Chapter 3
Bruno was fourteen.
Too old for violence.
Too old for unnecessary movement.
He slept more than he walked.
Yet upstairs, he had bitten Malcolm hard enough to make him drop a wedding ring and flee.
That mattered.
Animals remember people differently than humans do.
I asked Elena exactly what happened.
She had taken Bruno upstairs because the conservatory noise bothered him.
Near my office, the dog stopped.
Growled.
Then pulled toward the guest sitting room.
Inside, Vanessa and Malcolm were arguing.
Elena heard Vanessa say:
“You said after Adrian opens the archive, we disappear.”
Malcolm answered:
“You’re my wife. You don’t disappear from me.”
Then Bruno pushed through the partially open door.
Saw Malcolm.
Froze.
Growled harder.
Malcolm cursed.
Tried to push the dog away with his shoe.
Bruno bit his trouser leg and caught skin.
Elena pulled him back.
Malcolm dropped the ring.
Vanessa grabbed Elena’s arm and said:
“You saw nothing.”
Then:
“If anyone asks, Bruno attacked without warning.”
My jaw tightened.
The old dog had not attacked without warning.
He warned everyone.
They simply hoped no one would listen.
I looked at Vanessa.
“How does Malcolm know Bruno?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I believed that.
Interesting.
Then Rafe entered with another discovery.
Security records from six years ago.
Malcolm Crane had entered this mansion three times.
Before Vanessa ever met me.
Two visits were listed under another name.
Michael Carr.
M.C.
Same initials as the ring.
The third visit had no guest record.
But Bruno’s old veterinary note had one strange entry from the next morning.
“Minor paw injury after overnight agitation.”
My late wife, Catherine, had written beside it:
He would not stop scratching at Adrian’s office door.
I stared at the note.
Six years ago, Malcolm had been inside my house.
Catherine had still been alive.
Bruno had reacted then too.
May you like
And now the same man was back, searching my office.
Whatever this was, it started before Vanessa.
