A. Milne With Rex panting at my feet, I sat on Friona’s futon couch. The phone rang, interrupting the clink of ice dropping into glasses. Friona returned to the living room with the phone tucked up on her shoulder. She handed me my glass and scurried back to the kitchen. Like the plain white frame exterior, the inside of the house was decorated in a bare, contemporary style. A black futon and a white chair sat on a red rug. A coffee table and a small glass end table with an art deco–style lamp completed the furnishings. Abstract prints in primary colors dominated the walls. I wondered if the room was sparely furnished because Friona and Keith wanted it that way or if they didn’t have any money to spend on furniture. The house was tiny, probably only two bedrooms on the left and the living room and kitchen on the right. “Rex, no!” I whispered. He pulled his nose out of Friona’s expensive leather purse. She must have left it beside the coffee table on her way inside. “Drop it.”
