In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(34)

“I’m pretty sure he walks around the block,” Maxwell said. “Evan is a little slow. ‘Challenged’ is probably the proper word. It’s not pronounced, but . . . I think he keeps to the same walk, you know, so he doesn’t get lost and his brothers can look out for him.”

“You said he lives two houses down? In which direction?” Kins asked.

“I’ll show you.” Maxwell stepped onto her front porch, crossing her arms against the cold. She pointed down the block. “The house is a bit dilapidated. It belonged to their parents. They’re real nice people, but I don’t think they have much money to spend on repairs. Franklin works at a retirement home and Carrol works at a Home Depot.”

“Carrol is a man?” Kins confirmed with Maxwell.

Something about the relationship struck Tracy as odd. “Are the parents dead?”

“They are,” Maxwell said. “Since before we moved in.”

“But the brothers still all live together?”

“Three of them.”

“How old are they?”

“I would guess Franklin is in his late forties or early fifties. He’s the oldest. Then there is Carrol and Evan. Evan is younger.”

“Were any of them ever married?” Tracy asked.

Maxwell shrugged. “I’ll admit I thought it was odd at first, but as I said, they’re great neighbors. Mostly they keep to themselves. We brought the kids by Halloween night, and Evan and Franklin gave away full-size Hershey bars. It was very generous of them.”

“Does Evan work?” Tracy asked.

“He does odd jobs in the neighborhood. He mows the backyards of several of the houses. Franklin takes care of him. He’s very sweet with him.”

“Are there other siblings?” Tracy asked. “Other than the three brothers?”

“I don’t know. I know how it sounds, three brothers living together. I can hear it in the tone of your questions, but sisters live together all the time, and nobody thinks anything of it.”

They copied the video and sent it to Kins’s work email, thanked Maxwell, and walked two houses down the street. The sun had set, the darkness interrupted by patches of light from the street lamps. The trees behind the homes swayed in the breeze and the air was heavy, like it could rain again.

The dilapidated house sat atop a small knoll. Unlike the other yards, the front yard was barren, without flowers or plants, the lawn mostly crabgrass. A cracked concrete walkway led to three wooden steps and a porch.

“Looks like Norman Bates’s house at Universal Studios,” Kins said as they approached. “If I see an old lady sitting in a rocking chair in the window, you’re handling this interview on your own.”

“You’re a baby,” Tracy said.

“And I readily admit it,” Kins said. “I’m afraid of the dark, horror movies, and sharks. When I go to Hawaii, I don’t swim in the ocean because I’m sure Jaws lurks below the surface.”

Tracy peeked around the side of the house. The yard extended back thirty feet or so and looked to continue to the wooded ravine, roughly in the area where the trail came to a dead end, though the darkness made it hard to be certain. She did not see a fence at the back or separating the three adjacent properties. The lawn continued uninterrupted across the yards, but for an occasional flower bed.

Tracy and Kins climbed the wooden steps to a dark porch. Drawn shades prevented them from seeing in the windows. She had concluded the Sprague brothers were not home before Kins knocked on the front door, a dull, almost hollow sound. The porch light flickered on, and the front door pulled open.

“Can I help you?” The question came from a broad-shouldered man who looked to be the age the neighbor had said for the oldest brother. He had long black hair that showed traces of gray and which he combed back off his forehead. A wave of curls extended almost to the collar of his white T-shirt. He wore jeans and, despite the cool temperature, was barefoot.

“Franklin Sprague?”

“Who wants to know?”

Kins introduced himself and Tracy. They flashed their shields. “We’re sorry to intrude on your evening.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I was just watching some television. Thought you might be solicitors or religious freaks. You can never be too careful nowadays. What can I do for you?” He crossed meaty arms. Tracy thought he had to be freezing, standing in the cold barefoot and in a T-shirt, but he didn’t invite them inside.

“We’re asking all the neighbors if they might have seen a young woman who went running in the park late Wednesday afternoon.”

“Is she missing or something?” Sprague asked.

“She is,” Kins said.

“What time did she go running?”

“Between four and four thirty,” Kins said.

He shook his head. “I was at work, and I went shopping Wednesday after I got off. Didn’t get home until well after dark.”

“One of your neighbors recalled seeing her in the park.”

“Bibby?”

“You know him?”

“I know he walks in the park just about every day. Everybody does. You talk to him?”

“He’s the one who called, said he saw her.”

“There you go then.”

“So, neither you nor your two brothers saw her?” Tracy said.