Florida Heat

  “Mrs. Webster is very kind,” Willow responded. “She’s a good teacher.”

  “And you, my dear, are a very, very good student. She was able to recognize your work immediately. In fact quite a few of your teachers were able to identify your art work as Mrs. Webster had made a point of showing them how extremely talented you are.”

  Willow said nothing but looked down at her clasped hands in her lap.

  Mitch opened the door and propped the rolled up vinyl against the corner and set Willow’s purse on the table beside Kate. Giving a quick thumbs-up, he left.

  “Do you recognize that?” Kate asked.

  Willow looked over and nodded. “That’s my art project.” She waited a beat. “The one that was stolen from the art room yesterday.”

  “Really,” Kate said, watching the girl unsuccessfully hide a smug smile. “Your project was stolen?”

  “Yes.” Willow sat up straighter and placed her clasped hands on the table. “It was there during the art meeting after school yesterday, but when I want back later, I noticed it wasn’t where I had left it. I searched the entire art room but I couldn’t find it.”

  “And what time would that have been?”

  “Well,” Willow sat straighter and tried to look like she was concentrating. “The meeting was over around 5:00, or maybe a little later. We all went for coffee but I’d forgotten a book so when I went back, it was probably closer to 6:30.”

  “So the art work was there at 5:00 but missing at 6:30?” Kate wrote in her notebook then looked up. “Would that be about right?”

  “As close as I can remember,” Willow beamed.

  “And what did you do then,” Kate asked. “Did you report it as missing?”

  “There wasn’t anyone to report it to,” she said easily. “Mrs. Webster had already left and the more I thought about it, I just assumed that she had taken it.”

  “You thought your art teacher stole your project?”

  “Oh no, Mrs. Webster would never do anything like that. She told me she wanted to enter it into the college art festival. So when I saw it was missing, I just assumed that she had taken it to enter for me.” Willow smiled sweetly.

  “And you thought she’d take your project and enter it without telling you she was doing so?”

  “Well, I wasn’t sure when the deadline was so I thought that might be the case.”

  “So this morning when you got to school…”

  “Oh, I went straight to the art room,” Willow interrupted. “But when I asked Mrs. Webster about it, she said she hadn’t seen my project. That’s when I knew it had been stolen.”

  “Wow, that’s quite an interesting story. Do you have any idea who might have taken it? I mean that piece of work is quite remarkable and I’m guessing would bring a pretty penny if put up on eBay.”

  Willow smiled. “Why, thank you, Detective. And, yes, I do have a suspect in mind.”

  “Do tell,” Kate urged.

  “Well,” Willow leaned forward on her chair. “There is a student who’s been hanging around the art room. Always asking about how I do things and how much something like my project might be worth on the Internet. You know… that kind of thing.”

  Kate nodded. “And does this student have a name?”

  Willow looked down at her clenched hands then chewed her bottom lip. “I really don’t want to get anyone in trouble,” she said slowly, “but her name is Julie Finch.”

  “And you think this Julie Finch was the one who took your art work yesterday?”

  Willow nodded. “It must be her,” she said solemnly. “She’s the only one who’s shown an interest. In fact,” Willow’s smile brightened, “a friend of mine, Zeke Olman, was there the afternoon she came in and was asking all the questions. I’m sure he’d back up my story.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he would,” Kate said easily. “Okay, we’ll check this out.”

  Smiling, Willow started to reach for her purse. “So I can go now?”

  “Not quite yet,” Kate said easily. “Oh, and I need to see your cell phone.”

  Willow jerked back. “What for? Don’t you need a search warrant for that?”

  Kate just smiled. “Not when I have probable cause.” She dumped the purse on the table then picked up the phone from the pile of makeup. “I’ll make sure you get a receipt for this.”

  “You can’t take that, that’s my property,” Willow said sharply. All traces of the cooperative teen had vanished. “Give that back to me.” She started to lunge across the table, but Kate merely scooted back.

  “Now, now,” Kate said. “Just relax. I just need to log this into evidence. But I’ll be sure to take good care of it for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me. We’ll get back to you in just a little while.”

