Page 65 of Protected By Duval
He turned to see Patricia looking at West. “I shopped there when I was newly married. They closed a few years after I started shopping there. We had to find a new market.”
His mother snapped her fingers. “I remember where that was! Now it’s… They demolished it and a couple of other stores around it.”
Patricia smiled. “Yes! I remember how upset everyone was when they did that.”
“They were but then it became one of those big stores with cheaper prices like…”
“Like Walmart or Target,” Patricia sighed. The prices might have been better, but the people working there were not nearly as knowledgeable. “What a loss to the community.”
Duval saw West taking notes on his phone.
When their comments quieted, West added in more details.
“She was working at the cash register and had been there for a little more than a month before she suddenly just didn’t come home.”
He turned to another paper in the stack and gave them more information.
“There were some rumors that the family told me about. The Coolidge family had two sons running the market together. They were both trying to prove themselves hoping that their father would name them as the majority partner in control of their markets. There were,” he looked down at the paper, “three of them. One in the heart of San Antonio and two more in other neighborhoods.”
“Homes Mart.” Finola tapped her knuckles on the picnic table top. “That’s the name of the market that came up after Coolidge Market closed.”
Patricia nodded in agreement. “Kind of halfway between Walmart and Target.”
“That’s a good comparison,” Finola lifted a hand to her head and rubbed at her temples. “Thinking this much makes my old head ache.”
“Ma!”
His mother shrugged at him. “It’s true. I’m getting old, McCrae.”
He frowned, waiting for what must be the other shoe to drop.
“If only I had some grand children as lovely as Ciela….”
“Oh boy.”
Patricia chuckled softly, but Noelle didn’t seem like she’d heard his mother’s words.
A moment later, Noelle’s mother leaned to the side on the bench and took out her phone from her back pocket. “You know…” She moved her fingers over the screen of her phone. “I remember a few years ago when I went to my High School reunion one of my old classmates said that he’d worked at Coolidge Market back in the day.” Her gaze was fixed on her phone for a moment and then her expression brightened. “Ah! I have his number.”
West leaned in. “Do you think I could have his number? I’d love to send someone out to talk to him.”
Patricia hesitated for a second. “Can I call him first and ask? I… I feel like I should ask him first.”
West nodded. “If he’ll come in voluntarily that would be best.”
Duval heard West’s tone harden. “But to solve this case, I wouldn’t mind getting a supoena.”
Patricia looked a little uncomfortable. “I… I’m sure he’ll say yes. I’m just not sure what he’d be able to tell you. I’d just want him to know that I’m giving you the number before you call him.”
“That’s fair.”
Noelle’s mother relaxed a little and Duval was happy to see it.
He knew how determined West was to solve the case.
So was he.
But Patricia wasn’t a law enforcement officer. And she didn’t know West as well as he did.
