I had watched Edna manipulate Henry until she only needed to sigh and he’d be ready to serve and protect. If I wasn’t careful, instead of Henry feeling perturbed about the water they’d siphoned from his line, he’d be going door to door taking up a collection to help them make ends meet. In his mind, it wouldn’t amount to much more than pennies a day, and why not lend a hand since he had more than they did? That was certainly Edna’s attitude.

•   •   •

When I reached the office, I unlocked the door, disarmed the system, and then sat down at my desk. I picked up the phone and called directory assistance. When I had the operator on the line, I asked for a listing for last name Adelson in Richmond, Virginia. Apparently, there was only one: Dale and Trish. I made a note of the number, depressed the plunger, and then dialed. It was only 10:00 California time, which would make it roughly 1:00 on the East Coast.

The line rang twice and a woman picked up.

“Mrs. Adelson?”

“This is Trish, yes.”

“This is Kinsey Millhone out in Santa Teresa. Henry Pitts’s tenant.”

“Yes, of course,” she said, though I was pretty sure she wouldn’t have put two and two together if I hadn’t spelled it out for her. “I hope you’re not calling to say something’s happened to Henry.”

“No, no. It’s nothing like that. Sorry if I caused you alarm. Is your husband there by any chance?”

“He’s off at the university. I don’t expect him home until late this afternoon. Is this something I can help you with?”

“I hope so. We’re concerned about your house.”

“Is there a problem?”

“That’s what I’m calling to find out. Do you have tenants in there?”

“No. The house is on the market, but we don’t have renters. Dale asked our real estate agent about the possibility and she said being a long-distance landlord would be a nightmare. Why do you ask?”

“Because an elderly couple moved in a couple of months ago. Edna and Joseph Shallenbarger.”

“Moved in? I don’t understand. You mean someone’s living there?”

“I’m afraid so. When Henry first met them, Edna said they’d moved in in January. We just assumed they bought the place. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to look into it, but they actually attached an illegal T fitting to Henry’s water line and they’ve been using his water to irrigate their grass and shrubs. We’re in the middle of a drought out here and Henry’s fit to be tied because his water bill’s gone up. When he mentioned you, Edna had no idea who he was referring to.”

She was still having trouble assimilating the introductory concept. “An elderly couple’s living in the house? You mean old people?”

“For the past two and a half months. I didn’t want to raise a question if these were friends of yours.”

“Absolutely not. I can’t believe this. How could someone move in like that?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what they seem to have done.”

“Well, we’ll have to evict them as soon as possible. Do you think we should fly out?”

“It might come down to that. Do you know a Calvin Sanchez?”

“Who’s he?”

“He signed their application for water service, listing himself as the property owner.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on. We own that property. We haven’t authorized anyone to do anything. We’ve continued to pay utilities because it makes the house easier to show. Not that anyone’s looked at it since we moved here.”

“Well, I just talked to the water department and the Shallenbargers have put the water service in their name. I’m not sure about gas or electricity. I know they don’t have their garbage picked up.”

“I’ll ask Dale if he’s been receiving statements. If these people have put utilities in their name, the bills might be going directly to them.”

“I guess we can sort this all out once we talk to them. As long as you’re in agreement, we’ll go next door and have a conversation. I didn’t want to mention this to Henry until I talked to you.”

“Well, thank you. I appreciate that, and I’m sure Dale will as well. Of course we want them out of there, so do whatever’s necessary. You have our permission to take any action required.”

“Perfect. We’ll have a chat with them and get back to you.”

After I hung up, I sat and considered the situation. I’d certainly served enough eviction notices in my capacity as a process server. A tenant can be terminated with a thirty-day, sixty-day, or ninety-day notice, depending on the circumstances. Grounds for eviction include damage to the property or illegal activity on the premises. There is also a three-day notice to pay rent or quit, but I couldn’t think how that would apply to someone who wasn’t paying rent to begin with.