Noah pushed aside the laptop and noticed a desktop computer and a computer bag. He pulled out the bag and found another laptop, as well as two hard drives secured inside.
Keenan raised his chin. “I did not murder that woman,” he insisted. “She was trying to destroy me, but I didn’t kill her.”
“If that’s true, then I’m wondering why you have her laptop and hard drives here and were about to cook them for dinner. According to all reports, Maggie Spencer had them with her when she died.”
Keenan looked away, but Noah smiled. He would interview the man again once Roman and the lab techs had a chance to find out exactly what was on all of these computers. Whether the man confessed or not, Noah was confident they had just found enough evidence to prove his motive. “No worries, Professor. I would like to know how you learned how to make a bomb, though, and also how you gassed us in the basement at the university.”
“Any decent chemistry student can make a bomb,” Keenan sneered. It was a tacit admission regarding the gas incident, and Noah pushed forward with another question.
“So your plan was to make sure we stopped reinvestigating the murder by killing us?”
“It would have looked like an accident,” he said under his breath.
Noah raised his eyebrow, surprised the professor had just acknowledged that, especially with Charlie and the other officer there to verify the admission. He couldn’t wait to share the news with Sophia, who was still waiting in their car.
The man’s shoulders sagged, and he suddenly lost his haughty demeanor as he realized what he had just done.
“Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone? Prensky is a loser. He’ll never amount to anything. He deserves to go to prison. Have you seen his rap sheet?” Keenan’s lip curled. “Only a handful of people understand perovskite instability, and I am one of them. That little grad student thought she knew more than me about the subject. She was going to destroy everything that I’d achieved, including my reputation. I couldn’t let her get away with it.”
“So you destroyed her reputation instead? Took away her chances at a future in chemistry to feed your ego?” Noah took a step forward. “Then you took her life?”
The professor straightened his spine and narrowed his eyes. “There are hundreds of chemistry grad students in the world, Detective.” He looked Noah up and down. “Just like there are hundreds of detectives crawling the earth. I’ve been in this field for thirty years. I’ve seen grad students come and go. I am the expert everyone turns to and calls when they want a reference or an opinion. I am the one who deserves the notoriety. Not that upstart nobody Maggie Spencer.”
“What about Joanna, Maggie’s roommate? Did she deserve to die, too?” Noah asked.
Keenan actually looked surprised. “I didn’t bomb Maggie’s apartment. I swear I didn’t.”
“We’ll see,” Noah said quietly. He’d heard enough. Right now, he had to get to the courthouse before there was a serious miscarriage of justice. He left Keenan with Charlie and the other officer, who was calling in the arrest and asking for the crime scene team to come and collect the evidence.
* * *
Sophia ran up the courthouse steps behind Noah, hoping that they arrived in time. It wasn’t an easy thing to get a person released once a conviction was handed down by the jury, and Sophia didn’t want Arlo Prensky to spend one more hour in jail than he already had.
Noah had been unable to reach the prosecutor because, according to her assistant, she was in court on another matter, but that same assistant had also just called them to announce that the attorney would soon be in the courtroom since Arlo’s jury had returned and court was again in session.
Noah burst through the courtroom doors with Sophia on his heels. Normally, he would have met with the prosecutor alone before the hearing to discuss what they had discovered. Law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office were on the same team, and they worked together to gain a conviction. Today, though, there simply wasn’t time. “Stop the proceedings!” he announced, causing all eyes in the courtroom to turn to them.
The judge banged his gavel to quiet the room. “What’s the meaning of this interruption, Detective?” he demanded.
“I have just uncovered new evidence that is vital to this case. I must speak to Your Honor and counsel in chambers.”
The judge frowned. “This is highly irregular.”
“I understand that, and I do apologize. Please indulge me, Your Honor. I promise you won’t be disappointed. If I can just have a five-minute recess, I will be able to explain everything.”
The prosecutor glared at Noah. Once the judge acquiesced and stood, the bailiff yelled “All rise” over the cacophony as the judge left the courtroom, clearly expecting the rest of them to follow.
The prosecutor waved Noah over as she slowly followed the judge and the defense attorney. “What’s this about, Detective?”
“We’ve got the wrong man,” Noah said tightly for the prosecutor’s ears alone. He wanted the lawyer to have at least a short heads-up before they went into the judge’s office. “We need to fix this now before it goes any further.”
The prosecutor’s face turned scarlet red, but she followed Noah toward the door leading out of the courtroom and to the judge’s office, which was just a few steps down the hallway.
“Law enforcement and court staff personnel only,” the bailiff announced as Sophia tried to follow the group inside.
“She’s with me,” Noah said stiffly, meeting the bailiff’s eye. “She needs to be in there, too, in case the judge has any questions that I can’t answer and she can.”
The bailiff paused a moment but finally shrugged. “As long as you’re vouching for her. The judge still might throw her out, though.”
