Part 14 (1/2)
”It's us.” Annie Mae straightened her s.h.i.+rt.
”Were you at camp?” Ina asked.
”I wish. I love s'mores,” Annie Mae said.
”Ina, that's not important.” I had to think of a different strategy to get answers from her. I pulled out a piece of paper and wrote ”Tree problem with your neighbors, Bert and Lucy Valentine.” I handed it to Ina.
She slipped her eyegla.s.ses on. She read the note and nodded. ”Yes. We have a tree that borders both our properties, they claim it is more on their side, but I don't think so. Anyway, they had a plumber who said the roots were breaking their pipes, and he needed to cut them. I told Bert and Lucy that I wouldn't let them do it because my Gardner said that it'll kill the tree and make it fall over on my house. But their plumber went and did it anyway.”
”I've heard that once the roots are damaged, it weakens the tree. It could cause it to die and then fall,” Annie Mae added.
Ina nodded. ”It was trouble, that's all I knew. They could not just go and do something that may affect me. It just wasn't right. And I told them so.”
”Did you threaten them?” I asked. Even though, looking at frail Ina, I found it hard to believe anyone would be afraid of her.
Ina leaned toward us, hand behind her left ear. ”Say what?”
”Threaten,” Annie Mae spoke loudly and articulated every letter.
Ina adjusted her hearing aide. ”Oh, that's better now. Say what you said again.”
I repeated the question.
”Yes. I was going to call the zoning department on them. You know they used Hardie Board on their house? That is not allowed in the historic district. They should've never gotten away with that.” Ina shook a bony finger in the air.
”So, you weren't going to harm her?” Annie Mae asked Ina.
”Armor?” Ina's face scrunched up.
”Harm her,” Annie Mae said.
”Say what?” Ina said.
”Never mind. Thank you for your time.” I began to walk away.
Ina called after us. ”Oh, and I liked Lucy. I really did. She was a nice lady, but that snake of a husband used to have a lady friend over when she was not home. That is just not right. My hearing may be gone, but my eyesight is pretty good.”
Annie Mae and I stopped in our tracks.
We turned around to face Ina.
”Were you home last week, the day Lucy died?” I asked.
Ina nodded. ”Yes. And I think she had forgotten her key.”
”Why do you think that?” Annie Mae said.
”My kitchen window looks into her backyard. Her kitchen is in the rear of her house like mine is.” Ina trailed off. ”A lot of houses around here are built that way. Nice and solid, too. Not like the new houses these days that look like they'll fall apart if the wind blows.”
”And you saw Lucy the same night she died?” I offered, hoping to get Ina back on track.
”Oh, yes. She must have forgotten her key. I saw her climb in her kitchen window.” Ina narrowed her eyes. ”At least I think it was Lucy.”
”You don't know for sure?” Annie Mae enunciated loud and clear.
”It was almost dusk, not too dark but still, for me, it was a little hard to see.”
”You saw a female climbing in the window?” I asked. ”Although, you're not sure who?”
”It looked like Lucy, but then again, it could have been someone else. I never thought about that.” Ina pulled her sweater tighter around her.
It could be one hundred degrees, like today, and old ladies still wore sweaters. Like they had broken internal thermostats always set on cold. ”Is there anything else you remember?” I asked.
”No. But a while later, there were police cars all around her house. Lots of commotion.” Ina's gla.s.ses slipped down her nose.
The sound of a phone ringing came from inside the house.
”Your phone is ringing,” I told her.
”I better get that,” Ina said.
We said good-bye and left.
Annie Mae turned to me as we left Ina's house. ”I think we can safely cross Ina off the suspect list.”
”Agreed.” I fobbed to unlock my SUV and climbed in the driver's seat.
”That lady is too fragile to smash a spider.” Annie Mae sat down.
”What about Ina seeing someone climbing in Lucy's house the night she died?”
”Who was it?” Annie Mae buckled up.
”Bert?”
”No. He has a key.”
”Right. And it couldn't have been Lucy. When she left to get the dinner rolls, I remember she had keys in her hand.” I bit my bottom lip. ”Then again, she could've gone in her backyard for some reason and accidentally locked herself out. So she had to climb through the window to get back in.”
”Yes. But what if it wasn't her?” Annie Mae adjusted her s.h.i.+rt.
”Then?”
”That leaves the killer.”
I locked eyes with Annie Mae. ”Susie.”