“Sorry, Seth,” Officer Muñoz said. “I had to come out.”
“Of course,” Seth said. “I told these gentlemen that I was stopped by the State Attorney on a walk with Clara at White Ranch Open Space. I was irritated that he had interrupted my run, so I used your signal, Dale.”
Dale swallowed hard.
“Can you show them what Clara can do?” Seth asked.
Dale gave Seth a soulful look.
“He wants to see if she’s well cared for and not violent,” Seth said. “Show him everything you’ve taught her.”
Dale nodded. He made Clara sit in front of him. He asked her to shake his right hand and she did. He asked her to shake his left hand, which she did. He asked her to back up. He got her to speak and made her stay while he walked out of the kitchen. They applauded Clara and her efforts.
Dale made a fake gun with his hand and said, “Bang.”
Clara made a show of limping. She weaved back and forth before rolling onto her back to play dead. They applauded.
“Show them the other one,” Seth said. “It’s okay.”
Dale went into the kitchen and set Clara to his left. He turned over his left hand. Clara barked, snapped, and snarled. Dale turned his hand over and she stopped.
“Why did you teach the dog this?” Officer Muñoz asked.
“As you know, I’m a detective,” Seth said. “Dale’s fiancé was murdered by the serial killer, Saint Jude, last year.”
“He gave you that toxin, made you sick, right?” Officer Muñoz asked. “Killed a bunch of homeless kids over a few decades? Buried them all over the city?”
“Right,” Seth said. “We thought if we knew someone was bad, we could tell Clara.”
“Where did you get her?” the animal-control officer asked.
“She’s pure bred,” Ava said. “Both of her parents are champions. Their owners are the parents of one of the kids Seth found. She was the pick of the litter. They gave her to us in appreciation for finding their son and solving the Saint Jude case. She’s registered and has papers.”
“Is it normal for you to get presents when you solve cases?” Officer Muñoz asked.
“It’s not unheard of,” Seth said. “This poor family . . . Their son stormed out one night after a big fight. As near as we can tell, he was killed that night or the one after. The father spent every Saturday for more than twenty years looking for him. They didn’t know what had happened to him until the coroner called.”
“Kind of a special case,” Ava said.
“They were all like that,” Seth said. “Saint Jude ripped the heart out of countless families.”
Everyone nodded. Maresol came in the back.
“Are you going to take her?” Dale’s voice trembled when he asked.
“Mr. Davies says she bit him,” Officer Muñoz said.
“Did you see where she supposedly bit him?” Éowyn asked.
“Yes ma’am,” Officer Muñoz said. “But if you’re askin’ me if I think the wound on his hand was from a dog bite, I do not.”
“Oh, really?” Leslie’s voice was breezy. “What did it look like to you?”
“My partner thought it was a knife,” Officer Muñoz said. “He says it was from this dog.”
“You didn’t happen to get a photo of it, did you?” Nelson asked.
“Why?” Officer Muñoz asked.
“Sorry,” Éowyn said. “We’ve been horribly rude. I’m Éowyn Alvin. This is my sister Ava O’Malley. She’s Seth’s wife. These are her colleagues from the Denver Backup Lab. Their idea of fun is to go through old cases. My boyfriend and I stopped by to see Ava.”
“I’m just here for dinner,” Nelson nodded to Officer Muñoz.
“Would you like some dinner, Officer Muñoz?” Maresol asked. “It’s carnitas. I made sandwiches for these gringos, but I’d be happy to make whatever might be good. We have plenty.”
“I . . .” Office Muñoz said. “It does smell amazing.”
Maresol gave the baby on her hip back to Leslie and went into the kitchen.
“I need to check the dog,” Officer Muñoz said.
“Please do,” Seth said.
Officer Munoz leaned down and grabbed Clara’s collar.
“You wouldn’t happen to have that photo . . .” Nelson asked.
“It’s on my phone.” Officer Muñoz gave Nelson the phone.
“Feel free to take her in the yard,” Seth said. “There’s an Army Sergeant swimming. He’s a little jumpy. Don’t let him freak you out.”
They silently watched Officer Muñoz take Clara to the grass outside the sliding window. Clara sat and stayed. She came. Officer Muñoz was able to get her to heel without a leash. Switch got out of the pool. A tall, muscular man, Switch looked like he was going to eat the animal-control officer. Instead, he dried off while watching the animal-control officer run through a few quick aggression tests. Officer Muñoz tested her for hand shyness and whether she would follow his commands. Clara passed all of her tests with flying colors. She was so happy that she danced around the animal control officer. They came inside together.
“I’m supposed to take the dog,” Officer Muñoz said.
“Is that really necessary?” Seth asked. “It was really my fault.”
“Yeah, you should take Seth.” Dale’s voice was belligerent and sad. Officer Muñoz looked at him for a moment.
“Is there a place she could stay for a while?” Officer Muñoz asked. “Just until this cools off?”
“She can stay with us,” Switch said, as he came in the sliding door. He pulled on a T-shirt.
“Where’s that?” Officer Muñoz asked.
“Fort Carson,” Switch said.
“You’ll check in with animal control when you get there?” Officer Munoz asked.
“We will,” Éowyn said.
“Ok, that should work,” Officer Munoz said. He looked up when Maresol set a plate of carnitas, beans, and stack of homemade tortillas on the counter.
“Please,” Seth said. “Eat.”
“So what’d you do to Davies to make him so pissed at you?” Officer Munoz asked Seth.
“I’m not sure,” Seth said. “Like I said, I was out for a hike with Clara. He tracked my cellphone and caught up with me there.”
The animal-control officer took a bite of the carnitas and began eating fast. Nelson worked with the photo of Davies’s hand on his computer.
“Creepy,” Officer Munoz said. “You know what he asked me?”
“What?” Seth asked.
“He asked me what I thought of the recent rash of animal mutilations in Denver.” The animal control officer shook his head. “Gave me the creeps.”
“What do you think, Officer?” Nelson asked. He got up from his seat so Fran could work on his computer.
“What’s to think?” Officer Munoz shrugged. “Some people are pervs.”
“Have you had a lot?” Ava asked.
“Less than last year,” Officer Munoz said. “A lot less. It’s like that guy just moved away.”
Officer Munoz took the last bite of his dinner.
“Someone was shooting coyote on White Ranch tonight. Came over the wire that one was dead,” Officer Munoz looked at Seth. “Did you see him?”
“Odd you should mention that,” Seth said. “I thought it was the State Attorney.”
Officer Munoz laughed. He picked up his hat and nodded.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said to Maresol.
“I’ll walk you out,” Seth said.
“Sir?” Nelson held out Officer Munoz’s phone. “Thanks.”
Officer Munoz nodded and followed Seth to the door. No one said a word until he returned
.