  Willow glared. “You get my parents in here and get them here now.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they’re on their way,” Kate said. “We notified them when we picked you up at school.”

  “Then where the hell are they?” Willow snapped.

  “Why, they’re probably in the waiting area. I’ll fill them in when I go out. You just relax here and, as I said, we’ll get back to this in just a little while. I need to check your story so we can straighten things out.”

  “You get Zeke Olman and Nicole Atwood,” Willow said. “They’ll verify my story. They’ll tell you Julie Finch was the one who stole my project.”

  “So they both knew Julie was interested?”

  “That’s what I said,” Willow folded her arms across her chest. “They’ll back up everything I told you.”

  “I’ll be sure to ask them, thanks.” Kate said.

  “Wait! You can’t expect me to just sit here while you go off and try to do your job,” Willow said indignantly.

  “Oh, would you rather wait in a holding cell? I thought you’d be more comfortable in here. Would you like a soda or perhaps coffee while you wait?”

  Willow began to relax. “Yeah, get me a Diet Pepsi.”

  “Right away,” Kate said evenly. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  Mitch was waiting when Kate left the interview room. “Do you want me to pick up this Julie Finch?”

  “No, that’s where our little miss just made a huge mistake. I know Julie Finch and if she’s involved with this, well, like Jo says, I’ll eat my left shoe.”

  “So you’re not buying the ‘someone stole my art work’ story?”

  “Not in this lifetime. I’m going to contact Jo. She told me she’d seen Julie at the pet store so I need to find out which one. While I’m doing that and verifying where Julie was last night, why don’t you go and pick up Zeke and Nicole, the friends that Willow believes will support her story.”

  “What are you going to do with her cell phone?”

  Kate smiled. “Oh, I think that after we know Julie wasn’t involved, we’ll have Willow’s parents join us in interview and watch a little video. Meanwhile,” she handed the phone to Mitch, “log this into evidence before you go.”

  It didn’t take Kate long to get in touch with Jo, find that Julie worked at the Pet Palace and to verify that Julie had been working on the night in question. Satisfied she’d just poked the first hole in Willow’s story, Kate went to get the girl’s parents from the waiting area.

  When Kate and Willow’s parents were all back in the interview room with Willow, Mr. Hartman was the first to speak.

  “I’m really very concerned with how you’ve handled this, Detective,” he said sharply. “My attorney is going to be hearing about this and if he thinks we should file a complaint against you then you can rest assured that I’ll be doing just that.”

  Kate watched the smile grow on Willow’s face. Gone was the shy demure young lady and in her place was someone obviously used to getting her way.

  “I understand your concern, Mr. Hartman. But as your attorney will tell you we didn’t need your permission to bring Willow in for questioning. We did, however, as a courtesy, inform you of our actions. Now if we could get down
to business I’m sure we can clear all this up to everyone’s satisfaction.”

  “I want my cell phone back,” Willow demanded. “Dad she took my cell phone and won’t give it back to me. I want that back now.”

  “Oh, you’ll get it back,” Kate said easily. “But first I thought you and your parents would enjoy seeing a little video that you recorded.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Mrs. Hartman said quietly.

  “Then let me explain,” Kate said. “Last night someone, or a group of someones, took Willow’s art project and placed it in the road on Route 27. Now, 27 is primarily a two-lane country road and a good part of it goes through a very rural setting. As you know Willow is quite an artist. She designed a 3D project that gave the illusion that a large crack or sinkhole had developed in the road. When a car approached, the headlights would illuminate her artwork and the driver would think he or she was seeing a huge hole in the road and swerve to avoid hitting it. Is that about right, Willow?”

  Mr. Hartman turned to his daughter. “What is she talking about? What art work?”

  Willow gave a bored sigh. “All I know is that I did draw a 3D illustration of a hole in the ground, like the pictures Julian Beever does on the sidewalks in England. It was taken from the art room yesterday without my knowledge and I’ve already told the detective who took it. Other than that, I don’t know what she’s talking about either.”

