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“Do you know if any of your neighbors were having any work done?”
“I know the Petermans are getting ready to renovate their second floor, but they’re using Munster Construction.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I thought we’d established I’m an observant woman who likes to ask questions, Detective.”
“Once again, I feel it’s important that you know I’m not associated with any law enforcement agency.”
Her jaw set in irritation. “I’m not an idiot.”
I lifted a hand in apology. “I didn’t mean to insinuate otherwise. I just want to be clear on that point so you don’t think I’m misrepresenting myself.”
She settled back in her chair, sniffing as though clearing her nose of the stench of my insult. “No one was using B&G Woodworking for any work in the neighborhood. In fact, there is no B&G Woodworking listed in the entire county.”
“I take it you looked.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Of course I did.”
“Did you call the police and report it as suspicious?”
She gave me a look that suggested I was an idiot. “What were they going to do other than tow it away? It was up to no good, and I was determined to find out what.”
“And did you determine what it was up to?”
A scowl crossed her face. “No. I didn’t see who finally showed up to drive it off.”
“What about the neighbors close to where it was parked? Did they see anything?”
“No.” Her answer was curt, but I didn’t necessarily believe her. I wasn’t sure how any of this information was advantageous to her, but there was still a lot I didn’t know.
I decided to move on. “Did you happen to see anyone lurking in front of the Petermans’ house last night or very early this morning?”
“You mean her kidnapper? No.”
I nearly corrected her assumption, but it wasn’t my job to control information. Still, I wasn’t convinced she was telling me the truth. She’d insinuated to my mother that Ava had been kidnapped, long before anyone else had leaned in that direction. Didn’t that suggest she’d seen something?
“You didn’t see anything at all?” I pressed.
“Nope.” She picked up her coffee cup and took a sip.
I decided to press her more about my mother. I wasn’t satisfied with the explanation she’d given. “Why did you call my mother?”
“I already told you that I thought she had a right to know.”
I considered the timing of my mother appearing at my door and Vanessa calling the police. “Had the police even arrived yet?”
She laughed. “I have my sources, Harper, but don’t ask me to divulge them.”
So she’d known before the police had arrived. I suspected her source was a police dispatcher. Someone like that could prove invaluable to someone like Lisa. But how did she get them to feed her information?
Not my concern. Not right now, anyway.
“Harper,” she said with a sigh, setting her cup on the table. “There was another reason I called your mother.” She tapped her nose. “Don’t you find it strange that this happened only a couple of weeks after you came home?”
Of course I did, but I wasn’t about to discuss it with Lisa Murphy.
I could spend the next hour trying to drag information out of her, but I had a neighborhood to canvass and a shit ton of people to talk to. Time was of the essence.
