Chapter 4

"Have you ever been to this neighborhood?", He asked her, holding her hands gently as they made their way across the road. She gave him a puzzled look.

It was a quiet neighborhood, with a road that cut across the street, there were house by each side, and each house had a small garden with a tree in front of it. Most of the houses were painted white and were flats, except the house at the far end of the street, which was a two storey building with a mixture of brown and red. It had a rusted gate at its entrance with little grass growing at either side of the gates, it stood majestically at the far end of the street and had the appearance of a typical hunted house.

"It's here", she pointed to a beautiful house that was located at the middle of the street, three houses away from the mysterious looking house. The house had beautiful flowers at its left hand side, with a palm tree sitting majestically at its right. Leading to the entrance door was a beautiful paved marble floor. The house was different from the others, painted with white from bottom up to light brown. There was freshly made sand castle close to the base of the house and a cup of water close to the castle.

"Someone lives here", she spoke quietly.

"This looks creepy, are you sure wo ought to be doing this", he looked at her somewhat a little bit scared, "we can call the police now", he suggested.

"This case was closed years ago, do you think just a name is enough evidence to reopened the case", her voice was firmed, then she let out a giggle, "don't tell me, you scared baby"

"No, I am not", he acted tough, raising his chin and holding her tightly by her waist, "I will protect you", he assured her.

They were close to the entrance when Janet noticed something towards the right end side of the house, it was shiny and laying there carelessly, she studied it from the corner of her eye, then she could hear the sound of the doorbell, she directed her gaze towards the door and saw Ben standing there tapping gently on the switch that was fixed inches above the door knob. The sound rang out again, and again and again.

"I don't think anyone is home", he turned to face her, "let's come another time".

She laughed, "that's expected"

"Huh"

"I knew no one would be home, we breaking in", she told a frightening looking Ben.

She drew closer to the door and bent to examine the door knob, this is an easy lock she thought to herself. Quickly she placed her bag in front of her and reached for a set of iron rods that was buried deep inside the main compartment of the bag, Ben look at her amazed.

"What if there is an alarm inside the house", he protested, she ignored him and placed one of the rods inside the entry at the middle of the door knob, she turned and twisted, removing and reinserting, while he stood there motionless taking in the full view of what was happening right in front of him.

They were officially buglers.

After a minute of twisting and turning, they could both hear the sound of lock retracting back into its place, she stood up with a sense of relief and face of triumph. She stretched out her hands towards the knob when the knob turned on its own accord and the door was pulled inside, they both stepped back quickly and waited for the door to open successfully and there standing in front of them was an elderly woman having the appearance of someone in her 70s wearing a loosely pink gown and holding the other end of the door knob at the other side of the door.

She looked at them confused and quickly changed her expression to someone excited to meet them.

"Come in darlings", she beckoned on them, as she stood by the side of the door inviting them into her home.

They stood fixed at the spot, mesmerized at the sudden change of expression. Was she expecting them, or has she lost her eyesight to the point she had mistaken them for someone else, they reasoned among themselves. Ben was the first to step in, and Janet followed suit. The woman directed them to one of the chair adjacent to the TV screen. The door opened directly to the sitting room and at the far end of the room was a table and chairs placed round it, it had the setting of a dining room.

The room had the aura of an old fashioned settings, the chairs were old fashioned, and a little bit old. Two chairs were placed opposite each other and a couch in-between them, placed close to the far end of the room. There were flower vase besides each chair and a fish tank was placed at the stool besides the couch. Surprisingly enough the TV was of the latest version, it was very wide and luxurious and hanged majestically on the wall opposite the couch.

Janet touched Ben and turned her gaze to the TV, Ben just nodded in return.

"Are you amazed at that", the elderly woman directed her stare towards the TV, she sat on the chair opposite them.

"It is different", Janet blurted out.

She smiled, "it was bought by my grandson, Jefferson. He's really a nice boy"

"Jefferson", Ben responded, "it sounds familiar"

She turned to look at him, "do you know him?"

"I don't know really, but i know one Jefferson, Jefferson Jack".

