years ago, but did you hear anything the night of the murder?” Shep asked. He noticed that Wagner now wore hearing aids in both ears.
“Had the TV turned up too loud to hear myself think back then. Was convinced I didn’t need these damned things.” He pointed at the hearing aid in his left ear. “Got so bad I finally bit the bullet. I was shocked when the cop came to my door and told me what had happened.”
Shep was beginning to wonder why he was bothering with asking the neighbors. It wasn’t like they had anything new to offer. He glanced around the room. Everything looked well-worn. On a bookshelf in the corner, he spotted an assortment of what appeared to be a variety of sports awards. He pointed at them. “Yours?”
Wagner shook his head. “Mostly from two of my stepsons. A couple of them are mine from back in my heyday.” He grinned. “I may not look it but I was fast on my feet, and good with my hands.”
“Did any of your stepsons know the teenage girls down the road?”
“The boys had moved out long before that family moved in, but they visited occasionally.” Wagner winked. “They weren’t apt to miss a pretty face so I’m sure they’d noticed. But they were all in their twenties, way too old for those schoolgirls.”
“Did any of your stepsons stop by that night?”
The old man shook his head. “The only time they came around back then was when they needed a meal or money. Damn shame what happened. You know I saw her that night.”
“You did?” Shep’s ears perked up.
“I’d gotten up during a commercial on TV to go into the kitchen for a snack. That window in there looked out on that big old house. All the lights were blaring. I figured the parents were gone. Can’t imagine what their electric bill was each month.”
“So you saw Lindy?” Shep asked, hoping to get Wagner back on track.
The elderly man nodded. “That girl had the prettiest blond hair. Shone like a lamp that night even though it was pitch-black out.”
“You saw her outside the front door?”
“That’s where she was the first time I saw her. She seemed to be poundin’ on the door like she was locked out. But when I looked again, she’d gone around to the back.”
“Did you tell the police this?”
“I suppose I did since the way the house was, I could see her at the back. I saw her bend down and pull something out from under a flowerpot at the edge of the house, then she disappeared back inside. I watched for a moment, but she didn’t come back out.”
So she hadn’t been locked out the whole time. “She didn’t put the key back?”
“Not while I was watching.”
Shep leaned back in the chair, trying to make sense of this. Lindy had never been locked out? So why the hysterics at the front door? Had Charlie been right that Lindy was playing her?
“You’re sure you told the police this?”
He saw the man’s hesitation. Wagner hadn’t told the cops. They hadn’t looked for the spare key. If Lindy had come out of the house to put the key back... Was that when she was attacked?
Shep realized that even if Wagner had told Mulvane what he’d seen, it wouldn’t have meant much to the cop. He didn’t know about Charlie locking Lindy out.
“I felt bad for that dark-haired one to have something like that happen, just the two of them alone in that house.” Wagner nodded, smiling from his skeletal face. “She was so lucky that night, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, she was.” Shep rose. “Thank you for all your help.”
“Not sure I was any help,” the man said as he tried to struggle to his feet.
“Please, don’t get up on my account. I can see myself out.” Shep had a thought as he remembered Charlie saying that she once saw Lindy wave to the stepsons. It was a long shot, but he had to follow any and all leads at this point. “Would you mind if I spoke with your stepsons?”
“Not sure they have anything to add, but you’re welcome to it.” Wagner picked up a pad and pen next to his chair and labored to write down their names and phone numbers.
Shep took it and glanced at it in the dim light. The man’s handwriting was almost unreadable, but there appeared to be three first names on the paper with telephone numbers after them. He stuffed the paper