Читать книгу Guilty or Not - Alice Zogg - Страница 10

The Hubers enjoyed a leisurely evening at their home, relaxing in the living room on their respective recliners. Peter immersed himself in one of his colleague’s work of fiction, while Regula played games on her Nintendo DS.

She suddenly exclaimed, “I beat my own Big Brain top score!”

Peter looked over at her and said, “You’re a kid at heart! I’m always amazed at your enthusiasm when playing games.”

“Well, this one not only helps me think clearly but also makes my brain react at a fast pace. Both abilities come in handy in detective work.”

Peter laughed out loud. “As long as you have a good excuse!”

Then he inserted the bookmark into the current page of his read, closed it, and said, “Tell me about your interview with the accused murderess.”

R. A. Huber had learned long ago that she benefited from discussing her cases with Peter. On top of appreciating him as a good listener, she valued his input. Having the talk with Rachel Penrose fresh on her mind, she related all of it to him.

Peter paid keen attention and when her narrative ended, he thought about it for a moment before asking, “Do you think her tuning in and out was all an act?”

“It seemed genuine, but I could be wrong. She reminded me of a child who, although not admitting to any wrong doing, is ready to take the punishment.”

“So you believe that she’s guilty?”

“Not necessarily. She may feel guilty without having committed the crime. On the other hand, she may well be responsible for the killing.”

“You’re making no sense, Regula.”

“I know; I’m expressing myself badly. The truth is; I haven’t sorted things out yet in my own mind.”

Peter said, “Considering her education and job, she sounds like an intelligent person. She must be aware of the consequences if a jury finds her guilty. Why then doesn’t she assert her innocence? When you asked her about the oleander bush, for instance, why didn’t she simply state that she hadn’t cut off any leaves to poison Moretti with?”

“Why indeed?” his spouse replied.

Then Peter remarked, “Statistically, poison is a female’s choice of weapon.”

“Yes, I know. But then, a potential killer might have been aware of that statistic too if he wanted to frame Rachel with that oleander business.”

“So you think she may have been set up?”

Regula shrugged and said, “There is so much more information I need to gather before I can form an opinion on that.”

Peter remarked, “Come to think of it, the oleander plant is not uncommon. I’ve seen it on median strips of California highways.”

“What does it look like?”

“It’s a shrub with attractive white or pinkish-red blossoms.”

“I may have seen it without knowing what kind of plant I was looking at.”

Then she got back to her main subject and said, “The interview frustrated me in a lot of ways, but I also learned a few interesting things about Rachel and her late fiancé. The pair even has something in common with us.”

“Such as?”

“Skiing the black diamonds at Mammoth.”

“That’s definitely a point in her favor,” he said with a chuckle.

As Peter turned back to his book, Regula got up and announced, “I’m going to call Andi. I don’t know yet whether I’ll need her help with this job, but I’ll give her the skinny, just in case. Besides, I haven’t seen her in a while and sure miss her.” That said, she disappeared from the room and proceeded to call her dynamic young assistant.

She stepped back into the living room three quarters of an hour later. Peter looked up from his read and remarked, “You must have told her the Rachel story, and then some!”

“I sure did, and Andi had exciting news of her own. She has a boyfriend.”

“And that’s earth-shattering news?” Peter asked amused.

“For her it is. You must know that she’s dated plenty of guys since she’s been at UCLA, but until now she hadn’t called anyone her boyfriend.”

“So it’s serious?”

“Possibly. I should have guessed something was up when she forgot about target shooting practice last month.”

“She didn’t show up for her favorite activity! The girl must be on cloud nine. Is the boyfriend in one of her classes?”

“He’s not a student. She said he reminds her of her daddy.”

“Uh-oh! Where did they meet?”

“At the Harley-Davidson dealership when she took her bike in for servicing.”

Peter asked, “The guy’s a salesman?”

“No, a customer.”

“Well, let’s hope he’s not a Hell’s Angels gang member.”