“A-ha. You don’t know the dynamics of this area.”
“I’m learning on the job.”
“Gator Gene is—was—the other trapper in town. He was difficult, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t. Please explain.”
I took a deep breath. “He wanted to be the only trapper in Wahoo. He had an intense rivalry with my father. My family’s been trapping gators in this area for generations. Years ago, when I was in high school, Gene thought he could muscle his way in on the business. There were usually enough gators to go around for both my dad and him, but...”
I flashed back to the scene Gene had caused in the café earlier in the day.
“But what?” prodded Alex.
“But Gene always saw my family as competition. After my father passed, Gene figured he’d be the only game in town, gator-wise. But I decided to continue the business. Today, in fact, Gene confronted my sister and I while we were eating lunch.”
“Confronted?”
“Gene had a nasty attitude. It was on full display today. He came to our table while we were eating and gave us an earful. He was a total jerk, in fact.”
“Where were you?”
“Cheesy Does It, that café downtown. Great grilled sandwiches, by the way. Gene accused me of stealing a gator call earlier in the day.”
“Did you steal the job?”
Stupidly, I giggled from sheer nervousness. “Of course not. A client called, and I went. I caught the reptile. It was in his pool, a baby gator. Then I left.”
“Did Gene say anything else?”
“He was obnoxious, like he always was. Caused a bit of a scene. Said he was filming a reality TV show about his trapping business and warned me not to interfere. The TV producers wanted me and Vera to go on the show as foils for Gene. That’s what my sister told me, anyway. It doesn’t matter because I’m not going on any show, and I had nothing to do with his death.”
He scribbled in his notebook and lifted his head. “Vera’s your sister? Older or younger?”
“We’re twins.”
“Identical?”
I shook my head. “We look nothing alike.”
“You have a number for her?”
I rattled off her digits.
Alex cleared his throat. “Maggie, can you tell me what you were doing between the hours of noon and approximately 6 p.m.?”
“I had lunch with my sister, like I told you. Around one thirty, I went home. Well, to my sister’s home. I’m staying with her now, basically we’re living together until I decide if I want to buy a place or what.”
He clicked his pen twice and the sound seemed to take on a life of its own. “You were home. Alone?”
“Yep, with my cat. I did some paperwork for the bookstore, had some things to take care of with my father’s probate case. Oh, and I took a nap.”
“A nap?”
I nodded, wondering if I was speaking a language other than English and that’s why he kept repeating my words.
“Was your sister there with you?”
I shook my head and my stomach sank. I’d been by myself, for hours. Possibly right at the time Gene was killed. Eep. Did I need an alibi? A lawyer? No, that was stupid to even consider.