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"So, I have another reason for calling. I need a favor."
"Sure. What is it?" Keira asked.
"I need to find out who owned a house about thirty years ago. Would you be able to find that out for me?"
"Probably. Text me the address, and I'll check it out. Can I ask why you're interested?"
"I met someone who stayed in the house a long time ago, and he has some memories he can't figure out. We went by the home, but it doesn't look like anyone is living there. It's probably a long shot that we could track down the former owners, but if it's easy enough to run a search…"
"It's easy."
"Okay, I'm texting you the address now. He said they stayed in the house twenty-seven years ago."
"Got it. I'll call you back and let you know what I find out."
"Thanks, Keira." She set down the phone and cleaned up the kitchen. Her neighbor's daughter, Jessie, was coming over to watch Leo while she went to Hannah's party, so she'd make spaghetti for both of them.
She'd barely gotten dinner started when her phone rang.
"I got the information," Keira said.
"That was fast."
"I just ran a title search on the house and the year you gave me. There have only been three owners. At the time in question, the house was owned by Eleanor Johnson."
She sucked in a shocked breath. "Are you serious? Eleanor Johnson? The woman who lived in my parents' rental house the last nineteen years?"
"I think it's the same one. She bought the house with her husband Hank Johnson when it was built fifty years ago. She sold it twenty years ago when her husband passed away. The current owner is Jeff Hodges."
"I don't know that name."
"It wasn't familiar to me, either. Do you want me to dig in further?"
"No, that's fine. I can't believe Eleanor owned that house. It seems like such an odd coincidence."
"Why is it a coincidence? Who's this friend you're getting the information for?"
"He's actually Joel's friend," she said. "I just met him. He lives in LA but came here to visit Joel. He's a contractor and had some time in his schedule, so he's going to remodel the rental house. He mentioned that he'd spent some weeks here one summer a long time ago. He wanted to see the house where he'd stayed." Her voice drifted off as she realized how crazy this story was sounding. "Anyway, he was just curious who owned the house, and I said I'd help."
"You sound pretty interested in this guy and his story."
"More so since you just told me Eleanor used to own the house. I wonder if that was where she lived or if it was a rental property."
"Hang on. I'll see if Eleanor owned any other property in Whisper Lake at that time."
Chloe waited, hearing Keira clicking away on her computer keyboard. A moment later, she came back on the phone.
"Eleanor and her husband owned a house on Middleton, so the other house was probably a rental. Looks like both properties were sold after Eleanor's husband died, but to two different parties. Do you care about that?"
"I don't think so. Thanks for doing this, Keira."
"No problem. Let me know if you need anything else."
"I'm sure I won't," she said firmly, trying to convince herself as much as Keira. "I need to worry about my own life, not someone else's very distant past."
"I was going to say that, but I didn't want to waste my breath," Keira said with a laugh. "I know you, Chloe, and when you get curious, you can't stop yourself from asking questions."
"Well, I'm going to try. We'll talk soon." As she set down the phone, she wondered if the odd coincidence meant anything. She didn't see how it could. But she'd pass the information on to Decker and let him decide.
