Another Chance (A Penelope Chance Mystery Book 2) Read online

  “No elevator?” Gabriel asked from behind.

  “I’ve never minded taking the stairs,” she said with a smile.

  She didn’t usually work with a partner, but she found that she liked having him around. It made this building a lot less spooky.

  They didn’t cross paths with anyone as they moved up the three flights of stairs. As they exited the third-floor stairway, Penelope looked up and down the long hallway. It appeared that the paint on the walls had started off as light beige. It was ending its life as a dingy gray marked with black and brown scuffs from people moving furniture in and out over the years. A lone window at the end of the hall, near apartment 323, allowed light to filter in from outside.

  Penelope headed for the window.

  The view was dismal. A giant warehouse across the street dominated the view. Chain-link fencing surrounded empty lots, and several abandoned vehicles dotted the landscape.

  A creaking sound came from behind.

  Penelope turned to investigate and saw Gabriel pushing open the door to apartment 323.

  “Hello? Anybody home?” he called out.

  Before Penelope could react, Gabriel fell backward and a young white or Hispanic woman pushed past him. The woman ran for the stairs and, without thinking, Penelope gave chase.

  “Wait!” she called out after the rapidly receding figure of the frightened woman. “We just want to talk.” Penelope estimated the girl to be in her early twenties. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a blue, University of Florida sweatshirt. Her long black hair bounced as she ran for the stairs. She was fast. Penelope ran up to the stairwell and looked over the banister in time to see the girl disappear down the last flight of stairs and around a corner.

  Penelope walked back to the victim’s apartment where Gabriel was dusting himself off. How could this professional criminal psychologist walk right into a potentially hostile situation, without any form of protection, when a couple of days earlier he’d dissected a crime scene with surgical precision?

  “Are you okay?” she asked, trying to remain calm. “What were you thinking?”

  “I-I don’t know. The door was open.” Gabriel sounded bewildered and surprised.

  “We’re here to observe only. We aren’t officially working this case, remember?”

  “I just got wrapped up in the idea that someone was in there, someone who could tell us what happened.” He held his hands in front of him and shrugged. “I know it doesn’t help now, but I’m pretty sure I was right.”

  How often did the professor get out into the field for actual investigation work? Not very. He probably spent most of his time treating patients, reviewing crime scenes, and testifying in court. He undoubtedly spent more time reading reports than questioning witnesses.

  “What if she was the killer?”

  “Are you mad at me?” Gabriel asked.

  “You’re my responsibility. What if something happened to you?”

  Gabriel stood silent.

  Penelope didn’t know how she sensed this, but she could almost feel prying eyes all around them. They may have gotten in unseen, but they certainly would be watched closely as they made their exit. It would be best to get out of there as soon as possible. “We shouldn’t be here. We need to leave . . . now,” she said, grabbing Gabriel by the arm.

  “Don’t you want to look inside?”

  “No. Now let’s go before we’re spotted.”

  Gabriel wrenched his arm out of Penelope’s grasp. “I’m sorry,” he said, eyes clear and piercing. “You’re right. It was foolish. It won’t happen again.” He turned away and started gracefully down the stairs.

  Penelope shook her head and followed.

  In the entryway, a little girl with wild, curly blonde hair stood in front of the rows of battered mailboxes; she stared at them with wide, blue eyes. A tall woman with chestnut colored hair and brightly painted fingernails stood nearby checking her mail. The woman’s eyes tightened at the sight of Penelope and Gabriel.

  So much for going unnoticed.

  CHAPTER 51

  Gabriel didn’t say a word as they walked back to the Hummer. He opened the door for Penelope, and as she climbed inside, her cell phone rang, breaking the silence.

  “This is Chance,” she answered.

  Gabriel shut her door and walked around to the driver’s side.

  “Chance, it’s Donny. I thought you might like an update.”

  Gabriel settled into the driver’s seat and Penelope put the call on speaker. “An update would be great, Donny.” Gabriel nodded, acknowledging the nature of the call, and Penelope continued, “What’ve you got for me?”

  “I had Officer Watson follow up on Belinda’s alibi. She confirmed Belinda was in The Villages volunteering at the Loving Care Assisted Living Facility Friday afternoon. Watson also confirmed with Belinda’s grandmother that she spent the night there.”

  “What time did she leave?”

  “Her grandmother says she left at four thirty that morning.”

  Penelope looked at Gabriel and then asked Donny, “What was her grandmother doing up that early?”

  “Apparently making her granddaughter some breakfast. Bacon and eggs. You know old folks. Early bird dinner at five, in bed by nine, up at four. She knew Belinda had to work early the next day and she didn’t want her granddaughter going to work on an empty stomach. That’s what she said. Bottom line . . . Belinda’s not the killer.”

  “But still no alibi for the time of the robbery?”

  “I have Watson and Meeks following up with Belinda’s neighbors. But I think she’s telling the truth.”

  Penelope sighed. She didn’t think Belinda was guilty, but at this point, any clue would have been better than nothing at all. “What about the drugs in her desk? Do you think they were planted to make her look guilty?”

  “That would be my guess.”

  “Which means it could be someone at the Franklin Clinic.”

