She told him about what the little girl had said. The detective asked a barrage of questions.
"did she describe him?"
"blue eyes and yellow hair" Katrina said somberly.
"at least this narrows it down..." he mused. "I'll return to the San Marino Public Library."
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He again questioned most everyone who worked at the library;employee and volunteer alike. For each of them, he brought up the subject of yo-yoing by pretending that it was his way or relaxing. Two people told him about enjoying the activity as kids,while another three mentioned indulging in it occasionally. Three of these people were men, and two of them fit the vague description. So, unofficially, the lead detective, named Frank Hernandez, had two suspects. Now, he needed further official evidence to go beyond questioning.
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Katrina's next 'lesson' with the mathematician was in the Eppes house. Charlie suggested it at Alan's behest.
"It's not fair for her to be the host all the time" the older man scolded.
Alan welcomed her wholeheartedly to the house when she entered. Her youngest was in day care.
"Come in! Would you like something to eat or drink?"
"No thank you"
"Charlie in the back yard, feeding the Koi. He'll be here soon" Alan assured her, and added "I really appreciate you taking the time to help Charlie. It hasn't been easy for him."
"thanks" she said, and then seemed to remember something " Your wife came to see me last night"
"oh?" Alan's eagerness showed in his voice and on his face.
"There's a professor at Cal Sci; Margaret thinks that you and her could go to lunch sometime." Katrina said, and at once had a vision of Charlie telling Don, at the front steps of the Eppes home "He's dating my boss, of course I'm gonna have issues" Alan had broken up with Ana Bautista, a major rival of Charlie's, two months before. The Mathematician's vision about them talking being married was actually a daydream in Ana Bautista's mind that Charlie had somehow picked up.
"What's her name?" Alan asked with surprise.
"Mildred Finch.She's a math professor at Cal Sci."
It felt strange to Alan that his wife would set him up on dates. "I've already got a date with a fellow volunteer at the shelter for tonight. Her name is Sarah"
"Yeah..about that..." Katrina hesitated " Margaret says that uh...she noticed a very white area on the finger, where a wedding ring would go..."
"What?"
Just then, Charlie came in.
"Sorry I'm late..." he said lamely. "I had to feed the Koi."
"It's okay..." Katrina assured him.
As they had their lesson, Alan canceled his date.
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That night, as Alan prepared dinner, the two brothers sat in the living room. There, Charlie made a request.
"Don, could you teach me how to question witnesses and victims?"
"What?" the agent turned to his brother in surprise.
"We can't assume that you'l always be able to drop everything and come whenever I happen to see the ghost of someone who was murdered." Charlie pointed out. "If I could at least learn a few basics, then I could put my talents to better use"
Don didn't say anything at first. His protective side didn't like that idea. "I don't know, buddy"
Charlie sighed, "Look, I've seen alot already, and will see ever more."
After some back and forth, Don finally agreed."Let me put together some stuff, and we can start lessons this weekend, if nothing comes up" he promised.
"Thanks bro!" Charlie smiled.
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Discreetly, Margaret leaned on the counter while Alan cooked, feeling conflicted. Katrina had told her about a vision she had.
"So, I saw clearly" Katrina said, "Charlie complain to his brother about the fact that their father was dating his boss"
"So Mildred Finch is to become Department Chair?" Margaret asked.
"Yep."
She wanted Alan to be happy,not at at the expense of having father/son conflicts. Could Charlie handle it? Well, he had matured some since she passed.
"I've got a feeling that Charlie would get over it" Katrina assured her during that conversation. "He was more annoyed than angry in the vision"
As Margaret did some thinking, Alan got the feeling that he wasn't alone in the kitchen, and looked around.
TBC
