My Private Detective Read online

  “Lieutenant, I’m going to be frank with you. By sheer accident, I’ve become involved with a woman who’s convinced that her best friend has been wrongfully imprisoned for murder.”

  “You’re referring to the Turner case.”

  Gideon nodded. “I’d like permission to investigate it.”

  “A closed case?”

  “Yes.”

  The other man released a low whistle. Gideon had been expecting that reaction.

  “On what evidence?”

  “Yesterday I went to the prison to talk to Dana Turner. During our conversation, I caught her out in a lie. She refused to say any more and immediately left the visiting area.

  “I figured she was protecting someone. After poring over her court records this morning, I came across the proof I was looking for. Dana Turner lied under oath to protect someone else.”

  The lieutenant’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying there could be an accessory here?”

  “That’s what it looks like on the surface. But my gut instinct tells me there’s a different explanation. Ron Jenke was in such a hurry to nail another prosecution before the election, he didn’t do all his homework. I’d like to pick up where he left off.”

  Lieutenant Rodman sat back in the swivel chair. “How much time are we talking about?”

  “How much time can you give me?”

  “Not much. Right now we’ve got a dozen cases, including the Simonds murder, that need your expertise.”

  Gideon felt his shrewd regard.

  “This woman you met must mean a hell of a lot to you.”

  Heidi’s image flashed before his eyes. “It’s taken me by surprise, believe me.”

  Silence stretched between them.

  “All right. You’ve got one week to see where this goes. I have to be able to justify your using the department’s time to dig up old ground. If you haven’t come up with compelling evidence by then, you’ll have to do any further investigation on your off hours.”

  One week.

  “Thanks, Lieutenant,” he said with heartfelt gratitude. “I’m indebted to you.”

  “Tell the sergeant you and I talked. He can hook Rich up with someone else. Oh, and Gideon? Let’s keep this between ourselves. For what it’s worth, I hope you get lucky.”

  Amen to that. “May I ask a couple more favors?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “I need photocopies of the court transcript and diaries in Amy Turner’s file. I’ll swing by here to pick them up after I get back from the prison.”

  “You’ve got it. What else?”

  “Would you mind phoning the warden at Fielding Prison to get me immediate clearance? It’s nine-thirty. If I leave now, I can be there before lunch.”

  A request from the lieutenant would cut through all the red tape. Dana would have no choice but to talk to Gideon.

  “I’ll do it right now.”

  “Thanks again.” They shook hands.

  After checking in with the sergeant, Gideon left headquarters feeling a sense of purpose and excitement he hadn’t experienced in years. While he stopped for gas, he phoned Rich and told him the lieutenant had given him a week’s personal leave for something he had to take care of.

  Rich wasn’t the type to pry. They talked business for a few minutes, then ended the call.

  Two hours later Gideon found himself in front of the glass partition at the prison, waiting for Dana to appear. It was exactly like the previous day—with one difference. This morning he was armed with crucial information he hadn’t known yesterday. With that kind of leverage, Dana Turner wouldn’t be running away from him again.

  At his first sight of her, he noticed that the bruised look beneath her eyes was more pronounced than it had been the day before. He could tell she hadn’t slept. Her movements were wooden as she sat down. The prison matron was forced to pick up the receiver and put it in Dana’s hand.

  “Dana?” Gideon spoke into his receiver. She still refused to look at him. “You don’t have to say anything yet. Just listen to me.

  “Last night I had a long talk with Heidi. Among other things, I found out she didn’t testify at your trial. According to Heidi, you told her and her parents to stay away and wouldn’t let your attorney call them as character witnesses.

  “That sent up a red flag, but I didn’t say anything to Heidi. In fact, she has no idea I’m here.”

  He saw Dana’s hands clench and unclench.

  “First thing this morning,” he continued, “I went to headquarters to look over your case in the archives. I’ve read the court transcript and your sister’s diaries. It’s clear as day that you’ve been protecting Heidi.

  “After what she told me last night, plus what I read earlier today, I believe there’s enough circumstantial evidence for Ron Jenke to bring her in for questioning right now.”

  Dana’s head reared back. He was startled by the terrified expression in her eyes.

  “I know she was at your parents’ house on the night the murder took place. She didn’t mention seeing Amy, and no one else is aware she was even there.

  “She can’t prove she didn’t have a physical fight with your sister. To make matters worse, she says she went for a drive during the time the murder took place. But she can’t prove that, either.”

  He pinned Dana with his gaze. “You knew she didn’t have an alibi for that night, so you made sure you never brought up her name. From the very beginning you lied in every conceivable way to protect her.”

  “Yes!” Dana cried at last.

  Now he was getting somewhere. He indicated to the matron standing nearby that they needed privacy.

  When the matron obliged by moving away, he asked, “How is it the police didn’t include Heidi and her family when they interviewed the neighbors?”

  “I told them the Ellises were in New York on a business trip and that Heidi had moved to an apartment at least five years earlier. I also said I hadn’t seen anyone in their family for a couple of months because I’d been away at school in Pasadena.”

