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The retriever watched, licking its lips

Breaking the bar into pieces, Travis paid out the chocolate in ratefully and ate almost daintily

Travis watched in confusion, not certain if what had happened was truly extraordinary or had a reasonable explanation Had the dog actually understood hilove box? Or had it detected the scent of chocolate? Surely the latter

To the dog, he said, "But how did you know to press the button to pop the lid open?"

It stared, licked its chops, and accepted another bit of candy

He said, "Okay, okay, so h it’s not the sort of thing anyone would ordinarily train a dog to do, is it? Roll over, play dead, sing for your supper, even walk on your hind feet a little waysyeah, those’re things that dogs are trained to dobut they’re not trained to open locks and latches

The retriever gazed longingly at the last oody for a , for God’s sake, had been uncanny Two seconds after Travis had referred to the chocolate, the dog had gone for it

"Did you understand what I said?" Travis asked, feeling foolish for suspecting a dog of possessing language skills Nevertheless, he repeated the question: "Did you? Did you understand?"

Reluctantly, the retriever raised its gaze froain Travis sensed that so; he shivered not unpleasantly, as before

He hesitated, cleared his throat "Uhwould it be all right with you if I had the last piece of chocolate?"

The dog turned its eyes to the two small squares of the Hershey’s bar still in Travis’s hand It chuffed once, as if with regret, then looked through the windshield

"I’ll be da careful not toattention to the chocolate in any ain: "Well, maybe you need it more than I do, boy If you want it, the last bit’s yours"

The retriever looked at hi it close to his own body in a way that i the chocolate, he said, "If you want it, take it Otherwise, I’ll just throw it away"

The retriever shifted on the seat, leaned close to hiently snatched the chocolate off his pal rose onto all fours, standing on the seat, which brought its head alh the backof the cab and growled softly

Travis glanced at the rearviewunusual behind them Just the two-lane blacktop, the narrow berht side "You think we should getlooked at him, peered out the rear , then turned and sat with its hind legs tucked to one side, facing forward again

Travis started the engine, put the truck in gear, pulled onto Santiago Canyon Road, and headed north Glancing at his companion, he said, "Are you reallyup? And if you are more than you appear to bewhat the devil are you?"

At the rural eastern end of Chapman Avenue, he turned west toward the McDonald’s of which he’d spoken

He said, "Can’t turn you loose now or take you to a pound" And a minute later, he said, "If I didn’t keep you, I’d die of curiosity, wondering about you"

They drove about twolot

Travis said, "So I guess you’re

Two

1

Nora Devon was afraid of the television repaire), he had the offensive cockiness of a know-it-all teenager When she answered the doorbell, he boldly looked her up and down as he identified himself-"Art Streck, Wadlow’s TV"-and when he ain, he winked He was tall and lean and well-scrubbed, dressed in white uniform slacks and shirt He was clean-shaven His darkish-blond hair was cut short and neatly combed He looked like any mother’s son, not a rapt or psycho, yet Nora was instantly afraid of him, maybe because his boldness and cockiness seemed at odds with his appearance

"You need service?" he asked when she hesitated in the doorway

Although his question appeared innocent, the inflection he put on the word "service" seeestive to Nora She did not think she was overreacting But she had called Wadlow TV, after all, and she could not turn Streck aithout explanation An explanation would probably lead to an argument, and she was not a confrontational person, so she let hi the wide, cool hallway to the living-roo and big suise He had a keen animal watchfulness, a coiled tension, that further disquieted her with every step they took away fro herover her froot a nice house here, Mrs Devon Very nice I really like it"

"Thank you," she said stiffly, not bothering to correct his misapprehension of her marital status

"A man could be happy here Yeah, a man could be very happy"

The house was of that style of architecture sometimes called Old Santa Barbara Spanish: two stories, cream-colored stucco with a red-tile roof, verandas, balconies, all softly rounded lines instead of squared-off corners Lush red bougainvillea cliht blossoms The place was beautiful

Nora hated it

She had lived there since she was only two years old, which now added up to twenty-eight years, and during all but one of them, she had been under

the iron thumb of her Aunt Violet Hers had not been a happy childhood or, to date, a happy life Violet Devon had died a year ago But, in truth, Nora was still oppressed by her aunt, for the

In the living roonavox, Streck paused to look around He was clearly surprised by the decor

The flowered wallpaper was dark, funereal The Persian carpet was singularly unattractive The color scheray, maroon, royal blue-was unenlivened by a few touches of faded yellow Heavy English furniture from the , stood on clawed feet: ari, credenzas that looked as if they each weighed half a ton Shty brocade Soray shades, and others had ht The drapes looked as heavy as lead; age-yellowed sheers hung between the side panels, perht to enter the room None of it complemented the Spanish architecture; Violet had willfully iraceful house