Island of Deceit by Candice Poarch Page B

mentioned during the investigation.
    He checked his watch and headed to Lambert Hughes’s place. Minerva was home and he could talk to Hughes without her input.
    Barbara should be home by now. He’d like to spend more time with her, but it wasn’t feasible. As he passed her house, he noticed her car in the carport, but he couldn’t tell if she was there.
    Another two miles and he stopped in Lambert Hughes’s yard with its well-kept white Cape Cod with green trim. For years it had been neglected. When Hughes bought it, he’d restored it to its former beauty.
    â€œMr. Lambert? Sheriff Harper Porterfield.” Harper rang the doorbell three times before it was answered.
    â€œI know who you are.” He opened the door wide. The man looked sad. He still wore his robe and hadn’t shaved. Maybe Minerva did all that.
    â€œI want to ask you a few questions about Sarah Rhodes. Do you have time?”
    Lambert stepped back. “Come on in.”
    They settled in the living room.
    Lambert’s café au lait complexion was a shade darker with age.
    â€œHow are things working out with your new helper?”
    The older man’s eyes lit up. “Minerva’s very good. She never misses a day. Even calls on the weekend to make sure I’m okay. And I never have to remind her to do things. I’m lucky to have her.”
    â€œVery good. I’d like to talk about Sarah.”
    â€œShe was a nice girl. A little young and sometimes scatterbrained, but a nice person.”
    Harper took out a notepad and pen, and began to make notes. “Did she report to work regularly?”
    â€œFor the most part. Not as stable as Minerva, but she kept the place clean, cooked my food, did all my shopping. I’m so sorry she was killed. She was so young. Do you know what happened?”
    â€œNot yet. Did she talk about people she socialized with?”
    â€œNot really. She talked a lot on her cell phone, though. I didn’t listen in. Young folks are always yakking about something. I’m military. We had to work. Couldn’t talk on the phone all day.”
    â€œI understand,” Harper commiserated. “Do you remember what she was wearing the last time you saw her?”
    â€œI wrote it down when she didn’t show up and I couldn’t reach her. I found the notes last night.” He went to retrieve them.
    What Harper couldn’t figure out was why she was found away from the ferry instead of toward it. Even the bar and the fast-food places were toward the ferry.
    Hughes returned. “One thing I learned was to record the details. She wore blue jeans and a red blouse that buttoned down the front.” He told Harper about the last day she worked for him.
    â€œDid she work all day?”
    â€œYes, she left at four-thirty.” He folded his notes and placed them on the coffee table in front of him. “Oh, and I forgot to mention that Sarah told me someone ran her off the road on her way to work. She couldn’t catch a ride that morning and she walked. She fell into the ditch. It rained that day and her shoes got muddy. She was some kind of angry. Good thing she wore tennis shoes. She put them in the washer.”
    Harper frowned. “Did she know this person and could she describe the car?”
    â€œOnly that it was dark. It was real foggy that morning and hard to see.”
    â€œDid she show up for work the next day?”
    Lambert shook his head. “No, that was the last time I saw her.”
    â€œDid you help pay her rent?” Harper asked.
    â€œShe couldn’t afford a nice place. Had no family. I wanted to help her.”
    â€œDid you loan her money any other time?”
    â€œThe day she went missing.”
    â€œHow much?”
    â€œFive grand to buy a car.”
    â€œFive thousand?” Harper asked, his pen stalled over the pad.
    â€œShe needed a new car. Always catching rides. It was dangerous. And I needed her to