“I need to at least know if anyone saw Maxwell’s car at River’s house.”
“And if they did?”
“Then I’m going to immediately drag River down to the station and question him about why he lied to me,” I growled.
“Now, take a deep breath.” Girdy sounded uneasy. “Try to stay calm, Royce.”
“I’m tryin’.” I rubbed my stubbled jaw. “I’m sorry I woke you, Girdy. I should let you go.”
“I won’t be able to sleep now. If you find out anything, please call me back.”
“I will.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked hopefully.
“Not yet. I’ll let you know when there is.”
“Okay. Please do keep me posted, Royce. Don’t worry about calling back and waking me up. I’m gonna get up and make a pot of coffee. You’re absolutely right—there’s no way Max would blow off the meeting with River. Either something happenedon his way over there, or River is as big a rat as I think he is.”
I couldn’t help smiling at the wrath in her voice. It was nice to have somebody who understood why I was worried. “I’ll talk to you soon.” I hung up.
A quick glance at my watch showed me it was just after 11:00 p.m. It was definitely late to be bothering people, but I couldn’t let courtesy stop me. I needed answers. I got out and made my way back to River’s closest neighbor. I knocked on the door, and a security light came on. I ducked to the side of the porch so that if River happened to be looking out his window, he wouldn’t be able to see me.
It took a couple more knocks, but eventually, a light came on inside. “Who is it?” a gruff male voice demanded through the door.
“I’m sorry to bother you, sir. It’s Sheriff Callum.”
After a slight pause, the door opened, and an elderly man stood there in a pine-green bathrobe. His white hair stood on end, and he looked grumpy. “What in tarnation are you doing knocking on my door at this hour, Sheriff? Is something wrong?”
“I’m working a missing persons case.”
“Is that right?” He scowled. “Who’s missing?”
“Dr. Thornton.”
“Really?” He scratched his chin.
“He had a meeting with your neighbor River Martin this evening. I was wondering if you might have seen his car parked out front around 7:00 p.m.? It’s a silver Subaru.”
Scrunching up his face, the man shook his head. “I didn’t see any cars in front of River’s home at all today. But to be honest, I was at a Rotary Club meeting from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., so I wouldn’t have seen a car if it was parked in my own driveway.”
“Uh… No, I don’t suppose you would have.”
“Is that it, Sheriff?”
“I guess it is if you didn’t see anything. Again, I’m sorry to bother you so late at night.”
“It’s pretty crazy to think Dr. Thornton went missing. He doesn’t seem like the type.”
“I agree.”
“Maybe he ran back to LA.” The man chortled. “He’s a fish out of water if I’ve ever seen one.”
“I think he’s fitting in pretty well these days.”
“Do you? I suppose he is better. Although, I heard a couple of women complaining about him in the grocery store the other day. Seems he told one of them she needed to lose weight in a not-so-tactful way.”
I grimaced. “He means well. I’m sure he was just worried about her health.”
