Walking Shadows

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

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About the Author

Also by Faye Kellerman

About the Publisher

CHAPTER 1 (#u821569d5-299d-5eb0-b818-90f997b5f7d2)

IT WAS A mob, but not yet a full-fledged riot. Over a dozen retirees, dressed in housecoats and robes, had taken to the streets, demanding action at eight in the morning. The call had come through twenty minutes earlier, just as Decker was knotting his blue tie, putting the finishing touches on his typical uniform: a dark suit over a white shirt. He skipped checking in at the station house, going immediately to the crime scene—seven smashed mailboxes, metal poles uprooted, letters and flyers strewn into the street.

White-haired Floyd Krasner led the charge. “It’s the third time in what … three months?”

“Less than that,” Annie Morris chimed in. She was in her seventies and wore a terry-cloth robe over floral pajamas. “Third time in two months. Not a good way to start the summer.”

“I’ll say,” Floyd added.

Janice Darwin tightened her own coral robe and added, “I didn’t give up my life in the city just to find crime here, you know.”

Decker wasn’t sure what city she was from. Not that it mattered. He smoothed his mustache—silver with hints to its once red color. It matched the hair on his head. “I know you’re frustrated—”

“Y’think?” Floyd blurted out.

Grumbling from the masses.

Decker looked at the old man—stoop shouldered with angry eyes. He and Floyd were around the same age. Decker had the advantage of a strong back and broad shoulders, although he suspected that gravity had shoved his spine down an inch or so. Still, he had plenty to spare, always the tallest kid in the crowd. People often asked if he had played basketball.

Nope. Too much weight and too slow.

He said, “Anyone hear anything last night? This much damage must have made noise.”

No response. That was expected, since half of them wore hearing aids that they took out at night. Decker’s eyes drifted upward to the roofline, then back at Floyd. “What happened to the CCTV camera that we installed on your property?”

Krasner bit his lip. “I took it down.”

“Why?” Decker asked.

A pause. “It was interfering with my gutter.”

“Floyd, I installed that myself. It was nowhere near your gutter. I made sure of that.”

The man looked down. “The missus didn’t like it. She said it made the place look like a fortress.” His eyes flashed. “Who cares? You know who these punks are anyway.”

“Probably, but without evidence, I can’t arrest them, right?” Decker shook his head. “That camera cost over two hundred dollars. What did you do with it?”

“It’s in the garage.”

“It still works?”

“Yeah, it still works.”

“Could you get it for me?” Decker turned to Anne, who lived next door to Floyd. “Do you mind if I install it on your roof?”

“Be my guest. You could have asked me in the beginning.”

“Floyd volunteered. I didn’t know he took it down.”

“It was interfering with the gutters,” Floyd said again.

“No, it wasn’t.” Decker looked at the sea of faces. “Everyone, go home. I’ll take pictures of the mess, and we’ll get someone out here to reinstall the mailboxes.”

Karl Berry spoke up. “Wouldn’t it be easier just to get us all PO boxes?”

Janice said, “I don’t want a PO box. I like having a mailbox.”

“Why? All I ever get is junk.”

Decker said, “Karl, you’ll have to take that up with the city council. I just do crime.”

“And not very well,” Floyd said.

“That was uncalled for,” Annie said. “If you hadn’t taken off the camera, we might have caught them in the act.”