“Never. Not once. This day and age, you want to reduce your footprint so you cut back on your driving and use Grubhub and also the stores deliver. I get everything delivered so I can concentrate on my work.”
Her eyes begged for a question.
Milo said, “What work is that?”
“Used to act. Now I write. Memoir-based fiction.”
“Ah.”
“Finishing up my latest, going the self-publish route again.”
“Good luck.”
She waved that away. “One makes one’s own luck.”
He smiled. “So Ms. Matthias didn’t take deliveries.”
“Not that I saw. Always the car, unloading her groceries and grunting if you said hello.”
Milo said, “Any idea where she got her groceries?”
“Sure do, saw the bags, not a supermarket,” said Genevieve Winslow. “That discount place—Stark and Miner on Pico. I tried them once but the quality wasn’t up to standards.”
She stuck out her tongue. “You can penny-pinch on other things but food should be quality. I guess she didn’t care. Which fits the way she kept her house, right?”
“You’ve been inside the house?”
“No, no, of course not, the outside. Dried-out lawn, no flowers. That roof of hers coming off in pieces? Not that I want to speak ill of the…deceased but obviously her standards were low. Did she harm herself or was she…you know.”
Alicia said, “We really can’t get into details.”
Genevieve Winslow smirked. “There’s my answer. Well that’s just terrible. Right here on the block. Horrible. Should I be frightened?”
“It’s always good to be careful but there’s no reason—”
“I have an alarm and stout dead bolts and perfectly legal pepper spray in several locations. Have a dog, too, but he’s at the vet and only weighs nine pounds. But he can produce a growl. Not for nothing, he’s not stupid. But when he’s motivated he can growl.”
She smiled with pride. Then she blinked. “Kind of likeher,now that I think about it. Small body, big voice.”
Alicia said, “Sounds like you’ve taken plenty of precautions.”
“IfI’mnot on my side,” said Genevieve Winslow, “who will be?”
Alicia glanced at Milo.
He punted tome.
Informational relay race.
I said, “Has your dog growled recently?”
“He did four nights ago.” Lilac lids fluttered. “Oh. See what you mean. So maybe…forget it, I know you’re not going to tell me anything.” She hugged herself. “This is creepy.”
I said, “What time four nights ago?”
“Late. I’d fallen asleep out here with my laptop and Balthazar woke me with his barking and his growling. He was up by the front window, pawing the sill. I got up and checked but there was nothing out there. Wow. Now Iamfrightened.”
Alicia said, “Is that unusual behavior for Balthazar?”
