âShe didnât kill Amy!â Heidi blurted
Tears sprang to her eyes. âDanaâs family lives next door to mine. We grew up like sisters. I know her as well as I know myself. Sheâs dying in that prison, Gideon.â Her voice trembled. âIâve got to get her out of there or my lifeâs not going to be worth living, either.â
âLord,â she heard him whisper.
âWhen I found out that a famous detective from San Diegoâs homicide division was teaching a criminology course in my classroom, I considered it a godsend. Thatâs whââ
âYou donât need to explain,â he interjected.
âYouâll never know how grateful I am that you let me join the class. Iâve already learned so much. I know vital evidence was overlooked in her case.â Heidi gazed up at Gideon. âThe other night I phoned John Cobb, Danaâs attorney.â
âHeâs one of the best around.â
She took a deep breath. âI hope youâre right, Gideon. He believes in Danaâs innocence, but he said that unless we come up with compelling new evidence, he wouldnât be able to get the case reopened.â
âThatâs because he knows how difficult it is.â
âBut surely itâs not impossibleâ¦.â
He reached out to squeeze her hand. âNo. Nothingâs impossible if you want it badly enough.â
Dear Reader,
Recently I saw a documentary about a retired newspaper reporter who happened to be at a local library doing some genealogy and came across a twenty-year-old article about a murder that had been committed in the town where she lived. Being curious by nature, she made enquiries and found out the case was still open.
Intrigued, she started to dig around, talk to the police, interview people who knew the victim. Within a few months sheâd solved the crime. There was a trial and the culprit was imprisoned.
When she was asked how she was able to do what no detective had managed to accomplish, she chuckled before answering. âI donât know why. Perhaps it was a fresh eye, a new look at an old problemâthe answer just seemed obvious to me.â
By the time the documentary was over, I had plotted My Private Detective, a romance novel in which a good cop, Gideon Poletti, brings a fresh eye to a closed murder caseâonly to fall madly in love with the convicted womanâs friendâ¦who might know more than sheâs telling.
Happy reading!
Rebecca Winters
P.S. If you have access to the Internet, I hope youâll visit my Web site at http://www.rebeccawinters-author.com
My Private Detective
Rebecca Winters
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
âMR. COBB REALLY TOLD YOU thereâs nothing more he can do?â
âYes.â
Heidi Ellis felt her heart plunge as she stared at her best friend through the Plexiglas partition at Fielding Womenâs Prison outside San Bernardino, California.
Dana Turner had always been a tall, dark-haired, vibrant beauty. But seven and a half months of confinement had already taken their toll.
Haunted by the pale, fragile-looking creature, whoâd grown even thinner since her last visit, Heidi feared her friend wouldnât last the year in this place, let alone thirty more. She was in prison for the murder of her sisterâa murder she didnât commit.
Heidi gripped the phone receiver more tightly. âI donât believe that.â
âYou have to,â Dana said in a dull voice. âHeâs supposed to be one of the best criminal attorneys in Southern California. Iâm resigned to the fact that this is my life from now on.â
âIâll never be resigned to it!â
âYou donât have a choice. I told Mom and Dad the same thing. Theyâre so devastated that every time they see me, they age another year.â
That wasnât surprising. Theyâd lost Amy, and now their older daughter was wrongfully incarcerated for her murder.
âI think it would be better if no one came to visit me anymore. It can only drag everyone down further than they already are.â
None of the Ellisesâneither Heidi nor her parentsâhad been subpoenaed to testify at Danaâs trial. In fact, Dana had asked that they not attend. It had made Heidi feel so helpless. She still felt that way, but anger had begun to replace her fears.
âYou know me better than that, Dana. I refuse to just sit by. There has to be a way to reopen your case and get it heard again. Someone else killed your sister. Whoever committed the crime is running around free while youâreâ¦â
Her voice trailed off because she was afraid sheâd dissolve in tears in front of Dana. That wasnât going to help her friend. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she said, âIâm not sure how to go about it, but Iâm going to find a way to get you out of here, no matter what I have to do!â
Danaâs sweet smile tore Heidiâs heart to shreds. âI love you for being so loyal. But thereâs a time to quit, and this is it.â
âNo! As soon as I leave here, Iâm going to call your lawyer and ask him exactly what I have to do in order to get the court to take another look at your case.â