Page 50 of Little Dark Deeds

It seemed bizarre to me that they had such detailed information, though I was glad to have it.I imagined they were all retired with nothing better to do than stay up to date on every little happening in the neighborhood.

Still, I questionedhowthey knew so much.

“You three seem to have a lot of details about Tiffany’s life,” I said.“More than the usual neighbor would have about someone.Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

CHAPTER 19

Queenie reached insideher bag, pulling out a pair of binoculars and holding them up with pride.“Now, before you say anything, I’m well aware that we’ve been a bit nosy, involving ourselves in Tiffany’s private moments here and there,” she said.“We were just looking out for her interests, you see.Forgive me for speaking ill of the dead, but she struck me as the kind of person who needed a little looking after.”

“I’m not here to judge you.”

“It’s not just Tiffany,” Janice said.“People around the neighborhood call us the Granny Guard.Not much gets past us ...well, except Tiffany’s murder, of course.We’ve been beside ourselves because we weren’t around when it happened.”

“We were at the market that day,” Queenie said.“Terrible timing.Seems ballsy to murder someone in the middle of the day.”

Tiffany’s backyard opened to a wooded area, lush with trees, the perfect way to sneak in and out of her place without being seen, which explained why the killer may have been so brazen.

“Did any of you see anything suspicious around the time of Tiffany’s murder, or in the weeks or months before it?”I asked.

“One strange thing, yes,” Queenie said.“One night I saw a man one snapping pictures of Tiffany and her beau through her living room window.”

“How long ago?”

“Been at least a couple of months now, maybe even longer.I tried to speak to him, but when he saw me coming his way, he took off.”

“Did you get a good look at him?”

“It was dark out, and he had a ballcap on.Kept his head down when he zoomed past me in a black truck.Sorry to say I couldn’t make out the license plate.My eyes these days ...I’m afraid I don’t see so well anymore.”

I turned my thoughts back to the other mystery man.I wondered who he was and if he could be involved in Tiffany’s murder.She didn’t always mention the new men in her life to me right away.Still, it bugged me that I didn’t know about him.

“The other man,” I said, “the one Tiffany dated before Tyler ...what did he look like?”

“He was a real looker,” Queenie said.

“Oh, yes,” Janice added.“Handsome, like a young Orson Welles, and just as tall.Broad shoulders, dark, wavy hair.”