part0028

Hopkins drove onto the gravel driveway in front of Christa and Gwyn’s house. Neither of their cars were there.

“I don’t understand it,” Blake said, “he’s always outside at this time. Standing right there in the front yard.”

“How long have you been staying here?” Hopkins asked.

“Only a few days. Long enough to know that Lucas lives by his schedule. It’s a compulsion. And, where else would he be?”

Hopkins got out of the car and walked around the bushes. Blake followed him to the front door of Lucas’s house.

Hopkins knocked. After a minute or two, there was still no answer.

“Hang on.” Blake jogged around the bushes into Christa’s yard and looked up at the side of the house.

“Hi.” Blake waved to the old lady in the window. He would have called her by name, but he had already forgotten it. “Is Lucas home?”

She shook her head. Her wrinkled face scrunched up into a disapproving scowl.

“Do you know where he is?” Blake asked.

Another shake. Same dirty look.

“Thanks,” he said. Mostly to himself.

Hopkins had made his way around to the driver’s side of the car. “We’ll have to try back another time.”

“I’m a bit worried about him,” Blake said. “Maybe showing up at the condo right after Lucas left wasn’t such a good idea. If he thinks Lucas tipped us off…”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Hopkins said. “I’m sure Lucas will be back shortly. In the meantime, there are other avenues we can explore. I have my Lieutenant working with Newport PD on locating John Grenier as we speak. You said you got a look at the guy before he jumped out the window, right? Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”

“I don’t know, it was quick. He was older. Very thin. I didn’t get a good look at his face. Why? Who is this Grenier that you keep mentioning?”

“Let me back it up a bit. Yesterday, we found out that Misty and Zoe were both seeing the same doctor, a psychologist here on the island. Walton is his name. That’s why I was asking about Lucy. I thought she may have been seeing him as well. Anyway, we brought Walton in for questioning, but it turned out he had an alibi. John Grenier is Walton’s partner. Unlike Walton, he has an office in Newport.”

“An office or a condo?” Blake said.

“No, an actual office. We checked it out. It’s on Bellevue. But that doesn’t mean he’s not doing a little moonlighting. We made contact with him briefly before I spoke with Walton. Afterward, we tried reaching out to him again, and we couldn’t locate him. If Grenier is tied to that condo somehow, we’d really be onto something.”

“Do me a favor,” Blake said, “let’s take a ride over to Newport. We’ll do a simple knock and talk. Nothing illegal about that, right? If it turns out to be Grenier, problem solved. If no one answers, well, it was worth a shot. Whatta ya say?”

Hopkins paused. His head rocked slightly from side to side as if the proverbial angel and devil on each shoulder were each pleading their case. “Just a knock and talk. No cowboy shit.”