Page 32 of Alibi for Murder
Martha stared at her plate for a moment. Steve hadn’t considered how difficult this might be for his parents, hismother in particular. He was aware his parents had known Allie’s parents…but maybe there was more they’d never said out loud before.
“The last time I spoke with her—” Martha lifted her gaze to Allie’s “—Alice mentioned that she was very worried about her husband. She wouldn’t say why, but I could tell she was, as you say, afraid.”
“After the accident,” Quentin picked up from there, “no one would talk about it. No one. Those of us not involved with Ledwell had no idea there was anything to talk about other than the tragedy of it and all the rumors buzzing around. Even twenty odd years later, we still don’t for that matter. But when Steve told us you had concerns, Martha and I started to think back. There was something wrong about the whole situation related to that accident and the others that happened, but there’s not a single comment, rumor, certainly not a headline I can put my finger on to explain the feeling. It was just a sudden series of blunt traumas that left a gaping hole in the community, and then it was as if it never happened. As if none of it ever occurred. In time, people stopped talking about it.”
The way Allie’s eyes shone now, Steve worried she was on the verge of tears.
“Did the two of you,” Steve asked his father, “have a chance to talk about the Madison child and what happened to him?”
Bringing up yet another tragic accident at the dinner table felt necessarily improper under the circumstances. Steve couldn’t get past the fact that after leaving Mrs. Talbert, they’d found nothing online about the child’s death. No obit. No headline. Not one mention. It was beyond strange. It was almost as if any record of the child and his death had been scrubbed from the internet. If Steve wasn’t fully aware that it was possible to do exactly that, he would think the notion was a little on the unreasonable side.
But it was possible. It had been done more times than the average person realized. There were services available for the right price to make just about anything go away.
“We weren’t really acquainted with the Madisons,” Steve’s father said. “We knew Alice and Jerry primarily because she and I grew up in the same school district. Our parents were friends. But Alice did talk to Martha a few days after it happened.” He turned to his wife. “I remember you were quite upset about the conversation.”
Martha nodded. “Alice told me about it. She and I were both flabbergasted that there was nothing in the paper after…what happened. Nothing at all. We discussed the idea that perhaps the Madisons had managed to keep it quiet to avoid all the painful drama. But I don’t think Alice believed that. I know I didn’t. I firmly believed that it was Ledwell’s doing. It felt like they wanted to avoid any and all bad press no matter the circumstances. I didn’t see her again for months.” She frowned. “Maybe closer to a year. I remember it was only a few weeks before their accident. She seemed distracted and worried.Unsettled.I wish I had tried harder to find out what was going on.”
Allie smiled, her lips trembling with the effort. “You couldn’t have known. No one could have.”
“Looking back, Allie,” Quentin said, “I believe there was more to your parents’ accident, and I am equally certain there was something the Madisons wanted to keep hidden about their own tragedy. The old saying hindsight is twenty-twenty is sadly true. We can see so much now that we didn’t then. In part because we didn’t realize we needed to look. Basically, we ended up chalking it all up to gossip and fear of the unknown. I mean, let’s face it, even now the AI stuff is a little unsettling.”
Martha nodded. “All that aside, there was something odd about some of the things that went on with Ledwell back then.Looking at each piece or incident individually—as we did when it was happening—it didn’t feel so pressing, so overwhelming. But when you consider it all as a whole, it’s entirely overwhelming.”
“There’s no question in my mind,” Quentin went on, “that those same sorts of things are still happening. They’re just better at hiding their secret activity these days. It’s funny. With social media, the average person’s whole life is out there for all to see. But those with the power can hide just about anything.”
Steve knew all too well how true that statement was.
“I can’t help wondering,” Allie said, “if what happened back then is the reason Mr. Madison was…” She looked toward the kids. “Why he went away so mysteriously.”
Steve noted that his sister was scrolling on her phone with one hand and lifting her fork with the other. As a single parent of two kids, she rarely got a moment to herself to do as she pleased. She took her moments where she could find them. He stifled a grin at the boys, who stared wide eyed at Allie, mouths slightly open.
“Don’t worry,” Amanda said as she glanced up at Steve, “they’re really into mysteries right now. The scarier the better.”
The boys, Clint and Carson, immediately launched into tales of their favorite true-crime episodes.
By the time dinner was over, Steve wondered if his sister was raising future investigators or serial killers.
While everyone else drank more wine and had cake, the future crime fighters retired to the den downstairs to catch up on whatever was streaming. Amanda insisted on cleaning up, and Steve and his father pitched in. His mom had family photo albums to show off to Allie.
When the cleanup was nearly done, his dad hitched his head toward the door. “Go on. Make sure your mom is not boring her to death.”
Steve tossed the dry towel onto the counter. “You know Mom is never boring.”
“You haven’t lived with her as an adult,” Amanda challenged from the refrigerator, where she was storing leftovers.
Steve laughed. “You talked me into it. I’ll go check on them.”
He found his mom and Allie on the sofa in the living room. The fact that they were laughing suggested there was no boredom with which to be concerned.
Allie held up a handful of photos. “Your mom gave me most of the photos she had that included my parents. One even has me in it.”
Steve sat down beside her. “I didn’t realize there were so many,” he said to his mother.
“Neither did I. Oh.” Martha raised a hand as if to rally their attention. “I think the mystery couple is Lucille and Dennis Reger or Regers. I’m not sure about the last name. I ran into Lucille, the redhead, in the market. She was with Alice. She seemed very nice.”
“That could really help.” He smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”
“I could ask around,” she offered. “I still have a good many friends from back then. A few who even still work for Ledwell. Someone else might recall some relevant fact about the couple.”
