Love for Sale

glumly. “The more time that passes, the less I’m going to find out. My best guess, and it’s only a guess, is that the killer was Nobby Hazard. He’s the only suspect who’s mentally unstable enough to have done it. That doesn’t mean he did. I don’t think I’ll ever find proof.“
    “I’m sorry to hear that. What about the other case?“
    “What other case?“
    “The missing teacher,“ Lily said.
    “I don’t think of that as a criminal case. She took off for her own reasons. Nobody I’ve talked to knows anything about her past. Just that nobody except the children could stand to be around her.“
    “You’re not going to give up on the preacher’s murder, are you?“
    “Clearly not. I can’t afford to give up. It would be a serious blot on my reputation. He was a national figure, loved or hated by hundreds of thousands of citizens. No cop in the country who cared about keeping his job could afford to let it go. Keep this under your hat, will you? He has a grown son. I’m trying to find where and who he is.“
    “A son? How did you find that out?“
    “Mrs. Taylor at the Institute told me about him. She’s been opening the incoming mail for years and distributing it to the proper person. Pottinger seems to have kept track of where his son was, but he’s not alive to tell us how he knew. The son’s letters to him indicate that he hated his father.”
    He went on to explain the details of the son’s end of the correspondence and the theory he and Mrs. Taylor had both come up with independently.
    “I know it sounds crazy and desperate. Nobody has the financial resources to hunt him down. And the one person who’s now in charge of his fortune, his attorney, doesn’t have any incentive to find him.”
    Lily thought it over. “I don’t think it’s crazy. Who, except Nobby, would have a better motive according to what you’ve told me? Is there any way Robert or I could help?“
    “I don’t see any way anyone could, unless Pottinger kept the letters and they turn up in the material that was carted up to Albany. But you might know something else I’m trying to pursue. Have you ever driven up Lilac Road just north of here?“
    “I don’t think so.“
    “There’s a house there that was abandoned and someone’s living in it. I need to contact the owners and find out who’s living there. I’d hoped someone in town knows where they went.“
    “Tell me their name and a little bit about them and where their house is. I’ll see what I can find out.“
    “He was a farmer named Yoast Gerrit. An old Dutch name. The wife was much younger and very pretty. Named Hilda I was called out there once when someone robbed some of his tools from the barn. I hear they went to California.“ He explained how to find the house he meant.
    “Exactly what do you want me to do?“
    “Simply go to a couple of the neighbors to ask if any of them have heard from the Gerrit family and have their address. Ask, while you’re at it, if they’ve noticed who is living at the Gerrits’ house.“
    “I’ll ask tomorrow at the meeting of the Voorburg Ladies League if any of the women knew them.”
    Chapter 27
    At the Voorburg Ladies League meeting Monday afternoon, Lily suggested inviting Miss Amelia Jurgen to join the group to replace poor young Ruby Heggan. Though Ruby was five months pregnant, her husband, Louis, had insisted on taking her and their baby girl all the way clear to California in his beat-up truck.
    The group was delighted to approve Miss Jurgen. “I don’t believe any of us know her well,“ Edith White, the founder, said. “Do you, Lily?“
    “Fairly well.“
    “Would you like to be the one to extend the invitation?“
    “I’d be glad to.”
    Tuesday afternoon, Lily dropped in on Miss Jurgen and said, “The Voorburg Ladies League would like you to join them.“
    “How nice of them. I’d be glad to. A year ago I wouldn’t have had the time, but my business is doing so well now that I’m turning into a hermit. I need something to do outside my home once in a while now that my automobile is functioning.“
    “Well then, how would you like to take me for a ride today? Chief Walker has asked me to look at a house up on Lilac Lane to see if any of the neighbors know who’s living in it. But I don’t have a way to get there. It’s such a lovely day outside for a change.“
    “Let’s do that. Where is Lilac Lane?“
    “Right off Highway 9 north of Voorburg. He gave me