My Private Detective Read online

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I know I am. I’ll call in the morning for an update.”

  “Please do. His surgery is scheduled for 6:00 a.m.”

  “Good. It’ll be over before you know it.”

  Gideon left the hospital and headed for his house in Ocean Beach. En route he phoned his supervisor to see what could be arranged.

  Since the divorce when Kevin was three, Wednesdays had been set aside for the boy’s midweek visitation with Gideon. The decree also allowed visitation every other weekend, every other holiday and six weeks every summer.

  It had never been enough for Gideon, but Fay had remarried within months of their divorce. Because of her desire that Kevin bond with his new stepfather, she’d refused to deviate from the stipulations set by the court.

  Not wanting to cause any more trauma to their son, Gideon had accepted the situation. He believed children needed their mothers. But now that Kevin was in eighth grade, he was begging to live with Gideon full-time.

  Kevin didn’t dislike his stepfather, but he’d never developed any real affection for him. Of course, the boy loved his mother, but she and her husband were both busy stockbrokers. Kevin had been raised by a series of nannies until he started junior high. Then there’d been a string of baby-sitters.

  That was the problem.

  According to Gideon’s attorney, Kevin was now old enough to choose which parent he wanted to live with. But Fay would be impossible if Kevin moved in with Gideon. She would heap enough guilt on their son to traumatize him.

  In the long run Gideon felt it was better to leave things as they were.

  Gideon had explained all this to Kevin, who’d cried quietly, then clung to him, vowing that the day he turned eighteen he was going to come and live with his father.

  They were father and son, no matter that Kevin’s biological father was some high-powered stockbroker from New York who had no idea he had a child.

  Unbeknownst to Gideon, Fay had slept with her boss while she was engaged to Gideon. Afraid to tell him the truth, she’d passed the baby off as Gideon’s. After almost four years of marriage, she got involved with another stockbroker in San Diego and then asked Gideon for a divorce.

  Though he’d known his wife was always striving for something he couldn’t seem to give her, he hadn’t realized she’d gone as far as to have an affair.

  Shocked by her refusal to try to keep their marriage together through counseling, he sued for custody of Kevin. That was when he learned about her previous affair. A DNA test confirmed that Kevin wasn’t Gideon’s son.

  When the judge heard the case, he decreed that Gideon was Kevin’s father in all the ways that mattered and granted him the most liberal visitation rights under the law.

  Unless Fay softened, which would probably never happen, there was nothing to do but go on making the best of a situation Gideon would never have wished on an innocent child. He certainly wasn’t about to tell his son he was another man’s child. It wasn’t information Kevin needed to know. Gideon had consulted several counselors at the time of the divorce, and they all agreed.

  There was a bright side to Daniel’s request for help. Gideon would take his suggestion and bring Kevin to class on the visitation nights. His son had always been curious about Gideon’s work. He could do his homework and listen at the same time. They’d have dinner either before class or after and make a special night of it.

  Once school was out at the end of May, Kevin would be spending the first half of the summer with Gideon. This year they were going to vacation in Alaska for a couple of weeks and do some salmon fishing with Max and his wife, Gaby.

  Since his marriage, Max had resigned from the FBI and was now a detective in the same division of the San Diego Police Department as Gideon. It was a little like the old days, when the two of them had been rookie cops together in New York. Only this was much better because those dark days of pain and lies were behind them both.

  Fortunately Kevin had always been crazy about Max. Now he was equally crazy about Gaby, who was expecting a child in August. Already Gideon’s son had volunteered to baby-sit. Kevin’s happiness was all that mattered to Gideon these days.

  BY FRIDAY MORNING Heidi had reached an all-time low. Mr. Cobb’s office had indicated that he was out of the country and wouldn’t return before Sunday night. On Thursday she’d taken a personal-leave day from school to spend time with her parents while they discussed what to do about Dana’s situation.

  After much soul-searching, Heidi decided she’d have to wait until she could talk to Mr. Cobb before she asked her father to get hold of that other attorney. It was the only honorable thing to do. But it was hard to wait when she knew a week with no news was like a year to Dana.

  When Heidi arrived at school on Friday morning, she felt emotionally exhausted. Without much enthusiasm, she went through the stack of mail and flyers that had accumulated in her teacher’s box over two days. After scanning each piece, she tossed most of them in the wastebasket, then hurried out of the main office to her room at the end of the west hall.

  The first bell at Mesa Junior High in Mission Beach wouldn’t ring for half an hour. She breathed a sigh of relief to know she had thirty more minutes to get the room ready for class.

  Six years of teaching had taught her to present new geography units to her ninth-graders on Thursdays. That way, the kids who thought the weekend started on Friday morning couldn’t use the excuse that they’d missed the initial presentation. But she’d had to make an exception and stay home yesterday because Dana’s problems had superceded anything else.

  Now that fourth term of the school year had started, it was time to cover the Middle East, an area so foreign to most of her students they had no clue it wasn’t another neighborhood in San Diego.

  Her classes included a pretty-equal mix of Asian, African-American, Hispanic and white students. Her goal was that by the time school was out, they could each, on a map of the world, place the oceans, continents, countries and major cities.

