Scout stirred under Lila’s bench, tail flicking once, gaze fixed on the evidence pouch. Merritt noticed the motion, quiet but deliberate. Dogs, he thought, didn’t understand words like impossible. They only understood wrong when they sensed it.
When Lila approached the witness stand, the noise in the gallery fell away as if swallowed by the air itself. Scout padded beside her, each movement measured, deliberate, protective. Merritt felt the courtroom hold its collective breath.