Another Word for Murder by Nero Blanc

darkened in stubborn petulance; her hand darted out and grabbed one of the sandwiches from the cutting board, then shoved it toward Bear’s face. Naturally, the big brown dog consumed the offering in a single gulp.
    â€œLily! That’s a very naughty girl. You know your daddy doesn’t like you feeding Bear—”
    â€œI want my daddy,” Lily fought back. “I want my daddy.”
    Karen gripped the countertop and lowered her head. “We just have to be patient, sweetheart. Daddy’s coming home soon, but we have to be good until he gets here.”
    â€œI want Rock,” Lily countered indignantly. “I want Cookie.”
    â€œWell, we can’t have Rock and Cookie visit us right now, Lily-bet.”
    â€œI want to go to the park with Rock and Cookie and Gabby and Kitty.”
    â€œWe can’t do that either, because we have to eat our lunch. Besides, it’s Sunday, and you know how crowded the park can be on Sundays. Remember the time those two German shepherds knocked you down?” Karen’s voice had taken on a strangled tone.
    â€œI don’t care! I want to go to the park, and I don’t want legumes.”
    Despite her anxiety, Karen laughed. “You didn’t even know what they were until this minute.”
    â€œI do so!” She pointed to Bear. “I won’t eat legs or feets or hands.” Then Lily began another rhyming song. “ Humpty-Dumpty went up a hill to fetch a pail of water —”
    â€œLily-bet, let’s stop now and eat—”
    â€œ Humpty-Dumpty broke his crown … Humpty-Dumpty broke his crown …”
    â€œLily! Stop!” Karen’s voice had turned strident. “I mean it!”
    â€œI want my daddy!” Lily wailed, and she threw herself down on the floor in despair.
    The telephone rang at that moment, and Karen grabbed it. Distracted by her daughter’s temper tantrum, she totally forgot Rosco’s instructions. “Hello …? Hello …? Yes, I’m listening…. Dan! No, she’s just a little cranky; it turns out that peanut butter—Hello …? Dan …? Dan …? Are you there …? Please, whoever this is, put my husband back on the phone …!” Karen’s eyes remained glued to her daughter’s writhing form as she spoke. “No, I told you I wouldn’t go to the police, and I haven’t! I swear it! … But they’re friends of mine! That’s all! Just friends! They won’t talk to anyone—!” But the line was already dead.
    Returning the receiver to the cradle, Karen recognized her error. Her cheekbones quivered as if she were warding off a blow. “Oh, no…. Oh, your mommy’s made such a big mistake, Lily-bet.”
    The sound of her mother’s sorrow caused the little girl to cease her protestations, and she pulled herself into a sitting position as Karen looked at the clock and again picked up the phone and purposely dialed Belle and Rosco’s home phone. When the expected answering machine picked up, she stated a breathless, “I know you’re at the park. Don’t try to contact me. Ever. They’re watching the house. They told me that Lily—” Karen didn’t finish the sentence; instead she forcibly returned the receiver to its cradle.
    â€œLily, what, Mommy?”
    â€œLily won’t eat her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

CHAPTER 14
    At seven forty-five Monday morning, Belle and Rosco were sitting in abject silence in the midst of Lawson’s convivial weekday bustle. Karen’s message, which they’d retrieved from their answering machine late the previous afternoon, and her refusal to speak with them when they’d return the call, had been so disconcerting that even fourteen hours later the couple felt the need for more companionship than was offered by their two-human, two-canine household. Comfort food, the familiar clank of knives and