The next day Roberts drank a tea in a paper cup, spinning her chair as she thought about the case. As she returned to facing her desk, Stone spoke.
“I received a response from the Canadian Border Security Agency.” He took a drink of his coffee before continuing. “Our Janet Gourneau, the world-travelling reporter, landed in Vancouver two weeks ago. She had a second ticket to travel to Edmonton ten days later.”
Roberts considered the timeline. “So she would be in Vancouver during the murder of Jacob Carlton and Travis Moore.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Stone sounded disappointed.
“Well, maybe she’ll contact us and give us information on the killer.”
“Maybe. Why would she fly to Vancouver, spend ten days there and then fly to Edmonton? She didn’t contact her old editor when she was in Edmonton either.”
“Maybe she had relatives or friends in Vancouver. Maybe she didn’t like her editor at The Journal.”
Stone frowned. “I don’t disagree with what you said but I still consider her a person of interest.”
Roberts watched as Stone picked up his phone, punching in a series of numbers. She listened to him talk to the RCMP officer, Roberta Constantino. He informed her of Janet Gourneau, advising that she may be connected to the murder of Travis Moore. The conversation continued on other topics, including how often she came into Edmonton.
“Planning a date night with her?”
“No, just being friendly to a cop who didn’t give me a ticket.”
“Okay, just a reminder you’re going out with Cindy.”
“I’m aware of that.” He peered at her. “Why do you care what I do after work?”
“I don’t care. But I don’t want you to be hurting Cindy by dating other women behind her back.”
Stone took a drink of his coffee, his eyes staring at Roberts’.
She quickly turned her attention back to her computer. “I have a picture of Janet Gourneau from our New Zealand paper. I’ll forward it to you and print out a copy.”
Roberts got up from her desk and went to a far table where two printers sat. Jeez, Moss was acting like he figured out Cindy and I got together. I better be careful what I say about her. Him and his damn logic and memory can be a deadly combination. She looked over where he was standing in front of his monitor, looking excited. Now what?
“Anya, I’ve seen this woman before.”
“Where, in a bar?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. In the security video from the Dragonhead’s Bar. She was there the same night that Jacob Carlton was murdered. That pretty much eliminates her being in Vancouver at the time of Carlton’s murder.” He pointed at the monitor. “I’ll bet she’s our murderer.”
“You may be jumping to conclusions there. She was there, but is she our killer?”
“I think she is.” He gave a shrug. “But I’ve been wrong before.”
“No kidding.”
“Why don’t you put out an all-points bulletin and see if we can get lucky in catching her.”
“Sure.” She began working her keyboard.
He walked behind her. “Add she may be riding a red motorcycle.”
“Done.”
“Excellent. Now, we’re finally getting somewhere on our murder.”
“The first murder, that is. What about our Fringe murder?”
“I think we should interview Peter McNab once more. He was alone onstage for periods of time. Maybe he was the killer or maybe he saw something we can work on.”
Roberts and Stone returned to the Grant McEwan campus. McNab kept them waiting a few minutes as he finished up a class, Plays as Literature. They entered the classroom and he gave them a less-than-warm welcome.
“Hello, detectives, what can I do for you now?”
“We have a few more questions for you, specifically on the night Paul died,” Roberts stated.
“All right. Unfortunately, I do have the time. Death of a Philanderer will not run again this season. The rest of the cast refused to participate in any more shows.” He let an exasperated sigh. “They obviously have no interest in taking the craft seriously. It’s just fun and games for them.”
Stone ignored his whining. “You were at the theatre during the final performance. I need you to think back to that night and see if there was anything unusual. Anything at all.”
“Well, it was Paul’s best performance. He suddenly seemed to figure out how to act without being intimidated by the audience.”
“How about the others? How was their performance?” Roberts jumped in with a question.
“Pretty good. I was equally impressed with Jessica. She did a fine job as stage manager, applied the makeup to Paul, and was believable in her role as an aggressive woman. She was noticeable onstage as well, using her natural ability to attract attention.” McNab paused, “Hmm. Tyler and Brenda accurately portrayed the affection between an older professor and his student. Their embraces were quite realistic. While Mitch still showed too much anger and not enough of being a nervous man, he did react well to Jessica during their scene on the couch. And Tanya was also very good in her performance, showing undisguised lust for Paul. That worked well for the play.”
“Did anyone have even a minute alone backstage? We know you were there alone, for example.” Stone inquired.
