He leaned against the kitchen counter and took a swig from the bottle. “So. A normal day, then.”
“All these things feel like they should connect to the case, but I don’t see how they can.”
“Maybe they don’t connect. It’s normal for humans to see patterns in random events. Just like when we look at the surface of Mars and see random hills and valleys, we think we see a face.”
“I’ve just got this feeling.”
He gave her his maddeningly impassive smile. As usual he was Mr. Calm and Logical Special Agent who did not believe in gut feelings, only in facts. Who once told her that when a cop relies on his instincts, it too often leaves him blind to the truth.
After Gabriel coaxed Regina off to bed, Jane turned back to the accident report, which was still nagging at her. What was it about Amy and the accident and the man at the cemetery? She looked up the responding officer’s contact information and reached for her cell phone.
“Officer Packard,” he answered. Jane could hear the buzz of conversation in the background and a woman’s voice calling out: Number eighty-two! Order eight-two! He was on his dinner break, and for a hungry cop, mealtime was holy. She’d make this short.
“I’m Detective Rizzoli, following up on a hit-and-run that you responded to back in March. It happened on Huntington Ave. Victim’s name is Amy Antrim.”
“Oh yeah.” Mouth full, chewing. “I remember that one.”
“You ever ID the driver?”
“Nope. Asshole hit her and just left the poor girl bleeding in the street. She was in pretty bad shape. I wasn’t sure she’d make it.”
“Well, I just saw Amy yesterday and she’s doing fine. She’s still using a cane, but not for much longer.”
“Glad to hear she pulled through. I heard she had a ruptured spleen and her mother was really freaking out ’cause the girl needed a lot of transfusions and she’s got some kind of rare blood type.”
“I don’t see a lot of details here in your interview notes.”
“That’s because I couldn’t talk to her until a few days after her surgery, and she had no memory of the accident. Didn’t even remember stepping into the crosswalk. Retrograde amnesia, the doctor said.”
“She didn’t remember anything about the driver?”
“Nope. But there was a witness who saw it all. Homeless guy, standing right behind her on the sidewalk. He said the light turned green, she entered the crosswalk and slipped on the ice. He was about to help her when that car came roaring down the street.”
“You trust the word of a homeless guy?”
“It was caught on surveillance camera. Everything he said checked out.” There was the sound of more chewing and in the background, a voice called out: Number ninety-five! Junior Whopper and fries!
“Did you ever go back to interview her again?”
“Didn’t really need to. And by then, we’d found the vehicle abandoned out in Worcester. Unfortunately, it had been stolen a few days earlier and we never identified the thief.”
“Fingerprints?”
“Lots of unidentifieds, but none of ’em had a match on AFIS.”
“And this vehicle, where was it stolen?”
“It was parked on the street outside the owner’s residence, in Roxbury. By the time the vehicle was recovered, it was pretty beat up, not just from the accident. Undercarriage looked like someone took it joyriding in the woods. Hey, what’s this got to do with Homicide?”
“Did I mention a homicide?”
“No, but you’re Detective Rizzoli. Everyone knows who you are.”
Is that a good thing? Jane’s cell phone beeped and she glanced at the screen to see she had a call waiting, from Sacramento, California.
“…that Chinatown case you cracked, that was, like, legendary,” said Packard. “How many cops get to chase down a ninja?”
“I’ve got another call coming in,” she said. “You remember anything else, call me.”
“You bet. Nice talking to you, Detective.”
Jane switched to the other caller. “Detective Rizzoli.”
“This is Katie Bouchard,” a woman said.
It took Jane a few seconds to remember the name. Sofia’s phone calls. The number in Sacramento. “You’re Sofia’s friend. In California.”
“My husband told me you called a few days ago. I’m sorry I couldn’t return your call earlier, but I just got home from Australia yesterday.”