Page 51 of Fatal Witness

“I’m afraid not—I don’t remember many adults from my childhood except Mr. Peterson down at the grocery.”

Alex laughed when he said that, and Dani quizzed her with her eyes.

“I’ll explain once we get you inside,” Alex said.

Dani opened the back passenger door, and Lizi hopped off the backseat. She sniffed Nathan and looked from him to Dani. “It’s okay,” she said.

Soon they were inside a cozy kitchen. After sniffing everyone, Lizi settled in a corner of the room near the door.

“What kind of dog is that?” the older man asked. “Looks like a mop.”

“It’s a Puli, Gramps, and her name is Lizi.” Alex turned to Dani with a wry grin. “Meet my grandfather and sheriff, Carson Stone.” Once Dani shook hands with the older man, Alex turned to an attractive silver-haired woman. “And my grandmother, Judith. She’s good friends with Mae.”

“So nice to meet you both, Sheriff Stone, Mrs. Stone.” She nodded her head. “I’m anxious to learn more about my grandmother.”

“First of all,” the older woman said, “call me Judith. Mrs. Stone makes me feel old.”

She could do that. Dani called Keith by his first name.Had called. She corrected her thinking and her heart cracked. She looked up, and Judith was watching her.

“I’m sorry about Keith,” she said softly.

“Thank you. I’m numb. And I dread returning to an empty house.”

“That’s understandable. Alex told me you’re flying back tomorrow. What time is your flight?”

“Six, so we’ll have to be checked in at the airport by at least five.” Which meant they needed to leave here by three or three thirty. “We’ll try to be very quiet.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Judith said.

Dani directed her attention to Nathan, who sat across from her. “You mentioned a Mr. Peterson? Who was he?”

“Mr. Peterson isn’t a was,” Alex said. “He’s still living, and you would have known him—he had the only grocery store in town. We stopped there every day to get nickel candy.” She looked at her grandmother. “He’s ninety-two, isn’t he?”

Judith chuckled. “Yes, and still helps run that little family grocery his father started back in the 1940s. His grandson, Kyle, does the bulk of the work, but Mr. Peterson shows up every day,” she said.

Now Dani was curious. “What am I missing? I don’t understand what’s funny.”

“First, you have to understand we didn’t have a lot to do around here in the summer,” Alex said. “And I doubt kids would think what we did was funny now, but to get to the story, the summer Mae babysat us—that was you, and Morgan, and me—she made the mistake of telling us how she used to call Mr. Peterson when she was a kid and ask him if he had Prince Albert in a can. And when he said yes, she would say, ‘Well, you better let him out.’”

Dani still didn’t get it and shook her head. “Prince Albert? I must still be missing something.”

Sheriff Stone laughed this time. “Prince Albert is a loose-leaf tobacco that comes in a red can. Back when Mae was a kid, it was very popular around here. Much cheaper than buying cigarettesthat were probably a quarter a pack.” He cleared his throat. “And it was a rite of passage for a kid to call Peterson’s Grocery and ask that question. I dare say Nathan was guilty of calling as well, right, son?”

“Guilty as charged,” he responded.

“Anyway, not long after Mae told us that story, your cousin Morgan thought we should make that call, and I got elected to be the one who phoned,” Alex said. “Somehow Mr. Peterson recognized my voice and threatened to report to Gramps that I was making harassing phone calls. Scared the living daylights out of me.”

“I have absolutely no memory of that,” Dani said. How she wished shecouldremember.

“I hope you do someday, because that was a great summer.” Alex sighed. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after that Mr. Tennyson moved Morgan and Ben away, and then you left...” She looked up, and sadness filled her eyes.

“We must’ve been good friends.”

“The best. I was really lonesome after that.”

“Hey! You had me,” Nathan said.

“It wasn’t the same.”

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