Adam and Marissa went into the dining room, and she said, “Sorry, but I have to get out of here today.”
“Where are you going?”
“Xan’s place. I just need some space, I need to breathe. I just can’t be around here.”
“I understand,” Adam said, wondering if “around here” really meant “around you.”
“I might come back to sleep here tonight, or I might stay at Xan’s and come back tomorrow morning,” she said. “Did you hear anything new?”
“No, nothing yet,” Adam said.
Marissa wouldn’t make eye contact with him, and he could tell that she still thought he was guilty. He couldn’t hide his frustration and let out a deep breath, as if signaling that this conversation was over. She took the cue and went ahead of him back into the living room. While she said good- bye to her grandmother, Xan came over and hugged him tightly and said, “I’ll be thinking about you, man.”
“Thank you,” Adam said. “I appreciate that.”
As Marissa and Xan started to leave, Adam’s mother said, “Call us later,” and Marissa said, “I will.”
His mother remained on the couch, and Adam picked up the other piece of bagel and bit into it and chewed it harder than necessary. He was still upset at Marissa for treating him that way. He wondered if she knew how badly she’d hurt him.
Then Adam became aware of a dog barking. It sounded like Blackie, the Millers’ dog, and the noise seemed to be coming from the street in front of the house. The dog was really barking wildly, the way he’d been barking the other day when Adam had returned from playing golf and found the note from Tony under the door.
“Do you hear that?” Adam asked his mother, but he was really talking to himself, thinking out loud.
“Hear what?” she asked.
Adam went to the front of the house, to one of the windows facing the street, and peered through a space in the venetian blinds. He saw JoAnne Miller holding the taut leash, trying to restrain Blackie, who looked almost rabid as he tried to escape to attack Xan.
twenty- four
In the early afternoon, when it became clear that no guests were going to show up, Adam’s mother paused the movie she’d been watching, Notting Hill, and put away the bagels and cream cheese and other food. Although Adam had been sitting next to his mother, he’d been very distracted, not paying any attention to the movie, getting up every few minutes or so to pace.
When his mother returned from putting the food away, she said, “Okay, you can unpause it now.”
“Go ahead, I’m not watching,” Adam said.
“Are you feeling okay? Do you want to lie down?”
“I’m fine, just watch.”
“I can tell, since Marissa and Xan left, you seem very upset about something.”
Adam hadn’t wanted to discuss it with his mother, partly because he was confused and wasn’t sure there was anything to discuss, and partly because he knew that if he told her she would flip out and cause a whole scene.
But he really needed to talk to somebody about this, and maybe she’d have some advice or a rational opinion. In his current state he didn’t trust his ability to make decisions.
“I’m concerned about something,” he said.
“About what?”
“Did you hear the way our neighbor’s dog, Blackie, was barking before?” “I knew it had to do with that dog. What about it?”
Adam told her that he’d heard Blackie barking when he’d found the note from Tony and that JoAnne Miller had reported that her dog had started barking like crazy the night Dana was killed.
“So what does that have to do with the dog barking before?”
“The dog was barking at Xan and Marissa, but Marissa has known the dog for years, she used to walk him when the Millers went on vacation.”
“So you think the dog was barking at Xan?”
“I have no idea what I’m saying,” Adam said.
“Didn’t I tell you about Xan?” his mother said.
Adam knew his mother would use this to get in an I-told- you- so jab.
“I just think it was strange the way the dog was going so crazy like that, that’s all,” he said. “I’ve known that dog for years, and I’ve never seen him bark like that, just at somebody on the sidewalk for no reason. I mean, reporters have been out there for the past couple of days, and you didn’t hear the dog barking at them, right?”
“So the dog doesn’t like Xan,” his mother said. “Smart dog. I don’t like him either.”
“I don’t think you get what I’m saying,” Adam said.
His mother stared at him, then said, “You think the dog was barking other times at Xan.”
“I’m sure I’m being ridiculous, but-”
“But you said the note was from Tony.”
“It was from Tony. It was the same writing, on similar paper, as another note I got, I think from Tony, that was kind of threatening.”
He told his mother about the other note, and then she said, “So you’re saying you think Xan could’ve left both notes and not Tony?”
“I don’t think that… I’m just wondering, that’s all.”
“Why would he do that? And how would he even know that Tony and Dana were having an affair?”
“I don’t know. That’s why it doesn’t make any sense.”
“I said I didn’t like Xan, but I didn’t say I think he killed Dana.”
“I don’t think that either.”
“Of course you think that. That’s why you’re bringing this all up.”
Adam, suddenly hyped up, full of energy, said, “Xan is not a killer. Tony killed Dana. His alibi’s gonna fall apart, you’ll see. This is probably just a ridiculous waste of time.”
“I don’t think it’s such a waste of time. I think you should call the police anyway just to let them know.”
“Let them know what? That a dog started barking at my daughter’s boyfriend? They’ll think I’m insane, more insane than they already think I am.”
“I’m worried about Marissa.”
“There’s nothing to be worried about.”
“What if you’re right and Xan’s a killer?”
“Can you stop it? He’s not a killer, all right? I wouldn’t’ve even started thinking about this if you didn’t put the idea in my head.”
“So now you’re blaming me?”
“No, I’m just saying there’s no basis to it. He had no reason to want to hurt Dana. They got along great, and she liked him a-”
He had a realization, a sudden moment of clarity, and his mother noticed the change in his expression.
“What is it?” she asked.
“She liked him a lot,” he said.
“So? What’re you talking about?”
“The other day, after Xan came to dinner and we met for the first time, Dana and I had an argument. Well, not really an argument, just a little spat, you know? It seems ridiculous now, but she told me that she thought Xan was handsome, and I got jealous about it. But the real reason I was jealous was because of the way they were acting the night before at dinner. Xan, you know he’s a smooth guy, you know, a charmer, likes to compliment everyone, play up to people, that’s just his style. But I could tell how much Dana liked the attention.”
“Oh my God,” his mother said. “So you think they were having an affair?”
