D.O.A. by Dave Pedneau

Author:Dave Pedneau [Pedneau, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense & Thrillers
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Whit pulled out of his driveway and hurried toward a prearranged interview with Vanessa Andrews at her home. The quick stop at his home hadn’t been planned, but there was no way he was going to walk around all day smelling of sour milk.

Whit had never met Mrs. Andrews until that day. She greeted him at the door.

“So, you’re Tressa’s father?” She escorted him into the living room.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She offered him a seat and then said, “She worships you. She’s a mighty fine person, Mr. Pynchon.”

“I can return the compliment. Tams is one of my favorite people. I’m looking forward to meeting Vanessa.”

“Gracious, they’re as different as night and day. You know, Mary was one of Vanessa’s best friends. Tams, though, is grieving a lot more than Vanessa. I hope you can catch whoever did that to Jenny and her mother. It’s terrible, sir.”

“We’ll find the killer.”

At that moment, Vanessa Andrews came sulking down the steps.

“Mr. Pynchon’s here,” her mother said.

“I saw him pull in. Hiya.”

“Hi Vanessa. I was just telling your mother how much I like Tams.”

Vanessa collapsed into an armchair. “Everybody likes Tams.”

Mattie Andrews excused herself. “I’ll let you two talk. You answer his questions, Vanessa.”

Mrs. Andrews vanished into the kitchen of the house. Whit pulled out his notebook. “When was the last time you saw Mary Hairston?”

“I can’t remember.”

Whit looked up. “You answered so quick . . . you didn’t even have time to think. Let’s back up and start over. This time, think about it for a few moments.”

“I told you—I don’t really remember. Sometime the week ‘fore last maybe.”

“What kind of mood was she in?”

“Her usual.”

Whit tapped the pad with his pencil. He wanted to be nice for Tams’s sake. It was an example of how a personal involvement affected his method of investigation. “Miss Andrews—Vanessa—I didn’t know Mary Hairston. How would I know what her usual mood was?”

“Last few weeks, she’d been kinda edgy. I guess she was having some trouble at work.”

“Did she tell you about any trouble at work?”

Vanessa fiddled with a cover on the arm of the chair. “She talked to Tams a lot more’n me. They were close. You oughta talk to Cindy Jackson, too. She was friends with Mary.”

“I’m interviewing you right now. According to your mother, you and Mary were best friends.”

“Mother’s wrong a lot nowadays. Hardening of the arteries, I guess.”

Whit flipped the notebook closed. “Vanessa, why do I get the feeling that you don’t wanna talk to me?”

She bounced up from the chair. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. I just don’t know anything that’s gonna help you.” She paced the living room.

“Let me be the judge of that. Can you tell me if Mary was seeing anyone?”

Vanessa opened a small bowl and pulled out a piece of peppermint candy. “I haven’t seen much of Mary lately. Far as I know, she wasn’t seeing nobody.”

“I know she dated Cullen Brown some, the lawyer.”

“That was months ago. They broke off.”

“Brown says she started seeing someone else.

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