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Faith shrugged. “I’m staying away from that conversation,” she said. “Any luck on the bulletin?”
As if on cue, Michael’s phone rang. He answered and, after a moment, smiled. “Thank you, Officer. If you can keep him there until we arrive, that would be great. Shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes.”
“They got him here? In the city?” Faith asked.
“Yep. He’s at a park about five minutes from his house.”
“His kid’s there?”
“Yep. Think we should tell the officer to take him somewhere?”
“Not yet. After Turk gets a good read on him, we can use him to occupy the son and talk to Mr. Hornfeldt in private.”
“Good idea,” Michael said.
They reached the park as promised twenty minutes after Michael hang up. Richard Hornfeldt stood with his arms crossed, arguing with the two officers who had stopped him. His son hovered just behind him, his eyes wide as saucers.
When he saw the dog approaching, the son shrank back until Turk offered a friendly bark and then trotted up to him, tail wagging. Richard stepped quickly in front of his son, but Turk, rather than reacting aggressively, just looked at him, bewildered. It seemed Turk didn’t sense a threat from him.
“We’ll take it from here, officers,” Faith said. “Thank you.”
The officers nodded and the older of the two asked, “You want us to stick around, just in case?”
“Actually, now that you mention it,” Faith said, “if you wouldn’t mind watching my dog while I talk to Mr. Hornfeldt. I was thinking this handsome, young man here might want to play with him while we ask his dad a few questions.”
The boy’s eyes popped open, and he looked pleadingly at his father.
“What’s this about?” Richard asked irritably.
“I think it’s in everyone’s best interests if we speak privately, Mr. Hornfeldt,” Michael said.
Richard frowned but allowed his son to leave with Turk. The officers exchanged a glance, clearly unhappy with being saddled with babysitting duty, but they complied without protest.
When Hornfeldt’s son was out of earshot, Faith and Michael started questioning him.
“Mr. Hornfeldt, can you tell us your whereabouts two nights ago?” Faith asked.
“Two nights ago? I was in Buffalo. We got in around eight-thirty.”
“Do you have anyone who can verify that?”
“Um, I mean, you can call the hotel. They can verify that my son and I checked in. I’m sure they have security cameras too.”
“Which hotel is that?”
“Sunrise Inn. You need the number?”
“This the one?” Michael said, holding his phone up.
“Yeah, that’s it. Comfortable rooms and not too pricey either.”
“If I’m ever in Buffalo, I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Mr. Hornfeldt, what were your thoughts when you heard about Mr. McIlhenny’s death?” Faith asked.
“Who?”
Faith and Michael shared a glance.
