Quinn! My hero. Jumped right in after me, she did.”
Josie froze in place. For a split second before the reporters turned and converged on her, she got a glimpse of the frown on Hayes’ face. Questions were shouted at her seemingly from every direction though none of them were about her rescue of Mrs. Bassett:
“Detective Quinn, what was inside the tarp?”
“Was that a body that you recovered in the water?”
“Detective, have you confirmed that a body was inside the tarp?”
“Were human remains found inside the tarp?”
Josie held up her hands, silencing the crowd. “I can’t comment on that at this time.”
More shouts followed, these more enthusiastic. Josie had to talk loudly to quiet them. “When we have more information, we will let you know. Right now, I’ve got work to do.” She leaned past them and caught Mrs. Bassett’s eye. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to Mrs. Bassett privately.”
Reluctantly, the reporters dispersed. Josie walked over to the tent, glad to be out of the rain for a few moments. She waited to make sure all the reporters were out of earshot before she addressed Mrs. Bassett. “How are you feeling?”
Mrs. Bassett winked at her. “Just fine, thanks to you. Now I just need to find a place to live.”
Hayes patted her shoulder. “I’ll find somewhere suitable. There are options.”
Josie said, “Did you have homeowners’ insurance? You may be able to rebuild.”
Mrs. Bassett shook her head. “That was a rental. It’s just the stuff inside I lost.”
“I’m sorry that you lost all of your possessions,” Josie told her. “We do have a couple of local businesses donating clothing and other things to people who’ve lost everything in the flooding. You’ll be able to get the basics.”
“I’ll make sure she gets what she needs,” Hayes said quickly.
Mrs. Bassett put the ice pack on her lap and grabbed Josie’s wrist. “I lost my husband in a fire fifteen years ago. I’d give up everything I ever owned in my lifetime to have him back. Things can be replaced.”
Josie was stunned by her optimistic attitude. The last week had been straight out of hell, watching members of her beloved community in dire straits. Some had lost their homes altogether and many others had lost most of their possessions. They’d been lucky so far that no one had died in the flooding, but still, people were displaced and devastated. Josie patted Mrs. Bassett’s hand. “I’m sorry about your husband. Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?”
Hayes said, “This isn’t really the time.”
Ignoring him, Josie said to Mrs. Bassett, “How long had you been living in that house?”
“Fifteen years. I moved in right after the fire. I had insurance money to rebuild, but I didn’t want to rebuild a home without my husband. But there was the matter of the land, which I still owned. I wasn’t sure what to do—I needed time to think. I was homeless—we never had children and I had overstayed my welcome with my sister-in-law—so I looked for a rental while I sorted things out. There was a local attorney looking to rent the house. He was nice enough. We went with a month-to-month lease.”
“But you never left,” Josie filled in.
Mrs. Bassett relinquished Josie’s hand and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Things move so fast, don’t they? I did sell the land our house had been on and put that money away. I just never got around to buying something else. My heart wasn’t in it, to tell the truth. It was easier to stay in the rental. Mr. Plummer—that’s the landlord—he always takes care of things. When something breaks, he has it fixed. When an appliance needs replacing, he has one delivered and installed. He takes care of everything, even landscaping and snow removal. He’s always been good to me. I just pay rent and utilities. If I bought my own place, who would I call for all those things?”
“Do you know Mr. Plummer’s first name?” Josie asked.
“Calvin. Calvin Plummer. His office is in South Denton.”
“You said he takes care of things. As long as you’ve been in the house, has he ever done any work or had anyone do any work on the foundation of the house?”
“No, not that I recall.”
“Do you know anything about the item we recovered?”
“Me? No. I didn’t know it was there. Basement was concrete. You saw it break apart,” Mrs. Bassett answered.
“Speaking of the basement,” Josie went on. “Did you ever have any problems down