Chapter Sixteen
by Becky


David withdrew his notebook from his breast pocket and flipped it open, looking for the address of one Johnathan Moore. He drove slowly down Charter Street, looking at the house numbers, searching for 2807. Pulling up in front of the small, tatty home, he parked the car and stepped out, noting that the house looked vacant. The yard was un-mowed and full of discarded trash, and there was an overgrown tangle of bougainvillea across the porch.

The only real sign that there was indeed someone living there was the huge moving van in the driveway. Walking up to the porch, he moved aside as two men, carrying boxes, emerged and walked to the van.

David nodded at them, then stepped inside the house. “Mr. Moore?”

Johnathan Moore stepped from the living room and smiled. “Yes?”

David smiled in return. “Detective Weinberg, NOPD. I need to ask you a few questions.”

Johnathan Moore nodded. “This way, detective.”

The interview lasted for thirty minutes, in which time David learned that this was the homestead where Johnathan Moore and Marietta had grown up. He was still living there at the time of his sister’s death, but for the sake of her public image, he was portrayed as living in the mansion she owned.

David sat in his car at the precinct and studied his notes. He didn’t like a mystery, and this was fast becoming one. When he’d asked the man about his hatred of Brogus, the man looked ashamed. “Look, Detective. It’s not that I hated the dog. It was a matter of the dog hating me. He bit me, and when I had to be at the mansion for propriety’s sake, Mari had to put the dog in the kennel.”

David nodded, then asked, “Why do you think the dog didn’t like you, Mr. Moore?”

Johnathan Moore shook his head. “I don’t know. Never could figure that out. I can tell you he didn’t like Jackson Hemm, either. He even ran him off the estate once.”

David didn’t understand it at all. The dog had seemed perfectly fine when David had first seen him. He was even friendly.

“What about the dog when your sister was around? Did he try to harm you then?”

That brought a laugh from the man. “No, as a matter of fact, he was as gentle as a lamb as long as Mari was there.”

“So, you’d say the dog liked women.”

Moore shook his head. “Yes, Mari adopted the damned thing from the pound, as I recall. Let’s see, they told her he’d been severely abused by his previous owner, I think she said.”

David thought about what he’d learned. Well, that would explain the reason for the dog attack, he thought wryly, and closed his notebook.

“Well, that interview was no help. Maybe I’ll have better luck with Sadie’s findings,” he grumbled as he stepped out of the car and walked into the building.

Walking to the cubicle where Sadie called her home away from home, he poked his head around the side. “Hawkins, I…” He stopped as she held her hand up. She was on the phone and nodded for him to take a seat.

Hanging up the receiver, she turned and looked at him. “Well, we can look at the will tomorrow morning. It’s on the public record, and the woman I was just talking to said she’d have it at the front desk for us in the morning as they are about to close.”

Nodding in understanding, David grimaced as his stomach growled.

“Let me guess, no lunch. Am I right?” Sadie chuckled.

David shook his head. “Not a bite. Was at the Moore house, taking his statement.”

“Did you get over to see Jackson Hemm?”

David shook his head. “No, I will check that out tomorrow after we read over the will.”

Sadie stood up and grabbed her purse from the coat rack. “C’mon, Friedman, let’s go get something to eat. How about Cajun?”

As they sat in the restaurant, David took out his notebook and read the interview to Sadie. When he’d finished, he shoved it back in his pocket and looked at the woman seated across from him. “Well what do you think?”

Sadie took a sip of her iced tea and looked up at him. “So, the dog was gentle when you were with him. He didn’t try to bite you at all?”

David shook his head. “That’s right. Never growled at me or anything.”

Sadie nodded thoughtfully. “I think we need to talk to the vet again. Let’s go.”

By the time they reached the vet office most of the staff had left, save for the receptionist and the doctor. When Sadie and David walked in, the receptionist called over the counter, “We’re closed.”

David walked up to the desk and stuck his badge under her nose. “I need to talk to the doctor. Is he still here?”

By the time they left, two very interesting facts had been uncovered. Brogus was aggressive to all of the staff, even the women, and the only exception was Amy.

As they sat in the car at the precinct, Sadie turned to look at her friend. “Well, Friedman, looks like Brogus knew Amy. If we are to go by what the vet said, it seems to me that Amy Curry is somehow involved in all of this, and we need to find out more about her.”

David nodded in agreement, his visage tinted with an angry scowl. “Yeah, but what I want to know is why she lied to me!”
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