  Penelope looked to Gabriel and he appeared deep in thought.

  “It’s looking that way,” Donny said. “I have a feeling the reception desk is often left unattended, and it’s open to the public.”

  “So we’re back to square one?”

  “Not completely. I’m going to do some follow-up interviews with everyone at the Franklin Clinic and check alibis. I’m not ready to rule Belinda out yet. She may not have committed the robbery or killed Kevin Scott, but that doesn’t mean she’s not involved. She used to work the reception desk at the Grace Memorial clinic, so she had intimate knowledge of the comings and goings of staff.”

  “So you’re going to hold her?”

  “I’m not holding her, but she is still a person of interest.”

  “Anything on the fingerprints on the bottles?”

  “Nothing yet. I might have something by the time you stop by this afternoon.”

  Penelope and Gabriel looked at one another. “Who said I’m stopping by?”

  Donny laughed. “I know you, Chance. You’re coming. You can’t stay away. And bring me a coffee when you do.”

  Penelope rolled her eyes. “Good-bye, Donny.”

  “Oh . . . and one of those brownies, too. Those were really good. Did you make those yourself?”

  “I’m hanging up now, Donny . . .”

  “Coffee and brownie. Thanks, Chance!”

  Penelope ended the call and Gabriel asked, “Is he always that witty and charming?”

  “Pretty much,” was her answer.

  There was an awkward silence before Gabriel spoke again. “Look, about earlier—at the apartment. I really am sorry, Penelope.”

  Penelope held up a hand. “No, I’m sorry for yelling at you. After what happened to Jacob . . . I just didn’t want you getting hurt. Lately, everyone close to me seems to end up hurt or accused of murder.”

  “So,” Gabriel said, changing the subject, “what’s our next move?”

  “With Belinda’s alibi checking out and the possibility that someone planted t
he drugs, I honestly don’t know. If this were my case, my next step would be questioning the clinic workers. But it’s not, so we can’t.”

  “I have a suggestion.”

  “I’m open to anything at this point.”

  “You’re not going to like it . . .”

  “As long as it doesn’t interfere with Donny’s investigation. I don’t want to have another incident like we had today.”

  “We wouldn’t be interfering,” Gabriel said, starting the SUV. He pulled out of the apartment complex parking lot and spoke as he drove back to Grace Memorial Hospital. “We’d only be observing. I think we should revisit the possibility that the person responsible is someone Jacob knows. Especially if Detective Greene is leaning toward the drugs being planted.”

  “Given what we know so far, I’d agree that the person responsible is probably someone Jacob knows. And there’s an even greater possibility that it could be someone that works with him at the clinic.”

  “Not necessarily someone from the clinic.”

  “No?”

  “No,” Gabriel said, stopping at a red light before making a left onto University Avenue. “Someone from the clinic would be the obvious assumption and a smart one, but I think there’s more to this case than we’re aware of.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Hear me out . . . I have a theory.”

  Penelope shifted in her seat, turning her body toward Gabriel. “I’m listening.”

  “I think this person might have an infatuation with your fiancé. It could be a casual acquaintance, a co-worker, or a patient. Someone that knows his schedule and has been admiring him from afar. The crush was probably quite innocent until she saw him get shot. Then she acted in rage.”

  “So you think we should be looking for someone with a crush on Jacob that saw him get shot? Someone that may have been there at the time of the robbery?”

  “Right. Your fiancé may not even know this person exists.”

  “I don’t know,” she said hesitantly. “That’s quite a theory.”

  “Like I said, it’s just a theory. But if I’m right, the infatuation is no longer a fantasy for this person . . . it’s becoming a reality. And the sooner we find the person responsible, the better. For your safety and the safety of your fiancé.”

  “So how do we find this person? Between Grace Memorial and the Franklin Clinic, that’s a lot of potential suspects. And we can’t question them all. We can’t question any of them.”

  “You’re still thinking like a cop. Think smarter, not harder. Remember what I taught you.”

  The professor was using this as a teaching opportunity. He did the same thing with his students in college; he challenged them to look at situations from all angles and to explore all of the possibilities.

  Penelope thought about it for a moment longer.

  “Narrow it down to the people that were at Grace Memorial at the time of the robbery?” she asked.

  Gabriel stopped at another red light, as University Avenue became Newberry Road. “You’re on the right track,” he said.

  “We still can’t question them, though . . . not without interfering or possibly compromising the investigation.”

  “We don’t have to,” Gabriel said. “We let the person come to us.”

  “And how do we do that?”

  “By observing the observer,” he said. “We follow your fiancé and watch the people in his life.”

  “You mean spy on him?” Penelope asked.

  “No, not spy. We’d simply watch the people he interacts with and how they interact with him. See if we notice anyone suspicious.”

  “Ah . . . We’d be observing the observer and observing the observee.”

  Gabriel chuckled. “Precisely. Of course, it’d be better if he didn’t know about it. That way he would act natural, and we can see if anyone stands out.”

  “But I know Jacob and his friends.”

  “I know you do. I’m talking about his life away from you. You each have your independent lives, and if we follow him, keep an eye on him, we might find a few likely suspects.”

