it was too early to be up and about without caffeine to help her.

  If she wanted to beat Jack there, though, she needed to get to Otter Crest Loop early. It wouldn’t take Jackson long to decipher the journal, and then police would be all over the area. She fully intended on getting a look around before that happened.

  Part of her thought she was foolish. She had no reason to be out here, searching for a crime scene. She wasn’t law enforcement, and she wasn’t allowed on this case.

  But the journal article had named Alice as the most likely suspect. Paige had thought about it all night, thinking about Jonathan’s suspicions and what she knew of Alice.

  She didn’t think Alice was the murderer.

  But if she let this go on, Alice would be arrested. She didn’t know what she could do, but she wanted to find something to defend Alice if she needed to. She wanted to prove that Alice hadn’t killed her lover. As it was, the poor woman was going to be absolutely devastated to find out that Jonathan had suspected her, and it would get worse when the police knocked down her door.

  I’m a divorce lawyer, not a criminal lawyer, she reminded herself. I don’t defend people from false accusations.

  But she wanted to. The thought of finding the evidence to prove someone innocent made excitement run through her veins and put an extra skip in her step as she climbed out of the car. If she did this right, she could actually save someone.

  Barkley did not look as enthusiastic about the prospective walk when he realized where they were. He dragged his feet all the way down to the beach but raised his head when he realized that there were a handful of people there today. One couple even had a beautiful white dog with them, which was splashing in the shallows. The sea had retreated a little further today, which gave them room to move.

  “This way, Barkley,” Paige encouraged, pulling on his leash.

  The crime scene definitely wouldn’t be anywhere that there were a lot of people. Paige and Barkley started walking down the beach, passing the place where they had found the watch. It reminded her that she still needed to hand that in to Jack; someone was likely missing it, and he could hopefully find the owner.

  Before long, Paige and Barkley found themselves in a tiny area on the beach, half hidden in some cliffs, which curved around oddly.

  “Find anything?” she asked Barkley, joking.

  Barkley just snuffled along the ground, patting at it with his paws before continuing on to the next square.

  Paige sighed. What was she even doing? She had allowed her excitement to carry her away yet again. Otter Crest Loop was very long, and this was only a small section of the area. For all she knew, the murder could have occurred halfway up the coast. Same with the kidnappings; there had been no helpful map to indicate where exactly the kidnappings had happened on the coast.

  Though, she did remember Alex saying specifically that he had come to Otter Rock to spend time with Gunner. It should make sense, therefore, that he would have come to Otter Crest Loop around this place. Either that, or he had arrived at Otter Rock and walked some distance down the beach.

  “Which…isn’t impossible,” she sighed aloud. “Barkley, I think I need to get my head on straight. I’ve obviously gone a little mad trying to figure out this case.”

  Which she shouldn’t have even been doing. She may not have promised Jack anything, but they had come to an understanding. Finding the journal could easily be explained away, since River had come to her for help. But taking pictures of the journal and rushing out to find the crime scene? It wasn’t a race.

  Except, maybe it was. Paige closed her eyes briefly. All along, there had been a part of Paige that had been racing against Jack to find answers. Because she still wanted to prove herself. If she could figure it out before him, then he would have to admit that she was capable.

  “Pathetic,” she said, scowling at her own foolishness. She shook her head. “Barkley, we’re going home. There’s no reason for us to be out here.”

  She turned around to look for the puppy. He had traveled almost as far as the leash would allow, and he looked back when she tugged on it. To her surprise, however, he dug his claws in and actually growled at her.

  “Barkley?” she asked, shocked. “Is something wrong?”

  He turned his head back, staring at something, every line of his body stiff. Paige approached cautiously, wondering what had gotten him so worked up. But when she gave him some more room to move, he moved forward too, finally stopping on a clear patch of sand. Then he looked at her again, his large, brown eyes watching her unerringly.

  “Is something there?” she asked.

  He yapped and scratched at the ground. The sand was packed tight, and he scrabbled at it frantically, trying to dig deeper. Paige watched him with a frown, gazing as he dug up a small hole.

  “What are you trying to tell me, Barkley?” she asked softly, kneeling down.

  She dug in the dirt and sand with him, wincing as one of her nails cracked on a rock. Before long, there was a wide hole in the sand, and she leaned in curiously to look.

