you mind looking at a picture of the woman? ”
Sally straightened her shoulders. “Of course.”
The lines on Sally’s face deepened as she stared at the picture of the victim. Tears welled in her eyes. “Poor woman. God bless her.”
“Do you know her?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sure?”
She drew in a breath and refocused on the picture. Seconds passed. “Sorry, I don’t know her.”
Garrison took the picture back and tucked it in his breast pocket. “No problem.”
“What can you tell us about the people who were staying in the house?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you have at this point.”
“Two of the women had jobs as cleaning ladies at a local school. The men didn’t work, but collected Social Security. ”
“Did you have any trouble here recently?”
“No. In fact, it’s been as smooth as glass. No fights. No contraband found. I knew trouble was bound to return. Looks like it did in spades.”
“What’s your idea of contraband?”
“We do surprise searches every day. If I find something that breaks our house rules, I confiscate it. Knives or guns. Drugs. Alcohol. The usual troublemakers. If a weapon or drugs are found, the resident has to leave immediately, but if it’s alcohol we sometimes cut them a second chance. The resident is issued a warning and if it happens a second time they’re evicted.”
“You evict anyone lately?”
“It’s been a couple of months since I had to kick someone out.”
“Who was it? ”
“Oh, I’ll have to go back and check my records.” She glanced up at the shelter. The charred ruins glared back at her. “The files were in my office. They were destroyed.”
“And you don’t remember this person’s name?”
“Only that it was a woman. She brought drugs into the shelter. I tossed her out. She called me a few names.”
“Any threats?”
“Oh, yeah. In fact, Eva stepped between us. She’s small, but the girl is strong and isn’t afraid of a fight.”
“What did Eva say to her?”
Sally raised a brow. “She spoke so quietly I couldn’t hear, but whatever she said it had a real impact.”
“Ever hear from that resident again?”
“No.” Sally paused then snapped her fingers. “Her name was Brenda.” She frowned as if burrowing into her memory and then shook her head. “But the last name escapes me.”
“Anything else you can tell me about Brenda?”
“She worked the streets. Said she wanted to get her life together but she was just one of those people who seemed more interested in a bed and a hot meal than putting her life back on track.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“Enough. But for every one hard-core addict that shows up here, two others really need us. Most of our residents just have trouble managing the day-to-day details of life caused by mental illness.”
“Would you be willing to look at a few mug shots to see if we can identify this Brenda woman?”
“Sure. Sure, I’ll do whatever I can to help. Where are my residents? I want to talk to them.”
“We bused them to the YMCA so they could shower and get a meal.”
“I’ll need to check on them.”
“Sure. An officer can drive you.”
“He can follow if he wants, but I drive my own car. First the Y, then the station.”
“Sure.” Garrison pulled a card from his pocket. “Call me if anything else comes to mind.”
Sally took the card. “Sure.”
Chapter 6
Tuesday, April 4, 8:15 A.M.
When Eva approached the shelter, she parked on a side street like she had last night and again cut through the yards. When she rounded the corner her breath caught in her throat as she got her first daylight look at the burned-out structure. The old Victorian had collapsed into a pile of charred, smoking timbers. The scent of smoke still hung in the air. It truly was a miracle that anyone had gotten out alive.
“Eva.” The unknown man’s deep voice caught her off guard and she turned, startled. The cop from last night stood
Michelle Rowen, Morgan Rhodes