A great storyteller

Max was still telling Noah and the shadow how he had managed to find James. A story which was turning out to be both interesting and entertaining. Both to the storyteller as well as the ones listening to it.

"Once I was inside I just looked around a bit as I made some small talk. Then, once we were seated, I asked her if she had seen or contacted James recently. She told me she hasn't. So, I asked her if she had any idea where he might be as I had visited his apartment and he wasn't there. She told me that she had no idea and why should she know, claiming that most grown men don't keep in contact with their mothers on a daily basis. Which I of course found rich, coming from her."

Noah laughed and said, "I am amazed that you were able to keep a straight face when she said that." To which Max replied, "Well I barely broke. It took everything in me to not roll my eyes or let out a sarcastic laugh. But anyways, after she denied knowing where he was, I asked her about the dog. I rhetorically asked her if the dog, that by now had taken his seat on my lap, wasn't James' dog before I asked her what the dog was doing there and if James had been here. She seemed visibly startled and immediately denied it being his dog. At least at first. But when I confronted her with the nametag on the collar, she lied through her teeth." Noah replied, "That sounds like her alright", with an added chuckle.

Max carried on and said, "She was saying that she thought I was talking about a different dog and then admitting that it was indeed his dog but that it had been there for a while. That the dog had been staying there for the past month and that it hadn't been a recent drop off. That he would stay over more often whenever James was too busy to take care of him and that this didn't mean that she knew where her son was." Sarcastically Noah added, "Yeah, busy aiding a criminal and helping with an attempted murder". Max didn't let Noah's little additions and reactions to his story stop him and just continued telling Noah of what had transpired in his aunt's house.

"Well you know as well as I do that James doesn't go anywhere without that damn dog. But aside from that fact making her story unbelievable, her telling me that the dog had been there for a month, told me that she was clearly lying. That dog had been at the company picknick two weeks ago and I saw him walk that dog during his lunchbreak just a few days ago. Why would he do that when, according to her, he is too busy to take care of him? Especially to the point where the dog has to stay with his parents for such a long time. If you are indeed so busy, why would you then drive over to your parents' house to pick up the dog just to walk the him during lunch and then take him back to your parents' house immediately after. That makes zero sense and I told her the same thing."

With a chuckle in his voice Noah asked, "What did you say?" A question Max was happy to answer, "Well, I said to her that I found that story quite strange as I had seen that dog with him just a few days ago on two separate occasions and that it was extremely unlikely for him to drive back and forth to pick the dog up for those occasions if he was so busy that he needed them to look after the dog for a period of a month. She began stammering. Trying to think up her next lie. That is when I started hammering down."

Max was a great storyteller. He was not only telling what had happened, he changed his voice to match the person saying the words and his own state of mind when he asked the things he did, which added to the enjoyableness for his small audience. Making them feel as if they had been there to witness it all themselves. "I asked her, 'Are you sure he isn't here? He goes everywhere with this dog. He fought to have it to go along during our annual ski trip. He takes it with him to every company outing. He couldn't let you watch the dog, who you claim stays over here all the time, during those times. Yet now, he suddenly decided to leave it with you not for a day, not for a week, but for over a month? I think he is here and I that is the reason why the dog is here. I think that if we head over to your garage right now, I will find his car there and I think if I called him right now, I will hear his phone ring somewhere in this house.'"