“I told them we were going to be doing a press junket after the memorial at the school when it was done. The one reporter said so around six? I just nodded and let them come up with the whole thing. Guess where weWON’Tbe at six?” he asked.
Ethan laughed.
His partner was damn good at evading the media. It was surprising they bought that.
Dannie shook his head.
“When you guys don’t show up, they are absolutely mobbing the police station. Hopefully, my boss doesn’t feel like a press interview if he’s there.”
Hopefully, not.
“You haven’t updated him yet, have you?” Ethan asked. “You know, for today?”
He shook his head.
“No. He’s rarely at the office on a Saturday. He was only there today to talk to you guys. We’re good.”
That worked for them.
“Let’s talk to the owners,” Gene said. “Oh, and Detective, add them to your list of research while we’re apart tonight.”
He made a note.
“On it.”
They headed toward the counter, where there were two people standing there. One was an older man around fifty, and the woman was young, as in barely twenty—if that.
In fact, she could have been his daughter.
“Are you the owners?” Gene asked.
The two of them nodded.
“We are. I’m Johnny Wilderman, and this is my partner, Sarah Beth Jackleman,” he offered.
Gene made the official introductions before diving right into the questioning.
“We have questions regarding Phylis Lizney. She was here the other night, Thursday, with a bunch of girlfriends,” he stated, using the notes from when Dannie interviewed the husband.
Johnny nodded.
“She was. Phylis and her friends are regulars. Every Thursday, they come in and paint. They BYOB their wine, and they have a good time.”
Gene was ready to go.
“Walk us through what happened. The detectives tried to interview you guys Friday, after she went missing, and you were closed.”
The man explained.
“If we don’t have a painting party scheduled, we don’t open up. No one randomly comes in to paint. We mostly deal with parties like for birthdays, or girls’ nights out,” Johnny admitted.
That made sense.
“Again, start at the beginning.”
The man did.
“Phylis and her girlfriends showed up at their normal time, after eight, and they began working on some ceramics. This week they wanted to do something different. Easter is coming, so they wanted to paint bunnies.”
