Page 88 of Only One More Lie

A moment later, an older gentleman with white hair, wire-framed glasses, and a large belly came into focus. “Can I help you? What are you doing in my house?”

She released the breath she’d been holding.

This man didn’t appear to be a killer.Praise the Lord!

“Your house?” Duke jammed his gun back into his waistband. “The door was open, so we thought something was wrong.”

The man paced closer and squinted. “Do I know you?”

“No, sir,” Andi said. “We’re investigating the death of Calvin and Mary Burrows, and we came by to talk to you. We saw the door was open and were concerned.”

“The door was open? I don’t know why that door was open.” Then he paused, his lips twisting into a frown. “Or maybe I do. My wife . . . I’m afraid she’s getting a touch of dementia. Sometimes, I find the flour in the oven instead of the pantry. The other day, she accidentally used toothpaste on top of a cake she was decorating instead of icing. I’m going to guess she may not have closed this door when she came in from taking the trash out. I told her I would take it out, but she insisted. She’s a stubborn one.”

At least that explanation made a little more sense.

“I see,” Duke said. “I’m sorry if we frightened you.”

“You should get out of the cold.” Dan ushered them inside.

They stepped inside the living room, which was warm and cozy with its homemade quilts, bearskin rug, and a fire blazing in the fireplace.

Dan paused and turned toward them. “Can I get you some coffee?”

“I wouldn’t turn that down,” Andi said. “But I don’t want to impose either.”

“I don’t mind.” Dan walked to the pot, which had already been brewed.

He poured two cups and handed them each one. As he did, a pleasantly plump woman with a coif of gray hair appeared from upstairs.

Her gaze flickered between Duke and Andi as if trying to figure out who they were.

“Dan?” she finally asked.

“Jan, we have some friends visiting,” Dan said. “They’re here about Calvin and Mary.”

Her eyes lit. “Calvin and Mary? I haven’t talked to them in years. How are they doing? I really need to get together with them again sometime soon.”

Grief clutched Duke’s heart. His grandmother had dementia, and he knew just how hard that could be on loved ones. The mental decline was heartbreaking.

Maybe coming here hadn’t been a good idea after all.

Andi sipped her coffee as she sat on a blue-and-red-plaid couch. A shiny coffee table stretched in front of them, a glass dish with butterscotch candy in the center.

Dan had insisted they sit down in the living room. He’d asked Jan if she would grab some butter cookies from the pantry. She had agreed.

When she disappeared from the room, Dan leaned closer and whispered, “I’m not sure she’ll be much help to you.”

“We can leave if you need us to.” Andi pointed behind her at the front door. “I hate to make things harder for you.”

“No, Calvin and Mary were good people. I’ve been saddened by their passing ever since it happened. The fact that the person who did it hasn’t been tossed in jail with the key thrown away only makes things worse. Whatever you need to ask me, I’ll try to answer. It had been a couple of years since I talked to them before they died.”

“We’re most curious about what happened with them at the Caribou Club,” Andi started. “I had their departure wasn’t an easy one.”

As soon as those words left her lips, Jan appeared again with a plate of cookies and a wide smile. “Please, have one. I would have baked something myself if I’d known you were coming. Maybe you can take some back for Calvin and Mary also?”

Andi’s heart lodged in her throat. “I’m sure they’d love that.”

Jan then sat down in the chair next to her husband. “You mentioned the Caribou Club. I love that place. Such lovely people.”

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