She and I both turned and stared at Dane. I should have left him at the curb.
“Of course.” I tried to smile wider. “Let me get my notebook.”
Alma calmed a little more as I pulled out my handy blue notebook and pen. She led us to a pair of rocking chairs set to the side on the porch. Dane stayed in his place.
“How long did you teach?” I asked. Every bit of information about Alma might provide clues to the case.
She rocked a little in her chair. “Thirty years.”
“Thirty years,” I didn’t have to feign my shock. “A full career and now you’re at Boone.”
That wasn’t adding up. Also not adding up, a woman who worked thirty years now killing someone to steal his job.
She laughed. “I’m seventy-one, but it’s important not to let yourself get bored. After retiring ten years ago, I volunteered at Boone.”
“As a researcher?”
“No.” She rocked harder. “A tour guide. I stepped in only after the poor man they had hired for the position passed away. They’ll probably hire someone else later this year. Maybe then I’ll finally retire.”
My face fell. Okay, that all sounded reasonable, but I hated it. Alma’s answers didn’t line up with any of my theories. She planned to leave the job? And how did someone in their seventies kill a man? Alma seemed super sweet, but even I knew women could hide a killer personality. However, she also looked like a strong breeze might blow her over.
Did she hire someone to kill William?
“But enough about me,” she said. “What questions do you have about Boone Plantation? I’ll do my best to help you.”
I thought up a few fake questions regarding the tour schedule and the gorgeous oak trees before Dane and I made our exit. We walked back rather than take an Uber. It gave me time to think.
“Next time tell Spencer to let us know if the suspect is over sixty,” I said as we crossed a street.
He grunted. “Technically, I didn’t tell him why I wanted the information. Plus, people can kill at any age, princess.”
“Yeah, but women, and older women especially, usually use poison.” Although William had a high dose of antihistamines. I still needed to Google the symptoms of that, like the reporter said. “It’s possible she hired a killer. Looks like she has the money.”
“It’s a stretch.”
A stretch? Yes. Our only lead? Also, yes.
“Spencer should see if there have been any large payments out of Alma’s bank accounts. He can do that. Right?”
“Sure can,” he answered quickly.
I pressed the up button on the elevator at our building. “You know, this would be easier if you just gave me Spencer’s number.”
Dane laughed as we walked onto the elevator. “Never.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him as we stepped off the elevator on our floor. “Shit, Dane.”
His gaze followed my finger as I pointed at the door to my old unit.
Someone had taped a light blue envelope to the door.
18
Dane marched right to the door and ripped the note from it. He turned to me with it held in the air. “This has to end.”
Well, duh. We couldn’t go through life receiving threats or living in Charleston. My boss was going to want a report about the case. Probably sooner rather than later.
“I agree, but how are we supposed to do that?” Unless Alma was missing a ton of cash, we were out of leads.
