Page 127 of Death on Gallows Path

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On the drive to the dog park the next day, Clara announced, “I watched that movie.”

“What mov— Strangers on a Train?”

“Uh-huh. It’s pretty creepy.”

“It is.”

“And I wanted to shout at the guy — the tennis player — to tell Bruno absolutely not and then go to the police.”

“That would be a very short movie.”

“True. And then it might not have been around to help you figure out how it was different from what Pammy was up to.”

“So we need to thank Farley Granger’s performance as Guy Haines for helping figure this out?”

“Mmm.” She considered, then said, “Also need to thank Donna and Leo and Urban and Alsup . . . and Berrie.”

That last one was going too far.

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The dog park was like a training class reunion.

We’d previously exchanged pleasantries with two of the dog-owner pairings, but still didn’t know the humans’ names. Oscar was there with Quasar — an honorary big dog for the moment. Donna and her granddaughter had Bernie, Lucifer, and Izzy.

No sign of the Swindells or Zoley. Damon was dead, of course, and the two women were in custody.

Bryon was free and the dog park rumor mill said he was doing remarkably well. Almost as if he didn’t mourn Zoley’s absence. Go figure.

In fact, he arrived not long after we did.

Izzy bounced up to him, along with several other dogs, including Lucifer.

It turned out Lucifer’s attitude toward Bryon Georger was not because he was a psychopath, but because he was an ordinary guy the dog didn’t know well.

“Thank you for taking care of Izzy,” he said to Donna. More generally, he explained, “Won’t see you all at Zepke’s. With all that’s happened, I’m moving. I’m looking into adopting Lucifer. He and Izzy get along and they can keep each other occupied.”

That caused a number of skeptical looks to shoot around. Not because of the dogs’ relationship.

Donna didn’t participate in the looks-shootings. She said, “No.”

“You mean Lucifer? But—”

“I mean both. They need attention and company. You were supposed to pick up Izzy yesterday.”

“I called you. Work—”

“You did call. You put work first. Not blaming you, but it’s not the atmosphere for those dogs. There’s a family with three kids and a mature golden interested in Izzy. Will have them meet her tonight.

“As for Lucifer, I have an adopter set. Former military canine handler who adopted his working dog when they both retired. The dog died recently. The guy’s looking for a dog who’s both a project and good with his children.”

Bryon pouted, but didn’t argue.

Experienced owners, kids to play with — Izzy and Lucifer had found their heavens.

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