High in Trial - By Donna Ball Page 0,43
of us, she felt safe with her dog.
I shifted my gaze away, embarrassed and defensive and deeply uncomfortable. “Do what you have to,” I mumbled. “I have Marcie’s dogs in my car. I need to make arrangements for them.”
“Does that mean you’re leaving with me?”
Strong emotion, especially when I don’t understand it, often makes me say stupid things. I snapped back, “I didn’t come here with you, did I?”
A woman’s voice spoke behind me. “Excuse me, ma’am?”
Someone touched my shoulder lightly and I spun around. “What?”
I found myself looking at a well-groomed and perfectly made-up young woman with a microphone in her hand. Behind her was a much less well-groomed young man in baggy jeans and a tee shirt with a camera mounted to his shoulder. She said pleasantly. “Carolina Mays from WCGA News.” She pronounced it Caroleena. “Are you the person who found the victim?”
As I might have mentioned, I’m used to being interviewed, and so is Cisco. I said, “That’s right.”
“Do you mind talking with us about it, Ms.…”
“Stockton,” I supplied. “Raine Stockton.”
Cisco sat beautifully at my side and I saw the camera guy lower his shot to focus on my dog. That was good. At this hour of the morning, I was no competition for Cisco in a beauty contest.
The reporter said, “I understand you were walking your dog when you came upon the body in the woods.”
I sighed and began the story again. “No. My dog is a trained search dog…”
The interview took five or six minutes and included several close-ups of Cisco’s intelligent golden face, which I knew would be reduced to ten seconds on the noon news. When the reporter and cameraman moved off in search of other interviewees, I turned back to Miles, but he was gone.
* * *
It probably shouldn’t have surprised me that Ginny and Aggie were a veritable font of information for the police, and Sarah, of course, was interviewed extensively about the incident with the man who tried to follow her into the building. I waited until Aggie was in between interviews and waved her over.
“How are you holding up?” she insisted, squeezing my arm. “What an awful thing. I can’t believe we were almost out of the parking lot when we saw the ambulance. We wouldn’t have known what happened until we got back tonight! And then it would be too late to find another hotel. Someone needs to tell the people who’ve already gone to the fairgrounds. I texted the trial secretary, but I haven’t heard anything back. I can’t imagine anyone will feel safe here tonight. I know Ginny and I are going straight home after the competition today. No ribbon is worth this. Are you okay? I’d have nightmares for the rest of my life.”
I said, “Do you know what Marcie would want us to do with the dogs? Does she have any relatives or anyone who would come get them?”
Aggie frowned. “Oh, dear. Well, there’s Neil, of course. He is the co-owner of the dogs.”
We looked at each other, but there really was no need to say it. Nonetheless, Aggie did, albeit in a much lower tone. “Of course, since he’s probably going to end up in jail…”
“We don’t know that.”
“Oh, honey, you were right there yesterday when they had that big fight, and everybody heard him threaten her! And that’s not even the worst. Why, Marcie told me…”
I said firmly, “I’m sure the police will get to the bottom of what happened to Marcie. In the meantime, Neil is the legal co-owner of the dogs and he’s the one we need to contact. Do you know how to reach him? The contact name on the dogs’ tags is Marcie’s.”
She still looked reluctant. “He was supposed to run Bryte this afternoon. I guess you could try him at home, but…”
“You don’t happen to know where I could find his number?”
“No, but Marcie said he has a place in town. He shouldn’t be too hard to find.” She shook her head sadly. “It’s just so unbelievable. Maybe someone in the club knows if she has any relatives. I’m sure someone is taking care of her other dogs back home. Ginny and I will ask around when we get to the fairgrounds and see if anyone has any ideas. But if all else fails, we’ll be glad to take the dogs home with us and keep them until things are settled. You know, in case Neil can’t.”
“That would be great. I know her family will appreciate