“We’ll take that chance,” Sophia said as she stiffened her spine. She had come this far, and she wanted to see it through.
The judge was obviously still not pleased about having the case interrupted, and he made that clear as soon as everyone had entered his office. “Okay,” he said loudly as the door closed behind the last of the group. “Get on with your explanation, Detective, and do it quickly.”
“I’m sorry to barge in so dramatically,” Noah said evenly, “but I needed to talk to you immediately before the jury returned and convicted an innocent man.”
“Aha!” the defense attorney said with a smile.
“Hush, and let the man talk,” the judge admonished. He turned back to Noah. “Go ahead.”
“I tried to contact the state attorney, Your Honor, but she was unavailable, and so I had no choice but to come directly to your courtroom. As you know, I was the arresting officer in this case, but new evidence has just come to light.” He motioned toward Sophia. “This is Sophia Archer. With her help, we were able to reopen the Spencer investigation as certain facts came to light that were pertinent to a different case.
“To make a long story short, we just arrested Reginald Keenan, a professor at Atlanta State University. During the arrest, Keenan uttered several statements that made it clear he was responsible for Maggie Spencer’s murder. I believe those statements, along with the evidence we seized at the university and at Keenan’s home, will show that he was the real murderer, not Arlo Prensky—”
“I expect a full dismissal,” the defense attorney demanded suddenly, interrupting Noah as he pushed toward the judge’s desk. “This is unbelievable.”
“Hold on,” the judge said as he put up his hand. He turned to the prosecutor. “How do you want to proceed?”
“Obviously, we’ll need time to take a look at this new evidence and to consider the statements. I ask that the court grant us a continuance of twenty-four hours so we can see exactly what the detective and Ms. Archer have uncovered. If it all pans out as Detective Bradley suggests, then at the end of that period, the state will dismiss the charges against Mr. Prensky and file new
charges against Reginald Keenan.”
“Mr. Prensky should be released immediately, and the charges should be dropped right this minute,” the defense attorney demanded petulantly.
“Motion denied,” the judge said firmly. “Prensky has waited this long. He can wait another twenty-four hours to make sure the state attorney has her ducks in a row.” He looked at the prosecutor again. “You’ve got your twenty-four hours. I’ll release the jury and bring them back tomorrow. By then, you’d better have a plan of action mapped out in this case. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” the state attorney replied crisply.
The group filed out, and the prosecutor pulled Noah and Sophia to the side. “Are you two sure about this?”
Noah nodded. “I wouldn’t have interrupted the court proceedings otherwise. Our crime scene investigation team is at the professor’s house right now, seizing the computers and items we need to prove motive. Two other officers heard Keenan’s statements after I Mirandized him.”
The state attorney nodded. “Okay. Send me everything you have by the end of the day. That should give you enough time to verify his statements and tie this all together.” She rubbed her forehead absently as if she had a headache forming behind her eyes.
“I’m sorry about the late notice,” Noah offered. “I promise we acted as soon as we discovered the new evidence.”
“I trust you, Detective,” she replied. “But I’m glad you got here when you did. I’d rather know that we got it wrong now than learn the truth after the jury published the verdict.” She looked at Sophia and gave her a weary smile. “I was glad to hear your sister was found safe and sound. I’m sorry you and your family got dragged into this mess.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Sophia responded, meaning it.
“Any idea which way the jury was leaning?” Noah asked.
“According to the bailiff, they were going to vote guilty.”
NINETEEN
Sophia moved toward the door to her apartment, surprised by the knock. She glanced through the peephole, then smiled and opened the door.
“Detective.”
“Miss Archer. May I come in?” He showed her a bag from the local Italian restaurant and opened it slightly so she could see the contents.
“A man bearing dinner. My favorite kind of visitor,” Sophia quipped. She opened the door wider so he could enter and then followed him into her dining room, where he immediately began unpacking the bag.
“I hope you don’t have too many men showing up at your door with dinner,” he said in response. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she grinned and laughed unrepentantly.
“It’s a rare thing, I assure you.”
Noah smiled. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I brought a little bit of everything.”
“I’ll say,” she agreed as she helped unpack and read the labels on the containers. “Eggplant Parmesan, lasagna with meat sauce, fettuccine Alfredo with chicken...” She took out the bread. “There’s enough here to feed an army.”
“Well, I was hoping you were hungry. You didn’t eat much during the investigation, so I wanted to make sure you got a good meal.”
He pushed the bag aside and took a small step toward her, then another. Their eyes locked as he stopped directly in front of her, and the air sizzled and sparked with the current suddenly flowing between them. A shy smile slid across his face as he reached up and slowly drew his finger down her cheek. His finger moved to her lips and lightly traced them back and forth. Then he gently pulled her into his arms and kissed her fervently. She was dazed at first, but then responded in kind as electricity shot from her lips clear down to her toes. He finally stopped and pulled back, and she laughed in response.
