Rebecca Winters - My Private Detective

But putting her new teacher out of her mind was easier said than done. By Sunday afternoon, she was still struggling to suppress thoughts of Detective Gideon Poletti as she wrote the synopsis and did the homework he’d assigned.

She was beginning to suspect he’d taken up permanent residence in her mind.

GIDEON TOSSED THE FRISBEE one last time, and a gust of wind blew it off course. The green plastic disc sailed over Kevin’s blond head and would have disappeared into the surf if it hadn’t been for Pokey.

“Good dog!” Kevin cried as the frisky beagle leaped in the air to catch it in time.

“Let’s go home.”

“Not yet, Dad!”

“We have to. You promised to get your homework done before I drive you back to your mom’s. She made a special concession, letting you spend this weekend with me because of my birthday.”

“I know. That means I won’t be able to sleep over next Saturday or Sunday.”

“True, but I still get you Friday night. Now you’ve only got one hour left. Beat you to the house!”

His ranch-style home was located two blocks from the ocean with easy access to the beach from a nearby side street.

He took off on a run. When he looked over his shoulder, Kevin wasn’t far behind. Pokey kept up with him. Though the dog stayed at Gideon’s, he adored Kevin and clearly rejoiced in the time they spent together.

Fay refused to have an animal in the house. No amount of pleading on Kevin’s part could change her mind. But like everything else about the situation, he and his son had learned to adapt.

Between Gideon and his housekeeper, Martha, who came in every weekday afternoon for an hour to clean and prepare meals, Pokey’s needs were met and he had the run of the house.

A few minutes later Kevin hauled his math book from his backpack and sat at the family-room table to start his homework. Gideon went in search of the synopses he’d brought home and joined his son. Pokey lay on the floor between them.

Kevin eyed the papers with curiosity. “What are you doing, Dad?”

“Homework. Just like you.”

He laughed. “Come on.”

“It’s true. You’re looking at the new criminology teacher for the district’s adult-education program.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. I have eleven students who signed up for community school.” One of them is probably the most terrific-looking female I’ve ever met in my life. And the most puzzling.

“I didn’t know that.”

“How could you? Daniel Mcfarlane underwent emergency surgery on Friday morning and asked me to take over his class.”

“What happened to him?”

“He has cancer, but I understand the operation took care of the problem. With some chemotherapy, he’ll be fine.”

“That’s good.” His son’s voice trailed off. “Hey, Dad…do your students listen to you and everything?”

Gideon laughed. “So far I haven’t had a problem.”

“Is it fun to teach?”

“As a matter of fact, it is.”

“How long are you going to be their teacher?”

“I’m not sure. Possibly till mid-May.”

“That long?” Kevin cried. “When’s your class?” Any change in Gideon’s routine upset his son if it wasn’t handled carefully.

“Wednesday and Friday nights.”

Kevin’s face fell. “But those are our nights together! Is that the reason you couldn’t come and get me until late on Friday?”

“Yes. But I’ve been thinking about that. How would you like to come to class and watch me teach?” Gideon asked before his son could jump to the wrong conclusion. “You can get your homework done at the same time. We’ll have dinner at the Jolly Roger first, and go for ice cream after.”

“You’d let me come?”

“Of course.”

The tears that were threatening disappeared.

“I realize this changes the way we’ll spend Wednesday and Friday nights for a while. But I couldn’t say no to Daniel when he asked me this favor, could I?”

“No, I guess not. Can I bring Pokey?”

“Do they let you have dogs at school?” Gideon countered.

Kevin let out a deep sigh. “No.”

“I tell you what. On Wednesdays I’ll get off duty early and pick you up at school. We’ll go to the park or the beach and play with Pokey until we have to leave for my class. How does that sound?”

“Okay, but what about Fridays?”

“I can’t get off early on Friday. But since we have the whole weekend together every other week, you can still come with me. We’ll have a late dinner after class on those nights.”

“How come Daniel had to ask you?”

Kevin, Kevin. “I think you already know the answer to that question.”

He lowered his head. “Yeah. He’s a good friend. I just wish Mom would let me live—”

“We’ve been over this ground before, son. And it’s not like we won’t be together. Besides, this will give you a chance to find out what I do for a living.”

“I already know,” the boy said glumly.

Kevin was going through a stage of worrying constantly that Gideon might get killed on the job. It was one of the fears family members harbored when a parent worked in law enforcement. But Gideon had assured his fourteen-year-old that being a detective was safer than being a street cop. Still, anxiety remained.

“Do you want to hear my students’ stories?” Gideon decided a little distraction right now was more important than insisting that Kevin finish his homework. His son could do that back at Fay’s.

“What stories?”

“My students are mystery writers.” Except for one, who had an entirely different motive for attending the class. Heidi Ellis presented a mystery in her own right. One that wanted solving…

“Mystery writers?”

“That’s right. They want to learn how to write what happens at the scene of a crime from a detective’s point of view. I’ll take them through the procedure step by step.”

“That ought to be interesting.”

The light had returned to his son’s eyes. Thank God.

AT ELEVEN ON SUNDAY NIGHT, Heidi finished correcting her students’ homework and reviewing her own and prepared for bed. While she was brushing her teeth, her phone rang.

Hoping against hope, she rinsed her mouth, then dashed into the bedroom to answer it. Caller ID was blocked.

“Hello?” she said anxiously.

“Ms. Ellis? John Cobb here.”

Filled with relief, she sank onto the edge of her bed.

“Thanks for calling me back. I know you’ve been out of town and I hate to bother you at home, but I’m desperate to help Dana. She’s barely hanging on.”

“I got your message earlier today and I’ve already made a call to her doctor and to the judge. We’ll get an order to the prison so the doctor there will give her the medication she needs.”

“Oh, thank you,” Heidi breathed.

“Let me assure you that I’m as eager as you are for some new evidence in this case so I can take it to the district attorney.”

She gripped the phone more tightly. “That’s why I’m calling. I’m going to get that evidence!”

There was a brief silence on his end. “It would have to be compelling. Ron Jenke, the prosecuting attorney, has a formidable reputation for winning cases. What he presented appeared to the jury to be an airtight case. Since you and I know Dana’s not guilty, that means we need a whole new approach to her case.

“Unfortunately the private detective the Turners retained after the trial never came up with anything I could use. He’s given up.”

“I know,” Heidi murmured. “When I visited Dana last Sunday, she told me there was no hope. But I told her she was wrong and promised that the next time she saw me, I’d have something good to report.” Visits to inmates had to be applied for weeks ahead. Even though Heidi knew there’d be Sundays when she couldn’t go, she’d already made application for six months’ worth of Sunday visits.