Read Online The Kingdom of Dog by Neil S. Plakcy - Free Book Online

talked about literature and student writing skills. I wouldn’t consider myself her friend.
    â€œCome on in, Norah. Can I get you something? Coffee? Tea?” I made an executive decision. “We have a great cappuccino machine in the kitchen. Why don’t I make us a couple of mochas?”
    â€œThat would be nice.” She followed me to the kitchen, and sat down at the table. Rochester sat on his haunches next to her and she stroked his golden head as I bustled around the kitchen.
    â€œI’m angry,” she said. “I’m not angry that they suspect me. I’m angry that they’ll stop looking for the real killer until long after I go on trial and they realize they’ve made a mistake. By then they’ll have no chance to find out who killed Joe. And I want them to!”
    â€œWhy do you think they suspect you, Norah?”
    I poured the coffee into two mugs with the Eastern College seal and motto and nodded. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? As Joe’s ex-wife, I’m the most likely person to have had a grudge against him.”
    I flashed back to Mary. Did she hate me? Or had she already relegated me to her past?
    â€œDid you have one?” I asked.
    She shook her head. “We fought—not as much as we used to when we were married, but we just couldn’t change those old patterns. To make life less awkward Joe and I tried to get along. But it seemed like every time we got together we argued. Even last night, we fought. I’m thinking of going out west-- I have an offer to teach and run a writing program in Nevada. Joe couldn’t believe I wanted to leave Eastern. It was as bad as when I asked him for a divorce.”
    â€œYou were arguing last night?” I asked. “Outside?”
    She nodded. “I slipped out for a cigarette and ran into Joe. He used to smoke, too you know. But then he stopped, and every time he caught me smoking he started in on me. I got so frustrated with him. I said some foolish things and apparently that police detective found out about them.”
    I stirred in some chocolate syrup with one hand as I foamed the milk with the other. While the machine buzzed, I wondered what it would be like to see Mary again—to know where she lived, to pass her at the grocery or while I was out walking Rochester. But that kind of thinking was useless.
    â€œLet me guess,” I said. “You threatened to kill him.”
    â€œMore or less. I think I actually said something like, ‘Sometimes you frustrate me so much I could just kill you, Joe Dagorian!’ But of course I didn’t mean it. I promised to go over to the house after the party was over so he could tell me why he needed me around to support him.”
    I found a can of whipped cream in the refrigerator and topped the mochas, then handed hers to her. “Norah, who do you think killed Joe?”
    â€œI don’t know, Steve, I just don’t know. He was a good man at heart, and I loved him once. But when I took back my name I took back my heart, and that was six years ago. Joe never understood me and he never understood why we divorced. I can imagine that he misunderstood someone else, and that’s what led to his death.”
    â€œSomeone at the college?”
    She reached down and scratched behind Rochester’s ears, and he yawned, stretching his mouth open and showing his rows of white teeth.
    â€œI can’t say. Although you know, as I do, that Joe didn’t have much of a life beyond Eastern College. If he had, maybe he would have let me go a little easier. It’s awful to say, but his death has freed me of a terrible burden. I can go to Nevada now, or I can stay here in Leighville without him watching me and provoking me. It’s a wonderful sense of freedom.”
    â€œHe wasn’t your husband any more, Norah,” I said.
    â€œWhen two people are married for as long as Joe and I were you have a history between you that