Chapter 138

“That’s got to be the only dog I’ve ever heard of that does that,” I said.

“At least he’s consistent.”

We went out to the deck, but it was too chilly to sit outside.

“We need to install some sort of gate at the top of the stairs so Thor can come out on the deck without the leash,” I said.

“You’re the carpenter, handle it.”

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

I took some frozen chicken breasts out and put them under a slow stream of tap water to help them thaw, and we sat down on the sofa to wait. Eventually Thor walked over to the windows and assumed his alert pose, letting us know that we had company approaching. I went to the door and let Lucinda in.

“Come on back to the kitchen table,” I said. “We’ve got something to show you.”

On the table we had spread color photos of the exteriors of all four houses, along with a couple of black-and-white sample shots of the interiors.

She studied them for a minute and said, “I don’t know what I’m looking at.”