  There was som
ething dark down in the hole. Curious, she reached in and scraped at it with a fingernail. It was brown. Rust?

  No. Her eyes widened as she finally registered an odd, metallic smell, and she jumped to her feet.

  Blood!

  It wasn’t fresh, either. Someone had made the effort of covering it up, packing sand on top of it so that no one would know it was there. She looked down at Barkley, stunned.

  Had they just found their crime scene?

  She suddenly realized how bad this looked. Here she was, standing over a hole that revealed a patch of blood, and the police would be here sooner rather than later. Even Jack wouldn’t be able to save her from extensive questioning if she was caught here.

  She really hadn’t thought this through.

  “Okay, Barkley, we need to go,” she muttered.

  She hastily covered up the hole again, and picked Barkley up, fumbling with her phone in her pocket. If she called Jack now to tell him what she had found, it would be a lot better than being spotted here.

  Before she could pull her phone out, however, she heard the sound of voices quite close by. Anxious now, Paige cursed and darted for a large rock, hiding herself behind it.

  There wasn’t much reason to be hiding. She hadn’t done anything wrong. But she was rattled by the sudden discovery of all that blood. She still had some of it under her fingernail, and she longed to wipe it away on her jacket. She didn’t move, however, as the voices grew closer, and she wrapped her arms around Barkley, hoping he would stay quiet.

  “…idiot that lost it,” she heard a woman say, her voice derisive. She sounded familiar.

  “It’s obviously buried,” a man grumbled; his voice was also oddly familiar.

  “Normally, I wouldn’t care,” the woman said coldly. “But if the police find it, you know what will happen next.”

  “It isn’t a big deal!” the man protested. “If they ask, I can just tell them I lost it a long time ago!”

  Carefully, Paige peered out from behind the rock. She could only see the back of the woman, but she recognized her as Jessica Wilson, her current client. She had only seen Jessica yesterday in her office.

  She was with a dark-haired man with a deep scowl on his face. Paige had never seen him before, and she tried to wrack her brains for where she had heard his voice.

  Memory slammed into her. Of course she had never met him; she had only ever spoken to this man over the phone. It was Daniel Wilson, the husband Jessica was supposed to be divorcing.

  What was going on here?

  “It isn’t the place you lost it that’s the issue,” Jessica snapped. “But it’s better to find it and remove all doubt. “You’re supposed to be in Sherwood. I wouldn’t have worried, but it turns out that that lawyer is dating the damn sheriff. She’s probably already told him about us.”

  “Lawyers are meant to keep their client’s confidence,” Daniel pointed out.

  “All she had to do was mention that she was in an appointment with me because I was divorcing you,” Jessica said, exasperated. “She was my alibi, but I was also hers. It was just my luck to pick the one lawyer that decided to attend the same training school that Cook was running.”

  “As long as she keeps being your alibi, there isn’t a problem,” Daniel reminded her. “So what if everyone in Otter Rock now knows we’re going through a messy divorce? We’ll figure it out.”

  “We don’t have long,” Jessica grumbled. “Moore was asking about your lawyer. She said she expected to hear from them within the week.”

  “So just fire her,” Daniel said, exasperated. “Tell her we changed our minds.”

  “Yes, that will go very well,” Jessica said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. “I can just say ‘Sorry, Daniel and I have been arguing in your office almost every session, but we’ve decided to work things out’. Waste of money, that’s what it was.”

  Paige was completely confused. She had no idea what was going on. Jessica and Daniel were back together? It would have been nice to know, considering she was Jessica’s lawyer.

  She narrowed her eyes. But wasn’t Daniel supposed to still be in Sherwood? Jessica had claimed just yesterday that Daniel had no intention of going home. For them to be looking so cozy now, they would have to have had a very serious conversation last night.

  “Look, let’s just leave it,” Jessica said with a sigh. “We’re never going to find the damn thing; you’ve been looking for days.”

  Paige’s eyebrows shot up. Days?

  She wanted to hear more; if Daniel had been in Otter Rock for days, looking for whatever he had lost at Otter Crest Loop, then why had Jessica lied to her yesterday?

  She leaned forward a little. But that was all Barkley needed. Barking frantically, he wriggled out of her grasp and shot out of their hiding spot. Paige tried to catch his leash, but it slipped through her fingers before she could grasp it.