  “Thank you for being honest with me. Now let’s finish what we started yesterday. Why don’t you begin with the point at which you ran to your boat and realized it was out of gas.”

  Dana looked ill.

  “Let me help you. When I asked if you’d pushed off before Amy caught up to you, you started to say yes, then you changed your story. According to the court transcript, you testified that you ran along the beach.”

  She nodded.

  “What really happened? Just tell me the truth.”

  He watched her shift restlessly. “I got away in the Ellises’ rowboat. I was so terrified of Amy, who was a strong swimmer, that I rowed to the other end of the bay and stayed there for several hours.

  “When I thought Mom and Dad would have returned, I left the boat on a stretch of beach, then walked home. You know e-everything else,” she stammered.

  Surely someone had discovered the rowboat. He’d discuss that with Heidi later.

  “Now that you’ve been honest with me, I’ll return the courtesy. Since I’m a homicide detective, I have to admit I was more than a little curious when Heidi used a real murder case for her writing assignment.

  “Even though it was fleeting, the notion that she might be involved in Amy’s murder did enter my mind. It’s only natural. After all, I’ve been trained to assume that anything’s possible.

  “But as time went on, it became clear to me Heidi had joined the class in order to get help for you.” He shook his head. “I’d never met a person who showed as much love for a friend as Heidi did for you. Now here I am, looking at the woman who committed perjury to protect Heidi, to keep her out of this mess…. You’re both quite remarkable.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t explain why we’re so close. We just are.”

  “At what point did you decide Heidi could be implicated?”

  “Before I got back to the house that night, Mom and Dad overheard the investigating officer tell
another officer that he thought Amy had been murdered. Everyone in our house was under suspicion.

  “Dad realized what that meant, so he called a friend who got hold of Mr. Cobb. He agreed to be our family’s attorney and advised all of us to keep quiet until he could talk to us.

  “The minute my dad saw me, he warned me not to answer any questions until Mr. Cobb was present. I was terrified for Heidi because I knew she’d been at our house earlier. Luckily no one knew about that, so I purposely left her name out of it. No matter what, I didn’t want her to become involved.”

  Gideon was still incredulous over the kind of loyalty she and Heidi had shown each other. “Tell me why she came over.”

  “I thought you said you already knew.”

  “I have Heidi’s version of that night, Dana. Now I want yours. Two people recalling the same incident tell it differently. I’m looking for clues that will help me find out who killed Amy.”

  Dana bit her lip, then nodded. “Earlier that day Heidi and I had gone out in the rowboat to sunbathe and finish planning our trip to Mexico. She insisted on rowing because she said she needed the exercise. I figured she needed an outlet for her anger.”

  “Why anger?”

  “She was mad at herself for agreeing to go on a blind date. There’s a teacher at Mesa Junior who has a brother in the navy. He had come home on leave before shipping out again. She wanted him to meet Heidi because she was convinced they were perfect for each other. She was very insistent, despite Heidi’s concerns.” Dana grimaced. “You know the kind of situation I’m talking about.”

  Gideon was afraid he did. He’d suffered through a bad blind date years ago, thanks to a determined colleague.

  “Heidi had misgivings, as I said. If she didn’t like him, she’d hate to have to turn him down for a second date, maybe hurt his feelings. On the other hand, if he didn’t like her, it would make her friend uncomfortable.

  “The whole time we were out in the boat, she went back and forth, trying to decide what to do. We never did talk about our trip. Finally I suggested we row to shore. I said jokingly that she might as well agonize in my dad’s study while I worked on my paper.

  “Heidi apologized for being such a pain and announced she was going back to her apartment. We said goodbye at the pier. Our plan was to get together the next day and go down to the travel office.

  “To my surprise, she came by the house later that night all upset because she’d broken her date and now the guy and his sister were both furious at her. She felt horrible about it and asked me to go for a drive with her.

  “I told her okay, just give me a few more minutes. At that point she admitted she wasn’t fit company for anyone. After telling me she’d call in the morning, she left.”

  “Let’s stop right there. Do you have any idea if Amy was in the house at that time?”

  “You mean while Heidi was there?”

  “Yes.”

  “None at all. But later, when Dad told me not to say anything to anyone, it struck me that if the police knew Heidi had been at the house, they’d start probing. I remembered that her fingerprints were on the oar handles.”

  “But that was her family’s rowboat. Those alone wouldn’t have connected her to the crime.”

  “No, but Heidi usually mows the front lawn when her parents are away. Which meant that her fingerprints would have been on the mower and the gas can in their garage.”

  Gideon could see where this was going. “You were afraid the police might think Heidi helped you set Amy’s bedroom on fire.”

  “Yes. I’m so glad I kept quiet about her. Especially when Mr. Cobb told me what Amy had written in her diaries about Heidi and me.”

  The diaries.

  He’d seen a lot of terrible things in his career, but those diaries were filled with damning revelations and accusations that couldn’t be contested because Amy was dead. Intertwined through the passages was a frightening venom that couldn’t be called normal by anyone’s standards.

  When the detectives had placed that kind of evidence in Ron Jenke’s hands, he’d sealed Dana’s fate with them.