  After she’d unlocked the door to her room, the first thing she noticed was the writing on the front board.

  Rule 1. Never assume anything!

  She frowned. The information she’d put on the board for the substitute had been erased. Why?

  She glanced at her books and papers, which had been rearranged on top of her desk. That was odd. All the substitutes who’d ever taught for her had always left everything exactly as they’d found it.

  Wondering what was going on, she rang the office, using the switch on the wall behind her desk. One of the secretaries answered.

  “This is Sheila. What can I do for you?”

  “Hi, Sheila. It’s Heidi. You wouldn’t happen to know who subbed for me yesterday, would you?”

  “Yes. That huge teachers’ seminar in the district drained all the subs, so different teachers from our building took your classes on their free periods and let the kids do any homework they wanted. Is there a problem?”

  “No, I was just surprised that my lesson plan was erased from the board.”

  “That’s probably because the community school just started their adult classes. Mr. Johnson arranged the schedule. He’s put someone in your room on Wednesday and Friday nights from seven to eight-thirty. Just a sec and I’ll see who it is.

  “Okay—found it. The teacher’s name is Mcfarlane. According to this, the class is an introduction to criminology.”

  Criminology?

  Her heart gave a strange thud.

  “If you don’t want him in there, I’ll ask another teacher.”

  “No! No—don’t do that!” Please, don’t do that. Maybe this is the answer to my prayers. “I’d forgotten about community school.” All the teachers had to take turns sharing their rooms.

  “You’re sure it’s okay?”

  “Positive.”

  “Mr. Johnson says that if any of you have complaints, you should put a note in his box and he’ll talk to the person. They’ve b
een told to leave the rooms exactly as they find them. If you’re missing anything, I’ll send a student aide with the supplies you need.”

  “Thanks, Sheila, but I’m fine. I just had to make sure I didn’t have a bunch of gremlins in here.”

  The other woman snorted inelegantly. “Sometimes adults are worse than the kids.”

  They both chuckled, but in reality it wasn’t very funny.

  “Sheila, will you ask one of your aides to get me a list of the teachers who watched my classes yesterday? I want to thank them.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  She shut off the switch, then wrote an outline of the material to be covered in the Middle East unit on the board. But the entire time she was writing, her mind dwelled on the words she’d just erased.

  Rule 1. Never assume anything!

  Heidi’s thoughts went back to that excruciatingly painful day in late August when she’d learned the dreadful news. Based on circumstantial evidence, the jury had assumed Dana was guilty of first-degree murder. The judge gave her a thirty-year prison sentence for killing Amy.

  Ever since Heidi had found out that her friend had been convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, the joy had gone out of her life. Many times since that day, Heidi had talked with Dana’s parents about getting the case reopened, but there’d been no new evidence. Mr. Cobb’s hands were tied. Now Dana herself had lost all hope.

  Heidi couldn’t blame her or her parents for feeling so utterly defeated. That was why someone outside the Turner family had to pursue other avenues for them. Heidi was that person.

  She frequently wished she was an attorney who had the legal know-how to begin an investigation of her own. She’d give anything to find evidence that would prove her friend’s innocence.

  If that criminology class could be of any help at all…

  By the time she realized how far her tortured thoughts had wandered, the second bell had rung, and the student-body officers had already started announcements over the PA system.

  “Hi, everybody. We want to congratulate our girls’ volleyball team for their great win yesterday against Clairemont. Way to go, Mesa! Let’s all get out and support our girls next week for their big game against Torrey Pines.

  “This next announcement concerns the social-studies service project scheduled for today. Those students whose last names start with A to M, will go this morning. The buses will be outside the building in fifteen meetings. Teachers, please take attendance. We’ll call the students down when it’s time to board.”

  That announcement affected about a third of Heidi’s class. She’d already signed all their permission slips to help plant trees at a new senior citizens’ facility. Unfortunately she’d forgotten.

  If truth be known, she’d forgotten a lot of things. After her talk with Dana last Sunday, she’d come back so weighed down with pain for her friend it had been difficult to concentrate or feel enthusiasm for anything.

  After the announcements Heidi said, “Good morning, students. Those of you leaving on the bus will have just enough time to copy the material from the board. No one is exempt from tonight’s assignment, so let’s get busy.”

  The class moaned, but they knew she meant business and settled down to work. All the while they were writing, Heidi’s mind was on her friend. No matter how many times she tried to put herself in Dana’s place, she couldn’t.

  The more she thought about it, the more she felt it would be worth attending the night class in criminology that was being held in her room. At least it was a place to start, to ask questions. Heidi didn’t know how much longer she could stand to watch her friend waste away. Especially with the real murderer still out there.

  Six hours later she locked the door to her room and hurried through the crowded halls to the community-education office. Larry Johnson’s secretary was still at her desk.

  “Carol?”

  The other woman looked up and smiled. “Hello, stranger. Haven’t seen you since the Christmas party when you were with that medical student you were dating. I heard it was pretty serious.”

