She went in and fetched it for me, leaving me with Boots. She rubbed her ugly pug-nosed face up against my pant leg. Agnes Stockwell returned with not only the phone book but a small notepad and a pencil. “What are you looking up?” she asked, and then, quickly, “Forgive me. That’s none of my business.” “That’s okay,” I said. “There’s another stop I have to make on the way home, but I needed to double-check an address.” I found three listings for Burgess in the Promise Falls directory and wrote down the number and address for each. “Thank you,” I said, handing the book back to Agnes. “And for the lemonade, too. So long, Boots.” As I walked down the driveway, I dug my cell phone out of my pocket. I thought a quick call to Barry was in order, to tell him that it had occurred to Derek, after he’d been through the Langley house, that the computer tower was missing. It either meant something or it didn’t, but he might as well know. I realized I’d not turned the phone on when I left home, and hit the button to bring it to life.