“What was that for?” she asked as she touched her lips with her fingertips.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all week,” he said with a hesitant smile. “You kissed me back. Does that mean...?”
“It means it’s my turn.” This time she gently pulled his head down and initiated the kiss herself. It was a sweet kiss, full of promise. “Thank you for dinner.”
“Wow,” he answered with a grin. “If that’s how you respond when I bring dinner over, I’ll have to do this a lot more often.”
Sophia drew her knuckles down the side of his face in a sweet caress, then stepped back. “Sounds like a plan.”
Noah took the rest of the items out of the bag while Sophia got plates, utensils and a few serving spoons and brought them to the table.
They said grace, then sat together to enjoy the meal.
“Can you tell me where things stand with the Keenan case?” Sophia asked after she tried a bit of eggplant. She suddenly rolled her eyes and grinned. “Oh, my gosh. This is delicious.”
Noah grinned back and served himself a healthy portion of fettuccine Alfredo. “I also know the best Chinese place in town. If you’re game, we can try that one next.”
“I’m game,” she said with a wink. “But you’ll have to promise to give my favorite Greek restaurant a try in return. The chef makes an amazing gyro, and the salad that goes with it is sublime.”
“Deal.”
Sophia watched Noah as he took a bite and savored the food. She felt her heart beat even more rapidly as she remembered the kisses they had just shared. The first one had surprised her, but she had liked it so much she had come back for more.
It had been two days since they had interrupted the courtroom to inform the judge of Keenan’s confession, and Noah had been so tied up with work that he hadn’t been able to do much besides call her once a day to check on her. The time apart had been short, but it had solidified some of the feelings that she had been sorting through ever since Keenan had been arrested.
The past was over and done. The Noah she knew now was an intriguing mixture of the boy she had known and the caring and professional man he had become. The man she had discovered during the investigation. As they had worked closely together, Sophia had seen a side of Noah that she’d never seen before—the serious law enforcement officer who was committed to justice. The detective who had rushed to make sure an innocent man wasn’t wrongly convicted. The caring and considerate man who had stood by her side and helped her through the horrible stress she had experienced when her sister was kidnapped.
In Sophia’s book, the man she had seen emerge was definitely worth getting to know better. If Noah was amenable, and he certainly seemed to be, then she was all in and ready to see where this relationship could go.
“So, how is Kylie doing?” Noah asked as he took a slice of bread and buttered it.
“She’s doing great. She is a poster child for resiliency. We spent the day together, but she wanted to go back over to Roman’s to spend the night one last time before she heads back to Flint Rock tomorrow morning.” Sophia took a piece of bread for herself. “She has really bonded with Cindy, and I think she even talked Roman’s sister into going to Flint Rock University in the fall.”
“That’s great to hear, and Roman will be grateful that she encouraged Cindy to go to college. He’s had his hands full with her. You may think he was helping you by taking Kylie, but I think it was actually the other way around.” He took her hand and squeezed it gently, then released it again. “Time will heal a lot of her wounds, and with your support, I’m sure she’ll be okay. I’m so glad we found her when we did.”
She rewarded him with another smile. She just couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “So what’s new with the Keenan case?”
“A lot,” Noah said as he added a helping of lasagna to his plate. “Roman and the computer team were able to access both Keenan’s desktop and his laptop, as well as Maggie’s laptop. They also got a host of old email conversations from the university servers that Keenan thought he had deleted. Altogether, they recovered ample proof that Keenan stole Maggie’s research and plagiarized her article. I’ve been in communicat
ion with the journal, and they’ll be reprinting it, giving Maggie credit for the work. It’s a huge embarrassment for the university—not to mention the publicity nightmare of having one of their top professors tried for the murder of a grad student.”
“Is there going to be a trial?”
“There is now. Keenan says he never actually confessed to the murder, and once I went back over our conversation a few times in my head, I realized he was right. He sure was glad she was dead, and her laptop was recovered at his house, but he never actually confessed to killing her. Even so, his statements were very incriminating. With all of the circumstantial evidence that we discovered, I don’t think the state attorney will have too much trouble convincing a jury.”
“I agree. Keenan is crazy if he doesn’t accept a plea bargain, but he’s so prideful that he might end up doing the maximum, just because he’s too stubborn to deal.”
Noah took a drink from his water glass. “Keenan did admit to locking us in the basement at the university and trying to kill us with the gas, so he’s facing a minimum of two attempted murder charges on top of everything else. One way or another, he’s going to prison for a very long time. The only thing we haven’t been able to pin down is the bombing at Maggie’s apartment building. Keenan is maintaining his innocence.”
“What about Arlo Prensky?” Sophia asked.
“His case was dismissed. He was released yesterday. I went to see John Prensky at the jail to let him know, and I apologized to him and his family. It was a hard thing to do, but it was the right thing. I told him I’d testify at his trial about my mistake, too, as long as you were okay with that.”
Sophia considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I think that’s the right thing to do.”
Held for Ransom Page 16
