“All right, Miss Dola,” she said. “I’m not the most … I don’t believe in this. I don’t believe in ghosts or UFOs or the Loch Ness Monster. What I know is that my daughter thinks there’s something very wrong with this dog, and despite what I believe, I do, too. I think …” She inhaled deeply. “I think my dog did something to make my husband fall. I think he hurt a man we hired to train him, and I think he caused a fire in our house. I don’t know how he did any of that, but I can’t deny that I know he did it. So I hope you’ll be able to help us.”

“As do I, Ms. Tanner,” said Miss Dola.

“First of all, I want to speak about your training style,” said Mom.

“No,” said Miss Dola, shaking her head.

“Sorry?” asked Mom.

“No training style,” said Miss Dola. “No references, no resume, no Yelp profile.” She leaned in, and her voice got low. “I work privately with very specific animals, Ms. Tanner. I do not click my fingers at mean Chihuahuas for rich idiots like the dog whisperers you see on TV, and I do not organize boot camp obstacle courses. What I do is find where an animal of great power is living, and I determine whether or not they can live with the humans who think they own it.”

Mom gaped, struggling for words, but Amy knew what she wanted to ask.

“And what if they can’t?” Amy asked.

Miss Dola shrugged. “It depends. Case-by-case basis, young lady. Sometimes, the animal can’t be saved. And this particular animal … well, fool me once, eh? Might be time to put it to sleep.”

It bothered Amy that the first thing she felt when Miss Dola said that was joy. She knew it was wrong, to wish for any animal to die; it felt even worse to consider what it said about the person she was now. Once upon a time, dogs had been her weak spot. She’d been a lover of animals who would take spiders outside rather than step on them. But she couldn’t help it: The idea of Rover being gone—gone forever, wiped off the earth—made her breathe a little easier.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Amy. “Do you even know? Everyone tells me he’s bad, but no one can say what that means.”

“Well, there might be a number of things,” said Miss Dola. “I’ve encountered some rather specific animals in my day, Amy. But I’ve been doing some research on your little pooch, and I have one or two strong theories.”

“Like what?” asked Mom.

Miss Dola took a sip of her coffee and smiled. “You ever heard of Cerberus, Ms. Tanner?”

“Is that a wireless provider or something?” asked Mom.