“Hold’m.”
Maggie powered forward in a ground-eating sprint. She ignored the other man and everyone else in the park. Her world was the scent cone, and the cone narrowed to Daryl. Scott knew she saw him, but following his scent to the end of the cone was like following a light that grew brighter as she got closer. Maggie could be blindfolded, and she would still find him.
Scott ran after her, and felt little pain, as if the knotted scars beneath his skin were in another man’s body.
Maggie covered the distance in seconds. Daryl ran past the pavilion into a small stand of trees, glanced over his shoulder, and saw a black-and-tan nightmare. He skidded to a halt at the nearest tree, pressed his back to the trunk, and covered his crotch with his hands. Maggie braked at his feet, sat as Scott taught her, and barked. Find and bark, bark to hold.
When Scott arrived, he stopped ten feet away and took a minute to catch his breath before calling her out.
“Out.”
Maggie broke off, trotted to Scott, and sat by his left foot.
“Guard’m.”
Marine command. She dropped into a sphinx position, head up and alert, eyes locked on Daryl.
Scott walked over to Daryl.
“Relax. I’m not going to arrest you. Just don’t move. You run, she’ll take you down.”
“I’m not gonna run.”
“Cool. Heel.”
Maggie trotted up, planted her butt by his left foot, and stared at Daryl. She licked her lips.
Daryl inched to his toes, trying to get as far from her as possible.
“Dude, what is this? C’mon.”
“She’s friendly. Look. Maggie, shake hands. Shake.”
Maggie raised her right paw, but Daryl didn’t move.
“You don’t want to shake hands?”
“No fuckin’ way. Dude, c’mon.”
Scott shook her paw, praised her, and rewarded her with a chunk of baloney. When he put the baloney away, he took out the evidence bag. He studied Daryl for a moment, deciding how to proceed.
“First, what just happened here, I shouldn’t have done this. I’m not going to arrest you. I just wanted to talk to you away from Estelle.”
“You were at the house when Marsh was busted. You and the dog.”
“That’s right.”
“He tried to bite me.”
“She. And, no, she didn’t try to bite you, or she would have bitten you. What she did is called an alert.”
Scott held up the evidence bag so Daryl could see the broken band. Daryl glanced at it without recognition, then looked again. Scott saw the flash of memory play over Daryl’s face as he recognized the familiar band.
“Recognize it?”
“What is it? It looks like a brown Band-Aid.”
“It’s half your old watchband. It kinda looks like the one you’re wearing now, but you caught this one on a fence, the band broke, and this half landed on the sidewalk. You know how I know it’s yours?”
“It ain’t mine.”
“It smells like you. I let her smell it, and she tracked your scent across the park. All these people in the park, and she followed this watchband to you. Isn’t she amazing?”
Daryl glanced past Scott, looking for a way out, then glanced at Maggie again. Running was not an option.
“I don’t care what it smells like. I never seen it before.”
“Your brother confessed to burglarizing a Chinese import store nine months ago. A place called Asia Exotica.”
“His lawyer told me. So what?”
“You help him do it?”
“No fucking way.”
“That’s where you lost the watch. Up on the roof. Were you his lookout?”
Daryl’s eyes flickered.
“Are you kidding me?”
“You guys hang out up there after, party a little, kick back?”
“Ask Marshall.”
“Daryl, did you and Marshall see the murders?”
Daryl sagged like a leaking balloon. He stared past Scott for a moment, swallowed once, then wet his lips. His answer was slow and deliberate.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Three people were murdered, including a police officer. If you saw anything, or know anything, you can help your brother. Maybe even buy him a get-out-of-jail card.”
Daryl wet his lips again.
“I want to talk to my brother’s lawyer.”
Scott knew he had hit the end of his lead. He couldn’t think of anything else, so he stepped back.
“I told you I wasn’t going to arrest you. We were just talking.”
Daryl glanced at Maggie.
“Is he gonna bite me?”
“She. No, she isn’t going to bite you. You can go. But think about what I said, Daryl, okay? You can help Marshall.”
Daryl edged away, and walked backwards to keep an eye on Maggie until he was out of the trees. Then he turned, stumbled, and ran.
Scott watched him go, and imagined Daryl and his brother peering down from the roof, their faces lit by flashes from guns.
“He was there. I know that kid was there.”
Scott looked at Maggie. She was staring at him, mouth open in a big grin, tongue hanging out over a ridge of sharp, white enamel.
Scott touched her head.
“You’re the best girl ever. You really are.”
Maggie yawned.
Scott clipped Maggie’s lead and walked back across the park to their car. He texted Joyce Cowly as they walked.
25.
Orso’s eyes were flat as a frying pan heating on the stove. Scott had kenneled Maggie with Budress, and now sat at the conference table with Cowly and Orso. His news had not been received in the way he expected.
Orso stared at the evidence bag as if it was filled with dog crap.
“Where was it?”
“Bottom of the box under the files. It was in a manila envelope. One of the small envelopes, not the big size. Melon was sending it back to Chen.”
Cowly glanced at her boss.
“SID bagged it because the smears look like blood. Turned out to be rust, so they sent it to Melon for permission to dispose. Melon wrote a card, giving his okay. I guess he didn’t get around to sending it.”
Orso tossed the bag onto the table.
