The three block drive to the drug store was covered with trees full of foliage along the way. Most of the houses had either their cars in the garage or they had them in the back of the house. Which made it hard to tell who was at home, and who wasn't. All of the lawns were perfectly trimmed. This was the affluent part of town. Everyone had to have a caretaker or lawn service for this kind of upkeep, maybe one of the workers had seen something. Jasper could see a Surf and Turf lawn service vehicle on the first block. They took care of lawns and swimming pools. An energetic man with a dark tan was mowing. He looked about 25 or so and was about six foot with hair so bleached it almost looked white.
Jasper pulled up across the street and got out of his car. He waited to make sure the guy mowing saw him before he moved, just to be on the safe side. When the young man looked up Jasper waved and started to walk over. The lawn mower went to an idle and the guy shut it off.
"Hi, Sheriff, I haven't seen you in a while. Do you need to get your lawn mowed? I could fit you in on Fridays."
"No, I have a question for you Hank. Were you working on this street yesterday morning?"
"Yes I was. I worked this street everyday this week. What do you want to know?"
"Do you know who Thomas Twilliger is?"
"Yes, I help Carl in the spring and the fall every year. They have so many trees it gets to be a nightmare. I have been helping for the last five years now. Why do you need to know if I know him?"
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"Let's see, it was this week I saw him walking. Must have been yesterday morning. He was walking back from the drug store. He had a dog chew for Rollo. I was cleaning out under the Rodger's rose garden. He stopped and said that Carl was going to need help planting a garden out by the summer house and asked if I had some extra time to help. I told him yes, I would be there. Now are you going to tell me why you want to know about Mr. Tom?"
"Yes, Hank I am. As far as we know you may have been the last person to see Thomas Twilliger. Carl said he went to the drug store to get Rollo a dog chew. I am just checking out his story. Did you see anyone else around the neighborhood that you haven't seen before? Anyone that looked suspicious?"
"Well you know Sheriff, in my business you have to be aware of what is going on around you. That is what people pay you for. On this block I take care of one house each day I always vary my times. You never know what time it will be. I have noticed a car drive by a couple of times. It had out of state tags on it. I always make a point of writing that stuff down. That's my bread and butter around here. If people know that I care then they will use me. Here is the number."
“Thanks for your help. Let me know if you think of anything else."
Jasper continued down the road. The Martin family was putting in a fountain in the last block. Maybe they had seen something. Jasper pulled over the check out the workers.
"Hi, guys I’d like to ask you all some questions."
No one spoke English except the guy with the clipboard. "Si, I mean yes. They no speak English. You have question, you talk to me. I speak."
"Okay, have you seen this man before?"
The man in his fifties with the dark green baseball cap took the picture from Jasper. He passed it around to all of the men. Several of them said “si,” and nodded their heads. They were all smiling and speaking Spanish. Then the man in the green baseball cap said. "He came here on his feet. How you say?"
Jasper said. "You mean he was walking?"
The green hat man said. "Si, he was walking. He said we do a good job. He asked if I had una carta de business."
"A business card?"
"Si, I no have business card. He ask if maybe I write down what my name and telephone number. He call me. I said, si, I do that. He que… want, fuente, water… in ground at his house."
"You’re saying he wanted a fountain like you are putting in here?"
"Si, everyone was glad. We have work when stop here. Jorge need money to bring his family from Old Mexico. This get him money."
"Do you know what time it was?"
"We just get start on work. No one stop work yet."
"So you were saying it was very early in the morning?"
"Si, he was nice man. Now Jorge no go back to Mexico. Jorge family come here. This man, nice man, si? He do what he say? He not bad man?"
"No, he is not a bad man. He is just lost. We can not find him. You let me know if you see him again."
"Oh, we pray to Saints that he come back."
"Thank you, he needs all the prayers he can get." Jasper walked back to his car. He had one last stop to make. The drug store was just around the corner. The brick building had been in this spot for almost 65 years. It still had the soda fountain that ran along side of the store. It had been overhauled about ten years ago, but the mural had stayed the same. Mort was still the pharmacist after 27 years. He always kept a sharp eye on things.
"Well, hi Sheriff! What brings you into my store? Do you want a cup of coffee? Things sure have been slow around here today. I haven't even had two customers yet. I guess everyone is staying healthy now that I sell those new Cold Fizz tablets. They have everything you need in them to keep from getting sick. Have you tried them yet?"
"No, Mort, I haven't tried them yet. I stopped by to see if Thomas Twilliger was in yesterday?"
"Yesterday? Oh, yes, I remember he came in to get a dog chew for that big dog he has. He must be a monster. He bought one that was two feet long. I keep them in stock right behind you on the next row over. He comes in once a month or so and gets one. He usually walks here. He likes to walk on down before he has to take a long drive."
Jasper took a look down the next row. It was a thick compressed raw hide bone. He walked back up to the front. "Well, if you see him would you give me a call?"
"Sheriff, do you need his address and phone number? I can give you that."
"No, I have that already. After he walked down here then he went back home and no one has seen him since. We are just trying to locate him and make sure he is all right."
"Well then Sheriff, maybe I had better tell you what I saw yesterday. Tom was in here early and no one else was around. We talked for a minute or two like we always do. Tom had a cup of coffee. Next thing I know, this man walked in and went back over there where the cards are. He stayed there for a while and then Tom went to leave. As soon as Tom started down the street that man shot out of here. He waited in his car ‘til Tom went around the corner. Then he started up his car and went the same way. He stopped at the corner for a minute and then that was the last I saw of him. Never seen him before. He was from out of town. He had Nebraska tags on his car. Is that of any help?"
"Yes, that is a lot of help. I have several people that saw him walking this way. They said he headed back to his house. You are not the only one who saw the out of town car. He seems to have made it home, but what happened to him afterwards?"
"This is too bad. Tom and Henrietta have an anniversary coming up. Tom was pretty excited about finding the perfect gift. Don’t know what it was. He wanted to keep that a secret for now he said. I will have to check on her and see if there is anything I can do. They have been coming in here for it seems like forever. I remember when their son Luke was born. This must just be killing her. Thanks for letting me know Sheriff."
"No problem Mort, and if you see anything, or see that car again you let me know."
"Gotcha. You will be the first person I call. This place is so small and people can hear anything that goes on in here. So if he shows up, I will tell you you're out of town map is in. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Jasper left and went back to the station house.