Page 31 of In the Line of Ire

"Iappreciate you coming out and doing that. Thanks,Larry."

"Takecare," he said, stepping out the door I just entered.

"I askedhim to come by and put a new lock on this door and also change thekitchen door lock," she explained. "I'm glad the girls can't seethis. I don't want them to worry."

"Do youthink they'd worry about my being here?"

"If theyknew why? Yeah."

"I'll beas quick as I can," I told her, "but I’d like to talk to yourdaughters too. Why don't you walk me through the house?"

"Sure.Well, uh, this is the hallway and we use the front door most of thetime."

"Each ofyou has a key?" I asked.

"Yes,just me and the girls."

"No oneelse? A neighbor? Maybe a friend?"

"No. Oneof the neighboring properties is currently empty and the other guyis never home. I think he travels for work. He's always hauling asuitcase in or out of a taxi."

"Whatabout your landlord?" I asked.

"No,Larry checks in on the property once a year but other than that, heleaves us alone so long as the rent is paid on time, which it is,"she added hurriedly.

"Whatabout when things need fixing? Like today? Does he ask for a keythen?"

"No. Ijust call him and he arranges for someone to make the repairs whenI'm home if he can't do it himself. I'm pretty lucky thateverything is in good working order and I've only ever had to callhim twice before now. Once, when we first moved in because thebathroom faucet was leaking; and the second time when the handlecame off the kitchen door. This is the kitchen," Natalie said as wewalked into a small dinette. One half of it was a U-shaped kitchenwith pine cabinets and a window that overlooked the yard. The otherhalf had a round table and four chairs. A vase of fresh flowers satin the middle of the table. In the corner was a plain desk litteredwith papers. On the same wall as the kitchen window were Frenchdoors that opened to a small patio.

"Do youalways keep this door locked?" I asked, pointing to it.

"Yes.There’s only one key so I keep it in here," she replied, pullingopen a drawer and extracting a key on a big key fob. She picked upthe keys her landlord left and attached those to the fob beforeputting it back in the drawer and turning around to lift the teakettle off the stove. "This is the kettle I found switched on thatday. There's no way the burners could have turned themselveson."

Istepped over to the stove, examining the dials. "I agree," I said."It would take more than a simple breeze to push these dials off oron."

"Something else strange happened yesterday," Natalie said,gulping.

"What?"

"Therewas a mug of coffee sitting on the counter. It was just how I likeit… with a little cream. And it was piping hot."

"I'mgoing to make a crazy guess that you didn't make it?"

"No, ofcourse I didn't! The coffee pot was switched off but it felt hotand the mug seemed like it was waiting for me to gethome."

"Did younotice anything else unusual?"

"No."Natalie crossed her arms across her body. "It was so damncreepy."

Inodded. "Are you sure someone isn't playing tricks onyou?"

"Icalled my girls and they were both on the school bus. I could hearit in the background. They couldn't have gotten home before me.It's just not possible."

"Show methe rest of the house," I said to take her mind off the eeriecoffee surprise.

"Sure.The powder room is off the hallway," she said, walking back the waywe came. "And the living room is through here." We stopped in aneat living room with two small sofas and a TV attached to thewall. A stack of women's magazines was on a side table with the TVremote. One corner held a music stand and sheet music but theviolin Natalie mentioned during our initial meeting was noticeablyabsent. Next we went upstairs, stepping into a small master bedroomand then a slightly larger twin bedroom. "The girls used to havetheir own rooms but I can't afford a three-bedroom by myself rightnow so they're sharing. I gave them the larger room since I onlysleep in mine and they need the extra space."

"That'svery generous of you."

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