came along. Couldn’t afford to relocate at his fancy-schmancy mall so it went down the tubes. I haven’t had a decent job since. That’s when the Mrs. left me, too. And now, all these years later, my little girl is in a drug rehab program for the third time, all because our family got busted up by that tyrant. Downtown used to bustle. Now it’s dead. That’s all because of Devon Hiller. I’m just sorry someone didn’t put an end to that geezer twenty years ago.”
“I really do have to run,” Alex said.
“Can’t tell you how many times I thought of doing it myself,” Harry said, adding with a vaudevillian wink, “and I’m not the only one thought that way.” Pounding Alex on the back as though they were coconspirators, Harry lumbered back across the road.
A LEX FOUND Liz at the table, spooning canned soup into her mouth in such dainty little sips that it made his heart flip in his chest. Raised in a family of men, spending his adult years around still more men, the feminine way she had of doing everything from applying lipstick to painting her toenails always fascinated him.
She looked up and smiled. “Hunger finally got the best of me,” she said. “Don’t let Sinbad out, okay?”
Using his foot, he gently nudged the cat back inside before closing the door. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Since when don’t you let the cat out?”
She shrugged and averted her gaze and he suddenly understood. The answer was simple: since he went away. “How did everything go down at the station?” she asked.
He sat down opposite her. “Okay. Did you know there was a certain degree of animosity among the locals when your uncle built his first mall?”
She nodded. “Of course. I was pretty young, but over the years I heard things.”
“And what about when he built subsequent malls?”
“They were smaller, just strip malls, really. I don’t even know if many people realized he was behind them.”
“It’s a small town—I bet lots of people knew. And I bet some little businesses got shoved aside, right?”
“Probably.” She frowned and added, “For every business Uncle Devon helped go under, two new ones started. He brought jobs and opportunities into the community. And after the malls, he was involved with land development. Half the houses on the south end of town are there because of him.”
“You’re defending him,” he said softly.
“Weird, huh? Well, I’m not really defending the way he did things or the way he didn’t care who he hurt.”
“And I’m not concerned with the ethics of growth and all that right now. What I am wondering is how many former business owners with a grudge had the opportunity to kill your uncle?”
Liz blinked. “Oh.”
“Maybe you could get together some figures on the computer or something.”
“Or something. I have to warn you that I find it rather amazing what information noncomputer people think computer people can ascertain with the flip of a switch and a few pounded keys. It doesn’t always work that way.”
“You’ll make it work,” he said with complete confidence.
“Maybe. Remember those boxes my uncle had us take home a month or so before he died? They’re in the garage. He said they were full of my stuff, but you never know, there might be something in one of them that will help.”
“We’ll look.”
“And I’ll get a list of everyone who went out of business within a year of the mall opening. Then we’ll dig a little further and see what happened to them next.”
“Harry Idle’s wife left him.”
Liz smiled. “Can you blame her?”
“The point is that he blames your uncle.”
“Harry Idle?”
“His daughter has been in and out of rehab. The man thinks his life would be perfect if your uncle had left well enough alone. He may be right.”
“Are you saying that Harry Idle stabbed my uncle?”
“What I’m really saying is that where there’s one disgruntled former shopkeeper, there may be more.”
“But
“I really do have to run,” Alex said.
“Can’t tell you how many times I thought of doing it myself,” Harry said, adding with a vaudevillian wink, “and I’m not the only one thought that way.” Pounding Alex on the back as though they were coconspirators, Harry lumbered back across the road.
A LEX FOUND Liz at the table, spooning canned soup into her mouth in such dainty little sips that it made his heart flip in his chest. Raised in a family of men, spending his adult years around still more men, the feminine way she had of doing everything from applying lipstick to painting her toenails always fascinated him.
She looked up and smiled. “Hunger finally got the best of me,” she said. “Don’t let Sinbad out, okay?”
Using his foot, he gently nudged the cat back inside before closing the door. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Since when don’t you let the cat out?”
She shrugged and averted her gaze and he suddenly understood. The answer was simple: since he went away. “How did everything go down at the station?” she asked.
He sat down opposite her. “Okay. Did you know there was a certain degree of animosity among the locals when your uncle built his first mall?”
She nodded. “Of course. I was pretty young, but over the years I heard things.”
“And what about when he built subsequent malls?”
“They were smaller, just strip malls, really. I don’t even know if many people realized he was behind them.”
“It’s a small town—I bet lots of people knew. And I bet some little businesses got shoved aside, right?”
“Probably.” She frowned and added, “For every business Uncle Devon helped go under, two new ones started. He brought jobs and opportunities into the community. And after the malls, he was involved with land development. Half the houses on the south end of town are there because of him.”
“You’re defending him,” he said softly.
“Weird, huh? Well, I’m not really defending the way he did things or the way he didn’t care who he hurt.”
“And I’m not concerned with the ethics of growth and all that right now. What I am wondering is how many former business owners with a grudge had the opportunity to kill your uncle?”
Liz blinked. “Oh.”
“Maybe you could get together some figures on the computer or something.”
“Or something. I have to warn you that I find it rather amazing what information noncomputer people think computer people can ascertain with the flip of a switch and a few pounded keys. It doesn’t always work that way.”
“You’ll make it work,” he said with complete confidence.
“Maybe. Remember those boxes my uncle had us take home a month or so before he died? They’re in the garage. He said they were full of my stuff, but you never know, there might be something in one of them that will help.”
“We’ll look.”
“And I’ll get a list of everyone who went out of business within a year of the mall opening. Then we’ll dig a little further and see what happened to them next.”
“Harry Idle’s wife left him.”
Liz smiled. “Can you blame her?”
“The point is that he blames your uncle.”
“Harry Idle?”
“His daughter has been in and out of rehab. The man thinks his life would be perfect if your uncle had left well enough alone. He may be right.”
“Are you saying that Harry Idle stabbed my uncle?”
“What I’m really saying is that where there’s one disgruntled former shopkeeper, there may be more.”
“But
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