My Private Detective

by Rebecca Winters

  Gideon got to his feet. “Thank you for your synopsis, Heidi.”

  When he said her name, her head swerved in his direction. Their eyes met, and they held that same imploring expression he’d seen last Friday. He could sense all kinds of tension coming from her.

  “I’ll read it and get it back to you in our next class with some comments.”

  “Thank you.” The words were whispered.

  He had to forcibly look away from her before he could gather his thoughts.

  “We’re going to need Emily’s input before I can give you tonight’s assignment. You can stay at your seat to do this, Emily. Will you describe the office where the body was found in your story? Be particular. Do it slowly so everyone can get down all the facts.”

  When Emily had given them a detailed picture, he said, “Good. Now that we can see the room in our minds, this is your assignment. Make as many trips through the office as necessary to come up with a list for getting forensic evidence—taking photographs, fingerprint testing and so on. I’ll come up with a similar list.

  “On Friday I’ll ask you to share yours before I pass out a copy of mine. The writer whose list comes closest to mine will receive a prize.”

  A burst of approval resounded in the room, and then the bell rang.

  “Let me remind you again of Daniel Mcfarlane’s rule—Never assume anything.”

  “We won’t!” most of them replied.

  To his surprise he saw Heidi slip out the door. Clearly she’d decided not to stay and straighten the room. He guessed that, for some reason, she’d wanted to get away from him.

  There was nothing Gideon would have liked more than to run after her, but Kevin’s presence ruled out that desire.

  “Let’s go, Dad.”

  “Help me turn the desks around first.”

  Together they made quick work of it. Gideon grabbed his things, and once he’d turned off the lights and locked up, they were off.

  “I’ll turn in the attendance roll for you,” Kevin said.

  “Thanks. Meet me at the car.”

  Gideon rushed outside, hoping to talk to Heidi for a moment before she left the faculty parking lot. Unfortunately, her Audi was nowhere to be found.

  Since she’d made it impossible to get an answer to the questions nagging him, he’d go to the one source who would know if the name Turner held particular significance. Daniel Mcfarlane.

  After he took Kevin back to his mother’s, he’d swing by Daniel’s house. His mentor had come home from the hospital on Monday; according to his wife, he was feeling good and craving a report on the class.

  “Dad? How come that writer didn’t tell us how her mystery ended? Don’t you have to know the end so you can plant clues?”

  When did Kevin get so smart?

  “Heidi Ellis isn’t a writer,” he said. “She’s a geography teacher. That’s her classroom we’re using.”

  “Hmm. She’s got some interesting pictures on the back wall.” He turned his head in Gideon’s direction.

  “Do you think she gets her hair dyed?”

  Stifling his laughter, he said, “I don’t think it’s possible to manufacture that shade of red, do you?”

  “I guess not. She’s good-looking for a teacher.”

  She’s good-looking, period, sport. Take it from a man who knows.

  “But if she’s got a son with red hair, I feel sorry for him.”

  “How come? You wouldn’t look half bad with that color,” Gideon teased.

  “No, thanks!”

  “So how did the homework go?”

  “I finished it.”

  “Good for you.” Gideon made a right turn and drove halfway down the street before he stopped in front of the house. “Here we are. Your mom’s left the porch light on for you.”

  “I wish I could sleep over with you and Pokey.”

  “So do I.” He leaned across the seat to give his boy a hug. “I’ll see you on Friday at six-thirty sharp.”

  Kevin clung to him. “Love you, Dad.”

  “I love you, too, son. Have a good day tomorrow.”

  Saying good-night to his son was always wrenching. Gideon watched until Kevin was safely in the house, then headed for Daniel’s home in Del Mar Heights.

  Twenty minutes later Ellen showed him into the house. He found Daniel lying on the couch in his study watching TV. To Gideon’s relief, the operation didn’t seem to have set his friend back much. He hoped the chemo wouldn’t be too hard on Daniel.

