Page 58 of Rocky Ride

“Yeah, sure.” Sunday left the office and Billy was pretty sure he’d pissed her off.

“Damn it. I didn’t want it to go like that.”

I was nearly finished my reports when Dad sat at the empty desk next to me and asked me again about Penny.

“You been talking to her, son?”

“Yep. We’re all set for the movies in Shelby for tomorrow night.”

“And you confirmed she doesn’t live up in Sweetgrass?”

“Yep. She gave me an address here in town to pick her up.”

“That’s good, son. Real good.”

The front door opened, and I recognized the woman coming into the station. She was one of the neighbors we hadinterviewed on Kings Court. Couldn’t remember her name.

She walked up to Molly’s desk and said, “I’m Cassie Blake and the sheriff told me to call or drop in if I remembered anything about the cars in Sandra’s driveway.”

“Yes.” Molly gave her a big smile. “Did you remember something, Mrs. Blake?”

“Uh huh. I told you about the red pickup and the black Jeep, but out of the blue I remembered another car I saw two or three times. No idea why I didn’t think of it before.”

“Well, I’m happy you thought of it now,” said Molly. “What did the car look like?”

“It was a dark green car and I’m not sure what kind, but it looked expensive from our house. My husband said it was a Jag but I’m not sure if that’s a kind of car or not.”

“Yes, it is,” said Travis. “Did you happen to see the tag or was it too far away?”

“No, I didn’t see the license plate, but I saw the driver when he got out of the car.”

“Great. What did he look like?” asked Molly.

“He was tall with dark hair, and he was wearing a suit.”

“Did you see him on the morning of the murder?” asked Travis.

“I’m not sure what day it was but that was the last time I saw the green car.”

“Thank you for coming in, Mrs. Blake,” said Molly. “You’ve been very helpful.”

As soon as she left, Travis said, “Harlan, you and Virge go back to the court and ask every neighbor about the dark green Jag.”

“Copy that, Sheriff.”

Me and Virge went out the back way through the sally port and hopped into our Jeep.

“Before we go door knocking, I’m going to talk to Vicki about the date.”

“Okay, but make it fast. We can’t let Dad know we’re dogging it because of girls.”

“He’ll never find out.”

“Don’t count on it.”

Duds & Suds Laundromat.

I sat at the curb keeping the Jeep warm while Virge ran into the laundry place to ask Vicki to the movies. He ran back and hopped in five minutes later with a big grin on his face.

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