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

doesn’t dissolve with the legal decree. Joe depended on me, and I still cared for him enough to listen to him sometimes. I knew that he was desperate that I stay around Leighville, but he wouldn’t tell me why. He just kept saying he would need me soon, that I had to be there for him.”
    â€œDid you see or hear anyone else while you were outside?”
    â€œI can’t really remember. I know it was very quiet. The only people I saw were two older women waiting to go into the party. They must have heard me arguing with Joe.”
    â€œProbably. Probably repeated it word for word to the police.”
    I retrieved a carton of biscotti from the cabinet and sat down across from Norah. “What do you think I can do for you?”
    I broke off a piece of biscotti and fed it to Rochester.
    â€œYou’re friendly with that police detective. Rinaldi. Can you talk to him for me? Tell him I didn’t do it?”
    â€œWe’re not friends. Just acquaintances. And honestly, Norah, I don’t have any influence over him. ” I shook my head. “But someone else spoke to Joe after you did. That person killed him. We just have to trust Tony to find that person.”
    I sipped my café mocha. It wasn’t quite as good as I could have gotten at a café, but it was all right. “Can you think of anyone who might have held a grudge against Joe?”
    She shook her head. “I sat up most of last night thinking, and I can’t come up with anyone. But you know, Joe saved everything. Maybe if you looked through his files you could come up with something.”
    "I can do that. I’ll get Sally Marston to help," I said.
    I walked Norah back to the front door of Fields Hall, Rochester by my side. “I’ll do what I can, Norah. I want to find out what happened to Joe. You know he was a mentor to me.”
    â€œThank you, Steve. ” She leaned down and scratched behind Rochester’s ears. “And you take care of this good boy, here.”
    â€œNo worries about that. Rochester knows who’s in charge around here, and that character has four paws and a tail.”

    Â 

8 – The Crackpot Files
    Â 
    I took Rochester back to my office and left him there, then walked to Sally’s office, which was empty. I found her down the hall in Joe’s old office, one of the largest in Fields Hall, with French doors like the ones in my office, and a sweeping view over the front of the campus. Downhill I could see the massive iron gates that marked the entrance to Eastern. To the right and left were classroom buildings in gray and brown fieldstone. A few students crossed the campus, bundled against the cold.
    â€œI was just talking to Norah Leedom,” I said. “She says the police think she killed Joe.”
    â€œI can’t believe that. She’s such a nice person. And she’s a vegan.”
    â€œLike vegans never commit murder,” I said. “Anyway, she suggested I look through Joe's files and see if I can come up with any other suspects. I was hoping you might have some free time to help.”
    "Joe saved every letter ever written to him," Sally said drily. "I'm sure we can turn up a few crackpots with a motive for murder.” She stood up and crossed the room to a file cabinet against the back wall. “It’s creepy to be in here when he hasn’t even been buried yet. But I need access to all his files and I can’t keep running back and forth.”
    She began pulling folders out of the drawer. “Wow. This whole drawer is filled with angry letters. I didn’t know there were so many.”
    She began ferrying file folders to the credenza next to her desk. I picked up the first one and looked at the dates. “This is my class,” I said.
    â€œThe files go that far back?” Sally giggled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
    â€œI know, I’m a dinosaur. I’m forty-three. So