Two O'Clock Heist by Joanne Pence

Author:Joanne Pence [Pence, Joanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-08-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Richie’s navigation system directed him through the busy streets of Santa Rosa. From a sleepy town not that many years ago, it was now not only the biggest city in Sonoma County, serving as the county seat, but had the dubious distinction of being one of the few towns in the area with commute-time traffic jams. Richie stopped for a quick take-out at an In-N-Out Burger. Rebecca could scarcely eat as she pondered her upcoming meeting.

They then went to Kenneth and Faye Larkin’s home in the older part of Santa Rosa.

Faye was trim, and stayed fit walking, gardening, and going to yoga practice. Rebecca had once thought her quite youthful looking, but now her age weighed heavily on her, and her face was lined with sadness. Kenneth, a big-bellied man of medium height, looked devastated. His face was puffy, his eyes bloodshot, and his nose red.

Rebecca had gone to lunch with Faye and Karen a few times, and Faye remembered her well. She introduced Rebecca to Kenneth and thanked her for coming to see them. When Rebecca introduced Richie, she found herself surprisingly touched by his warm words of condolence. He said that although he had never met Karen, he had heard much about what a kind person and good friend she had been to everyone around her.

It was all Faye could do to control her tears as she served iced tea and peach pie to her visitors. “Thank you for coming, Rebecca. I know Karen would appreciate you trying to find out what happened to her. I just don’t have any faith in the Sausalito police.”

“They don’t have much experience with homicides, that’s for sure,” Rebecca said, trying not to bad-mouth her fellow officers, but knowing much more should have been done. “I had hoped the Marin County Sheriff’s department would be more involved. Normally, they handle homicides for the county.”

“I’ve only talked to a Detective Wong from Sausalito,” Faye said. “Are you able to help him?”

“Not officially,” Rebecca said. “It’s not my jurisdiction.”

“That’s the party line,” Richie added. “But unofficially she’s looking into it and asking all the right questions.”

Faye and Kenneth looked relieved to hear that. “Can we hire you as an independent investigator?” Kenneth asked.

Rebecca glanced quickly at Richie, then said, “I don’t have a license to do that, and my boss would more than object. But I will do all I can, believe me. I want to find out who would … harm … such a lovely person. Do you have any ideas as to who might be involved?”

Faye and Kenneth turned to each other a moment. Finally, Faye said, “We liked Yuri for the most part. He seemed nice, but Karen told us she didn’t like his friends at all. His Russian friends, I should say. He didn’t ever seem to connect with Americans, except for Karen. Sometimes, when Karen talked about his friends, she sounded afraid of them. Normally, Karen is, was, never afraid of anything.”

Kenneth only nodded, but his eyes grew troubled, and even angry as Faye spoke.

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