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‘You were a good dog,’ she whispered. ‘We’ll miss you.’

‘The best,’ Ryan said.

There was the sound of a car outside. Mary glanced out of the window. A police car had pulled up in front of the house.

‘I called 911,’ she said.

‘Not much they can do now,’ Ryan said. He moved towards the front door. ‘I’ll let them in before they knock and wake the kids.’

Mary followed him. There were two officers. One of them she did not recognize; the other – Travis Wilkinson – had coached Otis’s basketball team in fifth grade.

‘Officer Wilkinson,’ she said. ‘Come in.’

‘Hi, Mary,’ he said. ‘What’s going on? We heard there was an intruder?’

‘There was,’ Ryan said. ‘He’s gone.’

‘But there was an intruder?’ Officer Wilkinson said.

Mary nodded. ‘Ryan heard Wally – our dog – bark. He came downstairs and confronted the guy, who ran away.’

‘Which way did he go?’ the other officer said.

Ryan pointed to the back of the house. ‘That way, on to the trails. There was no point chasing him. I’d never find him.’

Wilkinson glanced at the other officer. ‘We’ll put out an alert anyway. Do you have a description?’

Ryan shook his head. ‘It was dark, and he was wearing a hoodie.’

‘Height?’

‘Not as tall as me,’ Ryan said. ‘I’m six one, so I’d say maybe five ten, five eleven?’

That’s Ben’s height, Mary thought. She glanced at Ryan. It was clear he was thinking the same thing.

‘What colour was the hoodie?’ the other officer asked.

‘Dark. Black, or maybe dark grey.’

The other officer nodded. ‘Thanks.’ He walked over to the car, and leaned a hand on the roof. He spoke into the walkie-talkie – if that was what it was, Mary couldn’t be sure – then got into the passenger seat.

‘Did he take anything?’ Officer Wilkinson said.

‘I don’t think he was there for that,’ Ryan said.

Wilkinson raised an eyebrow. ‘What was he here for?’

Mary beckoned him to follow, and led him into the kitchen. She pointed at Wally.

‘He did that.’

Wilkinson looked at Wally’s body for a few seconds. ‘Jesus Christ,’ he said. He raised his hand. ‘Sorry for the language.’

‘I heard Wally bark,’ Ryan said. ‘When I came into the kitchen, he had just – done this.’

‘He was probably trying to silence the dog,’ Wilkinson said. ‘So he could steal what he wanted. There’s been a bit of that around recently – not the dog killing, but the stealing. Mainly it’s drug addicts.’

‘I’m not sure that’s the case here.’ Mary caught his eye. ‘There have been some odd events leading up to this. Gray Turner’s aware.’