Page 26 of Alibi for Murder
“I live across the road. I saw you turn into the driveway. My husband and I always kept a watch on the place for Thomas. He traveled a lot with his work.”
“You’ve been neighbors a long while,” Steve suggested.
“We were here when he and Jane bought the place.”
“You knew Jane well?” Allie hoped for more information on the other property.
“Well enough,” the woman said without further explanation. She reached for the photo Steve held. She studied it for several seconds, then shook her head. “I don’t recall ever seeing them.” She handed the photo back to him. “Why do you want to find them? The photo is obviously quite old.”
Allie took another photo from her purse and handed it to the woman. This one was of her parents. “What about this couple?”
The woman stared at the photo for a while, her face blank. Then she shook her head. “Never seen them before either.” She passed the photo back to Allie. “Again, why are you trying to find people in old photographs?”
“We have reason to believe they may have information,” Steve said. “It’s important that we find them.”
“I have no idea who they are. Now, obviously you’ve had your look around, so you need to go. I don’t want to have to call the police and report the suspicious activity.”
She kept her gaze on Steve. Wouldn’t look at Allie. The idea that this woman way lying about not knowing the people pictured in those photos had a stranglehold on Allie.
“Alice and Jerry Foster,” she said to the woman, ignoring her edict and waving the photo again. “They were my parents.”
The woman blinked, then reluctantly dragged her gaze back to Allie. “I’m sorry for your loss, but I never saw them before.”
“Did Thomas live here alone?” Steve asked, drawing them past the awkward moment.
“After his wife…Jane died,” the nosy neighbor confirmed, “he almost never came home anymore.”
Allie fired another question at her. “Did he sometimes stay at the McHenry property Jane’s father gave them?”
The neighbor stared long and hard at Allie then. “I have no idea. I don’t know anything about that property.”
“Like this one,” Steve said, “it looks abandoned. Overgrown. Didn’t Thomas have someone to take care of the place?”
“There was a man who did the lawn mowing and things like that,” she said, “but I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Do you know his name?” Allie asked.
The woman shook her head. “I never spoke to him myself. Just saw his truck coming and going.”
“When was the last time you saw him here?” Steve prodded.
She shrugged. “Maybe a month ago.”
“There was no business info on his truck?” he asked.
Good question.
“Nothing. Just a plain white truck pulling a black trailer with a riding lawnmower parked on it.”
“I have a business card I’d like to give you.” When she didn’t argue, he reached for his wallet and removed one. “I hope you’ll call me if you think of anything else that might be useful in our search for the truth.”
She accepted the card but frowned at the question. “What truth?”
“The truth about who murdered Mr. Madison,” Steve explained. “I’m sure you and your husband will feel safer when that person is identified and brought to justice.”
Another series of slow blinks. “Yes, of course.”
“Do you know what happened to Jane’s mother?” Allie asked. “Her father passed away, but there was no mention of her mother.”
