Someone to watch over me

with a pair of tweezers.
    “This probably won’t provide much help. Most likely, if they were typed, they’d match the victim, unless the perpetrator was injured as well,“ he told Robert. “But it’s standard procedure.”
    The trail suddenly disappeared around the slight bulge of woods close to the track just as a freight train hauling coal thundered past. This must be where the attack had taken place, Walker thought. It was confirmed by a relatively clear area of ground where a large pool of blood had soaked into the soil and turned brown. He set the two young men who’d followed them, searching for signs of the satchel, to look more carefully in the lightly wooded area farther back from the tracks.
    “If you find it, don’t touch it,“ he called out. “There might be fingerprints from the attacker’s tossing it away.”
    Walker stood near the site of the bloodstain and studied the surroundings carefully. It was a good place to commit a murder. The railroad track went straight north and south, but the woods immediately to the south, closer to town, were unusually dense, close to the tracks, and shielded any view of the relatively open area behind.
    “Whoever did this had to know the railroad schedule,“ Robert said.
    That hadn’t yet occurred to Walker. “Right. If this was done in daylight, you wouldn’t want a slow train coming in or out of Voorburg, either freight or passenger, to see what was going on.“
    “There aren’t many early passenger trains along here on Sunday mornings, I wouldn’t think,“ Robert speculated.
    Walker nodded again. “The attack could have taken place anytime overnight. I wonder if we can count on Doc Polhemus to be able to determine time of death accurately?”
    Robert would have liked to tell Walker his impression of the skills of their local doctor and county coroner, but he let it go. Young Dr. Polhemus might be a good doctor, but he was a blabbermouth about his patients’ ailments, which to Robert’s mind outweighed his medical skills. “How would anyone be able to spot the victim here at night, though?“ he said instead.
    “If he—or she—was following him, it could be done by sound alone. Everything’s so dry the weeds would rustle.“
    “He or she? You surely don’t suspect Mrs. Anderson?“ Robert said, horrified at the thought.
    “Of course I do. She’s a big strong woman. She damned near knocked the wind out of me, beating on my chest, after I told her.“
    “But ...“ Robert had to marshal his thoughts. “She went completely to pieces when she heard.“
    “That could have been rehearsed,“ Walker said. “And she recovered her composure pretty quickly. She’s strong that way, too.“
    “You don’t honestly consider her your prime suspect, do you?”
    Walker looked at Robert long and hard. “I don’t have a prime suspect. But a lot of murders have to do with family problems, so she can’t be discounted.“
    “But she seems such a nice woman. Concerned for her brother and her children, working so diligently to keep them all afloat in hard times.“
    “I agree, Robert. But I can’t eliminate anyone as a suspect just because I like or admire them. And I have virtually no information about what happened here yet. I’m certainly not going to peel her children off her apron and throw her in the jug until and unless I find evidence that she’s the guilty party. It could be anyone at this point.“
    “I had no idea you were so cynical,“ Robert said.
    “That’s what I’m paid to be,“ Walker said. “To my sorrow.”

    Robert found Lily sitting in the Duesie, fanning herself irritably with a folded map of the State of New York, when he returned. “You gave up on walking home?”
    She just looked daggers at him.
    Robert didn’t say anything until they were almost back to Grace and Favor. Then he slowed the car and said, “Howard Walker suspects Mrs. Anderson.”
    He expected Lily to be as outraged as he’d been. “Of course he does,“ Lily said.
    Robert slammed on the brakes. The Duesie shuddered to a halt and died. “You can’t think that too?“
    “I don’t think she did it. But I can see why Walker has to consider her. Robert, you’re not usually so naive.“
    “I’m not naive. I just find it creepy crackers that a hardworking woman should be in the limelight as a suspect in her own husband’s murder.“
    “Has Howard determined that it was murder?“ Lily asked.
    “What else could it be?”
    Lily thought for