  Penelope nodded. Gabriel was right. If the actual perpetrator was around and Jacob didn’t know he was being followed, he couldn’t give himself away. She didn’t have anything else to go on, so how else was she going to find the individual responsible?

  “What’s your fiancé’s schedule like?” Gabriel asked, pulling into the Grace Memorial Hospital parking lot.

  “He’s here in Gainesville Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and at the Franklin Clinic on Tuesday, Thursday, and sometimes Saturday. Aside from that, the only time he has to himself is on Sunday, and we usually spend that day together.”

  “We could start tomorrow morning. If he’s working in Franklin, I could swing by and pick you up,” Gabriel offered. “What’s his morning routine like?”

  “He runs the Gainesville-Franklin State Trail most mornings and is usually to work by eight.”

  “So pick you up at seven o’clock?”

  “Better make it six. Jacob likes to get an early start. I’ll text you my address.”

  She didn’t like the idea of spying on Jacob without his knowledge, but she liked the idea of an admirer secretly watching him even less.

  CHAPTER 52

  Late that afternoon, when Penelope walked into the Gainesville squad room with coffee and a brownie from The Coffey Shop, Donny’s face lit up. “Chance!” he said, acknowledging her and gesturing for her to wait one moment while he walked a guest to the exit.

  A sharp breath hitched in Penelope’s chest at the sight of the person with Donny. What is she doing here?

  The woman Donny was escorting out was the same woman Penelope had chased at the victim’s apartment that morning. The woman didn’t look at Penelope as she loped down the hall toward the exit.

  Penelope’s mind filled with questions. Was she reporting Penelope and Gabriel for being at the victim’s apartment? What was she doing at the victim’s apartment? Was she related to the victim?

  “I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show,” Donny said, motioning for Penelope to follow him.

  She handed him the coffee and brownie and followed him to his office. Before he could continue, she asked, “Who was that woman?”

  Donny shut the door to his office and took a seat behind his desk before he responded. “That was Denise Wilson, our vic’s girlfriend. Detective Ballard is going to take her to ID the body.” The way Donny’s eyes were shining, Ms. Wilson must have given him useful information. “She confirmed that she was with him the morning of the robbery,” Donny continued.

  “Is she a suspect?”

  “Not at this point. She seemed pretty upset and genuinely surprised to hear that her boyfriend was dead.”

  “How did you finally track her down?”

  “She found us. Mr. Scott was supposed to meet her Friday afternoon with money—money to help with her rent. But he never showed. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since Friday. She was following up on a missing person report she filed.”

  “When did she file the report?”

  “Sunday morning. Our systems just hadn’t connected the cases.”

  Penelope had so many questions, she couldn’t ask them quickly enough. “Did she know about his criminal past or the robbery?”

  “That’s where things get murky,” Donny explained, leaning back in his chair and looking off into the distance, as though trying to picture the scene. “Ms. Wilson claims she didn’t know about the robbery. She knew Mr. Scott had a record, but she said he’d cleaned up his act. He’d been helping pay her rent, and she said he claimed to have a job that paid enough to buy them whatever they wanted.”

  “Did she ask what the job was or who he was working for?”

  “Yep. And he wouldn’t tell her. She didn’t like that. Ms. Wilson didn’t want him going to meet some mystery person, but he did anyway. She waited for him all day Friday. Obviously, he never came back. When she couldn’
t get a hold of him Saturday or Sunday, she filed the missing person report. She did have something interesting to tell us.”

  “Like what?”

  “She went by Mr. Scott’s apartment today to see if he was there. But when she arrived she said a man was trying to break in. He frightened her pretty bad and she ran.”

  She hadn’t just arrived; she was already in the apartment. Why would she lie about that? And why would she lie about Gabriel trying to break in? What else was she lying about?

  Penelope’s lips did not move. She wanted to explain to Donny that the man Ms. Wilson saw was Gabriel, but Donny continued before she could speak.

  “Ms. Wilson said there was a woman with him, but she didn’t get a good look at her.”

  “That’s right!” Penelope said. “There probably is a woman involved. I forgot to tell you I went to the Franklin River scene Monday with Gabriel, and he discovered a heel print. He thinks it’s a woman’s.” She pulled her phone out to show him. “I don’t think these were documented by forensics. We also spotted tire tracks.” She swiped the screen to show him the pictures, which were not as impressive as she remembered.

  “Gabriel?” Donny interrupted.

  “Oh . . . sorry,” Penelope said, remembering that Donny didn’t know about Gabriel’s unofficial involvement. “Dr. Gabriel Pike,” she clarified and then hurried to continue. “He was an expert witness in the Michael Findley trial.”

  “The forensic psychologist?”

  “Yeah, you know him?”

  “By reputation only. The department consults with him on occasion. What I don’t understand is why he is consulting on my homicide case?”

  “That’s my fault, Donny. He was with me when I got the call about Jacob being shot. He drove me to the hospital. Then I ran into him Saturday after I dropped off Jacob’s belongings here. When I told him about the belongings being returned, he offered to help.”

  “You should have asked me first, Chance. We don’t have the budget to hire someone with Pike’s expertise on this case.”