Page 71 of Lost Hours
“Where were you Monday afternoon between three and five p.m.?” Mina asked.
Janice lifted her shoulders and angled her body like a viper about to strike. “Certainly you don’t suspect me of killing him?”
Mina sat calmly, not at all bothered by Janice’s antagonistic posture. “We just have to rule you out.”
Janice sniffed as if it was too much for her to provide an alibi. “I was in a deposition here in the conference room. I can get a written affidavit from all of the participants, if that will help.”
“That would be a big help.” Mina smiled. “Is there anything else you can think of that might help us find Mayor Sutton’s killer or locate Becca?”
Janice relaxed her shoulders and narrowed her gaze. “Not at the moment, but then I never thought I would have to think about who killed Ernie. I only ever wondered how long I had left with my friend before the cancer took him.”
Mina stood and laid a business card on the sparkling glass desk. “Please take some time to think about it. If you come up with anything you think might help us, I’d appreciate it if you’d contact me.”
“I will.” Janice slowly rose to her feet, acting like all of the fight had gone out of her and grief had settled in. “I’ll show you out.”
She strolled to the door at a slower pace than when she’d led them to her office and held it open. After saying their goodbyes in the waiting area, Mina and Nolan strode out to the hallway.
Mina turned to Nolan. “She may not have helped us in figuring out whodidkill the mayor, but one thing is clear. She has a solid alibi, and we now have one less suspect.”
“Good point.” Nolan was glad she was optimistic. Too bad he couldn’t find the same optimism. Not when they were no closer to figuring out how the mayor’s death was related to him and his team and finding the real killer.
In the car, Mina got out her phone to check for a text she’d received while talking to Janice, but her phone rang in her hand, and she looked at the screen. “It’s Dr. Osborne.”
She answered. “Thanks for calling me back.”
“You asked about blood types,” he said in his usual straightforward tone.
“I’ve gotten the mayor’s and Becca’s types since I left the message with you, but I still need his deceased wife’s type.”
“Mary’s? Why on earth would you want that?”
“Just to confirm that Becca is indeed the mayor’s daughter.”
He sputtered for a moment. “Don’t tell me there’s a question about that.”
“Not really. Just a line of inquiry I need to close out.”
“I have Mary’s type on file from when she passed away, but I can’t give that information to you without a warrant.”
Of course not. Mina resisted slamming a fist into the steering wheel and searched for an easy solution to her problem. “What if I give you the mayor’s and Becca’s blood types. Can you look at Mary’s and confirm that they are her biological parents?”
“I can give you the probability of it being true, but I can’t state that it’s so without a DNA test.”
“That’s good enough for me. The mayor had type O blood, and Becca’s is type AB.”
“Hold on for a minute.”
She heard fingers tapping on a keyboard in the background and wanted to urge Dr. Osborne to move faster. But she held her tongue so he could find the information they needed.
“I can tell you it’s highly probable that Mary and Ernie are Becca’s biological parents,” he finally said. “Will that do?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Are you any closer to finding her or Ernie’s killer?”
“Just like you can’t tell me about Mary’s blood type, I can’t tell you that. Sorry. I know you’re friends of the family and would want to know.”
“No worries. I understand. Let me know if you need anything else.” He ended the call.
