Discombobulate

Chapter Nine

Detective Mullen sunk back in his seat a little. He glanced over at Sheriff Winston. Winston rubbed the back of his neck. "We have photos of the scene, but we don't have anything else. Nobody looked for fingerprints. Like I said before, the investigation wasn't completed properly."

"Are you kidding me?" Andy crossed her arms. "Remind me again why you let Sullivan in charge."

"He was voted into his position by the people. We thought he was doing a good job until we realized he wasn't. Usually, when you're given the position of sheriff, you try to do a good job."

Detective Mullen reached over and snatched the notebook from Sheriff Winston. He ripped out a blank page and slid it back. Winston handed him the pen he was using.

"Now, where did you get the dog?" Detective Mullen fell back into detective mode. "Who did you purchase him from?"

"I can answer that for you," Andy came back into the conversation. "It was my aunt, her dog had puppies. Sammy was Jennifer's birthday gift a few years ago. After he was weaned from his mom, he lived with the Houghton's."

"Was he aggressive with strangers? Would he attack them or growl? Did he stand his ground?"

"He didn't like strangers. He'd growl if they came over. It was a rare occurrence. I'm sure he would have attacked if he felt threatened enough."

"Oh my god," Andy mumbled. Denise looked over at her friend. Andy had placed her head in her hands.

"What?" Denise asked. She looked from Sheriff Winston to Detective Mullen and back again. "Am I missing something?"

"There was DNA testing completed from the blood on Sammy's face. One sample matched your mom. The other sample matched your sister. There were only two DNA samples. That means..." Sheriff Winston trailed off. He was hoping Denise would put it together.

"That means Sammy didn't attack anyone. The dog knew whoever murdered your family. They could have put him in a room or something." Andy felt her stomach churn as she spoke. She regretted talking Sheriff Winston into getting them donuts.

Denise paused trying to take it all in. This information didn't help her case. In her eyes, it meant she was still a suspect. If anything, this was more evidence against her.

"Who regularly visited your house?" Sheriff Winston took the pen back from Mullen.

"My neighbor, Tara, Jennifer's best friend. My mom would sometimes have a few people over from church. I never invited anyone over other than Andy. She hasn't been in town for over three years. We haven't talked again until today."

Denise tried to think back to everyone who had been at her house recently. She hadn't kept track. Most of her time was spent in her room. She liked to be alone to concentrate on writing.

She was gone for five weeks. A lot can happen in thirty-five days. However, her mom and sister had never talked about anyone new. She talked to them every few days. They never mentioned anything out of the ordinary.

"As I said before, the investigation wasn't completed properly. No fingerprints. No evidence besides the blood swabs from Sammy's snout. The only thing we have is crime scene photos. Does anything in these photos stick out to you?" Detective Mullen pulled out a few photographs.

Sammy's muzzle was covered in dark red blood. He stared at the camera with copper-colored eyes. His eyes were drained of life. It was like he knew Susan and Jennifer weren't coming back.

Susan Houghton in her pink bathrobe laid on her back. Multiple knife wounds penetrated her torso. She laid in a puddle of her blood. Her eyes continued to stay open after death. She looked her killer in the face while she bled out.