Page 83 of Fatal Witness

Alex looked around the small store. “Is Kyle here?”

“Gone to the bank, but he’ll be back soon to help with the lunch rush—a lot of people drop in around noon to get a sandwich—I make a mean ham and cheese.”

Looked like it would just be Mr. Peterson. Alex propped a foot on the railing at the bottom of the counter. “I know Mark told you we’ve reopened the investigation into the Bennett murders. I’m looking for any information that someone might have that would help crack the case.”

“Thought that might be why you’re here. I’ve been searching my memory ever since Danielle and your nice K-9 officer left.” His face grew somber. “Such a sad thing to happen.”

“I know. I was too young to know much about it, but I’ve been getting familiar with the case through my grandfather’s files.”

He perched on the stool beside the counter. “Then you know, of course, that my grandson lost his job over that robbery?”

“I do,” she replied. “Did Kyle have anything to do with the burglaries?”

Mr. Peterson didn’t answer right away. “I don’t rightly know how to answer your question. I asked him after the Bennett girlleft, and Kyle said he didn’t. Can I prove he didn’t? Other than he’s never lied to me before, no.”

“Did you ask him about the Bennett murders?”

The older man shook his head. “No need to. My grandson did not kill the Bennetts. And his girlfriend at the time said he was at her apartment the night the murders took place.” His mouth turned down. “Not that I approved of him staying the night with her.”

“Do they still stay in contact?” Alex knew they hadn’t married because Kyle was single, or at least they weren’t married now. And from the gossip she’d heard since she’d returned to Pearl Springs, he didn’t have a very active dating life.

“You’d have to ask Kyle that. I don’t even remember her name.”

“I’ll do that.” She glanced down at her notes. Chattanooga PD had included an address in the file, but Alex didn’t know if it was current. “Do you know if she’s moved?”

Mr. Peterson lifted an eyebrow and peered at Alex over his round glasses. “It’s been twenty-five years. If I don’t remember her name, I dare say I won’t remember where she lived.”

“Her name is Crystal Davis,” Alex said. Mr. Peterson was touchy about his grandson, which surprised her. They never seemed that close the few times she’d shopped in the store, always snapping at each other. Alex made a note to check with Chattanooga PD for a current address. “Do you mind telling me what you remember about the murders?”

He stared at the floor. “The Bennett murders ... sad thing. I’ll grant you, the brothers made bad choices, but that was a terrible price to pay. The whole thing was a bad affair. First to find out they were involved with those burglaries—Bobby, yeah, but I never figured Keith to get involved in anything like that. Then Bobby and Neva getting killed, especially since Neva had nothing to do with the burglaries. I worried that Mae Richmond wouldn’t getover her daughter dying like that and then her granddaughter disappearing.”

The bell over the door rang, and a customer hurried in. Alex waited while she picked up a loaf of bread and lunch meat and paid the grocer.

“Any thoughts on who might’ve killed them?” Alex asked when the customer left.

“Not a one ... except it wasn’t Kyle. He had an alibi.”

“The girlfriend.”

“Not just the girlfriend—he’d had his car serviced the day before and had a record of his odometer reading. The day of the murders he’d only put fifteen miles on his car. Should be in your grandfather’s files—Sheriff Stone questioned him.”

Alex made a note to check the files. “Any other thoughts?”

Mr. Peterson shifted on his stool. “I figure whoever headed up that ring was mighty upset when Bobby Bennett took off with those diamonds.”

“How did Kyle feel about losing his job the very next day?”

“Like he was tried and convicted without a jury. It’s eaten at him like battery acid, and I don’t blame him for being bitter.”

“I can see how he would feel that way,” Alex replied.

“I do recall thinking it a little strange when Ralph Tennyson pulled his family out and relocated to Texas right after it happened. There’s no law against that ... but Ben was pretty wild back then. I’ve always wondered if he got involved in that mess someway.”

Her grandmother had mentioned the same thing. “Anything else?”

Mr. Peterson glanced toward the ceiling. “I heard about somebody buying stolen goods around here not long before it happened. Never found out who it was, though. I imagine that’s all in your grandfather’s files.”

“What can you tell me about Toby Mitchell?”

---