Page 26 of State of Suspense

Sam pondered the question for a second. “Probably not. He’d want to do something about it, which he absolutely shouldn’t do.”

“That’s true. So what now?”

“I need to think about that.”

She took a call from Archie. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Are you in the building?”

“In our conference room.”

“Be right down.”

She closed her phone. “Archie’s coming down. Let’s hope he’s found us a thread to pull.”

Archie came in a few minutes later. “I have good news and bad news. What do you want first?”

“Give me the bad,” Sam said.

“Forrester’s work phone is encrypted. I can’t get anything off it.”

“Fuck.”

“Had a feeling you might say that.” He placed an evidence bag containing the phone on the table. “The Feds might be able to get in.”

“What’s the good news?”

“On the personal phone, I found an ongoing dispute between Forrester and his neighbor that’d escalated in recent months.”

“What kind of dispute?”

“The neighbor raises Dobermans. Apparently, they’ve escaped at times and ended up in Forrester’s yard. One of them tangled with Forrester’s Cavapoo. The dog required surgery that cost thousands of dollars. Forrester was suing the neighbor and had complained about the guy to Animal Control numerous times. The neighbor recently countersued.” Archie placed a stack of pages on the table. “I printed the two suits for you.”

“What the hell is a Cavapoo?” Sam asked.

“I knew you’d ask that.” Archie put a photo of a white fluffy dog on the table. “A cross between a poodle and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel.”

Sam winced. “Poor little thing wouldn’t stand a chance against a Doberman.”

“Exactly. The vet bill to save the dog was more than five grand.”

“Holy shit,” Freddie said.

“I wonder why Leslie Forrester didn’t mention this when we spoke to her,” Sam said.

“Probably because that’s the least of her concerns at the moment,” Freddie replied.

“I suppose so. Thanks, Archie. This gives us a thread anyway.”

“You got it. We’re still working on texts and emails, as well as film in the area where Tom’s body was found. More to come.”

After Archie left, Freddie stood to stretch. “Do you really think the neighbor would be stupid enough to off a U.S. Attorney over a dog dispute?”

“We’ve seen dumber things, but I’m not getting a buzz over this angle. How could his murder not be related to his work and Bryant holding his family hostage?”

“It has to be related to that,” Freddie said.

“I want to look into the history between Cox and Forrester. Something about the way Cox acted earlier was off. I want to know why.”

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