Page 56 of So Twisted

“Easy boy,” Faith called. “He’s not going to hurt anyone.”

Turk narrowed his eyes but left the man alone and returned to the back door.

“Please don’t let him into the animal enclosures,” Dr. Lawson pleaded. “These animals are all suffering from severe emotional trauma. The sight of an aggressive dog could set their treatment back years.”

“Sorry about that, doctor,” Faith said. “But this is a murder investigation.”

"I'll take you back there," Dr. Lawson offered. "But please, not your dog. Please, I've been working with some of these animals for months. They've made a lot of progress, but that can all be reversed if they're frightened badly."

“Four dead people, Doctor,” Michael said. “Turk gets to go wherever he wants.”

Dr. Lawson put his hands on top of his head and stared at the back door in anguish. Faith wasn’t sure if this was due to genuine concern for the animals or if he was afraid of what Turk would find. But like Michael said, they had four dead people to think of. She walked to the back door and opened it.

Dr. Lawson sighed with relief when Turk trotted quietly through the door. Maybe he knew that his presence could be a stressor to the animals, or maybe he had an easier time focusing on what he was looking for by staying calm, but his barking stopped, and his ears returned to their ordinary position pointing straight up.

“God…” Dr. Lawson whispered. “Oh God.”

“Can you confirm your whereabouts earlier today, doctor?”

“Earlier today? I was here, working with my cougars.”

“Can anyone confirm that?”

Dr. Lawson's frown deepened. "My assistant, Jason, can confirm that I adjusted my typical schedule today."

“And where is he?”

“Still at the University, I believe. We typically work in my office at the University of Nebraska during the mornings and the residence in the afternoons. I left early today to get a head start on the rehabilitation plan we have for these mountain lions.”

“So you weren’t at Dr. Clement’s house in the early afternoon?”

“No. I came straight here.”

“But no one can confirm that.”

“I told you, my assistant can.”

“Did he come here with you?”

“Well… no.”

“And you’ve already admitted that your behavior was unusual.”

Dr. Lawson’s frown deepened.

“What about last night? Did you pay Dr. Elena Vasquez a visit?”

“I haven’t spoken to Elena in eight years,” Dr. Lawson replied. “If I were going to kill my ex-girlfriend, why would I do it now, years after I’ve moved on? And why would I kill her to begin with?”

“I imagine that it’s frustrating to see your reputation repeatedly damaged due to no fault of your own,” Faith said. “First you hire a disturbed animal abuser as an intern, then you accept a job training animals for a zoo owner renowned for mistreating his animals, then your girlfriend gets caught drinking on the job and to top it all off, your protégé goes off the deep end and starts running a horror movie psych ward for birds. You’ve tried to walk the straight and narrow, but you’ve picked bad friends.”

“I’m not sure where you’re getting your information,” Dr. Lawson replied, “but my reputation is fine.”

They were near the mountain lion enclosure now. The cats were now standing in front of them, staring at Turk with interest. Faith noted that they were just as silent as the wolves at Hawkins’ place.

“Can anyone confirm your whereabouts last night?”

Dr. Lawson sighed in frustration. “No. I live alone, and Jason leaves work at seven o’clock every night. If the other murders occurred at night, then I won’t have an alibi for them. But I also don’t have a motive. What could I possibly gain from killing these people?”

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