She smiled, and stood up and headed to the door beside where they sat, "what would you little kids want".

Janet face lit up, she was always a one for food, love it and never refused a free meal.

"Anything, you have ma", she replied

"Same here", Ben added.

With that, she opened door and left, Janet quickly turned to face Ben, giving him an inquisitive look.

He responded by lifting his two hands midway his body and gesturing he didn't understand what she meant.

"Jefferson....", she paused, "what was that about".

"I don't know..... small talks", he shrugged his shoulders.

The door opened besides them and she came walking with a tray on her hands, on it were two cups and plates with slices of pancakes on it. She placed the plates and cups on the stool and drew the stool in front of them, gesturing to them to eat.

"Thanks", Janet face wore a big grin.

The elderly woman resume her sitting position and watched them with a mischievously smile playing on her lips. Ben shot Janet a quick stare from the corner of his eyes and she cleared her throat in response. She quickly put the pancakes in her hands into her mouth and swallowed hastily without chewing, and took a sip from the teacup that was in front of her.

She sat straight, staring at the elderly woman proudly, cleared her throat, letting the sound sink in.

"Did any Augustine lived here", she asked politely.

The elderly woman looked away from her and stare aimlessly at empty space, staying like that for a while. Janet turned her face towards Ben, and he gave her the same look she gave him, they watched patiently as the elderly woman keep staring at empty space. Did she knew him, is the name that familiar, they wondered. The silence was becoming very awkward when Janet opened her mouth to speak.

"Yes, he lived year years ago", the woman replied, her voice sounding very distant. Then suddenly she turned her face towards them, with a big grin showing her set of pure white teeths.

She continued, "he was a very energetic boy, always helping me and everyone....", she paused for a while, "did anything happened to him?"

"No.. No... No",Janet shook hand in affirmation, "It's a school project, we have to gather information about previous student that were in Malmo's high", her voice sounding polite and assuring.

The old lady face brightened up, "Malmo's", she spoke out, "he was fond of that school, had his first girlfriend there and his first kiss...",she stopped to collect her breath, "Do you know, he was prom king", she grinned from ear to ear.

"Wow, I didn't know", Janet exclaimed, and turned to Ben, "Did you?"

"Of course, his name is written proudly on the school bill board", he replied

She turned towards the old woman, "I just moved into the school,,, " she chuckled, "haven't got my bearings yet", her lips widened awkwardly.

"Seems like he had good days in Malmo's", Ben chipped in.

The elderly woman nodded, still wearing a big smile on her face.

"Why did he leave", he continued.

The elderly face quickly turned sour and immediately brightened up, she forced in a smile and Janet spotted it obviously. It was definitely not a topic she wanted to discuss.

"He had to go back home", she told them, her voice sounding calm and without emotions.

"Seems like he is not from around here", he continued.

"Yeah, he isn't.. He is my sister grandson and his parents put him here for a while... When it was time, he went back"

"To where?", Janet voice was sharp and quick.

"That's personal", she sounded defensive and paused for a while, Janet was about to respond when she spoke out slowly, putting emphasis on each word, "to Georgia".

The shock could be clearly seen on their faces.

"But he should be in town, he promised he would visit me when he arrived in town", her voice sounding animated.

"Thanks for everything ma," Janet pointed to the plates and teacups, "was really lovely ma".

She clasped her hands and smiled.

They stood up and made their way towards the door, Janet walked out with Ben following behind. She was already footsteps away from the door, with her hand tightly clutched with Ben's when she heard the already familiar voice, shaky, slow and animated.

"He told me one time, if he is allowed to visit any place in town, he would visit Smith and Fries place".

Ben turned round to meet her harmless gaze and let out a quiet thank you, he turned towards Janet who was staring at him and he knew from her expression. They were going to Smith and Fries Place.

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The elderly woman shut the door behind her and made her way towards a purse hidden beneath the couch, she bent and picked it up, placing her right hand inside it, and bringing out a very old looking mobile phone. She flipped it opened and placed it on her right ear. After a momentary silence and wait, she spoke out.

"They know", with a surprisingly male voice.