“We’re happy to keep him for you if you’d prefer . . . ,” I began, thinking of Seth losing both of his friends in one day.
“No, no, I’ll take him.” He squared his shoulders, bracing himself, I assumed. “We’ll have to get used to each other again.”
I showed him into the living room. He followed behind, shoulders slumped again. Tuffy looked up as we entered and seemed to shake even more as he leaned closer to Seth.
Gary grimaced a smile, and said, “Here, Tuffy. C’mon, boy.”
Tuffy leaned closer to Seth, his eyes darting from me to Gary.
I felt sad for both of them. I was surprised that he’d fought Sara for custody when clearly Tuffy liked Gary even less than he liked me.
“I brought a bribe. This always works,” Gary said, producing a baggie with bacon in it.
Gary crouched down on one knee, and said, “Here, boy, I’ve got your favorite. Bacon!”
He shook the bag and then opened it to give Tuffy a good whiff. Tuffy stopped shaking. He sat up straight and sniffed the air. He jumped off the couch and cautiously approached Gary. Seth was sending me all sorts of warning messages with his eyes. What can I do? I shrugged back. Tuffy belonged to Gary now.
As Tuffy happily snarfed down a piece of bacon, Gary reached over and picked him up.
“It works every time,” he said. He stood and stuffed the rest of the bacon into his pocket, settling Tuffy more firmly under his arm.
Seth and I walked with Gary and Tuffy to the door. Seth gave Gary the rundown of what Tuffy did and didn’t like based on his twenty-four hours of experience. Gary nodded politely and tried to escape with his dog as quickly as possible.
We opened the front door to flashing red and white lights. The police cruiser was pulled up to the front porch, crushing my mother’s favorite rose bush under its back tire. Gary was caught in the bright spotlight trained on the door. I spotted Tom Andrews inside the car, placing his bullhorn on the passenger seat. He must have reconsidered its use when we stepped onto the porch.
Officer Andrews walked around the cruiser, tripped over the roses, and got tangled in the thorns. After extricating himself, he bounded up the steps and approached Gary, who stood with his mouth open while trying to keep Tuffy from struggling.
“Gary Landess?”
“Of course I am! You just talked to me this morning.” He shifted Tuffy to his other arm and lowered his eyebrows at Tom.
“You’re under arrest for the murder of Sara Landess.” Tom tried to put handcuffs on Gary. Tuffy began to growl and show his teeth.
“Let me take the dog, Tom,” I said.
But as I reached for him, Tuffy growled more and bared his sharp-looking canines. Gary clutched the dog tighter, as if that would save him from what was happening.
We appeared to be in a standoff. Tom held one of Gary’s wrists, Gary held Tuffy with his other arm, Tuffy growled and looked like an armpit barracuda, while I fretted over what my mother was going to say about the roses. Fortunately, Seth was there. He stepped forward and put out his arms for Tuffy. Tuffy stopped growling and wiggled enough that Gary had to let go of him, allowing Andrews to get the other cuff on him.
“I have an alibi,” Gary said, arms behind his back.
“Not anymore,” said Tom.
He led Gary down the steps, and said, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used in a court of law. . . .”
*
“I knew it!” Violet said at dinner that night.
We were gathered again around the dining room table, this time minus Baxter but plus Alex. I saw this as an improvement.
“I never trusted him, or liked him,” Vi said around a mouthful of meatloaf.
“It would have been helpful if you’d tipped off the police before they questioned him and then let him go,” I said, just because I was feeling irritable.
“Well, I had no proof. Now that Mac is in charge, no one will listen to anything my clients have to say.” Vi’s cheeks flushed pink in outrage.
My stomach dropped at the mention of Mac.
“It’s true that things will be different now,” said my mother.
“What do you mean, Nana Rose?” asked Seth.
“There was a time when Crystal Haven had no crime to speak of, and when we did, we knew who the culprits were.” Mom looked from Seth to me. “We didn’t need to go around investigating and snooping. It all got worked out. . . .”
My father reached over to pat her hand as she fought back tears. She was in a fragile state this evening. Gary’s arrest on her front lawn had disrupted a difficult reading with a client.