Grabbing hold of King Leopard’s collar, Grant looked around at their surroundings. He had the sense that someone had been there before when he’d heard the rustling of the leaves
“That Pierre Reaux seriously got on my nerves! I can’t believe he has the gall to tell you not to leave the country—what is he seriously suggesting you’re a suspect—like what?—you murdered your aunt? I mean, yeah, it is is an odd occurrence to have first one pass away and then the wife—I get that—but, seriously! His attitude! —he’s a crazy, self-impressed egotistical jerk ….But Grant, why do you suppose our chief detective was so angry?” Faun asked, bending to pet King Leopold on the head as they stood with the huge beast who seemed quite shaken too. He had tried to jump up against her when he’d come galloping over, nearly knocking Faun over, unaware that his own weight exceeded hers by some seventy or one hundred pounds but Grant prevented this by stepping between them and a sharp command.
“He said they should not have removed Aunt Fiona until he had the opportunity to investigate things before anything was touched.”
“Oh….” this gruesome detail was disturbing, “but…. they said they had to because—“
“Yes—because they said she must have passed away last night and ….”
He stopped short of saying that the remains would have begun to decay.
Officer Sullivan with two of his crew and the chief detective had gone upstairs to look for evidence while one remained downstairs to look around for clues of forced entry. And it seemed he was told to stay in order to watch Grant and Faun. They had been upstairs a long time and had come down with clear plastic bags filled with objects from the room that they said was for evidence.
“Gosh….” Faun shuddered and looked at King Leopold, grabbing hold of the folds of his face and affectionately pressed her face to his smelly one, “poor thing—he must have run out for human help, I’d guess.”
“Would you?” Grant asked with some doubt
“Well, I mean—no, I guess he was scared,” Faun said
“Or—what if he wasn’t there when it happened?” Grant asked her in a consciously lowered voice
and because he was whispering, so did she as she said,
“I guess that ….is possible but—why? —and where would he have been….? What are you thinking?”
Grant looked around,
“I think we should go—we shouldn’t be lurking around here,” and he looked back towards the bushes where King Leopold had come out from the shadows and then whispered, “I feel like ….there’s somebody nearby—“ and there was something more implied by his tone, “do you mind taking him with us in your car?”
“Of course not—but I think we should go back in the house first to get his food and things,” Faun looked hesitant at the house and then back at Grant
“I’d rather we didn’t—why don’t we stop by and pick up a bag of dog food at the store, there must be something still open now—I just assume we avoid going back inside there tonight,” he said
At which point Faun thought she heard more rustling leaves coming from the same direction in the bushes. She looked at King Leopold finding it odd he wasn’t barking at the sound
“Yeah—let’s go,” she said and dug into her clutch bag for the car keys
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