A Body on the Porch by Steve Demaree

Author:Steve Demaree [Demaree, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Publisher: Calibre
Published: 2015-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

15

I nodded my head. "Bob Smalley lived in the apartment building across the street, the one your husband lived in. As a matter of fact, they rented the same room."

She shook her head. "That's not true. My husband doesn't live with Bob Smalley. I know that for a fact. He lives there by himself."

"You're right. Bob Smalley died a short time before you moved up here. He had cancer. That might have been why he quit coming around your place. His health was declining. So, I assume that you thought it best if your husband relocated, and he agreed to move here close to you?"

"That's right. But we played it very low profile. I told him there was a rooming house across the street that was for men only and I thought there was a vacancy. He decided to give it a try. But we didn't want anyone to know we were husband and wife, so we arranged a way where we could get together if one of us felt we needed to. We both had a small red flag on a wire. The flag was only two or three inches, and the wire was a couple of feet long and could easily be stuck in the ground. If one of us felt we needed to talk, then he or I would put that red flag out near the curb. We figured his place would be a better place to meet, since women are usually nosier than men. So, when one of us saw the other had put out a red flag, then we knew that at 10:00 o'clock at night, as long as we saw no one outside, I would go over there, tap gently on his door, and he would let me in. After we had discussed what was on our minds, when it was time to leave, he would go out first, to make sure no one was around. Well, we did that after the guy in the next room over saw me attempting to leave once when I was over there."

This didn't make any sense to me, and I let her know that. "Why the red flag? Why not continue to stay in touch by phone?"

She looked at me with a surprised look on her face. "You know, I never thought of that. I guess Stew hasn't either. I mean he's only across the street, and besides, we try not to contact each other any more than necessary."

"Your husband had a pickup truck, but there's no pickup truck in that garage. What happened to it?"

"He sold it shortly after he moved here. We both think that Bob, and whoever that woman was, tracked him to Tennessee by his license plate. Not long after he moved here he sold that truck. He'd planned to buy something else as soon as he was sure he was safe, but he hasn't gotten around to it yet."

"When was the last time you saw your husband?"

"It's been several days now, and I'm worried.

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