Читать книгу Murder In The Heartland - M. William Phelps - Страница 21

Twenty-three-year-old Chris Law had lived a few houses away from the Stinnetts ever since they moved into the neighborhood. Law, though, had known Zeb, he told reporters later, “since we were in Head Start together.”

On occasion, Zeb would pop over to the Laws’, and the two men would work on cars together. Bobbie Jo would wander over sometimes, most likely just to be near Zeb, but Law said she rarely spoke and, at times, “hardly said a word at all.”

On December 16, Law planned on visiting Bobbie Jo. Not to have coffee or chat about the latest gossip in town, but mainly to be a “good neighbor” and check up on his friend’s pregnant wife.

“They were good-natured people,” said Chris Law.

So, Chris Law was going to do what anybody else in town might have done under the same circumstances. Bobbie Jo had been to the hospital recently for several prenatal tests. As far as Law knew, she faced no major complications, but it wouldn’t hurt to stop in and say hello on his way into Maryville to run a few errands.

“I observed a pinkish red two-door vehicle,” Law told the FBI later, “in front of the Stinnett residence…possibly a Mazda, a Toyota, or a Hyundai.”

Law was referring to Lisa Montgomery’s car; she had been inside the house with Bobbie Jo at the time Law was considering stopping by.

When Law turned onto the corner of West Elm from North Orchard, he spied a “dirty” vehicle sitting in the Stinnett driveway and drove around the block in his truck, he said, “rethinking his decision” to pop in.

Well, she’s got company, Law told himself, and I won’t bother her.

“I never considered the idea that [Bobbie Jo] was in danger,” Law said later on television. “Stuff like that just doesn’t happen ’round here.”

Moreover, the front door to the Stinnett house was wide open the entire time Law observed the red car in the driveway. It was winter. Although it was an unseasonably warm day, leaving the door open wasn’t something Bobbie Jo likely would have done.

Then again, as Law explained it later, “If it had been a stranger, [Bobbie Jo] never would have let them in the house.”

To some, Law appeared rough around the edges, with his gold earring, five o’clock shadow, grease under his fingernails, and mechanic hands as rough as sandpaper. He spoke with a Western drawl, like most in the neighborhood.

“[Lisa] was pretty much a part of Bobbie Jo’s life, anyway,” Law told a British television producer. “They went to dog shows together, swapped dog secrets, you know. I thought she was a friend.”

Indeed, the visitor had to be someone Bobbie Jo knew and, perhaps, trusted. This led some to later speculate when Lisa showed up at the door, Bobbie Jo must have recognized her as Lisa Montgomery. The question became then: with her cover blown, did Lisa charge at Bobbie Jo and push the door open, forcing her way into the house? (Law reported the door being wide open when he drove by.)

Or did Bobbie Jo, recognizing her, invite her in?