Chapter 5 - Bruno Had Been Barking at the Deck for Three Weeks
That night, after Ellie was asleep in my sister’s guest room, I remembered something I had dismissed repeatedly.
Bruno had become obsessed with the deck.
He was normally a calm dog.
Massive.
Protective.
But gentle enough to let Ellie use his side as a pillow.
Three weeks earlier, he began stopping near the deck stairs every evening.
Sniffing.
Growling.
Sometimes barking into the darkness beneath it.
I assumed raccoons.
Seattle backyard.
Raised deck.
Perfect explanation.
Once, I crawled halfway underneath with a flashlight and found nothing.
Then I found a piece of beef jerky near the back support post.
I blamed squirrels dragging garbage.
Now it looked different.
Police searched the entire area.
Near the foundation they found three more pieces of dried meat.
Not random scraps.
Placed several feet apart.
Someone had been trying to make Bruno comfortable with a stranger’s scent.
It hadn’t worked.
Raymond later admitted visiting the property before.
“Just looking.”
“How many times?”
He said twice.
Phone-location records eventually suggested at least six.
Bruno hadn’t suddenly become paranoid.
The dog had been reporting an intruder for weeks.
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I simply hadn’t understood the language.
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