He’s going to die.’
‘They’ll take care of him.’
‘Don’t patronize me, Brady. Did you see his head?’
‘I saw it. It was bad.’
‘I’ve been waiting for him to get sick and die. So has he. I just didn’t think it would be this way. It’s too sudden. I’m not ready for it.’
‘We don’t know that he’s going to die, Lily.’
She gave me a quick hug and stood away from me. ‘Sure. Right.’
I took her hand. ‘Nothing we can do. The police will be here. We’ll have to answer a lot of questions. Let’s go have some coffee. I want to grab a quick shower.’
CHAPTER 4
L ILY AND I SAT at the kitchen table sipping coffee. We talked about Jeff and the jaguars. We tried to figure out what had happened. Who came for the cats? Why was Jeff out at the gate? If he had suspected a break-in, Jeff would have brought a gun with him, and he wouldn’t have hesitated to use it, we agreed.
Lily was calm and steady. I did all right, too. But when the bell at the gate bonged, both of us spasmed. Then we smiled at each other.
‘I’ll get it,’ said Lily. ‘It must be the police.’
‘I’m with you.’
We went down the path, past Tondo’s and Ngwenya’s carcasses, past the place where Jeff had lain, past the black stains in the sand, to the gate. Two uniformed policemen waited on the other side of the fence. Lily unlocked the gate and swung it open.
The older of the two cops—he might’ve been thirty-two or -three—looked at me. ‘My name is Coyne,’ I said to him. ‘Mr Newton’s lawyer.’
‘You got here fast, sir.’
‘I was spending the night.’
He shrugged. ‘Officer Maroney,’ he said, not offering his hand. ‘This is Officer Kinney.’
Maroney was short, slim, quick, deeply tanned. Kinney was a bigger guy, mid-twenties, with small pink eyes and a roll of pink flab bulging over his shirt collar. Neither of the two struck me as particularly affable.
Maroney arched his eyebrows at Lily. ‘Lillian Robbins,’ she said. Maroney nodded. ‘I’m Mr Newton’s housekeeper,’ she added. Maroney shrugged, as if he didn’t believe it but didn’t care.
‘You’ll want to know,’ he said, looking at Lily, ‘that they got Mr Newton to the hospital in Hyannis OK. I got it over the radio. He’s holding his own.’
‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘Hey, look,’ said Kinney to his partner. He was pointing down at Ngwenya’s corpse under the bush beside the path. ‘A dead dog.’
‘Good,’ said Maroney. ‘We’ll make a detective out of you yet.’ To me he said, ‘This supposed to be a watchdog?’
I nodded.
‘Did a helluva job, didn’t he?’
‘Actually,’ I said, ‘there were two of them. They were both killed trying to do their job.’
‘Probably some kind of crime, killing dogs.’ Maroney glanced at Lily, then back to me. ‘What about Mr Newton? You found him out here?’
Lily nodded. ‘Here. By the gate.’ She gestured to one of the bloodstains on the sandy path.
Maroney barely glanced at where she pointed. ‘OK. Let’s go inside. You can tell us what happened, first. Then we’ll have a look around.’
On the way up the path Kinney paused beside Tondo, opened his mouth, and then closed it. Maroney glanced at me. I couldn’t read his expression.
We sat in the living-room. Maroney and Kinney looked around without apparent interest at the disarray.
‘Coffee?’ said Lily.
Maroney declined with a wave of his hand. Kinney did not respond at all. Maroney seemed to speak for both of them.
Maroney took a notebook and a ballpoint pen from his shirt pocket. He clicked the button on the pen and licked the tip. ‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘Let me have your names again, first, please.’
We told him our names. We had to spell them for him.
‘And you were all here last night?’
We nodded.
‘On business, Mr Coyne?’
‘Partially.’
‘Huh?’
‘Partially a visit, partially to clean up routine things. Mr Newton is an invalid, so whenever I have business
‘They’ll take care of him.’
