Read Online The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Carol Lea Benjamin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carol Lea Benjamin
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watching Avi was what made the difference. Now when I placed my foot in an empty step, it felt as flat as a sheet of paper. I felt at ease, my body remembering everything, energy moving up my spine, over my head, spilling down my chest, connecting me to the earth beneath my feet and the universe above and beyond.
âBetter,â he said, stroking one side of his beard and then the other with the back of his hand, like a cat cleaning its whiskers.
But the moment I stopped moving, all my confidence fled. I felt only the enormous weight of my ignorance. It was a familiar feeling. The work I do is like driving in heavy fog. Sometimes it clings to the windshield, and you canât see an inch in front of you. At best it rolls a foot or two away, or lifts for a moment and allows a tantalizing glimpse of the road ahead before closing in all over again. Most of the time I feel as if I were driving blind.
I slipped off Lisaâs shoes and put on her sneakers. When I looked up, Avi was holding Châanâs thick, black leather leash.
âCome in the morning Monday. We have a staff meeting. You can meet the others. Maybe they will answer some questions for you. And leave your boy at home. Only bring Châan with you.â
I began to shake my head.
âCanât you do this one thing for me?â
He didnât wait for an answer. The master was used to obedience.
âLisaââ
âYeah. I know,â I said. âLisa never took the elevator. She always took the stairs. And I do, too. But this I canât do for you.â
âBut Lisa always brought Châan to school with her.â
âLisa always brought her dog to school. And Iââ
But he wasnât listening. He was looking toward the big windows.
âEven on the night she died,â I said.
He nodded.
âI was asleep when the police called me. They said there was an emergency and asked if I could come right away with the keys. They didnât say what it was. They didnât tell me what had happened here. I thought a pipe was leaking. I had no idea.
âThere were so many people here, so many. I could see them from down the block. I got confused. I couldnât understand why. A fire, I thought. There must have been a fire.
âThen I saw.
âShe was lying on the street, under a yellow tarp. I could see one of her hands, the palm upââhe turned his hand to show meââsticking out from under the plastic.
âThey asked me to look. They asked if I could identify her. One of the detectives slipped his hand around my upper arm and another one drew the tarp back, uncovering her face, her beautiful face.â
Avi shook his head and began to cry. He took a wrinkled handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his eyes.
âWe walked up the stairs,â he continued. âThe door was locked, of course. Lisa wouldnât have left it open when she was here alone late at night, even with Châan to protect her. I unlocked the door, and one of the two detectives who came up to the studio took my arm and pulled me aside. The other drew his gun, he shouted âPoliceâ and waited, but there was no sound, nothing. We stayed in the hall and he went in.
âFor a moment I was just blank, just seeing the hand, turned up, like so, as if to catch rain. Then I remembered Châan and was polluted by the fear that the detective would be frightened of her and shoot.
ââDonât be afraid,â I called out to him. âDonât shoot the dog.â
âThe second one opened the door wide, and we both stepped in. The room was dark, the way we worked last night, you and I, the studio lit only by the moon. It was empty.
âThe first detective was just walking into the office, and I heard him gasp. I thought to myself, God, no, someone else is lying dead on the floor.
âWe went to the doorway to see, myself and the other detective. But it was Châan who
âBetter,â he said, stroking one side of his beard and then the other with the back of his hand, like a cat cleaning its whiskers.
But the moment I stopped moving, all my confidence fled. I felt only the enormous weight of my ignorance. It was a familiar feeling. The work I do is like driving in heavy fog. Sometimes it clings to the windshield, and you canât see an inch in front of you. At best it rolls a foot or two away, or lifts for a moment and allows a tantalizing glimpse of the road ahead before closing in all over again. Most of the time I feel as if I were driving blind.
I slipped off Lisaâs shoes and put on her sneakers. When I looked up, Avi was holding Châanâs thick, black leather leash.
âCome in the morning Monday. We have a staff meeting. You can meet the others. Maybe they will answer some questions for you. And leave your boy at home. Only bring Châan with you.â
I began to shake my head.
âCanât you do this one thing for me?â
He didnât wait for an answer. The master was used to obedience.
âLisaââ
âYeah. I know,â I said. âLisa never took the elevator. She always took the stairs. And I do, too. But this I canât do for you.â
âBut Lisa always brought Châan to school with her.â
âLisa always brought her dog to school. And Iââ
But he wasnât listening. He was looking toward the big windows.
âEven on the night she died,â I said.
He nodded.
âI was asleep when the police called me. They said there was an emergency and asked if I could come right away with the keys. They didnât say what it was. They didnât tell me what had happened here. I thought a pipe was leaking. I had no idea.
âThere were so many people here, so many. I could see them from down the block. I got confused. I couldnât understand why. A fire, I thought. There must have been a fire.
âThen I saw.
âShe was lying on the street, under a yellow tarp. I could see one of her hands, the palm upââhe turned his hand to show meââsticking out from under the plastic.
âThey asked me to look. They asked if I could identify her. One of the detectives slipped his hand around my upper arm and another one drew the tarp back, uncovering her face, her beautiful face.â
Avi shook his head and began to cry. He took a wrinkled handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his eyes.
âWe walked up the stairs,â he continued. âThe door was locked, of course. Lisa wouldnât have left it open when she was here alone late at night, even with Châan to protect her. I unlocked the door, and one of the two detectives who came up to the studio took my arm and pulled me aside. The other drew his gun, he shouted âPoliceâ and waited, but there was no sound, nothing. We stayed in the hall and he went in.
âFor a moment I was just blank, just seeing the hand, turned up, like so, as if to catch rain. Then I remembered Châan and was polluted by the fear that the detective would be frightened of her and shoot.
ââDonât be afraid,â I called out to him. âDonât shoot the dog.â
âThe second one opened the door wide, and we both stepped in. The room was dark, the way we worked last night, you and I, the studio lit only by the moon. It was empty.
âThe first detective was just walking into the office, and I heard him gasp. I thought to myself, God, no, someone else is lying dead on the floor.
âWe went to the doorway to see, myself and the other detective. But it was Châan who
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