car."
He dialed Will Graham's number. "Will? Meet me in front of your hotel in ten minutes and let's take a little ride."
At 7:45 A.M.Springfieldparked near the end of the alley. He and Graham walked abreast in wheel tracks pressed in the gravel. Even this early the sun was hot.
"You need to get you a hat,"Springfieldsaid. His own snappy straw was tilted down over his eyes.
The chain-link fence at the rear of theLeedsproperty was covered with vines. They paused by the light meter on the pole.
"If he came down this way, he could see the whole back end of the house,"Springfieldsaid.
In only five days theLeedsproperty had begun to look neglected. The lawn was uneven, and wild onions sprouted above the grass. Small branches had fallen in the yard. Graham wanted to pick them up. The house seemed asleep, the latticed porch striped and dappled with the long morning shadows of the trees. Standing withSpringfieldin the alley, Graham could see himself looking in the back window, opening the porch door. Oddly, his reconstruction of the entry by the killer seemed to elude him now, in the sunlight. He watched a child's swing move gently in the breeze.
"That looks like Parsons,"Springfieldsaid.
H. G. Parsons was out early, grubbing in a flowerbed in his back-yard, two houses down.Springfieldand Graham went to Parsons' back gate and stood beside his garbage cans. The lids were chained to the fence.
Springfieldmeasured the height of the light meter with a tape.
He had notes on all the Leedses' neighbors. His notes said Parsons had taken early retirement from the post office at his supervisor's request. The supervisor had reported Parsons to be "increasingly absentminded."
Springfield's notes contained gossip, too. The neighbors said Parsons' wife stayed with her sister inMaconas much as she could, and that his son never called him anymore.
"Mr. Parsons. Mr. Parsons,"Springfieldcalled.
Parsons leaned his tilling fork against the house and came to the fence. He wore sandals and white socks. Dirt and grass had stained the toes of his socks. His face was shiny pink.
Arteriosclerosis, Graham thought. He's taken his pill.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Parsons, could we talk to you for a minute? We were hoping you could help us,"Springfieldsaid.
"Are you from the power company?"
"No, I'm BuddySpringfieldfrom the police department."
"It's about the murder, then. My wife and I were inMacon, as I told the officer - "
"I know, Mr. Parsons. We wanted to ask about your light meter. Did - "
"If that... - meter reader said I did anything improper, he's just - "
"No, no. Mr. Parsons, did you see a stranger reading your meter last week?"
"No."
"Are you sure? I believe you told Hoyt Lewis that someone else read your meter ahead of him."
"I did. And it's about time. I'm keeping up with this, and the Public Service Commission will get a full report from me."
"Yes, sir. I'm sure they'll take care of it. Who did you see reading your meter?"
"It wasn't a stranger, it was somebody from Georgia Power."
"How do you know?"
"Well, he looked like a meter reader."
"What was he wearing?"
"What they all wear, I guess. What is it? A brown outfit and the cap."
"Did you see his face?"
"I can't remember if I did. I was looking out the kitchen window when I saw him. I wanted to talk to him, but I had to put on my robe, and by the time I got outside, he was gone."
"Did he have a truck?"
"I don't remember seeing one. What's going on? Why do you want to know?"
"We're checking everybody who was in this neighborhood last week. It's really important, Mr. Parsons. Try hard to remember."
"So it is about the murder. You haven't arrested anybody yet, have you?"
"No."
"I watched the street last night, and fifteen minutes went by without a single squad car passing. It was horrible, what happened to the Leedses. My wife has been beside herself. I wonder who'll buy their house. I saw some Negroes looking at it the other day. You know, I had to speak toLeedsa few times about his children, but they were all right. Of course, he wouldn't do anything I suggested about his lawn. The Department of Agriculture has some excellent pamphlets on the control of nuisance grasses. Finally I just put them in his mailbox. Honestly, when he mowed the wild onions were suffocating."
"Mr. Parsons, exactly when did you see this fellow in the alley?"Springfieldasked.
"I'm not sure, I was trying to think."
"Do you recall the time of day? Morning? Noon? Afternoon?"
"I know the times of day, you don't have to name them. Afternoon, maybe. I