AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The retirement home.”
“Do you remember which one?”
“I don’t know if I ever knew. I remember he’d go over to Boyle Heights to deliver the mail.”
“Can I get your name, ma’am?”
“Sally Barnes. My husband was Bruce.”
Ballard recognized the name and thought Sally Barnes might have been a midlevel actress at one time. She also thought that Maddie was doing well, but they weren’t inside yet. It was doubtful anything would be gained by that, but Ballard wanted to get a sense of the place and maybe learn some information about its previous occupant.
“Do you know if Mr. Thawyer had a family when he lived here?” Maddie asked.
“No, he lived alone,” Sally said. “He was a photographer and he traveled for work. It wasn’t good for a family.”
“Did your husband ever say anything about him after he dropped off the mail?”
“He just said Mr. Thawyer was grateful but said that we didn’tneed to do it. He said we could throw his mail away. Eventually, we did. I need to get to my chair. Standing isn’t good for me. I fall.”
“Well, let me help you to your chair.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll be fine. I could move into the motion picture home in the Valley but it’s too hot up there. I won’t go there till I have to.”
“If it’s all right with you, can we come in? Our captain tells us that whenever we do a home visit, we should offer to do a security check of the house.”
“Well… sure, okay. Can’t be too careful these days with all the follow-home robberies you see on the news.”
“Exactly.”
Sally stepped back and they entered the house. To the right was a living room with a large stone fireplace, to the left a dining room. Bosch put her hand on the old lady’s elbow and led her to a chair in the living room.
“Okay, we’ll take a look around now,” Bosch said.
Ballard and Bosch split up and checked the windows and locks in each of the front rooms as Sally Barnes sat watching.
“What kind of crime was it?” she asked.
“A homicide,” Ballard said.
“Here, in this house?” Sally asked.
“We’re not sure, but probably not.”
“Emmitt Thawyer’s dead—if he’s your man.”
“Yes, we know. How did you know?”
“I think it was Mr. Mann from the historical society who told me. But that was many years ago.”
“You don’t seem shocked or surprised that Thawyer might be our suspect. Why?”
“Oh, the neighbors. When we first moved in, they told us they were happy to have a regular couple here. They said Mr. Thawyer was a strange man with his cameras and lights. He kept odd hours,sometimes worked all night. They’d see the flashes from the camera, you see.”
“From inside the house?”
“Well, of course. I’m going to move back to the kitchen, where I have my work.”
“Do you need help?”
