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“Investigator?” David blinked a few times. His
mouth moved like he was going to say something else, but didn’t.
“Yes, you remember our friend Eden, from when
Charlotte tried to move in with Cilla?” Melba said.
“Oh, yeah, right. I remember. You threw me off
track. I’m talking about security for your house, keep someone from breaking in,
or at least send for the cops if something happens, and you talk about that lunatic.”
He chuckled, but the sound didn’t entirely convince Melba.
“Never to worry.” Cilla gestured at the back door.
“Ted keeps an eye on things, and if he thinks the situation is dire enough we need
a burglar alarm, he’ll help us with it. Not that we don’t appreciate your help,
but he is a police officer, he lives here, and he knows how things are done.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said with a grin that didn’t
quite reach his eyes. “I’m big city and you’re little township, with nothing in
common.”
“I wouldn’t put it that way.” She chuckled. “Now,
would you like to join us for dinner? I’ve got a lovely batch of chicken and potato
wedges I put in the slow cooker this morning, and we’ve got the last of the corn
on the cob from Dalrymple’s. Their corn is always so good.”
“Thanks, but …” David shrugged. “Got a business
meeting on this side of town. Just thought I’d check on you before I headed over
there. You didn’t get back to me, so I figured maybe you were out of the house all
day, or out of town or …” Another shrug. “Glad you’re okay and on top of things.”
He turned like he would head down the winding
path of paving stones through the middle of the garden, and out the back of the
yard, then stopped after two steps and headed up the driveway to the street.
“Give our greetings to your folks,” Melba called.
“How are they doing, by the way?”
“Fine, fine. You know how it is with them. Always
running around.” David walked backward a dozen steps as they made their farewells.
He turned left at the end of the driveway and in a few steps vanished behind the
house next door.
“Huh, that doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?” Cilla was already on the back
porch and fumbling with her key. “How about dinner outside tonight? It’s cooled
down enough.”
“Fine.” Melba couldn’t recall seeing any cars parked on the street between Overview and their house, so where was David going? A sigh escaped her as she turned and headed down the path through the flowerbeds. She stopped halfway there, so she was partially hidden by the line of skinny evergreens that stood as a threadbare sort of barrier between their back yard and the parking lot of the apartment building behind them. Sure enough, she saw David jogging down the sidewalk and turning left into the parking lot to a car parked next to the driveway.
He had come up through the back of the house, like he had done dozens of times before when he came over for picnics or brought his parents for a family get-together, whenever relatives dropped in from out of town. That explained why Heinrich went after him, coming through the trees like that. The old curmudgeon certainly wouldn’t have believed David when he claimed he was there on a legitimate visit, if he didn’t come to the front door “like an honest man with nothing to hide,” as he often finished so many of his complaints nowadays. But why didn’t David want them to know where he had parked?
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