same moment, spotted him. Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at Gudgeon and Belle. “What is this, pops?” she snarled at Gudgeon. “Are you in cahoots with this loony tune? I already warned him not to annoy me.”
At that, Gudgeon spun away and began striding briskly toward the exit. Belle and Rosco were a step behind him, and Dawn’s voice, calling loudly for the manager, followed a second later.
“It’s not her,” Gudgeon swore under his breath. “I’m going home. I never should have agreed to this ridiculous scheme. We did the electrical work on this building. There’s bound to be someone in here who’ll recognize me, and if my son . . .” He tore through the door and out into the parking lot, then turned on Rosco and Belle. “I want you to drop this investigation, Polycrates. Pretend you never met me. I don’t know where you dug up that woman in there, but as far as being a private investigator, I find you seriously lacking. And don’t waste any postage sending me a bill.”
“Her name is Dawn Davis,” was Rosco deliberate reply. “She had legitimate surgery for a damaged rotator cuff on September sixth, the same day you took your Dawn to the hospital for a kidney transplant.”
“Well, she’s not the young woman I know.” Gudgeon yanked open his car door.
“Does she at least resemble the person to whom you gave money?” Belle asked in her best “good cop” attitude.
“Hair and eyes are the same,” was the truculent response as Gudgeon climbed into his car. “And probably height and weight, too. Yeah, and age, I guess.” Then he turned the key in the ignition. “But that wasn’t Dawn. It’s not her face, and I’m insisting you get off this case,” were his parting words before he drove away.
Belle and Rosco watched the car speed off. “Actually, he can’t order me to abandon the investigation because he never paid me a nickel. I didn’t even get an advance from the guy,” Rosco observed after a moment.
Belle nodded although it was clear that her thoughts weren’t on her husband’s missing fees. “You know what’s bothering me about this? Other than the potential stolen identity problem, I mean . . . it’s a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sensation I’m getting about this Davis woman. It’s almost as if she’s two people herself, and then the counterfeit who duped Gudgeon is a third. Sara swears up and down that Dawn’s gentle and sweet, but that hasn’t been your experience—or mine.”
Rosco didn’t speak for a moment. “You realize that we’re both accepting the fact that Walter Gudgeon was telling us the truth about the woman in Papyrus not being the person he helped?”
“Right, but it’s a two-way street, Rosco. Dawn didn’t recognize him either.”
“These con people can be very slick.”
Belle cocked her head and looked at her husband. “And your point is?”
“Like I said, he could be lying.”
“But why would he do that?”
“Blackmail? Fear of being exposed for being a foolish guy who was conned by a pretty girl? Which would make the scene we just witnessed seem a heck of a lot more plausible. Gudgeon had cold feet before we went in there, remember? And Dawn played her part perfectly.”
Belle squinted in concentration. “He definitely didn’t want to look at her. I had to urge him to do so, and his reaction was closer to that of a kid caught stealing candy than a grown man confronting a woman who resembles someone he has more than a passing acquaintance with.”
“And then there’s the darker possibility that Gudgeon wanted to find Dawn because he plans to do her harm, either in retribution or for some even more sinister motive. We actually only have his word that he really gave her the $250,000. In other words, it’s possible that Dawn Davis isn’t the baddie in this; Gudgeon is. Either way, if we walk back in there, she’ll deny ever receiving the money, no matter what the truth is.”
Belle released a long and frustrated breath. “If you’re right, then we’re back to square one. And Sara’s still in danger . . . Any suggestions, Mister Polycrates?”
Rosco remained silent for another moment. “Maybe I need to explain the situation to Sara—”
“As opposed to your junior assistant?” was the needling response, but the feeling was more hurt than teasing.
Rosco’s tone when he answered was tender. “Sara’s relationship with you began on rocky ground, remember—?”
“That’s because she thought you were such a cute, young hunk,” Belle shot