Part 31 (2/2)

Jeanette appeared slightly surprised, almost as if she'd

suspected Maggie to be the type of person who might poison

or torture a poor, homeless animal whose master had died.

Maggie continued, once again using a calm, gentle voice.

”I will understand perfectly if you want to take the dog with

you. However, you should know that Lizzie and I hit it off

the day I first visited your grandfather. In fact, although I

only knew him briefly, I was quite fond of him.” She picked

up the figurine and turned it around in her hands. ”And I felt

absolutely horrible to find him like that-”

”You found him?” Jeanette's eyes narrowed. ”I thought

it was Rick.”

Maggie looked directly into the woman's eyes. ”Look, I

have absolutely no reason to lie to you about anything. And

if I hadn't come to care so deeply about your grandfather, I

wouldn't even bother trying to convince you of the truth.”

She set down the figurine and picked up an edition of last

week's paper, holding it out toward Jeanette. ”And if you're

half the person your grandfather believed you to be, I'd think

you would want to read this article for yourself. He spent a

lot of time telling me his side of the story, all of which is

included here.”

Jeanette reluctantly took the paper. ”Rick Tanner says it's

just a bunch of lies.”

”Why don't you read it, and then judge for yourself?

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