John stood up and offered his hand to her. “Well, Susan, does that sound okay?”

Staring in disbelief at his generosity, she took his hand and smiled. “That sounds wonderful, John.”

The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon checking through the other trunks, but were unable to find anything else that pertained to the murder victims. Finally walking out to their vehicles as evening approached, Justin and John each carried a cardboard box containing the records they had discovered that day. Susan opened the back of the SUV and moved out of the way as the men sat the boxes down.

“Well, I hope all this helps you,” John said. “If you need to look through the other papers and what not, again, just give me a jingle and I’ll come unlock this old place.” With a wave, the couple climbed into their SUV and within moments Justin had the vehicle started and was pulling onto the road, headed home.

After they had traveled in silence for a while, Justin briefly looked over at his unusually quiet wife and asked, “Do you want to stop and eat somewhere in town, before heading home? It might be nice to eat out.”

Contemplating the past few days and the information they had learned, Susan was startled by the sound of Justin’s voice and answered with a shrug, “I don’t know.” Then after a short pause, “Yeah, I guess.”

When they reached the turnoff, Justin headed into town and parked in front of the small Mom-and-Pop diner, the same one he had gone to their first night in Burnsville. Dinner turned out to be a somber affair, with Susan picking at her food more than eating it. Any attempts made at conversation were answered absently by his preoccupied wife. He quickly gave up trying to talk to her and concentrated on the plate of food before him.

When the teenage waitress, whose named tag read, ‘Bobbie Jo’, came to the table with their check in hand, she looked down at Susan’s barely touched food and asked if it was okay. Justin answered, “Yeah, the food was great. My wife just wasn’t very hungry.” He looked at Susan’s nearly full plate and asked, “Could I get a doggie bag?”

Snapping a large wad of pink gum, the girl picked up Justin’s empty plate and told him, “Sure, be right back.”

Susan mechanically dug money out of her purse and handed it to Bobbie Jo when she returned, while Justin dumped her uneaten food into the Styrofoam carton the waitress had placed on the table. As the girl walked toward the cash register, Justin said, “Keep the change.”

Looking down at the twenty dollar bill she had been given for an eleven dollar meal, Bobbie Jo waved as the couple left the diner and called out, “Come again, soon.”