  “Well, you see,” Kate continued, “last night when this picture was placed on the ground, the first vehicle to approach was an ambulance responding to a call from the Shady Oaks Nursing Home. When the driver saw Willow’s picture in the road he naturally swerved to avoid what he thought was a very deep crack in the pavement. There is no shoulder on that portion of the road and the ambulance hit the runoff gully and tipped over. The damage was quite extensive not to mention that both of the EMTs in the ambulance needed to go to the hospital.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” Mrs. Hartman gasped, raising her hand to her lips. “Are they all right?”

  “Luckily, yes,” Kate said. “Unfortunately, the response delay of the ambulance resulted in the death of a woman at the nursing home.”

  Mrs. Hartman paled visibly then turned to her daughter. “ Do you know anything about this?”

  Willow defiantly shook her head. “Other than the fact that the art work is mine, I have nothing to do with this.”

  “Well,” Kate smiled pleasantly, “that’s not exactly true, is it Willow? You see, Julie couldn’t have taken your project.”

  “Of course she did,” Willow insisted. “Nicole and Zeke will tell you she did.”

  “But they didn’t see her do it did they?” Kate continued.

  “Detective, I’m not sure exactly what you’re trying to imply. If my daughter says that she knows who took her project why isn’t that person in here instead of Willow? I mean I’m sure we’re all sorry for the accident and I’m glad the two EMTs were not seriously hurt. But other than the fact that Willow has admitted to drawing this piece, I really don’t see how she’s involved. Question the person who took her work, charge my daughter, or let her go.”

  “Well, I did question the person who allegedly took her art work,” Kate said quietly. “And it turns out that Willow and her friends picked the wrong person to try and blame this on. The girl your daughter accused was working last night. Her alibi is solid and confirmed. According to the times that Willow gave me as to when her project was taken, the person she’s accusing couldn’t have taken it. She has a solid alibi.”

  “Then someone else took the project,” Mr. Hartman said stubbornly.

  “Why don’t we just clear this up,” Kate said taking Willow’s phone from the evidence bag. “I have an interesting video I think you’ll find quite educational.”

  Kate turned the phone and cued the video. Willow’s voice was clearly recognized in the background. “Here it comes! Oh my god, look, it’s an ambulance.” The squeal of tires filled the room as Mr. and Mrs. Hartman watched in horror as the ambulance swerved then tipped over on its side with a sickening crash. The recording continued until the first EMT tried to climb out of the wreckage. Willow’s voice sounded again. “This is priceless and look, here comes another car.” Again the sound of squealing tires filled the room then the screen went blank.

  Kate set the phone down. “So, Willow, is there something you’d like to tell us?”

  Willow squirmed on her chair. “It was all Nicole Atwood’s idea.…” she began.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kate walked in the door and found Jo still working on her computer. “Don’t tell me you’re still searching for black vans,” she said, giving each of the dogs a rub.

  “No, I decided to try and figure out why Danny saved those particular newspaper clippings that we found in his lockbox.”

  “You having any success?”

  Jo pushed her chair back and stretched. “Actually, I think I might have come up with something. I decided to do a residence search for real-estate purchases and I’ve found two that put Danny in the general area of a particular clipping. This one,” she pulled one from the stack and handed it to Kate, “this one says “Home Invasions on the Up-rise, Police Baffled.” Well, according to the Internet, Danny owned property in the next town. What do you think the chances are that he might have been the one doing the B and E work and these are his souvenirs, if you will, of how he put one over on the police?”

  “As theories go, it’s a good one,” Kate said scooping up Midnight. “We know he certainly had the ego to want to keep something like that. If you write up all the matches, I could make some calls, talk to the different municipalities and ask if they have any DNA evidence from the crimes. We could offer to send samples of Danny’s DNA for a comparison and maybe let them close some cases.”

  “I can do that. I’ve already started a spreadsheet and I’m filling it in as I go. I thought I’d pay Aggie a visit. Ask about specific places and times to see if I can jog her memory a bit.”

