Page 36 of Death on Gallows Path

I knew my next line. “Absolutely not. What you could tell us, Willow, is more about the dogs. You spend time with them every day?”

“Yes. But not the people . . . That’s the whole reason most people hire a dog walker, isn’t it? Because they’re not there.”

“How did you begin walking the dogs?”

“Bryon Georger called me and asked if I’d walk Izzy — Izolde. He knew I’d walked two dogs for a co-worker of his, who’s home on maternity leave now. Though I still go by sometimes to give her a break.

“I’ve helped train her dogs with an empty stroller, so they’re used to it. Next week, we’ll try a short walk with the baby in the stroller. Ease into it before she tries it on her own, with the baby and the two dogs. I have a couple people lined up to test them with strangers, like you might meet on a walk.”

That answered whether she would talk if she was comfortable.

She sucked in a deep breath.

“Anyway, Bryon called and asked if I was interested in walking their new dog. I said, sure. I met him and Izzy — Izolde — at their house and he showed me where things were and stuff.”

“Not Zoley Georger?” Clara slid in.

“She came as I was leaving. We met, but that was it. Usually neither of them is there when I walk—” She spoke carefully and came out with the full name. “—Izolde. A couple times she was coming or going when I was around.”

“Does Zoley work?”

She shook her head. “Neither of them does. Zoley or Pammy.”

Her gaze darted from Clara to me.

Uh-oh. Skittering alert. Stick with the dogs.

“How did you come to add Lucifer?” I asked. “Were you walking each of them separately? Or—?”

“No, always the two of them together after they got Lucifer.”

Her mouth scrunched slightly.

I wanted to know about that mouth scrunch. Fear of skittering restrained me.

“Is it hard to walk them? Two energetic puppies—”

“Oh, no. I mean, yeah, they have a lot of energy and neither of them knew the first thing about being on a leash, much less walking manners. The leash tangles were epic to start.”

We chuckled along with her.

“Both of them want to be good. And they learn fast. It’s like you said — they’re still puppies. After the first time, I got in a routine. I pick up Lucifer first and bring him to the Georgers’ house. They have a fenced area in their yard. The Swindells don’t. Zoley said Pammy and Damon didn’t want to ruin the view of their house from the golf course. So they put Lucifer on a long leash on the side, between their garage and the neighbors’.”

“That’s not a lot of running room for a dog like Lucifer.”

She nodded. “Especially at his age. The Georgers’ area for Izolde isn’t huge, more like a run off the back of the garage. But it’s big enough I can let both dogs off leash to play and run—”

Her gaze slid to where the two young dogs emerged into full view as they returned to the flat part of this enclosure. Wind pushed hair across her face. She swept it back with a practiced hand. The dogs bounced off each other as they circled the fence in full-tilt puppy-turning-adolescent mode.

“—before we walk and that works so, so much better.”

“Smart.”

She turned rosy at my single word of praise.

“Sometimes I bring my tablet and do work for my classes. That way they can play longer before we walk or I can stick around after they’re walked and fed, so they have more company.”

“That’s so nice of you.”