Page 77 of Fatal Witness

Alex nodded. “Good job.”

“I have a couple more sketches.” She flipped to the man she hadn’t been able to see. “This one”—she pointed to the drawing that didn’t have facial details—“I got the shape of the face, but that’s all. And the other is my dad and someone on a porch. I don’t know who the other person is.”

Alex stared at the drawings and then tapped the one that was completed and frowned. She showed it to her grandmother and Mae. “Who does this look like?”

“Ben Tennyson.” Both women answered together. All three looked up at Dani.

“Why did you draw him?” Alex asked.

Dani lifted one shoulder slightly. “I don’t know. I draw what I see up here.” She tapped her head. “Maybe I saw him at some point when I was a kid.”

35

Mark turned into the Stones’ drive and pulled around to the back just as Sheriff Stone came around the corner of the house with Lizi on her leash. He climbed out and released Gem from the rear seat harness. When traveling short distances in town, it was his preferred method of transporting her. Besides, she liked to look out the window.

“Did you get dog duty?” he asked.

The sheriff laughed. “More like mop duty, but don’t tell Dani I said that. Lizi is a sweet dog—makes me wish we had one again. How’d the interview with Kyle Peterson go?”

“He wasn’t there, but I talked with his grandfather, and I found Toby.”

“Good. Let’s go inside and tell Alex what you learned.”

The four women turned as they entered through the back door. Alex handed Mark the sketch pad. “Dani drew these—I think her memory is starting to return. Look through them and see if you can identify anyone, then tell me what you learned from Kyle.”

He nodded and flipped through the drawings. He’d seen prints of her drawings at her studio in Montana, and the sketches reminded him just how good Dani was. Both drawings of her parents were perfect, but was she drawing them from a deep memoryor the photos she’d seen at Mae’s? “Not saying her memory isn’t returning, but Dani saw the crime board, and there are photos of Neva and Bobby on it.”

“I’d forgotten that,” Alex said.

“May I see Neva’s again?” Mae asked and studied the sketches he handed her. She looked up with a smile. “I’d say memory—see this mole?” She pointed to a mole just above her daughter’s lip on the right. “It’s not in the photo on the crime board. Neva had the mole removed a year before that photo was taken.”

Mark bumped fists with Mae, something they’d done for years when one acknowledged the other was right about something. He looked through the other sketches and frowned. He turned to Dani. “Is this Ben?”

Alex answered for her. “She hasn’t seen Ben since she returned—the drawing is of someone from her memory, but it looks like Ben to me. What did you get out of Kyle?”

“Nothing. He wasn’t there. But I talked to Mr. Peterson and Toby Mitchell.”

“You found Toby? Where’s he been?”

Mark glanced at Mae and Dani. “Do you want to talk about this here or your dad’s office?”

“Now just wait a minute,” Mae said before Alex could answer. “I want to hear what you have to say. After all, I tracked Danielle down, and it’s my crime board you’re using down at your office.”

Mark ducked his head to hide the grin that spread across his face. But Mae had a point.

36

“Calm down,” Alex said. “I planned to discuss it here. Let me grab my tablet and Gramps’s files.” By the time she returned, they’d gathered around the table. Alex opened her tablet and turned on the recorder on her phone. “Go ahead—where has Toby been?”

“Sunday he was flying his plane, eating steak—blowing smoke. He informed me the rest of the week was none of my business unless I was arresting him. I gave him my card in case he wants to talk.”

Mae snorted. “That boy’ll die before he’ll talk to you—I know. I tried to talk to him after what happened to Neva.”

“What did you learn from Mr. Peterson?” Alex asked.

Mark quickly went over their conversation. “He claims Toby never told him who was running the burglary ring, but I think Peterson either knows or suspects more than he’s telling.” He nodded to Alex. “He might open up to you.”

Gramps lifted the Russell County Sheriff’s Department cap he wore and smoothed his hair. “Mark’s right. Peterson has a soft spot for you.”

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