  “You going to tell her why you’re doing this?” she asked as Midnight continued to purr.

  Jo shook her head. “No, right now she’s turned Danny into a saint who could do no wrong.”

  At the signal, Kate reached in her pocket for her phone. Her face grew serious then troubled as she listened but said little.

  “Okay what was that about?” Jo asked as Kate set down her phone. “I can tell by your expression that something is wrong.”

  “That was Tony,” she said quietly.

  “Then why aren’t you smiling?”

  Kate gave a sigh. “He was calling with information from Wyoming. The DNA tests are back and it was Christian’s natural mother who took him. According to Tony, the courts have just awarded her custody.”

  “Damn,” Jo swore softly. “I mean I’m glad that his natural mother has finally found her child, but this is going to crush Aggie. Losing her husband and her child within days….”

  “There’s more,” Kate said slowly. “There is the very real possibility that the officials could bring charges against Aggie for the kidnapping.”

  “My god, that woman just can’t get a break.”

  “Do you think she’s going to be able to handle this?”

  “Well, she’s leaning on Karl a lot but I’m wondering how long he’s going to put up with her Saint Danny attitude.”

  “Do you think she and Karl will ever get together? I mean now that the field is clear.”

  “I don’t know,” Jo said, moving a stack of papers on the table. “It’s obvious that he really cares for her, but maybe he just cares for her as a friend and nothing more. And as a good friend, he’s protective of her.”

  “Time will tell,” Kate said sitting at the table with the cat in her lap.

  “And speaking of time, did you catch the news today?”

  “Nope, what’s up?”

  “A lot. Your accident from last night, the one about the teenage prank of a drawing in the road made the news.
The reporter said it caused the death of a resident from the Shady Oaks Nursing Home.”

  “That’s stretching it,” Kate said. “The Home did call for an ambulance and because of the accident the response time was terrible. And yes, a woman resident from there did pass away. But what the reporter probably didn’t mention was that the woman was in her early 90’s and in failing health. It’s possible she would have died anyway. Sad, but we’ll never know.”

  “What I don’t understand is what caused the accident in the first place. A kid’s drawing in the road seems a little farfetched to me.”

  Kate set Midnight down on the floor then got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “This high school kid, Willow Hartman, is a talent the likes of which I’ve never seen. She took a piece of vinyl and created a 3D illusion of a hole in the road. She said it was modeled after the work of Julian Beever. I looked him up on the Internet and the man is a genius. He does chalk drawings on sidewalks that defy the eye. It’s called the anamorphic style and creates the impression of a three-dimensional scene.” She twisted the top off the bottle. “But our little Willow decides not to work on a sidewalk. Instead, she does her illustration on vinyl, then she and her friends place it on a dark country road. No street-lights, so as a car drives up and the headlights hit this “thing” lying on the road, it looks exactly like the pavement has split open. She even drew a damn possum trying to climb out of the hole. It was a friggin’ masterpiece.”

  “And it could actually fool your eye? You, who doesn’t get fooled by anything?”

  Kate took a long drink. “It was amazing. That girl has real talent and now she’s going to have a police record to go along with that talent.”

  “What’s going to happen to them? You said she was with friends.”

  “Yeah, she tried to bluff her way out at first, claimed that someone had stolen the work. She actually blamed Julie Finch for taking it.”

  “So that’s why you wanted to know where Julie worked.”

  “Mm hmm, we verified that Julie was working the entire time this escapade was going down. Then I took a chance that Willow might have recorded what they did and Jackpot!”

  Jo sat back in her chair. “They recorded the accident?”

  “Yep. The entire group of them recorded it on each of their cell phones. I must have videos from five different angles. So once Willow admitted in front of her parents that she was not only the artist but also participated in the staging to purposely cause an accident, she sang like a canary. Gave us all the names, most of which we already had from her cell phone activity. We brought them all in and as soon as they realized that one had flipped, they couldn’t sing fast enough. All in all we charged nine kids with culpable negligence and criminal mischief.”