One Foot in the Grave (Carly Moore #3) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,82
He didn’t say anything for several seconds. Then he got into his truck and turned around to head back to the county road.
Marco was waiting for me when I went back inside. “Is it clear for me to come out?”
I nodded. “Thanks for giving me a chance to warn him.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Max would kill me if I arrested his brother.”
“Would you do it if you thought he might be guilty?”
He hesitated. “He isn’t. Wyatt isn’t perfect, but I know he didn’t kill Heather Stone.”
He hadn’t exactly answered my question, but I let it go. “Since the sheriff’s department wants to arrest Wyatt, I’m thinking about calling Max and telling him I won’t be in today. Or,” I added, “I might go in for the busy lunch rush, then do more investigating before the dinner shift.”
“Why don’t you talk to Hilde and Bingham, then we’ll decide?” he asked as he picked up the bouquet of daisies from the table.
“Yeah,” I said. “Good idea.” I grabbed my bag and headed outside.
“You follow me,” Marco said as he locked his front door.
“Okay,” I said, “then you can follow me to Bingham’s and wait on the side of the road. We’ll figure out where to go from there.”
He nodded with a grim expression. “I’m gonna take my own car. I don’t want to be calling attention to myself in my deputy vehicle.”
I was parked behind his Explorer, so I tossed my bag into the back of my car and got in. After backing up and turning around, I got onto the county road leading to the highway.
Marco followed, and I stopped about twenty feet from the stop sign at the highway and let him pass me. He headed toward town, but it wasn’t long before he turned off onto a county road. Several minutes later, he pulled off and parked in front of a pale yellow house set back about thirty feet from the road.
I parked next to him and got out. My nerves were on edge as I walked toward him. Now that we were here, I wasn’t so sure I could go through with asking Hilde questions about her niece. She’d only just found out Heather had been murdered.
Marco gave me a reassuring smile after I told him my concerns. “How about you let me take the lead at first? Then we can suss out how she’s feelin’ and go from there?” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Heather’s been missing for nine years. While I’m sure she’s upset, it’s not like her niece has been part of her everyday life. It might actually give her closure to know why she hasn’t heard from her.”
I nodded. “Yeah. That’s true.”
We walked toward the front door together, and Marco knocked, holding the flowers in his other hand.
The door opened right away, and an older woman answered with a cautious look on her face. “Hello?”
“Hi, Miss Hilde,” Marco said in his friendly voice. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Marco Roland, Beth Roland’s son.”
She clasped a hand to her chest. “Beth? Oh, my word! How is she? I haven’t talked to her in years.”
“She’s good,” Marco said. “After she heard about Heather, she wanted me to come by and offer condolences on her behalf.” He held up the bouquet.
Tears filled her eyes. “Gerbera daisies. They’re my favorite.”
“A little birdie told me,” I said. “A birdie named Thelma Tureen.”
“You know Thelma?” she asked in surprise.
“Carly likes to visit some of the residents at Greener Pastures,” Marco said. “And she wanted to come offer condolences on Thelma’s behalf.”
Hilde turned her attention to me.
“Hilde,” Marco said, “this is my friend, Carly Moore. I hope it’s okay I brought her along.”
“Of course,” she said, backing up. “Where are my manners? Come in. Come in.”
We followed Hilde inside, and she gestured to a worn sofa against a wood-paneled wall. Marco handed her the flowers and she took them into the small kitchen, opening a cabinet and pulling out a vase.
“Is Beth still in Wilmington?”
“Yep,” Marco said, resting his hands on his knees. “She got remarried. Did she mention that?”
“She sent me an invitation to the wedding. I was sorry to miss it.” She put the flowers in the vase and filled it with water.
“Well, it was pretty short notice,” Marco said, glancing around the room. “I had trouble getting time off work to go.”
“Is she happy?” Hilde asked, setting the vase on the peninsula separating the kitchen from the living room.