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“Oh.” The woman smiled. “Whew. Well, those three don’t spend much time at home in the summer. I do know they are all ungrounded at the moment, which makes me suspect that they’re at the public pool. Do you know where thatis?”
“I’m sure we can find it. Thankyou.”
The woman got into her car and backed out of the drive as Nyle and Alexa walked to their vehicle. Before they got in it, however, a boy on a green bike wearing a blue cap zipped by. He jumped off his bike, letting it fall to the ground in the yard and sped up the steps to the house, slipping something off his neck. A key, Alexa noted as she and Nyle walked toward the house again. The boy disappeared inside. As they approached the porch, he was already running down the steps, something in hishand.
He came to a stop when he saw them. “Hi.” He surveyed them warily from beneath the brim of his Toronto Blue Jays cap, a mop of tousled blond hair showing around the edges. “I’m not allowed to buyanything.”
Nyle pulled out his credentials again and held them up for him. The boy’s expression wentwary.
“We’d like to ask you about the delivery you made at the RCMP building on Pictou Road not longago.”
“I just left a sandwichthere.”
Alexa and Nyle exchanged a glance. “You’re not in trouble,” she said, giving him a friendly smile. “Did you look inside thecontainer?”
He shook his head. She saw now he held a pass in his hand. He must have needed it for the swimming pool. “He said not to open it, or it would getstale.”
“I just want to know who to thank for the delicious meal.” The snort Nyle made was barelyaudible.
“I don’t know the guy. He gave me this.” Digging in the pocket of his shorts, the boy pulled out a wadded-up ten-dollar bill. “He told me what car to put it on. Made me recite the license number four times like I’m some sort of idiot or something.” He rolled hiseyes.
A chill prickled Alexa’s skin as she and Nyle exchanged a look. The offender knew the license number of the vehicle they drove. Had he left town at all after dumping Lawler’s body? The prospect wasdisturbing.
“Can you tell me what he lookedlike?”
Patrick shrugged. “Like a regular guy. Not that tall. Not as tall as him.” He pointed at Nyle. “Not as big, either. Skinny, but he had long sleeves on so I couldn’t see if he hadmuscles.”
Nyle peeled away from them, pulling his cell from his pocket and walking off a few paces to make a call. Alexa said, “What color hair did hehave?”
“Gray,” he surprised her by saying. “And a gray mustache. But I think it was a wig. The hair, I mean. Because when he was walking away, he was fixing it, like great-grandma does when she wakes up from a nap. Sort of like this.” He reached his hands up like he was tugging at hishair.
“You’re very observant.” Her pulse quickened with excitement. At this rate, the boy would provide a better source than Fornier had. “Was he as tall asme?”
He eyed her critically. “Probably an inch or twotaller.”
“What color were hiseyes?”
His shrug was a quick bounce of his shoulders. “He had sunglasses on. Long pants and a long-sleeve Toronto Blue Jays T-shirt. In thesummer.”
“Where did you see happen to seehim?”
“At Fredo’s Sandwich shop. I mean, he was in the parking lot, and I was next door at the bakery getting some cookies.” He looked guilty for a moment. Rushed on. “I ate them there because if my brothers saw them, there’d be nothing but crumbs left. And when I picked up my bike, he came over and asked if I wanted to make ten bucks. I saidsure.”
“Did he get into avehicle?”
He shook his head, dashing her hopes. “No, he was walking. After he gave me the sandwich, he went back between the two buildings. I figured that’s why he didn’t take the food to the car himself. Because he didn’t want to walk all the way out there. Maybe because of his soreleg.”
An inner alert sounded. “He had a soreleg?”
“I guess because he limped. Sort of like this.” The boy gave an energetic imitation down the sidewalk and back. “Not a bad limp like I had after I broke my leg and first got the cast off. More like the way I moved a few weeks later after it’dhealed.”
The kid was impressively alert. “Which leg wasit?”
He slapped his right thigh. “Just like the one Ibroke.”
“You’ve done a good job,” Alexa said sincerely. “We won’t take any more of your time at the moment. You’re free togo.”
But he didn’t sprint for his bike like she thought he would. “Are youAlexa?”