  Exhaling a deep sigh, he said, “Who else knows Heidi was in your parents’ home that evening besides you, me and Heidi?”

  “No one.”

  “So you kept your parents in the dark, too?”

  “Yes!”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” he said quietly.

  Tears trickled down her pale cheeks. “Thank you.”

  Now that he knew she’d been covering for Heidi—who was also innocent of any wrongdoing—his theory as to the identity of the real culprit was growing stronger.

  “Thank you for leveling with me. In return I’ll do whatever I can to get you out of here.”

  My happiness is at stake, too.

  Her eyes came alive at his words. “Just hearing you say that means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

  “Hang on, okay, Dana? Heidi and I will come to see you next Sunday. She sends her love, by the way.”

  “Tell her I love her, too.”

  He nodded, then turned away. As he hurried out of the building to the car, he checked his watch. If the traffic wasn’t too heavy, he’d have enough time to make it to Mesa Junior High before Heidi left for the day.

  “MS. ELLIS?” Sherry Flynn whispered. Her seat was closest to the side board, where Heidi had been listing the pages of the class reading assignment for the week.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “What is it, Sherry?”

  The precocious ninth-grader—fifteen going on twenty-five—flashed her a meaningful smile. “You’ve got a visitor.”

  Heidi turned her head toward the front of the room. Her legs almost buckled when she saw Gideon standing at her desk. He looked so wonderful in the navy blazer and tan chinos she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

  His gaze sent her a private message of greeting. By now all her students had seen him, their eyes darting back and forth in gleeful speculation. And here she was, looking a mess.

  Saved by the bell.

  Cindy Anson flew out the door first. Except for Sherry, the rest of the room emptied like a swarm of bees following the queen. No wallflower, Sherry said hi to Gideon in her most flirtatious way before sidling slowly out the door.

  Then she and Gideon were alone. As the two of them smiled at each other, Heidi felt a quickening in her body. That had never happened to her before. Not even with Jeff.

  She put down the chalk and moved to the front of the room. “Is something wrong with Kevin? Do you have to break our dinner date?”

  “No. But I wanted to catch you before you went home. Is there any chance you could get the rest of the week off?”

  When she’d digested what he’d just asked, her heart began to race. “I could call for a substitute if I had to. Why?”

  He took a step closer to her. “I made a deal with my boss this morning. At my request he’s taken me off the case I’ve been working on and has given me seven days to investigate Amy’s murder.”

  “What?”

  She couldn’t believe Gideon would do that for her.

  “If I don’t come up with any new evidence in that period, I’ll have to dig into it during my off hours. Time is working against me. I need someone to help me from the inside. That person is you. I’ll still teach the night class, of course.”

  “Oh, Gideon,” she cried softly.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Heidi. Otherwise I might forget where we are.”

  She wanted him to forget. She wanted to fly into his arms.

  “We have special subs we use for the different departments. I’ll call downstairs and see if the secretary can line one up. Just a minute.”

  Trembling with excitement, she walked behind her desk to switch on the intercom.

  “Sheila? It’s Heidi.”

  “Hi! What can I do for you?”

  “A personal emergency has come up. I need to take the rest of the week off.”

  “Ooh, that d
oesn’t sound good.”

  “Don’t worry—I’m all right. Can you find out if Mr. Moore or Mrs. Hardy can teach for me? If neither of them is available, I’ll phone the regular substitute office.”

  “Give me a minute and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “You’re an angel. While you try to reach them, I’ll be in my room getting things ready. Thanks so much, Sheila.” Heidi flicked the switch.

  “How can I help?”

  She raised her eyes to Gideon’s. “Don’t you know you’ve done more for me than I can ever repay? Please. Sit down in my chair while I water the plants.

  “Everything else is ready. I ran off maps and worksheets during my free period. The week’s reading assignment is on the board.”

  She rushed over to the closet for the plastic pitcher, then hurried down the hall to fill it at the drinking fountain. When she returned, Gideon had walked to the back of the room to look at her newest display of pictures.

  “It appears you and Dana have traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, as well as Africa.”

  She gave each plant some water, then put the pitcher back. “Not really. There were a lot of places the State Department wouldn’t let us go because of unrest. We—”

  The ring of the intercom sounded. “Heidi? It’s Sheila.”

  “Yes, Sheila?”

  “Mrs. Hardy can come tomorrow and Friday. Mr. Moore will cover for you Wednesday and Thursday.”

  “That’s wonderful! I owe you, Sheila.”

  “Forget it.”

  Gideon walked toward her. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” she answered, breathless.

  “Do you mind if we go to the Mexican place another time?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Good. I’d like to take you to my house, where we can eat and talk in private. If it’s not too late, we’ll take a walk on the beach.”

  They were going to be alone together. She couldn’t think about anything else.

  “Can we stop by my apartment first so I can change?”

  “I was just about to suggest I follow you home, then we’ll go in my car from there.”

  The thrill of being with Gideon was like no other feeling she’d ever experienced. After turning out the lights and locking up, she more or less floated out of the building at his side.