“You can swear all you want, you drunk old fool. But there’s no such thing as a talking dog.” Coco’s words played over and over again in Ollie’s head as he quickly walked down Williams Lane, making his way back to the apartment building. While Ollie did believe in many peculiar things, he had never thought of the possibility of a talking dog.
“It’s impossible,” he thought to himself. “Maybe I saw somethin’ wrong…I was still pretty wasted,” he laughed.
Ollie thought back to the previous morning. George had just told him the horrible news of Mr. Evans’s passing.
“He’s dead, Ollie.” George said, leaving Ollie dumbfounded.
“I was here sleepin’ the whole night! Wh-what coulda happened?” Before Ollie even had a chance to hear George’s answer, his attention was diverted.
“What is it, boy?” he heard a female voice say from around the corner of the parking deck. He looked over and saw a woman who he recognized immediately: Maple Ryn, parking spot 207.
“I think it’s Mr. Evans,” said another more masculine voice, this one unfamiliar to Ollie. He didn’t remember ever seeing Maple with a man. Intrigued, he strode towards the exit of the parking deck, completely forgetting the fact that he was mid-conversation with George.
“Ollie! Where are you going? Did you even hear a word I just said?” George yelled as Ollie began to walk away.
“I uh-I gotta go. I’ll catch up with you later George!”
As Ollie got closer to Maple, he grew more confused. She wasn’t with anyone except her dog.
“Hey how you doin’?” he asked Maple, clearly more interested in the German Shepard staring up at him.
“Good,” Maple and the dog said, simultaneously.
Ollie’s eyes grew wide. He was speechless. He must be hallucinating. He looked up at Maple and tried to formulate a sentence.
“Well we better get going!” Maple anxiously cut him off and ran back to the building.
⋯
Ollie finally arrived at the apartment building. He was determined to find Maple to set things straight with Coco.
“I ain’t no fool,” he thought to himself as he slammed the front door behind him. “I saw what I saw.”
He hurried towards the elevator, completely ignoring his surroundings. Seconds after he pressed the button, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Excuse me sir,” a man with a noticeably deep voice said. Ollie turned around to a man in a blue uniform towering over him.
“I’d like to ask you a few questions about the murder of Mr. Evans.”
