"Well, hello there, Mr. James," she said, beaming a great big smile at me. "How are you doing on this fine sunny morning?"
"It certainly is a fine morning, and I'm feeling pretty good, to be honest. How are you, Mrs. Dobbins?"
"Oh, I can't complain. How are you and your daughter settling into your new house over there? Is everything okay?"
"Oh yes, everything is just fine. We're enjoying the place very much."
I didn't want to let her know that Jane was in the hospital right now; I wanted to keep this conversation as short as possible. As nice as Mrs. Dobbins was, I just didn't have time to get into an in-depth conversation with her at the present moment.
"That's good to hear. It's a lovely little house. The previous owners were there for 18 years, you know! It's a shame they're gone, but I'm glad that a fine and upstanding young man like yourself has taken over. Now, what brings you over here, Mr. James?"
"Actually, I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."
She smiled warmly. "Of course! I'm always happy to chat with my neighbors."
"You might not be so happy when you hear what it is I need to talk about."
She frowned. "Oh no, is there a problem?"
"Kind of, yes. As you know, I'm principal at JFK High."
"Yes, yes. And how do you like your new job?"
"Oh, it's great. Good kids. But, like I said, there's a problem. There's a nasty guy cruising around this neighborhood. He's a pedophile. Preys on kids."
"Oh, my!" she said, shocked. "How awful!"
"Yes. I obviously want to keep him away from my school, but I also don't want him in our neighborhood either. The cops are looking for him, too. But I'm just being extra cautious here and asking everyone in the neighborhood if they've seen this guy around."
Alright, so I was telling a bit of a white lie. Okay, well, two white lies. Simon wasn't a pedophile (as far as I knew, anyway), and I was only actually asking Mrs. Dobbins, not anyone else who lived on this street. However, I don't think it would have turned out too well if I'd said that I was asking her because she had a reputation of being the nosiest person in the neighborhood.
"Do you have a picture of him I could look at?"
"Actually, I do."
I pulled out my phone and opened the picture of Simon that Vivienne had forwarded to me.
"Oh!" she exclaimed.
"You recognize this guy?"
"I do, I do!" she said excitedly. "This guy, he was, strangely enough, he was hanging around Vivienne's house! I thought he was a friend of hers, perhaps. Do you... you don't think that she's mixed up in that disgusting... sex pest business, do you?!"
"Oh no, no, she is definitely not mixed up in anything of the sort. I already asked her about him."
"Ah yes, well I didn't think she would be. She's such a nice girl. You should really try to get to know her a little better," she said with a suggestive smile and a twinkle in her eye.
I had to try to keep a straight face. "Oh uh, I couldn't agree with you more, Mrs. Dobbins."
"You really should. You never know – good things might happen!"
I chuckled. "Oh they might, they sure might. Look, sorry, I just need to ask when exactly it was that you saw this guy hanging around."
"Oh yes, well, he's been around here three times actually. Twice on Friday, and once yesterday."
"And what was he doing?"
"First he drove up and down the street a few times in his car. Real nice car – black, Mercedes, I think. On two occasions he simply parked the car a little up the street and sat watching Vivienne's house, he was there for at least two hours one time, and an hour and a half the other time. The other time he was actually out of the car, and he walked all around her house, having a very good look at it. I called the police department, but they told me if he didn't do anything, he was probably just a friend. What do you think he wants with her? Oh my, do you think that disgusting pervert wants to prey on the poor little children in her daycare?"