Читать книгу Guilty or Not - Alice Zogg - Страница 9

When scheduling an interview with Rachel Penrose, Huber left it up to the young woman where she would rather have the talk: in Monrovia at her folk’s house, at R. A. Huber ’s office, or meet at a Starbucks somewhere in between. Rachel chose the detective’s office in order to have privacy. They set the date for the coming Monday, one of Rachel’s short days at work, and she would swing by on her way home.

She promptly arrived at the appointed time of 3:15 in the afternoon. There was grace in her movements as she walked to the client chair and sat down. She had a slender athletic figure, high cheekbones, and light-blue eyes that made a striking contrast to her dark hair. Those eyes held a haunted look of late.

To put her at ease, Huber said, “I understand that you are a speech therapist. I am unfamiliar with that profession. What education is needed for the job?”

She replied, “One needs a master ’s degree in either communication sciences or communication disorders. The next step is to complete between 300 and 400 hours of clinical training, pass a national exam, and finish at least nine months of professional experience after graduation. In addition, most speech therapists take educational courses. I took mine in child language disorders and stuttering.”

“So you work with children?”

“Yes, I provide my services in elementary schools here in Pasadena, helping students improve their language and communication skills. I work with children one-on-one or in groups to treat voice disorders, stuttering problems or learning disabilities.”

“I take it that you like your job.”

“Yes, I do. It can be rewarding.” The haunted look in her eyes intensified as she added, “Working has become difficult for me lately.”

“How so?”

“Parents and sometimes even students have been giving me strange looks ever since I got arrested. You can’t keep being accused of murder a secret.” She suddenly realized why she had come to R. A. Huber ’s office and said, “Pops shouldn’t spend so much money on me; I’m not worth it.”

Huber failed to correct her, letting her think that her father had done the hiring.

She asked, “Are you an only child?”

Rachel nodded, then continued with her previous argument, “It’s useless; we’re wasting your time.” And she stared in front of herself.

Huber became aware that Rachel clammed up and raised her voice a tad to get her attention, saying, “I am going to be honest with you. I had a talk with your lawyer, David Wachterman, and he told me that you are unapproachable. Is that true?”

She took some time before she raised her eyes to meet Huber ’s and said, “He bombards me with questions every time we meet.”

“He asks you questions that you either won’t or can’t answer, and so you keep silent?”

“I guess so.”

“Mr. Wachterman is trying to help you. He can’t defend you properly if he doesn’t know all about you and your circumstances. I am willing to help too, if you let me.”

Rachel did not answer, but went on instead, “My life fell to pieces on that horrible day. I’ve been numb ever since.”

“You mean on the day you caught your fiancé and the other woman in the act?”

Rachel re-lived the scene in her mind. She had come home early from her final wedding gown fitting. The gown, like all else planned for the big wedding reception on the Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach, had turned out perfect, and she literally glowed with anticipation for their big event. She had entered the house announcing, “I’m home, hon,” slamming the door behind her. When Steven was nowhere to be found on the ground floor, she ran up the stairs, taking two steps at the time. Finding the bedroom door ajar, she’d walked toward it, and pushing it open, proclaimed, “Guess what, I…” she had stopped dead at the threshold and stared in total shock. When her brain functioned again, all she could think was, I want you dead!

Huber eyed her keenly, waiting for an answer.

Rachel suddenly shook herself, the way a dog does when coming out of water. Then she said, “Yes, that day.”

“I know this is painful for you, but I need to ask you personal questions in order to fully grasp the situation. What town did you and Steven live in?”

“He bought a house in La Cañada Flintridge, and I moved in after we got engaged.”

“How long had you known each other and where did you meet?”

“We belonged to the same ski club and met in Mammoth over two years ago.” And a sudden spark lit up her blue eyes when she added, “We spent a glorious week challenging one another to all the double black diamond runs on the mountain. At the end of a particularly fun day, chasing me down Wipeout Chutes under chairlift 23, he said, ‘You are the first woman I’d like to spend my life with.’”

The expression on her face turned stoic again as she stated, “I don’t want to talk anymore about Steven; I thought I had erased him from my memory.”

Then Huber inquired, “Did you know Jasmine Dewitt beforehand?”

Rachel momentarily drew a blank with the name. Then she said, “Oh, you mean the bimbo? No, I’d never seen her before.”

“How about earlier? Were there other indiscretions on Steven’s part during your relationship?”

“Steven made no secret of the fact that he had a long, sordid past where women were concerned. Stupid me, I believed that he’d left that all behind...”

Rachel became silent and stared into space with that blank, passive look of hers.

Huber waited, seemingly having all the time in the world.

Rachel looked around the room, focusing briefly on the French Country art prints hanging on the wall she faced, and then fixed her gaze on the chess figures set up at one end of the desk.

She remarked, “You have an exquisite chess set here.”

Huber thought, aha. This young woman is not as oblivious as she seems.

Aloud she said, “Thanks, the set holds special memories for me: I inherited it from my father.”

The detective in Huber needed to get to the gist of the matter, so she said, “I know that you went back to Steven’s house the next day to pack your things. Who let you in?”

“I still had a key and let myself in.”

“So you were alone in the house?”

“No, being a Thursday, Rufina, the housekeeper, was there.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“Sure, she offered to help me, but I preferred being left alone. So I packed my bags and boxes, made a few trips to the car and back, left my key in the foyer, and was out of the place for good.”

“You had no furniture in the house belonging to you?”

“We had selected the furnishings together, but Steven paid for it all. None of it belonged to me. The pile of wedding presents stood unopened in a spare room, and of course the gifts are all being returned. I went to the backyard, though, and dug up my herb garden, taking the plants home to Monrovia.”

“Why did you do that?”

“My herb garden was my pride and joy - - still is - - and I had accumulated plenty of exceptional plants and didn’t want them to go to waste.”

“I see.”

Then Huber studied her carefully as she asked, “Did you do anything to the oleander bush in the yard?”

Rachel kept quiet, reassuming her impassive demeanor.

“Do you know where Steven Moretti kept his loose leaf tea?”

“Of course. I lived in the same house. He kept it in an airtight tea canister on the kitchen counter.”

“Did he add anything to his tea as a rule?”

Rachel gave her a blank stare.

“What I’d like to know is, did he take sugar, milk, or maybe lemon with his tea?”

“He added honey.”

“Did you ever drink any yourself?”

“I prefer coffee.”

“What about the oleander in the backyard?” Huber repeated. “Did you go near it on that day?”

Again, Rachel gave no answer and stared straight ahead, ignoring the question.

Huber had a great urge to take the woman by the shoulders and shake her violently. She resisted the temptation and instead raised her voice and snapped her fingers ten inches in front of the other ’s face, insisting, “Tell me about the oleander plant in the garden!”

At last, Rachel looked Huber in the eye and murmured, “I knew that oleander is poisonous and thought; what if - -?”

There followed a long pause while Huber reflected on the meaning of the “what if” aspect.

She finally asked, “Did you make use of that knowledge?”

Rachel did not seem to grasp the significance of that question and once more retreated into her own world, never snapping out of it until Huber concluded the interview.