Chapter 6 #2
The garage was a separate structure at the back of the property. It might have been a carriage house at one point, when the neighborhood was new, or it could have been a later addition made to look like it had always been there.
It opened into the alley. The yard was enclosed with a privacy fence on all sides, so the only way out was through the garage. I tried the side door. It was locked. This time I did press my nose to the glass and peer inside. The garage was empty.
I trudged back through the yard and into the family room. “Nothing.”
Diana nodded. “Trevor hasn’t heard from Steven. Or so he says.”
“Do you have any reason to think he’d be lying?”
She shook her head. “He’s in Los Angeles. It isn’t likely Steven would go to him.”
Probably not. That was even farther than Virginia.
“I guess we just have to wait,” I said. “At least nothing seems to be wrong. He left of his own accord this morning. Maybe he’s just somewhere out of cell phone range.
Or he turned off his phone for some reason.
Or forgot to charge it last night, so it ran out of juice. ”
Diana nodded. Although I noticed she had gnawed the lipstick off her bottom lip. “I have another appointment in...” She checked her watch, “forty minutes. I have to go back to the office.”
“Let me know if you hear from him,” I told her, as we walked out the front door together, and I watched her close and lock it. “I’m sure nothing’s wrong. But let me know what you find out.”
She nodded. “You do the same.”
I promised I would. We got into our respective cars, and I sat and waited until Diana zoomed off, back toward Germantown and the office.
Then I pulled out my phone and dialed Mendoza.
“I just wanted to update you,” I told him when he came on, sounding harried.
“Steven Morton wasn’t at home, alive or dead.
His car’s gone. His clothes are all here.
He had oatmeal for breakfast and left the bowl in the sink.
He didn’t leave a note. There’s nothing to indicate he left under duress or in a hurry.
His mother in Virginia hasn’t heard from him, nor has his nephew in California.
Or so they both say. Diana is worried, but trying to hold it together.
She went back to the office for an appointment. ”
Mendoza thanked me.
“Anything new on your end?”
“Nothing pertaining to Steven Morton,” Mendoza said. “Go walk the dog, Mrs. Kelly.”
He hung up. I deduced he was busy.
By the time I got back to the office, poor Edwina was practically crossing her legs on the sofa. “I’m sorry,” I told her, as I shook the leash out and snapped the end of it onto her collar. “I’m sure you have to go. Let’s take a walk.”
She jumped off the sofa, ears flapping. Her nails skidded on the floor as she headed for the hallway. I hurried after, through the lobby and outside. For having such short legs—albeit four of them—she could put on a lot of speed. Behind me, Rachel giggled.
Outside, Edwina made a beeline for the nearest flower bed. I could almost hear the sigh of relief when she squatted among the mostly bare stalks. Then she nosed around for a minute, peed again, and trotted back toward the door.
“This is the office,” I told her as we walked.
“For the rest of the day,” just a couple of hours now, “you’ll have to stay here.
You’ll get very comfortable with that particular flowerbed, I bet.
If you stick around, maybe you can come with me when I go places sometimes, but a lot of the time I’ll have to try to look inconspicuous, and there’s nothing inconspicuous about you. ”
She turned to look at me, ears at attention.
“You can sleep on the sofa,” I continued, “or I’ll try to find you a doggie bed.
It depends on how long you’re staying. Someone else might want you.
” Someone with a legal claim, like Mrs. Grimshaw’s next of kin.
“But tonight, unless something changes, you can come home with me. You’ve already been there.
It’s where you walked around in the bathtub. ”
Her little stub of a tail wagged. I don’t think she had any idea what I was saying, but maybe she liked being talked to. If it had been just her and Mrs. Grimshaw in the house, chances were Mrs. Grimshaw had talked to her a lot.
Inside, we stopped at Rachel’s desk for a moment. When I blew through earlier, in and out, I’d been too busy to stop and talk. Now we lingered as I asked for an update.
“No calls,” Rachel said. “Zachary wrote his report and put it on your desk. Then he left again. He said he was going back to the university for afternoon classes.”
He was probably just hoping he’d get lucky and catch a glimpse of the blonde, but OK. He’d let me know if Steven showed up. “The house next door to Mrs. Grimshaw is empty. The house where Steven and the blonde spent at least an hour yesterday.”
Rachel looked politely inquiring, and I added, “Mendoza let me in.” Or rather, Mendoza had opened the door, and I’d walked in. “Nobody lives there. There’s no furniture. Not even a rug to sit on. I have no idea what they can have been doing for the hour or more they spent in there.”
“That’s strange,” Rachel said.
I nodded. “See if you can track down contact information for the owners. And see if maybe the house is for sale or for rent, or something like that. Mendoza suggested that maybe the blonde was a real estate agent.”
Rachel scribbled notes to herself. “What about you?”
“I’m not quite sure,” I told her. “Zachary knows what the blonde looks like. I don’t.
It won’t do me any good to look for her.
I wouldn’t recognize her if I saw her. And with Steven God knows where, it’s not like I can follow him.
And I think I’ve bugged Mendoza enough today.
If I show up over at Mrs. Grimshaw’s house again, I’m afraid he’ll have me arrested for trespassing. ”
Rachel nodded. “For now, maybe you can just go read Zachary’s report. Maybe something will strike you.”
Maybe. At the moment I was fresh out of ideas.
“Let me know what you can dig up about the house and the owners,” I said. “Edwina and I are going to my office.”
“Any word on how long she’s sticking around?”
I shook my head. “Mendoza didn’t mention anything about having notified next of kin.
There might not be anyone to notify. Mrs. Grimshaw lived alone—except for Edwina—so maybe her husband was gone.
And not everyone has children. And as old as she was, she might not have parents or siblings left. We could get stuck with the dog.”
Rachel peered across the desk at her. Edwina’s tongue lolled out of her mouth as she grinned. Her stub of a tail wagged.
“I prefer cats,” Rachel said.
“I don’t mind her,” I answered. “She’s not much trouble.” And she was a good excuse to stay in touch with Mendoza.
Rachel shrugged. “I’ll see what I can find out about the house. Let me know if you need anything else.”
I said I would, and then Edwina and I headed down the hall to my office.