Page 76 of Open Season

TWENTY-ONE

Dogs aren’t allowed in public buildings unless they’re service dogs,” he said for the fifth time when they were on their way to Huntsville.

Daisy looked over her shoulder at Midas, who was asleep on his blanket in the backseat. “They’ll let him in unless they want to take my statement in the parking lot.”

Jack had argued the whole time she was putting Midas’s dishes in his car, along with a supply of food and water. He had argued when she clipped the leash to the puppy’s tiny collar. He had argued when she spread the blanket on the backseat and deposited Midas on it, along with his stuffed duck and rubber chew toy. He had argued until she got into the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt, and then he’d gotten behind the wheel without another word.

As far as Daisy was concerned, the subject of Midas was closed. Anyone who would kill another human being wouldn’t hesitate to kill a dog; Midas was under her guardianship now, and she wouldn’t leave him in the house alone, helpless and unprotected.

“I’ve been thinking about that night,” she said, absently watching the mountains as they drove. “I saw their faces when they came out of the club, because the neon sign was shining down on them. There were two of the men, with Mitchell between them. The third man was waiting in the parking lot. Then a car pulled in and the headlights caught them, and I saw the faces of all three because they looked at the car. I didn’t know any of them, but I can describe them.”

“Just get the details straight in your mind, and hold them there.” He reached over and took her hand. “Everything will be all right.”

“I know.” She managed a smile. “You promised my mother.”

They reached the building that housed the Madison County Sheriff’s Investigation and Patrol offices at nine-thirty. It was a two-story sixties-type building, yellow brick on bottom and pebbled concrete on top, with long, narrow, vertical windows. The sign on top said Forensic Sciences Building. The departments of forensic sciences and public safety were also in the building.

“Huh,” said Daisy. “I might have known it would be here.”

He looked puzzled. “Why?”

She turned and pointed. “Because you just passed a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop.”

“Do me a favor,” he said. “Don’t mention it to them.”

He put his cell phone in his pocket, then gathered Midas’s paraphernalia while Daisy got the puppy out of the car and carried him to a little patch of grass. He obediently squatted, she praised him, and he pranced at her heels as if he knew he’d been a very good boy. He didn’t like the leash, though, and caught it in his mouth. Every few steps he’d stop and bat at it. Finally she picked him up, cradling him on her shoulder as if he were a baby. Content, he licked her chin.

No sooner had they stepped inside the building than a female deputy said, “You can’t bring the dog in here.”

Daisy immediately stepped back outside and waited. Unwilling to leave her out there by herself even though he was certain they hadn’t been followed, Jack said to the deputy, “Please call Detective Morrison and tell him Chief Russo is here with the witness,” and went back outside himself to wait with her.

The summer heat was already broiling, and the humidity was so high the air felt thick and heavy. Daisy lifted her face to the sunshine anyway, as if she needed the light. They didn’t say anything, just waited until Detective Morrison came outside with a quizzical expression on his dark face. “Deputy Sasnett said you brought your dog—” He broke off when he saw the puppy, his expression changing to a grin. “That isn’t a dog. That’s a ball of fluff.”

Jack offered his hand. “I’m Jack Russo, Hillsboro’s chief. This is Daisy Minor, the witness I told you about. Where she goes, the ball of fluff goes.”

He shook Jack’s hand, scratched his head, and said, “I’ll be right back.” Five minutes later, having cleared the way, he led Jack, Daisy, and Midas to his office.

Midas was an angel, sitting on Daisy’s lap while she calmly told the detective what she’d seen Saturday night. Yes, she was certain the man in the middle was the man who had introduced himself to her the week before as Mitchell, and, yes, she was certain that was his photograph in the paper. She described what he’d been wearing, to the best of her memory: jeans, boots, and a light-colored western-style shirt. Detective Morrison quietly passed Jack the crime scene photos. The clothes were dirty, since the body had been buried, but they were as Daisy had described them. That meant Mitchell hadn’t changed clothes from the time Daisy saw him in the Buffalo Club parking lot, which definitely upped the chances that he had been killed that night.

“Do you want to see them?” Jack asked Daisy.

She shook her head, and he passed the photos back to Detective Morrison.

Jack’s cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket, looked at the number showing in the window, and said, “It’s the office. I’ll take it outside.”

He stepped out into the hall before hitting the talk button. “Russo.”

“Chief, this is Marvin.” Tony Marvin was the first-shift desk sergeant. He sounded uneasy, as if he wasn’t certain he should be calling. “Kendra Owens just called from the library. Jennifer Nolan, the mayor’s wife, called wanting to speak to Miss Minor, and when Kendra told her she wasn’t there, Mrs. Nolan became very agitated. She said Miss Minor’s life was in danger, that she’d overheard the mayor on the phone with a man named Sykes. Mrs. Owens said Mrs. Nolan seemed convinced they intended to kill Miss Minor. Since you had us put that protective detail on Miss Minor’s mother and aunt this morning, I thought you should know about this.”

The little hairs on the back of Jack’s neck stood up. “You’re exactly right, Tony. It’s looking like the mayor’s in trouble up to his ass. Have Mrs. Nolan picked up; take her statement.” He paused, thinking. “Keep her there. Put her in one of the interview rooms and hold her.”

“Mrs. Nolan, Chief?”

“Her life could be in danger, too.”

“You mean this isn’t just a case of Mrs. Nolan hitting the bottle way too early?”

“I wish it was. Get a deputy out to the Nolan house as fast as possible.”

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