  “Gideon! What took you so long?”

  He smiled at Daniel as he sat down in the over-stuffed chair next to him. “I think you’re a fake. You don’t look or act like someone who just got out of the hospital.”

  “I feel good.”

  “He says that now that you’re here, Gideon. Can I bring you some iced tea or a cup of coffee?”

  “Iced tea sounds wonderful. Thanks, Ellen.”

  “What about you?” she asked her husband.

  “Nothing for me, honey.” When she left, he said, “Tell me how the class is going.”

  “I have to admit I’m enjoying it more than I would’ve imagined. They’re a smart group. So far, they’ve picked up on everything, and they do their homework with an enthusiasm you wouldn’t believe. I guess that’s what being a writer is all about.”

  “Good!” Daniel sighed. “I knew it was asking a lot of you to take over for me. I have to tell you I’m delighted to hear you’re not ready to give up yet.”

  “Far from it.” Heidi Ellis’s emotional rendering continued to bother him. He reached into his pocket for her synopsis and handed it to Daniel.

  “A new woman joined the class on Friday night. She’s not really a writer, but she insisted on doing a synopsis, anyway. I want you to take a look at it.”

  “Would you hand me my glasses? There, on the table.”

  Gideon did as he asked, and while he waited for Daniel to comment, Ellen came in with the iced tea. Gideon got to his feet to thank her, urging her to stay.

  “Oh, no. I don’t want to interfere. Enjoy your visit.”

  “I promise I won’t stay long.”

  When she’d left the room, Gideon sat down again.

  Daniel pulled off his glasses and looked up from the paper with an expression Gideon had come to recognize over the years. When his former-boss appeared to be staring at a target miles away, it meant he was onto something important.

  He tapped the paper with the glasses. “This is the Turner murder case.”

  “So you know it? I thought the name sounded familiar. While she was reading her synopsis to the class, it had the ring of authenticity.” He wouldn’t forget the emotion in her voice, let alone the pleading in her eyes.

  “You don’t remember it?” Daniel asked in surprise.

  “The murder happened in the Mission Bay area. The trial must have been last August.”

  Gideon shook his head. “That would have been when Max and I were working on the task force to bring down the Mafia insurance-scam ring. When it was over, I took time off to spend with Kevin.”

  “That’s right, and I’d just retired. But I remember talk around the department because it was an election year and Ron Jenke had achieved another conviction with the Turner case. He wanted the attorney general’s job. Thank God he didn’t get it! Between you and me, Jenke’s a bastard.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Gideon murmured.

  Daniel eyed him shrewdly. “Who’s the woman, Gideon?”

  “Heidi Ellis. Does her name sound familiar?” He hoped it didn’t.

  “No.”

  Relieved, he said, “She teaches geography at Mesa Junior High. It was her blackboard you wrote on. That’s how she found out about the night class.”

  Daniel nodded slowly but didn’t respond. Growing anxious, Gideon reached for his tea and drained the glass.

  “If she’s not a writer,” Daniel finally said, “I suppose it’s possible she chose a real murder case from the San Diego area
just to make it easier to do the assignment, but—”

  “But you don’t buy that theory,” Gideon finished for him. “Neither do I. Since she missed the first class and wasn’t one of the aspiring mystery writers, I told her she didn’t have to do a synopsis, but she insisted. Her reasons for wanting to do it were plausible enough. But they didn’t match the intensity of her emotions.”

  Daniel stared at Gideon. “She could be a close relative or friend who hasn’t been able to reconcile Dana Turner’s imprisonment. Or she—”

  “Don’t say it!” Unable to remain seated, Gideon jumped to his feet and began pacing. He felt the older man’s eyes on him.

  “It sounds like you have a personal interest in this woman.”

  “Maybe.”

  “There’s no maybe about it.”

  “Hell, Dan…”

  He knew what his mentor was thinking. It was the same thing Gideon had been thinking on the drive over.