‘Don’t patronize me, Brady. Did you see his head?’
‘I saw it. It was bad.’
‘I’ve been waiting for him to get sick and die. So has he. I just didn’t think it would be this way. It’s too sudden. I’m not ready for it.’
‘We don’t know that he’s going to die, Lily.’
She gave me a quick hug and stood away from me. ‘Sure. Right.’
I took her hand. ‘Nothing we can do. The police will be here. We’ll have to answer a lot of questions. Let’s go have some coffee. I want to grab a quick shower.’
CHAPTER 4
L ILY AND I SAT at the kitchen table sipping coffee. We talked about Jeff and the jaguars. We tried to figure out what had happened. Who came for the cats? Why was Jeff out at the gate? If he had suspected a break-in, Jeff would have brought a gun with him, and he wouldn’t have hesitated to use it, we agreed.
Lily was calm and steady. I did all right, too. But when the bell at the gate bonged, both of us spasmed. Then we smiled at each other.
‘I’ll get it,’ said Lily. ‘It must be the police.’
‘I’m with you.’
We went down the path, past Tondo’s and Ngwenya’s carcasses, past the place where Jeff had lain, past the black stains in the sand, to the gate. Two uniformed policemen waited on the other side of the fence. Lily unlocked the gate and swung it open.
The older of the two cops—he might’ve been thirty-two or -three—looked at me. ‘My name is Coyne,’ I said to him. ‘Mr Newton’s lawyer.’
‘You got here fast, sir.’
‘I was spending the night.’
He shrugged. ‘Officer Maroney,’ he said, not offering his hand. ‘This is Officer Kinney.’
Maroney was short, slim, quick, deeply tanned. Kinney was a bigger guy, mid-twenties, with small pink eyes and a roll of pink flab bulging over his shirt collar. Neither of the two struck me as particularly affable.
Maroney arched his eyebrows at Lily. ‘Lillian Robbins,’ she said. Maroney nodded. ‘I’m Mr Newton’s housekeeper,’ she added. Maroney shrugged, as if he didn’t believe it but didn’t care.
‘You’ll want to know,’ he said, looking at Lily, ‘that they got Mr Newton to the hospital in Hyannis OK. I got it over the radio. He’s holding his own.’
‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘Hey, look,’ said Kinney to his partner. He was pointing down at Ngwenya’s corpse under the bush beside the path. ‘A dead dog.’
‘Good,’ said Maroney. ‘We’ll make a detective out of you yet.’ To me he said, ‘This supposed to be a watchdog?’
I nodded.
‘Did a helluva job, didn’t he?’
‘Actually,’ I said, ‘there were two of them. They were both killed trying to do their job.’
‘Probably some kind of crime, killing dogs.’ Maroney glanced at Lily, then back to me. ‘What about Mr Newton? You found him out here?’
Lily nodded. ‘Here. By the gate.’ She gestured to one of the bloodstains on the sandy path.
Maroney barely glanced at where she pointed. ‘OK. Let’s go inside. You can tell us what happened, first. Then we’ll have a look around.’
On the way up the path Kinney paused beside Tondo, opened his mouth, and then closed it. Maroney glanced at me. I couldn’t read his expression.
We sat in the living-room. Maroney and Kinney looked around without apparent interest at the disarray.
‘Coffee?’ said Lily.
Maroney declined with a wave of his hand. Kinney did not respond at all. Maroney seemed to speak for both of them.
Maroney took a notebook and a ballpoint pen from his shirt pocket. He clicked the button on the pen and licked the tip. ‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘Let me have your names again, first, please.’
We told him our names. We had to spell them for him.
‘And you were all here last night?’
We nodded.
‘On business, Mr Coyne?’
‘Partially.’
‘Huh?’
‘Partially a visit, partially to clean up routine things. Mr Newton is an invalid, so whenever I have business
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