And Then She Was Gone(82)
“I ran into him in Hamilton Park.”
“How did he know who you were?”
“Ah… he heard my name.”
“It’s surprising he remembered after all he’s been through.”
“So you know that he’s… kinda nutty,” Jack said.
His mom frowned. “I don’t like that word. He’s troubled. But he’s been through a lot.”
“His wife, Anne Hernandez, was the one who was murdered, right?”
His mom pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “Yes. It was horrible. Poor Alex just snapped. Your father tried to help him, but…”
“Dad tried to help the guy? Really?”
His mom nodded. “Your father does a lot of things he doesn’t take any credit for. He’s a good man.”
“I know.”
“You’ll have to tell him that you saw Alex.”
“I will,” Jack said. “Well, we gotta run. Love you.”
“I love you too. You’re not going to do anything risky today, are you?” It was the closest she’d come to acknowledging the previous day’s incident.
Chandler waved. “I’ll keep him out of trouble.”
“Thank you, Chandler.” She folded her hands and stood up ramrod straight, as if she were about to give a presentation. “And Jack, your father wants to talk to you about what happened at the park. He deferred last night to Aunt Haddie but—”
“Can you get him to defer for my birthday?” Jack smiled hopefully. “Better yet, get him to defer permanently?”
His mom smiled. “I’ll try for the latter, but don’t get your hopes up. And Jack, please call me if you change your mind about tonight. I’d love to make you something for dinner.”
“I’m all set, Mom,” Jack called back as they headed for the door.
“Well, if you do change your mind, just let me know. And if you talk to Detective Clark, be sure to let him know that you met Alex and that he’s doing okay.”
Jack stopped. “Why Detective Clark?”
“He knows Alex too. Detective Clark watches out for him.” She rubbed her hands together. “It’s just so sad. To lose your wife would be hard enough, but she was expecting their first child.”
Jack felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Stacy Shaw was pregnant, too.
25
Follow All Leads
Jack backed into the parking space of a little convenience store so the front of his mother’s car would face the road to Michael Shaw’s house. The store had been a fixture in the neighborhood as long as Jack could remember. Originally, it had been a house, but the walls downstairs had been knocked down to fit in all the chips, beer, and soda.
“This isn’t a car,” Chandler grumbled as he tried to get comfortable in the tiny bucket seat. “It’s a shoebox with wheels.” He had the passenger seat on Jack’s mother’s compact as far back as it would go, and his knees still touched the dashboard. “Why couldn’t we take the Impala?”
“Because Michael knows what it looks like. Put your hat on.” Jack pulled down the rim of his cap.
Chandler glanced at the Boston Celtics logo on the hat Jack had given him. “I take it your dad’s a Boston sports fan?”
Jack grinned. “He was born and bred in Beantown. It’s in his blood.”
Chandler looked around. “So, why are we waiting here? What are you hoping to see?”
“We’re waiting here because if Michael leaves his house, he has to come right by us.”
“I get that, but why are you interested in Michael Shaw in the first place?”
“This morning I saw something on Michael’s Facebook profile that bothered me. It’s probably nothing, but it makes me want to look at him. He changed his Facebook profile to Single.”
“Did he change it, or was it already set to that?” Chandler asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Lots of people have no clue how Facebook works. Maybe he set his page up years ago, before he got married. Or maybe he just never knew you could set it to Married, or it never occurred to him to do it. When was the last time he updated?”
Jack’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. I didn’t check.”
“And anyway, didn’t the police rule him out? Didn’t they say he was four hours away in someplace that sounds like Skinny Lady or something?”
Jack chuckled. “Schenectady.”
“Whatever. My money’s on Dracula. He’s the prime suspect. He’s a crazy homeless guy who sleeps right where Stacy was killed. He thinks he’s still in the military. Maybe he thought she was the enemy or something.”