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“The only one in town, Hannaford’s on Main Street.”
“And I’m sorry, your name please?”
“Weston, Penny Weston,” she said.
“Do you live alone here, Mizz Weston?”
“No, my husband lives here, too. And before you ask, he’s not here. He’s at work. He’s the principal at Winthrop Middle School.”
Roth was surprised a town as small as Winthrop had its own school system. He smiled and nodded. His phone rang an incoming call from Jackson. He glanced towards the end of the driveway, straining to see if their car approached. He didn’t see it through the dense, snow-covered trees and brush. “Excuse me one moment,” he said to Penny Weston. “Have you found a way up here?” he said, answering the call.
“I think I’m nearly there, but the road forks three ways where I’m at. Not sure which fork to take.”
Roth relayed his location to Penny.
“He should take the middle path and then a ways up he’ll come to a T in the road, and he needs to go left followed by another hard left,” she said.
Roth then relayed those directions to Jackson. “Thank you,” he told her as he disconnected the call.
“Is Amanda in some kind of trouble?” Penny asked.
“As I said, she didn’t turn up for a meeting with one of my colleagues and we’re concerned.”
“Have you talked to Darren?”
“No, we don’t want to bring him into our confidence yet.” He left it at that for Penny to draw her own conclusions as to its meaning.
“Oh, I see,” she said, assuming the worse.
“Who might Amanda have been close enough to that she’d confide in?”
“She’s kind of an odd bird, doesn’t have many friends that I can think of. She keeps to herself. I heard she suffered some kind of trauma when her husband died, don’t know any of the details. That’s why she’s staying here with her brother. The Sheriff is her brother, not her husband. He’s odd too, if you ask me, too friendly with the women in a wrong way for a man in his position and a suck up to all the men. Sheriff is an elected position, you know, and he’s a typical politician.”
Roth had to wonder if she was suggesting that his friendliness with women was of a sexual nature. Before he could ask any clarifying questions, he caught sight of the car Jackson drove. It pulled into the driveway. They watched him drive up and park behind her car. Then he joined them on the porch.
“My partner, Agent Jackson,” Roth introduced. “This is Penny Weston. She and her husband live here. She was just telling me that Amanda Elsworth is an odd bird, keeps to herself and her brother, the Sheriff, is overly friendly with the women, considering his position.”
“Hello, Missus Weston,” Jackson said. “What do you mean by overly friendly?”
“He’s a shameless flirt, is what he is,” she said. Her voice suddenly held venom.
“So, I take it you’re not a fan of the Sheriff,” Jackson remarked.
“No, not at all.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us about Amanda Elsworth?” Roth asked.
“Not that I can think of, don’t really know her.”
“Do you work outside of the house, Missus Weston?” Roth asked.
“Why?”
“Just trying to get a good idea of who’s around during the day out here and who isn’t,” Roth replied.
“I volunteer at the school, the library, the hospital up in Augusta, but not in the spring or summer.”
“Thank you for your time,” Jackson said.