  When you worked in homicide, you dealt with profiles and statistics. More often than not, it had been proved that a person who came out of the woodwork after a settled murder case either knew something about it that hadn’t come to light or was an accessory to the crime. In some instances these people turned out to be the real killers. Lord.

  “Tell Rodman you want to take a look at the case. Call me when you’ve learned anything.”

  Grim-faced, Gideon nodded. “Thanks. Now I’d better leave before Ellen pushes me out the door. Take care of yourself. We all want you around for a long time.”

  “I’m planning on it. Here.” He returned Heidi’s assignment, then gave him a penetrating look. “In all the time we’ve been friends and colleagues, I’ve never known you to lose your objectivity. This woman must be exceptional. A word of advice?”

  “What’s that?” Gideon muttered.

  “I’m surprised you have to ask. Rule number one of course.”

  Suitably chastened, he gave Daniel’s shoulder a squeeze, then let himself out of the house.

  All the way home he repeated the words in his head. Never assume anything. But by the time he pulled to his driveway, nothing about the situation was any clearer.

  She was the first woman in years for whom he’d felt this kind of attraction, and she had problems he’d only begun to grasp. How had it happened?

  Max would be able to relate to his dilemma. He’d fallen for Gaby when he’d believed her to be his enemy. The guy had gone through hell before he’d learned the truth.

  Fortunately for Max, the car crash that had brought the two of them together really had been an accident—not part of the insurance scam—whereas Heidi Ellis’s interest in the criminology class was anything but accidental.

  Thanks to Daniel, Gideon might have a chance to check out this case and have some answers before Friday night’s class. Until he determined otherwise, he was going to operate on the premise that Heidi was a grieving friend or relative of Dana Turner’s.

  He had to believe that because he had every intention of getting to know her much better….

  AS SOON AS SCHOOL let out on Friday afternoon, Heidi drove to her parents’ house to discuss her conversation with Mr. Cobb. Over dinner, she explained why she was taking the night class. Her parents thought approaching Detective Poletti was a wonderful idea.

  When she left for school, she could hardly wait to hear his comments on her synopsis. But she wanted to talk to him about Dana when no one else was around.

  He might bring his son to class again, and in that case the two of them would probably leave the minute it was over. If she hoped to have a private talk with him, her best bet would be to get there ahead of everyone else.

  Depending on his reaction to the news that her story was a real murder case, she’d try to discover whether he ever did investigative work on the side. With her parents’ help, she was prepared to meet any price he named.

  Pleased to see that her door was already open, she steeled herself not to think about him in any way but as a detective who might be willing to look into Dana’s case.

  At first she thought no one was inside. Then she spotted his son at the back of the room, looking at the photographs she’d had enlarged for her display.

  He must have heard her because he turned around. “Hi!”

  “Hi, yourself!” She put her purse on the closest chair, then walked toward him. “Where’s your father?”

  “In the office making copies of your assignment for next week. That’s you in the big picture, isn’t it?” He pointed to it.

  “A much younger me, yes.” She smiled. “I’m surprised you could pick me out among all the other people in our group.”

  “That was easy. None of them has red hair. How come you went to Africa?”

  He had sharp eyes. In the picture her hair was swept back and she wore a hat that covered most of it.

  “After my best friend and I graduated from high school, we took a trip around the world. There she is, standing between those two Africans.”

  His warm brown eyes widened. “You and your friend went around the world?”

  “Yes. It isn’t as impossible as it sounds. We got a really good deal with an airline. If you keep flying west until you get back home again, it doesn’t cost as much. We made as many stops as we could fit in. Our favorite place was Kenya.”

  “Did you go on safari?”

  “Yes. We saw everything from gazelles and zebras to hippos playing in the river. It was fabulous.”

  “What was your favorite?”

  “The baby giraffes. They’re so cute the way they stay close to their mothers. See this photograph?” She pointed to one in the corner. “I snapped this picture when the guide took us on horseback up a mountain.

