Mn, that's why I figure the number an' who comes in is more important. Shows I'm runnin' a good show here.
[He pauses at that question and rubs the back of his neck.]
Not... exactly. He's a stray that hangs aroun' here. Guess that's how he avoids bein' caught. An' we feed 'im, so I guess... he's ours, in a way.
[No one else ever questioned the "stray" story either. He plays off his uncertainty with what Sam might figure out as... well, worrying that they might be breaking some unsaid rule about animals.]