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“—just want to check!” That came from the woman who was shuffling backward. Auggie figured that’s why he hadn’t seen her on his first glance; the porch was deep, and it looked like she was slowly giving ground, moving backward toward the steps. “Why can’t I just check?”
If the other woman said something, Auggie couldn’t hear it. She had her arms wrapped around herself, and she stayed in the doorway.
“It’s my personal property!” the first woman screamed. “It’s not fair! You’re not being fair!”
The second woman shut the door.
For a moment, the woman on the steps did nothing. Then she fumbled with a little black crossbody and took out a phone. She tapped the screen a few times and held it up, studying the screen, obviously trying to get the best angle. Then she started talking.
“So, update, I’m having a really bad day. See this house behind me? The woman who lives there, Elise—that’s Elise Purdue—she’s a total bitch. I just want to see if some of my personal property is there, and she won’t let me. And you guys, I’m just having such a hard time right now.” She sounded like she might be crying. “You guys know how hard I’m working on this, but, like, it’s just so hard. I mean, I just want to—I just want to do something really bad right now, but I won’t. Narcissism is, like, something you can’t cure. All you can do is learn how to manage negative tendencies. But, like, you guys, I’m just really struggling right now.” She was definitely crying by the end.
She hit end, and the crying stopped. After a few taps, she locked the phone and put it back in the crossbody. Over her shoulder, she called, “I’m going to come back with Merlin, you cunt,” and then she pranced down the stairs. She got into an enormous white Kia Telluride, and a moment later, subwoofers boomed. Auggie thought it was a nice touch that she shot away from the curb at approximately forty miles an hour—spoiled teenager meetsThe Fast and the Furious.
“If I have to hear an impassioned speech about the evils of social media right now,” Auggie said, “you’re sleeping on the couch for a week.”
Theo grinned as he got out of the car.
The house looked even worse when they reached the porch. The ceiling was cracked, and the strands of fairy lights strung overhead were green with algae. It looked like, at some point, the porch had been put into service as temporary storage, but that temporary storage had turned permanent: cardboard boxes, drooping and bulging from age and humidity, held cans of motor oil and hedge clippers and a three-foot-long neon sign of the St. Pauli girl.
“This is probably that important personal property she was trying to get back,” Auggie said.
Theo shushed him and knocked.
This house, like Shaniyah’s, had the same kind of artificial silence.
Theo knocked again and called, “Ms. Purdue? My name is Theo Stratford. I was wondering if I could talk to you about Leon for a moment.”
A full minute passed. And then the deadbolt clunked, and the door swung open.
Auggie’s first thought was that he might have been wrong; she might not be white. Her skin had a faintly yellowish cast that suggested another possibility, at least. Her hair was long and straight, and freckles ran across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Auggie put her somewhere in her thirties, and he figured when she’d been younger, she’d probably been pretty, but never beautiful.
Her gaze flicked to Theo, then to Auggie, and then away. She framed herself with the door, one hand clutching it like she was going to have to slam it shut, and she wanted to be ready. “Yes?”
“Theo Stratford. I’m a teacher at the high school. This is my partner, Auggie.”
“I know who you are.”
Theo smiled. “You do? Have we met?”
She shook her head, but she still wouldn’t meet their eyes. “Leon talked about you.”
“I don’t think I know Leon either.”
She shook her head again.
“Are you Leon’s mother?”
“Elise Purdue.” She held out a limp hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
Not a dead fish, Auggie thought as he took her hand. Worse. Like he was squeezing the fingers of somebody in a coma.
“Could we come inside and talk for a minute?” Theo asked. “I’ve got a few questions.”
Elise hesitated. Her hand opened and closed around the door.
“It’ll just take a minute,” Auggie said.
Her shoulders collapsed, and she nodded and retreated into the house.