  “It was all misty. Then suddenly we were above it and discovered we’d met up with a whole herd of mother giraffes feeding on tree leaves with their young. We passed through them without creating a disturbance. I was able to get close to one of the babies.”

  “You were lucky.”

  “I was. My guide had been taking people to that spot for years, so the giraffes weren’t frightened. Do you love animals?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you have a pet?”

  He nodded with a smile. “A beagle. His name is Pokey.”

  “Does that mean he’s slow?”

  “No. Dad called him that because he pokes his nose into everyone’s business.”

  “Kind of sounds like your father.”

  His smile faded. “What do you mean?”

  “Detectives poke around looking for evidence. The bad guys don’t like it.”

  “Oh…yeah.”

  One thing she’d found out in a big hurry. This boy was very protective of his father.

  “How would you like to see some of the animals I took pictures of? I’ve got them on disks so you can view them on the computer.”

  “That would be great!”

  “Then come on over here. I’ll turn it on so you can get started. I also have a disk with pictures of the apes in the Jane Goodall preserve.”

  A minute later, Kevin was completely absorbed by the photographs.

  She stood up and turned to walk to the front, then let out a soft gasp. Not two feet away stood her teacher. He was wearing a light-gray suit tonight with a charcoal shirt. There was no way she could be indifferent to him, not when he was the most attractive man she’d ever met in her life.

  “Detective Poletti—how long have you been here?”

  His gaze made a flattering sweep of her body, sending her heart slamming into her ribs. “Long enough to be disappointed that there’s no picture of you mingling with the giraffes.”

  Heat streamed into her cheeks as she realized he’d overheard a great deal.

  “Dad! You should see all her pictures! They’re just like National Geographic’s. How about us going to Kenya, instead of Alaska this summer?”

  His father put his hands on his hips in a totally masculine stance. “I might’ve known I could
n’t leave my son alone in your fascinating classroom for two minutes. Now I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Before she took another breath—if she could even catch it—she needed to find out one crucial piece of information. “Have you and your wife taken Kevin to Alaska before?”

  There was a long pause. “My ex-wife remarried years ago,” he said in a flat voice. “But to answer your question, Kevin and I spend a few weeks every summer fishing near Anchorage.”

  Delight spread through her. She reminded herself that she’d only spent two class sessions with him and that her reaction was out of proportion to what it should have been. The reminder didn’t help.

  Fearing the detective could tell what was going on inside her, she turned in his son’s direction. “You’re a fortunate guy, Kevin. That’s something I’ve never done.”

  He was staring at the screen as he spoke. “It’s a lot of fun. We fly to this island in a pontoon plane.”

  “Is it scary?”

  “Probably as scary as one of those two-seater bush planes flying you to your camp in Kenya,” his father said. “Come on up to the desk and I’ll give you back your assignment.”

  She followed him to the front, conscious of his presence, his powerful physique. Now that she knew he wasn’t married, she refused to feel guilty at the enjoyment she derived from just looking at him. Only time would tell if some other woman held his heart. Of course, that meant she’d have to be lucky enough to be given the chance to find out.

  As he returned her paper, three of the writers came into the room. Her opportunity for a private conversation was gone. Maybe after class tonight, she could make an appointment to talk to him before the next session.

  “Thank you for allowing me to hand it in.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Once in her seat, she started reading the comments he’d made below her synopsis:

  Heidi—since you’re not a writer, I find myself wondering why you chose to write a synopsis of the Mission Bay murder case, which was settled last August. I must confess I’d be interested to hear your answer. If it’s all right with you, I’ll phone you this weekend and set up a time we can meet outside of class.

  WHILE HE GREETED everyone, Gideon watched Heidi Ellis to gauge her reaction to his note. One second her head was bent in concentration. The next it came up sharply, shifting the cloud of red-gold around her shoulders.