Mac and Danny drove out to the subdivision where Mrs. Robinson lived. It was a neighborhood partially outside the city with several houses and trees, even grass. "Looks like a nice neighborhood," Danny said. "It's hard to believe that someone could keep someone out here for two weeks and no one knows it."
"You never know," Mac said and sneezed. "There have been a lot of things going on in neighborhoods that shocked the whole country because no one knew it."
"Yes, I know it."
"Let's just get to this house and see this woman."
They soon arrived at the brick house which was not very big but would not be considered small either. It had a one-car garage and a front porch. Mac and Danny pulled into the driveway and walked up to the front door. "Quiet out here," Danny remarked as he pressed the doorbell button.
Mac glanced around them at some of the other houses. "We're being watched," he said.
"Watched?"
"I'll bet these people around here see everything that happens."
"Then how could this woman have kept Mr. Woods here for two weeks and no one know it? How could they not know if he came out here?"
"Good questions."
They heard the door unlocking and looked as it opened to reveal a woman who was most likely in her early fifties. She had red hair that was straight and shoulder length and did not look like there was a hair out of place. She had green eyes and very pale skin. She was wearing a dark pink house dress with slippers to match. She stared at them a moment. "May I help you?" she asked.
Mac and Danny were stunned by her way of asking the question for a moment. "Are you Mrs. Robinson?" Mac asked.
"Who are you?"
Mac showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Mac Taylor."
The woman pulled a pair of glasses from her pocket and put them on and stared at Mac's badge a moment. She looked into his eyes with a piercing gaze. "So you're the real thing," she said.
"Ma'am, I'm the head of the crime lab in New York and this is my partner, Danny Messer. We need to ask you some questions if you don't mind."
"Why should I mind? I don't have a thing in the world to do."
Danny glanced at Mac wondering if he got the same creepy feeling he was getting. The woman opened the door wider and Mac did not know if he wanted to go in there or not. The smell was a mixture of moth balls and cinnamon. Mac could feel water welling up in his eyes already. "Can we talk outside since it is such a beautiful day?" Mac asked trying to avoid going inside.
"I hardly ever go outside," the woman said. "Too many nosey neighbors."
Mac walked on into the house wishing he had a mask with him but he was not sure it would help against this odor which was quite strong. He could not help but sneeze. "Excuse me," he said. "I'm having some trouble with allergies."
"Isn't everyone?" the woman asked. "That's another reason I don't like going outside."
They walked into the living room which had a blue striped sofa and chair, a coffee table with a lamp and a small entertainment center with a TV and DVD player along with a small stereo. Mac did not think this place looked strange in any way but it looked quaint and simple.
"So, what are these questions you're wanting to ask?" Mrs. Robinson asked.
"You remember Archie Woods?" Mac asked.
"Of course I remember him. He was my landlord. He disappeared not long ago."
"About two weeks ago, Ma'am. He was found murdered this morning."
Mrs. Robinson's mouth dropped open. The first emotion Mac and Danny had seen out of her. "Murdered?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Why are you wanting to ask me questions about that? I don't know anything about a murder."
"Ma'am, the day he disappeared, he was coming to your house to do some repairs?"
"Yes, I remember. He never arrived."
"Did you call his office and tell them that he never arrived?"
"Of course I did. They said he probably had other business to attend to and that he would get to me when he could."
Mac wrote that down. "Was there ever any other time that he did not arrive when he was doing some work for you?" he asked.
"No. He was always nice and courteous…not like that maintenance man they hired. That's why I always asked for Mr. Woods. He was nice and treated me like somebody. That maintenance man never did anything right. He knew I was an old woman and he did not care whether he did it right or not. I have severe arthritis and I can't do much on my own although I live alone. I can do the simple things but I can't fix things and unclog drains."
"Yes, Ma'am. I understand that. Has the house had a lot of problems since you moved in?"
"I wouldn't say a lot but it has had problems like any other house you live in. They all have problems."
"Right. Did you ever meet anyone else who worked for Mr. Woods? Were they courteous?"
"Most of them were but I met that ex-wife of his once when I had to go to the office. She was quite a hornet. No wonder the man divorced her."
"Wait a minute," Danny said. "He divorced her?"
"That's the way I understood it. She was too controlling and wanted to spend all the money. She took the money and spent it all on herself rather than pay the bills."
"We were told that he still loved her and wanted to get back with her."
"Maybe he did but that winch would drive anyone crazy."
"How do you know so much about him and his personal life?"
"Well, when he was here working for me, we talked."
Mac and Danny looked at each other. They thought they had been led down the wrong path. Mac looked at Mrs. Robinson. "So, you got to know him pretty well then," Mac said.
"I would say I did," Mrs. Robinson replied. "I liked for him to come. He reminded me of my son and he treated me like somebody." She sighed. "I'm sad to hear that he's dead."
"Thank you for your time, Ma'am," Mac said. He stood up and shook hands with Mrs. Robinson. "You've been a big help."
"You're welcome. I'm always glad to help the police."
Mac and Danny went out the door. "Well, that just boils my beans," Danny said when he and Mac were walking to the Avalanche. "Why did they direct us to this old lady?"
"That's something that I want to figure out," Mac said. "And why did they make it look like Rhonda Jernigan divorced her husband when it was he who divorced her?"
"That's a good question. Even the secretary thought she looked like she despised him but she thought he wanted to get married again but the son said they were not enemies."
"Uh huh. Children don't want to see their parents as enemies. They want them to be their parents. Maybe he still wanted that even though he was grown. He was just conveniently out of town when his father disappeared. Don't you find it odd that he didn't know he was missing until he got back into town? Why didn't he try to contact his father before he came back to town? He worked for his company. Why wouldn't he call and let him know how the meeting went?"
Mac scratched his head. "Too many questions," he said.
"Well, I'm telling you, Mac. I don't think that little old lady in there had anything to do with this. She reminds me of my grandma, only my grandma is older."
"Looks can be deceiving but I don't think she has anything to do with this either. She seems like a lonely old lady that needed someone and she just called him because he treated her like somebody."
"What about this ex-wife?"
"We're going to see her next." Mac looked at his watch. "But first, I want something to eat for lunch. I'm sick and I'm tired and I'm miserable and I don't want to be hungry on top of all that."
"I have to call Lindsey and let her know we're stopping when we get there."
Mac pressed the bridge of his nose. He wished he could get rid of this sinus pressure but he supposed he would have to live with it like everyone else. He wanted to figure out this case. Someone had held that man captive for two weeks and tortured him and when he finally died, they threw him out close to the harbor…which was close to his own company. Mac was puzzled by this case and he wanted to know how to get the pieces together and see the whole picture. Their next stop would be Rhonda Jernigan…and Mac hoped she could shed some light on the situation.
