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Bond shrugged. “I don’t know, but I know it wasn’t Jeremy’s. He wasn’t here that night. He lives in Maryland. I know it wasn’t Alice Martin’s because she doesn’thave one. I doubt she’s ever even seen one. And Fred Ross? Bet if he saw a drone he’d shoot it out of the sky with his damn shotgun. That’s it for this street. Nobody else here. But it could have been somebody on another street. Jeremy told me that drones have different ranges. And once they hit the end of that range, they don’t go any farther. But Jeremy’s is a commercial model and it’s got a prettygood range.”
Decker had a sudden thought. “Could it have been a chopper and not a drone?”
Bond shook his head. “Choppers are real noisy. I would have definitely heard a chopper, and so would you at that low an altitude.”
“Makes sense. And the drone would have a camera attached, right?”
Bond nodded. “Sort of the point. You use a drone to take pictures orvideo. Though I guess there’s talk of using them to deliver stuff too. Anyway, Jeremy’s has a fancy camera on his. He told me he slides his phone right into the control box and the drone sends whatever it’s seeing right to his phone. Don’t really understand how all that works, but then I’m just an old fart. On this street, we’re all old farts. Well, I take that back. I never would call Alice a fart.She is a very dignified lady. Taught Sunday school.”
Decker said, “So you know Alice Martin?”
“Oh yes. She and my wife were really good friends. She came to the funeral.”
“And Fred Ross? You mentioned him and his shotgun. Do you know him well?”
Bond’s face wrinkled up. “I’ve had that displeasure for far too long.”
“Yeah, that’s what Alice Martinsaid. You say you were outside that night. Did you hear the drone?”
“No, I didn’t. You can hear it when it’s on the ground, but not high up in the air. They’re pretty quiet. At least Jeremy’s is.”
“Did you hear any other sound? It’s really important.”
Bond again scratched his chin. “Well, I did hear a weird sound I’ve never heard before. Something tapping and scraping.Over and over.”
Tapping and scraping. That’s actually a good description.
“I heard it too, but I couldn’t tell what it was,” said Decker. “So, you’ve never heard it before?”
Bond shook his head.
“But you could hear it from your back porch?”
“The yards here are small, and the houses are even smaller. It’s not that far from my back porch to the street.”
“And the car starting up and driving along? Did you recognize if it belonged to maybe Alice Martin?”
“Alice doesn’t drive and she doesn’t have a car.”
“I take it Ross doesn’t drive anymore, being in a wheelchair.”
“No, he does. He’s got his big van all rigged out. Chairlift and special controls so he can drive it even though he can’t move his legs. Well,at least he used to. When I still had my sight I would watch him driving it.”
“How was he disabled?”
“At the textile plant where he worked. Some big piece of equipment fell on him. Paralyzed from the waist down. That was decades ago.”
“That’s tough.”
“Well, it hasn’t made him exactly congenial. But, to tell the truth, Fred was an asshole even when hecouldwalk.”
Decker smiled. “I could definitely see that.”
“Back then, I couldseeit too. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“No, you were of great help. Thank you.”
Decker left and walked back to his truck.
A drone.
So, who was watching what or who that night?
