Page 37 of The Neighbor
“Good morning. I’m Officer Mankin. I’m looking for anyone who may have heard anything on the next street over between the hours of seven and ten last night. One of your neighbors, Sara Nottingham, was killed in her house. Did either of you see or hear anything?”
Caroline shakes her head and answers, “No, officer. Adam and I heard nothing. We were in my kitchen talking during that time, but we didn’t hear or see a thing.”
I stand there stunned that she just lied to the police about my being at her house during the time of the murder. Why would she do that?
The officer turns to look at me and asks, “You didn’t hear or see anything either?”
Nodding, I try to keep my composure as curiosity about why Caroline provided me an alibi fills me. “Yes, that’s true, officer. We didn’t hear a thing.”
He takes out a notebook and pen from his shirt pocket and flips to a fresh page before looking up at us. “What are your names and addresses?”
After we answer his question, he says, “We have reports that the victim was seeing one of your neighbors romantically. A married man whose wife was none too happy to find out abouttheir relationship the other day at your neighborhood party. Is that true? Was there an altercation between them recently?”
Caroline and I look at each other and then the officer. A sheepish look comes over her as she nods and answers, “Yes, but Suzanne had every right to be angry. Her husband brought his mistress to our block party knowing she’d be there too. It was all very messy, and yes, there was a little fight, but that was it.”
The man hums as she explains what happened at the Dog Days of Summer party and then flips back a few pages in his notebook. “This man is named Jared Meyers, yes?”
“Yes,” she answers.
I’m happy she’s so willing to do the talking because I have no interest in getting involved in any of this mess. The officer asks her about Jared, and the whole time she’s telling him about how he moved out and he hasn’t been seen in the neighborhood since the day of the party, all I can think of is how viciously he beat the hell out of Sara.
Lost in my memory of that horrible scene, I don’t hear the police officer ask me a question. Caroline taps me on the forearm to get my attention, and I see the two of them staring at me.
“I’m sorry. Did you ask me something?”
The man nods, grimacing like my lack of attention bothers him. “Yes. I asked if you have seen Jared Meyers since the day of the party.”
I quickly shake my head. “No. He and I aren’t friends or anything, but I haven’t seen any hint of him here since then. I haven’t seen his car either.”
Flipping the cover of his notebook over to hide his notes, Officer Mankin twists his face into an ugly expression of disgust and sighs. “Fine. We very well may have more questions later as the investigation continues. Just as a precaution, I’m reminding everyone to lock their doors, especially at night. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Thanks, officer. We will,” Caroline says sweetly before he walks away and gets into his car, leaving us standing in the street.
We watch him drive away, and then she turns to look at me. “This is terrible. I can’t believe someone killed her.”
“Why did you tell him I was at your house last night?”
A look of worry washes over her, and she draws her eyebrows in toward her nose as she answers, “You’re a single man in this neighborhood. Trust me. You needed an alibi. If you didn’t have one, you would be number two on their list behind good old Jared since you and Sara had started running together just the other day. It seemed like the neighborly thing to do.”
I don’t know what to say to that. She has no idea who I really am and what I’m capable of. There’s being neighborly and then there’s sticking your neck out and lying to the police for someone who’s little more than a stranger.
She’s going to regret that mistake.
Pasting a smile on my face, I say what I know I have to. “Thank you. I guess I owe you.”
She surprises me when she replies with a grin, “I guess you do. I’ll consider your debt paid in full if you come to my house and enjoy a cup of coffee. How’s that sound?”
Ordinarily when women hit on me, I dismiss it as a distraction I don’t need, but Caroline is different. I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I want to kill her. But unlike Sara and the others, I haven’t been able to justify it to myself. That’s important. If I can’t feel like she deserves it in some way, I can’t do it. There are dozens of women I’ve met in my life who have no idea how lucky they are that I could never find a valid reason to kill them, or they’d be as dead as Sara over on the next street.
I nod my agreement to her terms and follow her to her house as more of our neighbors come out of their homes on this sultry summer day. The heat wave clearly isn’t going to break today, socoffee isn’t really something I want this morning, but I can’t help but take her up on her offer. I’ve been curious about this woman since the day she moved in. There’s no way I’m going to turn down a chance to get to know her better.
When we reach her porch, she points at the wicker table and chair set and says, “I’ll be right back. Do you take cream and sugar in your coffee or how do you like it?”
My stomach practically turns at the thought of all of that at this moment, so I shake my head and answer, “I’d prefer a water, if that’s okay. It’s a little balmy out for coffee drinking.”
She smiles and shakes her head. “It’s not a problem. You’re clearly not a caffeine junkie like me. It could be triple digits out and I’d want my coffee. Be right back. Make yourself comfortable.”
I can’t help but notice she doesn’t invite me into her house yet again. Sure, it’s not the heat of the day yet, but why doesn’t she ever ask me inside?