Page 21 of Alibi for Murder
“Which means your parents may have visited the Madisons there. You may have as well.”
“Only one way to find out.” Allie closed her laptop. “Let’s have a look.”
“You’d make a great investigator,” Steve said as he followed her out of her office.
Allie laughed. “I may have been guided toward where I needed to look by someone with considerable experience.”
He chuckled. “We all start somewhere.”
She couldn’t help thinking again how lucky she was to have him helping her out with this total mystery that had descended upon her life.
She just hoped that, however this ended, it wouldn’t be the conclusion of this rekindled friendship.
If she was really lucky it would be just the beginning.
She almost laughed out loud.Wishful thinking, Al.
Talbert/Madison Residence
Justen Road
McHenry, Illinois, 7:00 p.m.
The property wasaround half an hour away from Allie’s home.
But it was not what she had expected at all. The twenty acres had been listed on the county map, but the house was totally different from what she’d envisioned. It was a massive barn that had been renovated into a home. Those sorts of renovations had become popular in recent years, but it seemed unexpected three decades back. Maybe the Madisons had been ahead of their time where home design was concerned. Or perhaps Mr. Talbert had done the renovations before giving it to his daughter.
As they parked, Allie noted a good many other details. The place was a little rundown. Slightly overgrown. It looked as if no one had been here in years. Made sense, she supposed, since Madison’s wife had been dead for three years. Maybe he hadn’t found the time or the desire to see after the property. They had moved to their most recent residence twenty-nine years ago.
Steve parked. “You want to get out? We still have some daylight left.”
Allie nodded. They were here. Might as well have a look around.
She almost smiled at the idea. Though she rarely left the house, he somehow managed to have her ready for all sorts of adventures. Just went to show that you could do whatever necessary when thrust into a situation like this one.
Maybe all she’d needed this whole time to come out of her protective shell was someone to be adventurous with. Or perhaps the more likely scenario was that deep down she wanted to impress him. She did not want this man to see her as a shut-in or a recluse…or a nobody.
What better way to prove the rumors untrue than to be adventurous?
The woods were thick all around the yard that had been carved from it. The house sat smack in the middle of that clearing, lending even more privacy to the structure since only the driveway made any sort of path through the thick circle of trees. Based on the aerial view she’d seen on the county listing, more woods and some pastureland rolled out behind the yard and the house.
They emerged from the SUV and walked to the front door. Sunlight filtered through the massive windows along the side of the house as they passed, allowing her to see inside. There was furniture. Did that mean someone lived here? Maybe. A ring of the doorbell and a knock on the door garnered no response. A repeat of both resulted in the same.
A cautious walk around back found more needed maintenance for the home and landscape and no sign of human habitation. How strange that the house had been seemingly abandoned with all its contents. Didn’t people usually take their things or sell them when moving?
Allie studied the outside of the house. She suddenly felt jittery, and she had no idea why…until she discovered the large pavilion—a gazebo-like structure detached from the back of the house and almost hidden in the trees. The fading sunlighttrickled through the vines and shady branches that grew over it. Something about the way the faint light dappled through and formed shapes tugged at her memory.
“I know this place.”
The words she whispered were so soft she doubted Steve had heard her, but she was lost in a memory she couldn’t quite capture. Some elusive slip of something she recognized but couldn’t grab on to.
Allie walked around, studying the wood structure with all its vines and overgrown shrubs. The wood was failing in places, screaming for attention.
“You believe you’ve been here before?” Steve appeared next to her.
“I don’t know…but it feels like I have.” She turned to him. “You know that feeling of having been somewhere, but you can’t quite place it? Maybe I saw it in photos. If my parents had been here, then there were likely photos. My grandmother said my mother loved taking photos.”
“Then let’s take our time.” He assessed the yard that spilled beyond the trees to a fenced pasture. “We’ll walk the grounds and then come back to the house and have a look through any window we can reach.”
