214 Palmer Street(44)
Gavin had just begun to walk away when he heard Heidi say, “I know this woman! She came in a few days ago asking about a property.”
He turned. “I’m sorry. What?”
“She came into the town hall a few days ago.” Heidi shook her head. “Something about her seemed off to me.” She lifted her glasses and set them on her nose, then stared straight at him.
“How so?”
“Just shifty. Didn’t tell me her name, but wanted some information about a house on Palmer Street. Said she was going to buy it and wanted to know if there were any outbuildings.” Heidi tapped on Christy’s desk. “She seemed kind of nervous.”
Gavin felt his heart constrict in his chest. “Two-fourteen Palmer Street?”
Heidi tilted her head in thought. “Maybe. Sounds about right. She said she wanted to know about any structures on the property besides the main house. I went to ask Gwen about it and when I came back the woman was gone.” Her eyes widened. “I found it very suspicious.”
“How long ago was this?”
“The end of last week? I can’t remember the exact day. Thursday?” Her face brightened. “Did I help solve the case?”
“You might have.” Gavin’s smile stretched tightly. “All of us need to get back to work now. Thanks for stopping by, Heidi.”
Heidi’s smile faded and she nodded. “Talk to you later, Christy.”
After the door closed behind her, Christy said, “Thanks, Chief. She’s such a pest. I told her I was busy, but she just wouldn’t go.”
“I understand,” Gavin said. “Some people are hard to get rid of.”
TWENTY-FIVE
After Phil left, Sarah went inside. She hadn’t accomplished what she set out to do, but tomorrow was another day and it would be easier in the morning when there would be more light and fewer mosquitoes. After taking a shower, Sarah settled down with her laptop to check on Cady and Maggie.
Several months earlier when she’d discovered who owned Kirk’s childhood home, she’d tried to find information online. Maggie Scott, who lived next door, was one of the few people who still lived in the neighborhood. As an added bonus, Maggie had a public Facebook page. She only updated it sporadically but gave out helpful information when she did. One of her posts was a photo of herself holding a plastic gnome. The caption said: My neighbor Cady showed me this thing she got on Amazon. I liked it so much I got one for myself. The bottom has a secret compartment for holding house keys! Very cool! That post was only up for a few hours. Presumably someone had cautioned her about the wisdom of letting people know where you hide your key. In general, Maggie seemed unclear on the concept of social media. She liked to cut and paste her Yelp reviews as well as posting random pictures of each room in her house from every angle. Sarah could have drawn a floor plan based on the photos.
Cady was more of a challenge. Her account was private, so initially that was a roadblock. Sarah did come across an article on a blog which featured a photo of Josh and Cady among a group of eight Peace Corps volunteers, arms around one another, all of them smiling, bandanas either hanging around their necks or tied around their foreheads. The picture was taken in Guatemala years earlier. The post was written by one of the other volunteers, a woman named Lauren Trumble. In the comments, Cady had written, You nailed it, my friend! I loved your take on our time there. Glad to see your photo included Alexa Glemboski. She wasn’t in any of my pictures. Do you have her contact info?
Lauren Trumble answered: Sorry, no. I never really got to know her.
Another woman added, I searched for her online and couldn’t find anything. Alexa, if you come across this, contact me! I have photos to share.
Alexa never responded.
Reading this, something stirred inside Sarah. Her curiosity about the house and its past had become amplified. She needed to know more. She sensed that the only way she’d find out what was inside the bomb shelter was to insert herself into the life of the new owners of the property. She didn’t have a plan beyond that, but it was a start.
With shaking hands, she created a fake Facebook account under the name Alexa Glemboski and created an avatar to match Alexa’s appearance in the photo. Over the next few days she filled the page with scenery and positive memes, and acquired a few Facebook friends, making a point to target those with the same last name.
When the page looked sufficiently full, she put in a friend request to Cady Caldwell. It worked. Cady accepted her request the next morning, along with a quick message: Yes! I’m so happy you found me. I’ve been thinking about you lately and hoping all is well.
A wave of guilt washed over Sarah, and she almost deleted the account right then and there. Taking a deep breath, she mulled over how she could justify this deception, and it came down to this: she had to know the truth about her husband. It was an odd juxtaposition thinking of Kirk, the man who rubbed her feet and wrote her adoring notes, as someone capable of killing another human being. At one time they’d talked about starting a family. She’d always wanted to be a mother and knew Kirk, who was endlessly patient, would be a good father. But everything that had happened since she came home from the hospital made her wonder if she’d ever really known him. She closed her eyes and exhaled, bringing to mind all of the events that clouded her certainty of her marriage: Kirk’s missing childhood friend, Jeremy, and the machete at Gavin’s house. Kirk had ready explanations but she hadn’t found them at all satisfying. She could tell by the look on his face and the sound of his voice that he was keeping something from her, something serious, and she suspected that the answer was in the backyard of his old house.