The triple garage had a window. He wandered over and peered inside. Only one car. The red compact.
An older man walking his poodle went by on the road. “Lydia?”
Lydia turned and walked toward him. “Pete?”
River moved in so he could hear the conversation.
“I’m so sorry about Elsie. I saw the story on the news.”
So, the neighbor hadn’t heard the story directly from the in-laws.
“Yes, I came by to update Sheryl and Norm,” said Lydia.
“I haven’t seen them since it happened.” The man’s gaze went from River to Eli, who had just come around the corner of the house with his K-9. He probably wondered why she needed such a strong police presence to keep her in-laws in the loop. River picked up on a degree of coldness from Pete toward Lydia. The neighbor had probably only heard the former in-laws’ side of the story as to why she’d divorced their son.
“Are the police any closer to finding Elsie?”
River took a step nearer to Lydia. Pete studied him and Frankie for a long moment.
Lydia didn’t skip a beat in giving a believable answer. “They’re following some different leads. I just thought I should see Norm and Sheryl in person to talk to them about all that the police have been doing to find her.”
Pete shifted his weight as the poodle did a half circle around him. “I don’t think they’ve been home much. I might have seen their gray car pull up once. I just assumed they were visiting their daughter in Grand Junction. Her little guy has had some problems since he was born.”
With the neighbors watching, it didn’t seem like Norm and Sheryl would bring Elsie back here if they were the ones who had her. Everything so far was circumstantial at best.
“Hope you find her soon.” Pete said his goodbye and continued on down the road.
Lydia placed her hands on her hips and stared up the street. “Pete’s house is right next door, and he’s outside a lot, working in his yard.”
“So his report that he only saw them once is probably accurate,” said River.
“Like Pete said, maybe they’re visiting Debbie again.”
“It would be easy enough to get the Grand Junction police to put eyes on her house for a twenty-four-hour period to see if they show up or if their vehicle is parked there already. What we do know is they haven’t been home.”
“Why don’t I just call them, saying I want to give them an update. I can work in asking them where they are. If they say they’re at their home, we’ll know they’re lying.”
It was clear that Lydia was having a hard time believing that Elsie’s grandparents could be involved in something like this. “Okay, give them a call.”
Lydia pulled her phone out and pressed buttons. Her face drained of color as it rang several times and then went to voice mail. She disconnected without leaving a message.
Eli stepped toward them. “Nothing in the backyard. No surprise that the girl’s scent is all over the place. There’s a bunch of trees back there, but Wrangler didn’t pick up on any trail leading away from the property.”
“Thanks, Eli.”
They got into their respective patrol vehicles. As they pulled away, the quiet, dark house was disconcerting.
“I guess I’ll just go back to your house and wait.” Lydia sounded deflated.
“At least we have food to eat now.” He tried to sound upbeat.
She laughed. “Really, River, it’s not that hard to swing by a grocery store and grab a few things now and then.”
He was glad his comment had elevated her mood. Anything to get her mind off the heaviness of what she was going through.
“I just get busy, and it’s easier to go through a drive-through or grab a pizza.”
“You need a wife. She would take care of that for you.”
