Chapter 3 — The Dog in the Guesthouse
Sophie immediately moved in front of the dog.
“Don’t be mad at him.”
Richard stared at her.
“I’m not mad at the dog.”
“Good.”
“I’m considerably less optimistic about you.”
Ethan tried not to smile.
Sophie looked toward him.
Her expression changed.
“Why is Ethan here?”
Richard held up the black access card.
“Because he found this beside the kitchen sink.”
Sophie’s face went pale.
“Oh.”
“And for several minutes, I thought he had taken it.”
Sophie looked at Ethan.
“I didn’t mean for you to find it.”
Ethan folded his arms.
“Who did you mean to find it?”
Sophie hesitated.
“Nobody.”
Richard stared.
“You placed a restricted access card on a counter at a party with sixty people and expected nobody to touch it?”
Sophie looked down.
“I panicked.”
The dog moved closer to her.
He wore a faded red collar.
Richard noticed immediately.
“Whose dog is this?”
Sophie crouched beside him.
“His name is Jasper.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She hesitated.
Then:
“Mr. Collins.”
Richard froze.
Arthur Collins lived four houses away.
Seventy-six years old.
Quiet.
Widowed.
And almost never seen without his dog.
Richard had noticed Arthur hadn’t been walking Jasper recently.
He assumed the dog was staying with Arthur’s son.
“Why is Mr. Collins’s dog hidden in my guesthouse?”
Sophie stroked Jasper’s head.
“Because Mark was going to give him away.”
Richard frowned.
“Mark Collins?”
Arthur’s adult son.
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
Sophie took a breath.
Four days earlier, she was walking home from school.
She passed Arthur’s house.
Mark stood outside speaking on the phone.
Jasper was beside him.
Sophie heard Mark say:
“My father can’t take him. I need somebody to collect the dog before Friday.”
Then:
“I don’t care where he goes as long as it’s handled.”
Sophie knew Arthur adored Jasper.
She waited until Mark left.
Then approached the dog.
Jasper followed her home.
“You stole Mr. Collins’s dog?” Richard asked.
Sophie’s eyes widened.
“No!”
“You brought him onto our property without permission and hid him for four days.”
She stopped.
“Okay, when you say it like that…”
“There is not a flattering way to say it.”
Sophie looked toward Jasper.
“I was trying to keep him safe.”
Richard’s voice softened slightly.
“Safe from what?”
Sophie answered:
“From being sent somewhere Mr. Collins couldn’t find him.”