Page 126 of Cold, Cold Bones
“Not bad.” Walter pointed a finger pistol at Ryan, mimicked blowing smoke from the barrel. Two of his digits sported rings the size of bagels, one sapphire, one ruby.
“I didn’t catch your last name,” Ryan said, smiling.
“What?” Walter gave a flirty wink. “Are you considering asking me out on a date?”
Ryan winked back.
Walter turned to me. “So you think we had a prowler, sweetheart?”
I nodded.
“As do I.” He said it with sudden conspiratorial intensity.
“Really?”
“I was up late last night watchingSaturday Night Fever. John Travolta is absolutely marvelous. Have you seen it?”
Ryan and I nodded.
“Anyway, Travolta was dancing in these gorgeous platform boots when my phone signaled motion on the lawn. I remember thinking that the chiming blended well with the music.”
“Did you look outside?”
“Not necessary.” Proudly. “I viewed the action right here on my mobile. Saw nothing amiss. Since there was no follow-up warning, I figured it was a deer, maybe a dog passing by. Or the wind. She was blowing up a tizzy last night.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
Walter swiped twice, tapped several times on his screen. “At 1:09 a.m.”
“Do you still have the video?”
When Walter looked up, the hairpiece shifted position. It wasn’t a good shift. “Indeed, I do. For sixty days.” Beaming. “AndI can share it.”
“Could you send it to me?”
“I surely could, darling. Though I fear you’ll see naught.”
Ryan and I spent the next half hour watching footage of the outside of my neighbor’s home. And mine. Though Walter’s cameras were focused on his two entrances, the one above his side door caught the patch of grass between the coach house and the annex.
The video was in color—Walter had boasted with pride—but the previous night had been moonless and gusty. It was like viewing the world through murky water. All movement was wobbly and in shades of gray.
We saw the prowler simultaneously, hurrying toward my unit with a quick, determined stride. The sequence lasted a total of seven seconds before the figure disappeared off frame.
The time stamp said 1:09 a.m.
“What did you see?” Ryan asked after we’d rewound and replayed the footage again and again.
“The face was totally obscured.”
“That’s what youdidn’tsee.”
“He’s tall. Maybe six feet.”
“How do you know?”
“I estimated as he passed in front of the magnolia. I know that tree is eighteen feet high.”
“He?”
