Page 28 of The Map Home
“No, I didn’t.” The older woman shook her head. “I took Barky out for his last pee around ten and we didn’t stray far. I don’t want to end up in the hospital like poor Curtis Lewis.”
Yep, everyone in town heard everything.
“Thanks for answering my questions, Geraldine. If you think of anything or hear of something from anyone, please call us at the Sheriff’s Office.”
“Oh, I will, Deputy. I am simply shocked. I can’t believe someone would just take the donations. They were for children! What is the world coming to these days?”
“I can’t say. Be careful out there. They say it might get icy again later.” Next on his list was CCs, where the baker should be just getting off her shift.
The coffee shop was located a bit down the street from the Christmas tree and the donation booth, but most of the other stores and restaurants opened later in the day. He’d stop by Jake’s too since maybe Tad saw something when he was stalking Honey Sweeting. But he also figured that he would’ve knownlast night if Tad had heard anything, and not this morning from Sheriff Morgan.
He stomped down errant thoughts of Tad; he couldn’t afford to be distracted.
The baker at CCs, Donna Pearce, spotted Dakota waiting by the counter and waved as she came out from the back to meet with him. A flour-dusted apron was tied around her waist and her hair was tucked back out of the way and also lightly dusted with flour. Dakota thought Donna was in her forties, but he didn’t know for certain. All he knew was that the few times they’d interacted, she’d been pleasant.
“Thanks for speaking with me.”
He had his notebook out just in case, but after his previous conversation, Dakota didn’t expect to have much, if any, information to write down.
“Sure, it’s not a problem. Always happy to help.”
Dakota explained about the missing toys. “We’re searching for possible witnesses. Did you see or hear anything unusual when you arrived this morning?”
Pursing her lips, Donna considered his question.
“It was pitch dark when I arrived this morning, of course, except for all the Christmas lights. And”—she grimaced—“I park in the back and just come right through into the kitchen. I can’t say that I heard or saw anything today. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.”
Was he frustrated? Yes. Assuming that the crime had taken place in the early morning, he’d pinned his hopes on those employees that arrived early at shops around the area. The chances of learning who was behind this were fading quickly—if there’d ever been any.
“Do you want to talk to my son?” Donna asked. “He’s a server here and, seeing that he’s grounded from driving for a week, he’sbeen riding in with me. Ended up sitting out in the car for a while for reasons only known to himself. There’s a chance he was sleeping, but he could’ve been on his phone. Dang things.”
“If I have your permission to speak with him, that would be great.”
Looking over her shoulder, Donna spoke to a dark-haired kid behind her. “Joshua, when you have a minute, Deputy Green would like to ask you some questions.”
The spindly teenager lurking behind the counter was Josh, the kid who’d served him yesterday afternoon. He straightened up, his eyes going wide as he glanced between Dakota and his mother. Donna had turned back to Dakota, so Josh couldn’t see the slight smile on her face. Whatever he’d done to be grounded from driving, she was pleased he was nervous.
“Good morning, Josh, I’m Deputy Green. Do you have a moment to speak with me?”
“Um, sure?” Josh glanced at his mom again, who was still suppressing a smile as she gave him a curt nod.
Slowly, Josh came out from behind the counter but stopped before he got too close to Dakota.
Dakota relented and attempted a smile. “It’s about an incident that occurred nearby very early today. We think anyway. Your mom says you stayed in the car for a while after arriving in the morning?”
“Oh, yeah.” Josh relaxed. “Because I can’t drive in myself later like usual. I sat in the car for about an hour until it got too cold.” He shot his mom a glare.
“Did you see or hear anything out of the ordinary?” Dakota asked.
The area behind CCs was angled parking for all the businesses along the square. At four or five in the morning, it would’ve been dark and mostly empty, Dakota supposed.
Much like his mother, Josh pursed his lips together, actively trying to remember if he’d seen anything.
“I don’t think so?” The kid looked like he wanted to add something but wasn’t sure if he should.
“Did you see somethingnotweird?” Dakota asked.
