story of the call in the night, as well as the story of the man who’d tried to sneak into the building under Sarah’s key card, had come tumbling out. The white line that appeared around Miles’s lips when I finished telling it was still visible.
I repeated the story of the incident now to the detective, who took it down dutifully. When I finished, he said, “Yes, I have a statement already from a Sarah Lissick about the man who tried to get into the building. Her description was fairly general, but it was something to go on at least.”
I swallowed hard. “Marcie wasn’t at dinner when we were talking about it. We all agreed to walk our dogs in the courtyard last night, but Marcie didn’t know.”
The detective said, “Thank you, Ms. Stockton. I think we have everything we need now. We have your cell phone number if we have any more questions.”
“What about her boyfriend?” Miles said. “Neil…”
He glanced at me questioningly, and I supplied, “Neil Kellog.”
“He seemed pretty upset when he was arguing with her yesterday,” Miles said, “and more than capable of violence. I heard him threaten her. Someone should talk to him.”
“He’s on our list,” the detective assured him.
I said, “They were arguing about the dog, Bryte. Neil wanted to take her home, but yesterday afternoon when Marcie came back to the hotel, she had Bryte with her. And there was a man with her too. I don’t know who he was.”
The detective was taking notes again, but I was concerned with more immediate matters. “Someone needs to get the dogs home. Does anyone know who’s supposed to be in charge of the dogs?”
A member of the hotel staff had unlocked Marcie’s room at the request of the police, and poor Bryte was finally freed. Who knew how long she’d been locked in there alone, barking for help? I volunteered to put both dogs in my SUV until someone made a decision about what to do with them.
The medical examiner said the cause of death was most likely strangulation, although the bruises and lacerations on her body suggested she’d been badly beaten first. I hadn’t heard her give a time of death, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. Marcie had been wearing the same clothes she’d worn yesterday, so it was probable she’d been lying out in the woods all night. Of course, she might have gotten up this morning and put on the same outfit just as I had done, but I had a different theory. At dinner she’d mentioned Flame had an upset stomach. She must have taken her out sometime last night, and she’d never come back. When the assailant grabbed Marcie, she would have dropped the leash, and Flame got away. The poor dog spent the entire night running in hopeless terror, looking for help, until she’d spotted Cisco and me this morning. And even then, we hadn’t understood what she’d been trying to tell us. Or at least I hadn’t.
When I travel, I keep an emergency contact form for my dogs right next to the emergency contact information on myself, so whoever is in charge of taking care of me will know who to call to come get my dogs. Maude would drive any distance for my dogs, and so would Buck if it came to that, so those are the numbers I list, along with specific instructions that my dogs are not to be taken to an animal shelter and a promise to pay any boarding or vet fees that accrue. Why doesn’t everyone do that? And why doesn’t the premium form for every dog event require you to give specific instructions for the disposition of your dog in case you’re incapacitated?
My mind was wandering, and I almost missed the detective’s question.
The detective said, “Can you describe him?”
I blinked, surprised to feel the hot wetness in my eyes. “Who?”
Miles squeezed my shoulder reassuringly and pressed another paper cup of coffee into my hand. I said, “Oh. The man. He was tall, light-haired. Broad-shouldered. I didn’t see his face. I got the impression they were close. Marcie seemed upset and he comforted her. I thought he might be staying here with her, but I guess not.”
“Had you ever seen him before?”
“No. But I’d never seen Marcie before yesterday, either. Someone who knows her could probably identify him.”
“But he wasn’t with her when you saw her at dinner last night?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t think it was my place