“No. California.”
“Married a doctor and ended up moving to bum-f—” He looked up suddenly.
I gave him my best mom glare.
He paled, slightly.
Nice to know, even as an empty-nester, I still had it. I got to the point. “I’m here to ask if you heard anything the other night. Did you notice if anyone visited Oscar?”
“Oscar?”
I nodded my head slowly and motioned toward our cabin. “Your neighbor,” I added helpfully.
He shook his head. “Uh, no. I didn’t see anyone.” He walked to his dining room and pushed the curtain out of the way. I knew he saw Tom’s cruiser. “What’s going on?”
“He’s dead, maybe for a day.”
Dead and nobody noticed.
Ray turned, his pirate-self morphed into just a nice guy. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He took a swig of coffee.
I held my breath. I was sorry, too. It wasn’t fair.
“Let me think…” He rubbed his head.
Maybe he could massage the memory into his brain, but I doubted it. I’d have better luck asking Darla.
“Do you have Darla’s number? She might remember.” I gave him the stink-eye, slightly different from the mom glare. The mom glare made kids stop talking. The stink eye made them confess.
“Darla?” he said.
He didn’t seem to recognize the name. I spoke slowly, to ensure he understood I was about to lose my calm. “The woman who left your house this morning.” I raised an eyebrow. “And just so you know, her mother is Arlene Carries.” And from the cautious look he was giving me, I believed the rumors that he had biblical knowledge of Arlene. I might’ve transplanted here, but I knew the most interesting parts of the town’s history.
“Yeah?” he said, scratching his chest with a pinched expression on his face.
“Yeah. I think Darla’s about twenty. Didn’t you and Arlene date?” I paused for dramatic effect. “Back then?”
“What?” Ray turned white and he rubbed his chest again.
Based on the cholesterol and nitrate intake from the front seat of his car, he could be at risk for a heart attack. I should really stop taunting him. Except… Eww… He was dating women half his age, making them the same age as my kids. “Relax. You’re not her father, but based on your reaction, maybe you should focus on women thirty and up.”
“She was legal and I didn’t coerce her.” He sipped his coffee, a weak stink eye focused on me.
“No.” I hoped those weren’t the only two things he found attractive about Darla. “But here’s the thing,” My voice was low and serious. “I have two daughters just about her age, and I want to skewer your testicles.”
He sipped his coffee and adjusted his hips in order to protect said testicles.
“You’re kind of violent,” he said like I just mentioned it was windy outside. Clearly, he was used to being threatened.
“I’m having a bad day.” I didn’t want to discuss it further. I crossed my arms and tried again. “Darla’s number?”
He pulled the note out of his pocket and read the phone number out loud. I saved the number into my phone contact list. “Thanks.”
I turned and left him standing in the kitchen. Hopefully, Darla would be more helpful. I opened the front door.
Tom stood on the other side, hand raised and ready to knock. “Charlie, what are you doing here?” He eyed me like he’d caught me spray painting the side of the house or something.
“I wanted to know if he heard anything.” Okay, maybe I was a bit of a meddler.
Tom gave me his dead-eye cop gaze to which I responded with my I-changed-your-diapers glare, which of course I hadn’t, but sometimes it worked.
The sound of a buffalo lumbering toward me announced Ray’s presence. “Hey, man, how’s it going?”
Tom grinned, the lines around his eyes softened. “Good. You look like hell.” He stepped inside and around me.
“I feel like hell,” Ray agreed.
The two men did that back-clapping greeting that often reminded me of two rams sizing each other up under the guise of just playing around.
“You should. Seriously? The sheriff’s niece?” Tom sounded affable but the weight of his statement appeared to strike Ray.
He stepped back and glanced from me to Tom. “You know, I have to pick from a new pool.”
Tom’s shoulders hitched up. “Maybe you ought to slow down or move out of the kiddie pool. The water’s nice in the deep end.”
Ray stood a little taller and sucked in his gut. “I can’t help it if they find me attractive.”
Tom shook his head and gave me the what-are-you-going-to-do look.
I replied with a testicle-skewering side eye and smirk, but Tom ignored me.
“What about in the past week. You see anything I should know about?” Tom asked.
Ray said, “Nah. Really. The kid is quiet. I saw him a couple of times coming home from work. I don’t think he had guests over.”
“Where were you Sunday night?” Tom asked.
“Are you kidding me, right now?” Ray crossed his arms over his chest. His empty coffee cup hung from his first finger. His line-backer-sized hands dwarfed the cup.
“I’m trying to establish a timeline. I’m going to assume that even though you’re retired military police, you’re still a reliable witness. If you say you didn’t see anything, I believe you. However, if you weren’t home last night, I’d like to know.” Tom used his friendly Boy Scout Leader tone.
“Yeah. Right. Sorry. I left around nine, got home around one. His car was parked there the whole time. Lights flickering like he was watching TV.”
“Notice anything in the last forty-eight hours? Anyone coming or going?” Tom asked Ray.
“No.”
“Okay. I’m gonna talk to Darla. Is that going to be a problem?”
Ray narrowed his eyes. “Why would it be a problem?”
“Just asking.” Tom gave him a chin nod. “See you later, Ray.” He turned to me. “Charlie, you sure you don’t want a ride?”
“No thanks, Tom.”
Tom’s arms widened to shepherd me out, and I turned to leave. He herded me all the way to my car.
“Charlie, he’s telling the truth. He’d have noticed anyone coming
