TEST CLOSED HER office door then stood by the window looking out at the town green as North sat in the chair before her desk.
“I’d swear you believed that kid,” North said. “Kids like him turn it on and off like a faucet. The act.”
“I know.” Test breathed on the window and a circle of fog grew where her breath touched the cold glass. She ran a finger through it twice, to make an X. “The kid seems genuinely scared, though,” Test said.
“He’s caught.”
“He seemed shocked to see the pregnancy report.”
“He’s shocked to find out we can tell a dead girl was pregnant. Don’t fall for it. He knows we have him and he’s going to go to jail and there is nothing his old man, his golden arm, or any lawyer can do about it.”
“I see all that. I’m not naïve.” Test rubbed the fogged window clean with the cuff of her shirt.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“No problem. Just keeping an open mind.”
“Don’t. Not at this juncture. Now, we focus. We concentrate to build the case.” He pulled what looked like the remains of a melted candy bar from his jacket pocket and ate it with a bite, licked his fingers. “You said on the phone you had new information that had to do with Brad.”
North crumpled the candy bar wrapper and stuffed it in his pocket. Then leaned back in the chair, cupping his hands behind his head. “So. Let’s hear it.”
“Two dogs died last night,” Test said.
“And?” North raised an eyebrow to prompt her to continue.
She didn’t appreciate his tone or his manner that suggested she get to the point so he could get on with his investigation. What was she even thinking? The two cases were not linked. The pregnancy provided an even stronger motive than the statutory rape. If Brad knew Jessica was pregnant. If it was his baby. That was yet to be determined. Every other thought in her mind contradicted the one before and after it. Which meant what? She wasn’t sure about anything.
“The dogs were poisoned,” she said.
North perked up and unclasped his hands from behind his head. “You sure?”
“Yes. But I plan to have tests done.”
“You have the resources?”
“I want them done.”
“It’s your budget.”
He was losing interest.
“I don’t see any connection with Brad,” he said. “If this happened last night.”
“I’m getting to that. One of the dogs was Gregory Sergeant’s.”
“OK.”
“The other dog was mine.”
North frowned and leaned forward. “I’m sorry to hear that. But what’s your thinking? I still don’t see how it has anything to do with Brad.”
“These dogs were targeted.”
“Sure. Of course.”
“As a threat, or a warning. My kids are crushed their dog is dead. If they knew why, they’d be scared shitless.”
“Obviously.” North stood, as if preparing to leave. “I understand. And whoever did it should be charged. It’s serious. But it certainly wasn’t Brad.” His hand was on the doorknob.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Test said, her voice rising.
North turned back to her. “What are you saying, Detective?”
“It could be some asshole getting off from scaring us. But it could be someone else, with a different motive.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know.” She resisted telling him she’d been to see King because she did not want to get into the conversation about her drawing her weapon.
North turned the doorknob.
“I don’t know yet,” Test said. “We don’t know who did it, but we can’t deny it’s linked to this case.”
“Yes, we can. Brad killed her because she was pregnant and that was going to fuck up his life. The victim happened to be babysitting at Merryfield’s house. A teenage boy killed a teenage girl for selfish reasons. Whoever killed the dogs may think Jessica’s murder is connected to The Case, so poisoned dogs owned by two people associated with it, to pile on. But we know Brad killed Jessica. We know he did it alone. We know he couldn’t have poisoned the dogs. End of story. They’re not connected in a material way.”
“Here me out. Please.”
North looked at his watch. “Two minutes.”
“There are three possibilities. One: Brad killed Jessica, and the dogs were killed by some hothead who took advantage of The Case to be part of the limelight by stirring the pot. Two: Brad killed Jessica, but had help, or did it for someone for other reasons. And that someone killed the dogs.”
“One minute left if you still care to argue point three.”
“Three: Brad never killed Jessica. And whoever killed the dogs, my dog, killed Jessica.”
North gripped the doorknob tighter. “I’m sorry someone killed your dog and it’s traumatized you.”
“I’m not traumatized. My kids, yes. But not me.”
North held up his palms in the demeaning “I surrender” gesture males used whenever they believed a woman was becoming “unreasonable.”
“You’re wrong here, Detective,” North said. “If Brad had done it for someone else, he’d would have copped by now. He’s soft.”
“Why hasn’t he copped his own plea by now, if he’s so soft?”
“He will. It’s different trying to save your own ass than saving someone else’s at the expense of yours. Brad did this. You see that, I hope. Since it’s been your legwork that got us here. Everything points to him.”
“But there’s no real physical evidence.”
“The DNA will show he impregnated that girl. We’ll get a warrant for his parents’ house. Search it. We’ll find something. Bloody clothes, other notes. Something he did or searched for online. The damned hammer itself.”
“Maybe.”
“No. Not maybe. He’s our doer. And he’s going to be transferred to the St. Johnsbury prison now soon as he’s formally charged.”
“I—”
“Enough. Relax. We’re both so tired it’s a miracle we haven’t gone blind. And you’re dealing with this dog thing, too. Neither of us can think straight.”
“I’m thinking straight.”
“Well I’m sure not. And while I’m here. What you did out at King’s place—.”
“Not now.”
“You need to hear it,” North said.
She didn’t need to hear a damn thing. But she braced herself because it was coming anyway, whether she liked it or not.
“You did the right thing,” North said. “You did everything right.”
Test blinked, feeling a rush of embarrassment and . . . what? Pride?
She folded her arms at her waist, as if she had stomach cramps.
“You hear me?” North said.
“I’m waiting for the but.”
“No but, Detective. You stood your ground. You walked a precarious line between exerting authority and not instigating that asshole or escalating the tension. When you drew your weapon, you were entirely justified. He wielded an axe in a threatening manner. You showed enough restraint not to fire.”
It hadn’t been restraint. She was not sure what it had been, but wasn’t restraint. If she was honest, it was the paralysis of indecision, or perhaps fear.
“Restraint is a trait even a seasoned cop has a hard time putting to practice in such instances. King could have swung that axe and struck you. You had every right to fire. I probably would have. And now I’d be on leave awaiting investigation.”
“But you didn’t even draw your sidearm,” Test said.
North smiled. It wasn’t the most handsome or charming smile, with his smudge of chocolate from his candy bar stuck to his top front teeth. But it seemed genuine enough. “I didn’t have time. You had your weapon up before I could blink. And that may have saved your life and King’s.”
She felt tension she’d been holding inside over this melt away. “I thought—”
“I know what you thought. That’s why I wanted to tell you earlier, but you deflected and avoided at every turn. But you needed to know. Like you need to know now.”
“Know what?”
The tension was returning. A tightness. She was so damned fatigued. All she wanted was sleep. Her body felt like it had molasses running through its veins instead of blood.
“I let you in on this case because you show promise,” North said. “But you are off the mark about the dogs. Brad killed Jessica. Trying to draw a connection from the dogs to Brad or, worse, another killer, is a waste of your time. More importantly, it’s a waste of my time.”
“But something doesn’t add up and—”
“A lot does add up. You want to get who killed your dog. Do it. I have a murder case to build for the prosecutor. We do. If you’d like.”
Her evidence was thin. With no proof. No real suspect, other than King. She wanted to bring up that King had no alibi for the night of Jessica Cumber’s murder or for last night with the dogs, but North was already out the door. Her two minutes were up.