What was the name on the dog bed he’s seen in The White Swans Hotel, in the room occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Pierce?

Muffin.

He whistled, and the dog stopped, ears pricked, listening. He whistled again and called its name. The dog stared at him uncertainly, and then came bounding toward him, only to stop, puzzled, as he drew close enough to pick up Rutledge’s scent on the errant breeze.

Rutledge called to him again, and the dog came forward slowly, warily, as if half afraid. Head down, it begged for assurance and had no reason to feel any.

Rutledge stopped, letting the animal come to him, and when finally it did, whimpering, belly dragging, he bent down to fondle its ears.

It was the same dog he’d seen in the photograph of the bride and groom, nestling among the folds of the woman’s skirts. He was prepared to stake his life on it.

After a moment the dog rolled on its back, and Rutledge scratched the animal’s chest. And then it leapt up, half afraid again, and looked past him down the beach toward another couple strolling some twenty yards behind.

It had been abandoned here on the strand, he was almost certain of it, and he reached down to pick up the end of the lead.

If this was the same animal, where was Mrs. Summers?

Chapter 21

21

The dog refused to leave the shoreline. He struggled against his lead, and even growled as Rutledge lifted him into his arms.

It took half an hour to make any progress with the animal, and even then he thought it was more a reflection of the dog’s growing despair than his own blandishments. The fact that Rutledge knew the animal’s name seemed to weigh, because when Rutledge made to move back toward the road, the dog stood there whining, torn between waiting and going, and finally he came forward, head down, and let Rutledge pet him again.

Still, it was an uphill battle back to The Nancy Bell, and when Rutledge arrived on Sergeant Bell’s doorstep, both he and the dog were out of breath.

Bell, staring at the two of them, said, “And what’s this?”

Rutledge explained, and Bell got down on one knee, ruffling the dog’s ears, then led it to the kitchen, where there was a little roast beef left from the night before.

But the dog was back at the door after wolfing down the beef, scratching the wood paneling and crying to be let out.

“That’s pitiful,” Bell said, watching it. “It’s known only the one mistress, you can see, and wants none other.”

“She may be dead,” Rutledge answered. “I don’t think he would have left her side otherwise. If she were alive, she’d have fought to keep him with her.”