Animal Instinct by Rosenfelt, David (novels for students TXT) 📕

“Why is this unusual?” I ask. “They could have just been friends.”

“Well, for one thing, Lisa called her twice the day before she was killed, and the last call was just before midnight. That particular conversation lasted for forty-five minutes. I checked, and Jana Mitchell works for Midwest Medical Networks. They do what Ardmore does, just in a different part of the country.”

“So?”

“So it seemed strange to me that they talked so much on their personal phones, rather than their work phones. That, coupled with the timing, struck me as odd. But the other weird thing was that Lisa never emailed her. I checked through her emails twice … nothing there.”

“That is interesting,” Andy says. “Based on their jobs, these were computer people. They were close enough to talk all those times, but never email? Maybe they were afraid of security, of someone reading what they wrote.”

“Right,” Sam says. “Like I said, it could be nothing, but it struck me as strange.”

I don’t think any of us are tremendously confident that this is any kind of a breakthrough, but Laurie says, “Give me her number; I’ll call her. Let’s see what happens.”

“She’s probably at work now,” I say.

“It’s her cell number,” Sam says. “Maybe she’ll answer at work.”

Sam gives Laurie the number and she dials it. Sam, Andy, and I can only hear Laurie’s side of the conversation.

“Hello, is this Jana Mitchell?” There’s a pause. “Hi, Jana, my name is Laurie Collins; I’m a private investigator in Paterson, New Jersey. I’m calling because I’d like to talk to you about Lisa Yates.”

Another pause.

“You don’t know her? I’m talking about the Lisa Yates who worked at Ardmore Medical Systems.”

Another brief pause.

“Ms. Mitchell, is something wrong? We know that you and Lisa were…”

A final pause.

“Ms. Mitchell, I’m going to be out there tomorrow and I would really appreciate your talking to me. I think you know something that could be helpful to us in apprehending—”

Laurie hangs up the phone; Jana Mitchell apparently hung up on her first. Laurie turns to us. “I’m going to Cincinnati.”

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Unless I am a terrible judge of people, Jana Mitchell was afraid, actually near panic. She was fine until I mentioned Lisa Yates, and then I could hear it in her voice. She also denied knowing Lisa, which is an obvious lie.”

I totally trust Laurie’s instinct in matters like this, but I’m frustrated that I can’t go with her. Cincinnati is obviously outside the range that the terms of my bail allow me to travel.

“I’ll go with you,” Andy says.

She shakes her head. “You have to prepare for trial, and we also have a child, remember? A small person named Ricky? He has to eat. Hopefully he’ll prepare meals for you as well.”

“Ricky’s a terrible cook,” Andy says.

“So get pizza.”

Andy brightens. “Now you’re talking.”

“Take Marcus with you,” I say.

“Guys, are we now into protecting the helpless woman? I can handle myself, and I doubt that Jana Mitchell in Cincinnati is going to pose much of a danger.”

I shake my head. “If she was really afraid, it means there is some danger involved.”

Laurie ignores that and turns to Sam. “Can you get me her home address? I’ll go see her after she’s done with work.”

“Duh,” Sam says, meaning of course he can get her address. “I can also access her phone GPS and tell you where she is if she’s not at home.”

“Perfect,” Laurie says. “I’ll just book the flight and then it’s off to Cincinnati.”

“Go first-class,” I say. “This defense team spares no expense.”

LAURIE got a three o’clock flight out of LaGuardia.

It was a short flight, but she didn’t need time to think about what her approach would be to Jana Mitchell. She had already decided that she would appeal to her on the basis of friendship. If Jana cared about Lisa Yates, then it was up to her to help find her killer.

There was always the possibility that Laurie was wrong, that Jana got scared simply because an investigator was asking her about a murder. The average person has no involvement in such things, and Jana could have just panicked, or at least flinched, in the moment.

But Laurie didn’t think so. That Jana had denied even knowing Lisa was a tip-off. Laurie’s instincts as a cop, and her instincts as a human being, told her differently. Jana’s reaction was not normal. It was as if she had been fearing such a call, and her nightmare had come true.

Laurie didn’t relish causing anyone a nightmare, and she was sorry she did something to trigger that fear. But it was part of her job, and that job was to help Corey. He wasn’t going to prison for a crime he did not commit because Jana Mitchell was afraid. She would have to deal with it because Laurie was not going to let her off the hook—no matter what.

Laurie had some time to kill after landing and renting a car, so she grabbed a bite to eat. She did so in Clifton, the Cincinnati neighborhood where Jana Mitchell lived. There were nice restaurants and cafés there, and the weather was surprisingly cool and comfortable. She ate outside and it was extremely pleasant, and Laurie regretted not letting Andy join her. Then she realized that Andy would probably bemoan the lack of televisions showing sports, so she got over her regrets.

At eight thirty, she texted Sam Willis to ask where Jana’s phone was.

“At her house,” Sam said. “It’s been there for almost three hours.”

Jana’s house was only eight blocks away, so Laurie decided to leave her car near the restaurant and walk there. That way she could quickly go over in her mind how she would approach Jana, and how she would deal with the woman’s fear and probable unwillingness to cooperate.

When she was a block and a half away, she saw the flashing lights. As she got closer, her instincts once again kicked in, and somehow she knew that whatever was happening, it was at Jana