Canine Christmas Read Free Page A

pin down the time of death?”
    “Not with any accuracy. But I doubt if it was sixfifteen.”
    “I'm glad to hear it.”
    “You shouldn't be. If you were here in the house just like everybody else, you could have killed him at any time. In point of fact, I would find it very unlikely you killed him in the presence of your dog.”
    “Thank goodness for small favors.”
    “Again, that doesn't let you out.”
    “No, but common sense should. Why would I drive here all the way from New York with my wife and dog to kill a man I never met?”
    He shrugged. “Why would anyone?”
    “They wouldn't,” I said. “Obviously the killer has some connection. You have only to find it.”
    “That's what I'm trying to do.”
    “Really? How you doing so far?”
    He frowned. “Mr. Hastings, I find your manner insolent.”
    “You're right,” I said. “I'm sorry. I've had no sleep, and a considerable shock. But that's no reason to take it out on you. I'm just getting impatient with your preliminary questions which I happen to know have no bearing on the crime.”
    “Oh? And how do you know that?”
    “Because they're all tangential, and they don't relate to the actual killing.”
    “You want me to ask you questions about the actual killing?”
    “I thought that was the point of your investigation.”
    “It is. And you are a key factor in that investigation, having found the body.”
    I winced. “I wish I hadn't found it.”
    “Because of the shock?”
    “No. Like I say, because it clouds the issue. All you want to ask me about is finding the body.”
    “Oh, is that right?” he said, ironically. “And what is it you'd like me to ask you about?”
    “I told you. The killing.”
    “I see. You feel you could shed some light on the matter?”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Very well then, Mr. Hastings. What do you know about the murder?”
    “I know who did it.”
    We were once again assembled in the living room, just as we had been the day before when Alice had given the demonstration with the dog. With a few exceptions. Alice and I shared a couch with Abercrombie this time, our chairs having been taken by Mr. and Mrs. Stone Inn, who had been invited to join the proceedings. Zelda lay curled up at our feet.
    Aside from that, everything was pretty much the same. The young couple were on their love seat. The middleaged couple were on a couch. The bearded man sat in an overstuffed chair.
    The elderly gentleman wasn't there, of course, but the policeman was. He stood on the chalk outline in front of the Christmas tree and addressed our little group.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, I have talked to you all. And I am happy to say I have made some progress. That has been largely due to one man, Mr. Stanley Hastings, who, as you know, found the body because he happened to walk his dog.” Here he bowed to Zelda. “That was at six-fifteen this morning when the alarm was raised.”
    He paused, smiled. “By a happy circumstance, he also happened to walk the dog during the night. I'm going to let him tell you what happened then.”
    All eyes turned to me. Not that anyone knew the name Stanley Hastings, but they all knew the dog.
    I didn't bother getting up. I sat on the couch, patted my dog. “Last night Zelda went to sleep early,” I said. “Which is not surprising. It's a new environment, it's new people, it's overstimulating, and she doesn't get her normal naps. At any rate, she went to sleep early and didn't get her usual last walk. Which is why she woke me in the night. She woke up and needed to go out. So I pulled on my clothes and hurried downstairs. I was not fully dressed. Because, frankly, I wasn't going to take her out, I was going to send her out. I was cold and half-asleep and didn't want to wake up any more than I had to. Anyway, I didn't have her leash on, since if I wasn't going out with her, there was no point. I brought her downstairs, let her out the back door.
    “Only she didn't go right out. Instead, she trotted over and