  “I thought he might be the one, Carol, but it didn’t work out.”

  Jeff Madsen hadn’t been able to handle Heidi’s preoccupation with Dana’s murder case. Maybe it was too much to ask of a man who was overwhelmed with studies and hospital rotations. In any event, the meaning went out of their relationship. He stopped calling as often. She stopped caring. One day she woke up and realized it was over.

  “Well, you know what they say—you’re lucky to have escaped a situation that wasn’t meant to be. I went through your experience several times before I got married. Mark my words. Some terrific guy is still out there searching for you.”

  “I hope.” The breakup with Jeff had taken its toll. But even worse was Dana’s imprisonment, which had robbed Heidi of any potential for happiness.

  “With your looks, are you kidding?”

  “It’s nice of you to say that, Carol.”

  “I only speak the truth.” She sighed. “Okay. You must’ve had a reason to come in here when school’s already out for the day.”

  Heidi nodded. “I’d like to sign up for the night class being held in my room.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You and a thousand others.”

  “Really?”

  “We’ve got a genuine VIP teaching this term.”

  “Sheila told me it was a Mr. Mcfarlane.”

  “It’s the Daniel Mcfarlane. He retired last year as head of Homicide at the San Diego Police Department. The man has more commendations than a five-star general.

  “His daughter’s on the community-ed board, so we were the only school in this city lucky enough to get him to teach a criminology class. It’s a one-time deal. Everyone’s been trying to get in.

  “The bad news is, he stipulated ten people max. Those spots filled up within five minutes. Sorry.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE CLASS WAS FULL!

  Heidi couldn’t believe how upset she was by the news. All day she’d been counting on being able to attend. The more she’d thought about it, the more she’d realized this was exactly what she needed if she wanted to learn how to investigate a crime.

  According to Carol, it was the only criminology class being taught in the entire school district. She must have moaned aloud because the other woman said, “I wish I didn’t have to turn you down. However, I do have an idea…”

  “I think I have the same idea, Carol, but it wouldn’t be fair to hang around in my room tonight on the pretext that I’ve got work to do.”

  “Then just talk to him before class. Ask him if he’d consider letting in one more. You never know.”

  Yes, she decided. That was exactly what she’d do. “You’re right. I’ll try it. Thanks.”

  Back in her room, she cleaned the board and set up the chairs in a semicircle for the night class. Then she left school and hurried home to eat and get ready to come back.

  At quarter after six, she pulled into the school’s parking lot and rushed into the building again.

  She didn’t want Mr. Mcfarlane to know it was her classroom he was using, since she didn’t want to put any undue pressure on him. Her plan was to wait in the hall until he showed up. At that point she’d prevail on him to let her be part of his group. If he agreed, she’d tell him how she’d found out about the night class.

  A few people had entered the building ahead of her. Heidi walked past the main office to the west wing but slowed down when she saw that her door was already open.

  She checked her watch. The man was forty minutes early for his class. If he’d come ahead of time to prepare, he might not like being disturbed.

  After a slight hesitation, she peered around the edge of the door. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a rugged-looking man in his midthirties writing something on the board. He had to be six foot two or three, with wavy dark-brown hair cut fairly short. The navy business suit, toned with a royal blue shirt,
couldn’t disguise his hard-muscled physique.

  Heidi found herself staring at him in fascination.

  He couldn’t possibly be the retired investigator Carol had raved about.

  Her spirits fell. An older man might be more malleable. Heidi didn’t know what to think about this stranger.

  Maybe Mr. Mcfarlane couldn’t come tonight and had sent a substitute. In that case, it was possible his replacement wouldn’t let Heidi sit in on the class. Then again, he could simply be an assistant and Mr. Mcfarlane would arrive shortly. All she had to do was go in the room and her questions would be answered.

  After another minute of watching him, she realized how embarrassing it would be if he happened to glance in the direction of the door and saw her eyeing him with such frank pleasure.

  Gathering her courage, she walked in. When he looked over, she momentarily held her breath. Between thick dark lashes glowed a pair of brilliant blue eyes the same hue as his shirt. They swept over her in guarded male admiration.

  “Hello,” they said simultaneously.

  He smiled and put down the chalk. “Hi. I’m Detective Gideon Poletti.”

  “I’m Heidi Ellis.”

  His narrowed gaze wandered over her hair and face. It set her pulse racing. “Your name’s not on the list.”

  “No. I came early to see if I could join the class,” she said, hating that she sounded out of breath. “I guess I’ll have to wait to speak to Mr. Mcfarlane.”

  “He had surgery this morning and won’t be able to teach for at least a month.”

  “Oh, no!” She bit her lip to prevent the tears that threatened the moment he’d said Mr. Mcfarlane wouldn’t be coming. She’d been counting on this opportunity to try to help Dana, long shot though it was. These days her emotions hovered near the surface. There was little she could do to hide them.

  The detective eyed her with concern. “I can understand your disappointment. Daniel’s a legend in this part of the state. Unfortunately he needed to find a substitute and asked me to do the honors. I could never hope to fill his shoes, but you’re welcome to join the class.”