“I don’t know of anyone else,” Burke replied. “But I don’t care about the money. I was just trying to get them to stop what they were doing or move.”
“Did you ever speak to any of their guests?” Logan asked.
“Only to yell at them to get off of my property,” Burke said. “But I did write down the license plate numbers of the cars that would park on my lawn. I already gave them to the police.”
Tanner needed to speak to those people.
“Do you still have them? I’d like to contact them.”
Burke nodded and stood from the couch.
“I’ll make you a copy of the list. I have tic marks next to each name as to how many times they parked on my property. If there’s a star next to them that means they damaged something.”
“I appreciate your time and cooperation,” Tanner said as they were leaving only a few minutes later, list in hand. “I do hope things get better for you now.”
“We’re hopeful as well,” Cindy said. “All we want is some peace and quiet.”
They bid the Burkes goodbye and climbed back into Tanner’s vehicle, neither of them saying anything until they were on the road back to Springwood.
“Christ on a bicycle, your ex-wife sounds like a nightmare to live next to. Was she like that when you were married?”
Tanner had been asking himself that very question since hearing the Burkes’ story.
“No, not at all. She liked to go out to dinner and maybe to a party now and then, but she wasn’t loud and boisterous. I think I’d remember if she was a party animal.”
“Maybe she and Marty were having some sort of midlife crisis,” Logan suggested. “Some people buy red sports cars or climb mountains. Maybe they decided to live it up, neighbors be damned.”
“I’m going to have to ask her about this,” Tanner said with a sigh. “I can tell you now that Abby doesn’t like to be questioned. It’s not going to go well.”
“She’s the number one suspect in a murder investigation,” Logan replied. “It doesn’t really matter what she likes. It might be better if one of us talks to her. You and she have too much history together. I’m betting she still knows how to push a few of your buttons. Let’s not give her a chance to do that.”
“I think you’re probably right.” He patted his shirt pocket. “In the meantime, we need to talk to some of their party friends. Maybe they can give us some more insight as to what Abby and Marty were doing.”
It didn’t make much sense. This wasn’t the Abby that Tanner had known but then it had been over twenty-five years since they’d been married. People change.
Had Abby changed so much that she’d become a killer?