Faith nodded at Meyers.The deputy stepped forward and patted the suspect down while Faith and Turk watched.The suspect’s lips were thin and his shoulders tense, but he didn’t make any attempt to resist.
Meyers finished patting him down, discovering nothing but a wallet, cell phone, and a pair of car keys.He stepped back and nodded at Faith.“He’s clean.”
Faith smiled at the suspect, hiding a pang of disappointment.She’d hoped to find the murder weapon.Not that its absence meant he was definitely innocent.“See?Nothing to worry about.Now we don’t have to be jumpy around you.”
The suspect scoffed.“Why would you be jumpy?I’m not doing anything.”
“Let’s start with your name,” Faith said.
“It’s Daniel,” the suspect replied.“Daniel Pierce.Your buddy checked my ID, right?”
“Looks valid,” Meyers said genially.
“Okay, so you can run that name, and you can tell that I don’t have a criminal record.”
“We’re just talking right now,” Faith said.“We haven’t put you in cuffs, have we?”
Daniel looked at Meyers, who kept his genial expression.Daniel sighed and rubbed his forehead.“I was just sitting on a bench watching the dogs play when that bitch came up out of nowhere and asked me where my dog was.I was trying to explain to her that I don’thavea dog anymore, and she got irate and started calling me a murderer and saying she was gonna call the police on me.I didn’t feel like dealing with that, so I got up and left, and she fucking followed me all the way over here shouting how I was a murderer and all this crap.I don’t know what her damned problem is.”
“Are you aware that there’s a bulletin out warning people about a suspect murdering people in dog parks?”Faith asked.
“Yeah, but I’m not doing anything suspicious.I was on the bench in broad daylight with my hands visible where anyone could see me.”
“We believe that the person who murdered Iris Caldwell, Mark Patterson, and Rebecca Hartley observes his victims in public before luring them or following them somewhere secluded.”
Faith watched Daniel’s eyes closely as she named the victims.He showed no sign of recognizing those names.
“Okay, well.”Daniel laughed and ran his hand through his hair.“I was just enjoying the day.My dog died last year.I come out to the dog parks to watch the dogs play because it reminds me of him.”
“A year ago?”Meyers said.“Why don’t you just get another dog?”
Daniel laughed again, bitterly this time.“You don’t have dogs, do you, officer?”
Meyers lifted an eyebrow.“Not currently.”
“Well, when you have a dog for years and years, they’re not just a pet.Okay?I live alone.My family is all back on the West Coast.I was married for ten years and that ended badly.Frankenstein was all I had.”
“That’s a cute name for a pup,” Faith offered, trying to build rapport with their suspect.
“Yeah, it was adorable,” Daniel agreed, smiling.“I called him that because he was a mutt.Irish wolfhound mixed with Labrador mixed with Border Collie mixed with something else that we could never figure out.He was like pieces of a bunch of other dogs put together.I had him for fifteen years.”
His smile faded.“You can’t just replace a dog like that.No dog could be Frankenstein.”
Faith looked at Turk and a pang ran through her.Turk’s muzzle was nearly all white, and the “saddle” of dark brown fur that was a distinguishing feature of German shepherds was more gray than brown.His body was still toned, and his eyes were still alert, but he was an older dog now.He would be eleven in a few short weeks.She had only a few years left with him, and she knew that when he passed, it would be a long time before she could replace him with another dog, if ever.
“You’re aware that we’re looking for a man who matches your description,” Meyers said.
“No, I wasn’t.I didn’t think about it.I mean, I’m just out here watching dogs.I’m not hurting anyone.I didn’t think, ‘Gee, I kind of look like the sort of person who would murder an old lady’.”
He was getting tense again, so Faith kept her voice soothing.“Can you confirm your whereabouts for the previous afternoon?”
“Sure.I was at Lonnie’s watching the game.”
“What game?”Meyers asked.
“Capitals.They’re actually doing pretty good this year.You watch hockey?”
Meyers shook his head.“Baseball.”
