“Were there any leads at all?” Judith asked.
“Not really,” Woody answered. “When the first one
occurred a month or so ago, one of the other homeless
persons told the detectives that he’d seen a guy in a
raincoat hanging around late that evening. Two of the
killings took place at night, you see, when everybody
was asleep. Have you heard anything new on Joe?”
“No,” Judith admitted. “I keep waiting for word. To
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Mary Daheim
be honest, I’m scared. Someone meant to kill Joe, I’m
convinced. What if they try again? Plus, Renie and I
think someone searched our room last night. It’s occurred to me that we might be in danger, too.”
Woody didn’t answer at once. “Well,” he finally
said, “maybe I can get a patrol officer to watch out for
you folks. Though if Joe was stabbed in a homeless
camp, I doubt very much that his assailant would show
up at the hospital. Whoever it was probably wouldn’t
know where he’d been taken. Not to mention that the
attacker may assume Joe is already . . . ah . . . dead.”
Judith winced at the word, but Woody continued:
“As for you and Serena, I wouldn’t worry too much.
Was anything stolen?”
“No,” Judith admitted.
“Then,” Woody said, “whoever searched your
room—and he or she might have been just a compulsive snoop—did you no harm. It’s doubtful that this
person would come back.”
“You may be right,” Judith allowed, though her concern ebbed only a jot. “I guess it’s just that my anxiety
over Joe makes me more sensitive to potential peril.
The uncertainty about whether Joe will recover may
have addled my brain.”
“Joe’ll be fine,” Woody said, and Judith hoped that
he had a good reason for the confidence in his voice.
“When he comes to, he may be able to give some sort
of description.”
“They said he was stabbed in the back,” Judith said,
having difficulty getting the words out. “I have a feeling he never saw his assailant.”
“That’s possible,” Woody said. “But Joe might have
seen someone suspicious before the attack. I imagine
that the members of FOPP will be very concerned
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about this. They wouldn’t have hired Joe if they
weren’t serious about making the homeless camps
safer.”
“It’s a worthy cause,” Judith said, though when it
came to Joe’s welfare, FOPP’s anxieties couldn’t possibly be as serious as her own. “Who are these people,
anyway?”
Woody chuckled faintly. “Are you thinking of suing