  Cursing, Paige jumped out just in time to see Barkley leap at Jessica, obviously excited to see a familiar face. Startled, Jessica fell back toward her husband, who almost fell over himself as he tried to catch her, and Barkley raced away, pleased at his sudden freedom.

  Paige caught his leash, however, as he went past, and she ran, her heart thundering loudly in her ears. She could hear Jessica and Daniel yelling something behind her, and she just ran faster, hoping that they hadn’t actually seen her.

  She wasn’t sure why, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a good idea to be caught by those two right now.

  Chapter 19: Confusion

  19: Confusion

  By the time she got home, Paige’s heart had stopped beating so hard. She picked Barkley up, and he licked her chin. She tried to smile at him, but she couldn’t.

  Stocktake, she thought to herself. What do I need to do now?

  The first thing she needed to do was obvious. She needed to call Jack and tell him that she had found blood at the beach. She didn’t know if it belonged to Jonathan Cook, but there had been too much of it to be innocent.

  Before she did that, though, she needed to calm down. Slowly, Paige pulled a chair out and sat down at the table, leaning down to put Barkley on the floor. The puppy looked up at her, his head cocked to one side, and she scratched his floppy ears with a sigh.

  “Thanks, Barkley,” she said to the dog.

  He wagged his tail and jumped onto her lap, his warm weight helping to calm some of her roiling thoughts. As her mind cleared, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

  She wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened. But she did know that something wasn’t right here. She had seen the arguments Daniel and Jessica had had in her office, the couple so angry at each other that they couldn’t even bear to face each other in person. Yet there had been little of that anger present at the beach as they walked together, searching for whatever Daniel appeared to have lost.

  What were they searching for? After a moment, Paige remembered the watch that she had picked up the other day. She hadn’t yet had a chance to give it to Jack; she had forgotten about it because her mind was so full of everything else that was happening. Was that what Jessica and Daniel were looking for?

  Her first impulse was to message one of them and ask if the watch was theirs. If it belonged to Daniel, then she needed to return it.

  But…

  Daniel and Jessica had lied to her. For whatever reason, Daniel was not in Sherwood with his sister at the moment, as she had been told. There had also been the way they were speaking, as though they felt that they didn’t need divorce lawyers anymore. After how angry Jessica had been just yesterday, it didn’t make sense that they would suddenly decide to stay together. They had gone through the trouble of deciding to divorce and splitting the assets… Something here just didn’t make sense.

  Then there was the way that they were speaking about being found out by the police. Jessica hadn’t wanted what they were looking for to be found by the police, though Daniel hadn’t seemed concerned about it. From the way they were talking, it see
med that the item had been lost quite recently, and Jessica was frightened about what that could mean if the police discovered this fact.

  So that meant…what?

  Of course, if it was discovered that Daniel had been in Otter Rock around the time of the murder, he would be looked on as a suspect in Jonathan Cook’s murder. But why did they have to worry about that? Daniel went to Sherwood before the murder, supposedly.

  On top of that, why were they worried about something of Daniel’s being discovered at Otter Crest Loop? The only reason that would frighten them was if they knew something about that location.

  Was it possible that they knew it was a crime scene?

  If that was the case…

  Paige drew in another deep breath. No, she couldn’t draw conclusions like this. For all she knew, Daniel had only come home last night, and the two of them had somehow managed to work their relationship problems out. Perhaps they were just worried that the missing item would cast unwarranted suspicion on Daniel for whatever reason.

  Paige scowled and looked down at Barkley.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” she informed the puppy.

  Barkley’s ear flopped up, as though he had heard her, and then he closed his eyes, unconcerned. Paige felt a moment of jealousy; she wished she could stop being worried about what was happening around her.

  Well, there was nothing else for it, anyway. Daniel was back in town, and all she had was speculation.

  She also had a crime scene, which she really needed to call in.

  With a sigh, she fished her phone out of her pocket. Now she had to figure out what to tell Jack… Something that didn’t involve her taking photos of evidence and searching out a crime scene she really shouldn’t have been looking for.

  Jack yawned, slumped at his desk, as he waited for Jackson to come in. In front of him was Jonathan Cook’s journal, the one that River and Paige had brought to him yesterday. He had pulled it out just moments ago to take a look at it and promptly groaned at the sight of the code.