McNab puffed out his chest. “I resent your implication. I did not ever consider such a dastardly thing. Besides, I was on the stage only for a few minutes at the beginning to encourage the troupe.”
“What were Dana Sharpe and Marc Crestman doing with you?”
“Dana Sharpe and Marc Crestman?” McNab repeated.
“Yes. Is there a problem remembering that little detail?”
“Of course not. If truth be known, they were there as possible replacements for Paul and Tanya. I was going to replace Paul with Marc and I assumed Tanya would quit at that time as well. But after watching that last performance, I informed Marc that I would be keeping Paul on. If you want confirmation of that, you can talk to Marc or Dana.”
“Okay. Let’s go back to the time you were backstage for that short period of time. Anything you can tell us?”
“No, the actors were all preparing as usual for the play. Some were repeating their lines. I didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. And as I mentioned, for the last performance, I stayed with Marc and Dana, watching the play with the audience.”
Stone pulled a photo out his pocket. “Okay, that’s all for now. Tell me, do you recognize this woman?”
“I think so. She was at the theatre, watching the play.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I believe she was a friend of Paul and Tanya. She was conversing with them before the play started.”
Stone began to walk out of the classroom with Roberts, taking quick strides. He called out, “Thanks for your help.”
Roberts hurried after him, “Where are we going?”
“To the administration office to see what classroom Tanya Conner is in.”
“Wait a minute.” Roberts used her mobile to place a call. She spoke for a few moments. “That was Tanya. She’s at her apartment. It seems she still isn’t ready to attend classes. I told her to sit tight and we’ll be there soon.” She grinned. “Now, wasn’t that smart of me to phone rather than running to the administration office?”
“No comment.” He changed direction and headed to his car.
Roberts opened the passenger car door. “Do you think this Janet Gourneau is also responsible for Church’s murder?”
“I don’t know for sure, but she is now our number one suspect.”
The distance from the Grant McEwan campus to Conner’s apartment was short, and a few minutes later, Roberts and Stone were at her apartment door.
“What’s this about? You sounded like it was important on the phone.” She stood, holding the door half-open.
Roberts looked at the flushed face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. May we come in?”
“I suppose so. I don’t mean to be rude but I’m having a difficult time since Paul died.”
“I understand.” Roberts placed a hand on her arm and gently led her to the living room. “I want you to sit down and take a look at a photo.”
Conner nodded and sat on the couch. She took the photo from Roberts. “That’s Janet. What are you doing with her picture? Is she in trouble?”
“We believe she has important information regarding our investigations.”
“Oh. But she’s okay?”
“Yes. I want you to call her and ask her to come over. It’s important you don’t let her know we’re here.”
Conner stared at her. “Why? What did she do?”
“We don’t know if she did anything wrong. But we really need to talk to her.”
“I don’t want to betray her.”
“Tanya, she may be involved in Paul’s death. We just want to talk to her. She hasn’t responded to our efforts to contact her.”
Conner took slow breaths. She stood and picked up her phone on the coffee table.
Roberts and Stone listened to Conner’s side of the conversation.
“Hi, Jan, it’s me.” She paused. “No, I’m mostly okay. But can you come over? I just want someone to talk to.” Conner gripped her phone. “Love you, too.”
Conner put down her phone. “I told her I wanted someone to talk to. She said she’ll be right over. You better not be lying to me about her being involved in Paul’s death. She means a lot to me.”
“I told you the truth. She may be involved in his death but we don’t know for sure. One thing is her failure to contact us. This is our only way to find her.”
Stone spoke up. “Look, sometimes we talk to people just to eliminate them from our list of suspects. Try not to read anything into this.”
Conner nodded. “Coffee?”
“That sounds great.”
Stone froze as he lifted up his mug of coffee at the knock on the door. Conner quickly opened door and Gourneau stepped inside. She gave Conner a long hug and a kiss.
“Janet, the police are here to see you.”
Gourneau looked at the detectives. She hesitated and slowly walked into the living room. “What do you want to see me about?”
“It might be best if we take you downtown for a private conversation.”
Gourneau bit her lower lip. “All right. Am I under arrest?”
“No. We just have some questions.”
Roberts led the way to the door.
“Did you have anything to do with Paul’s death?” Conner called out.
Gourneau turned around. “No. I would never do anything to hurt you. I had nothing to do with what happened to Paul. You have to believe me.”
Stone took Gourneau’s arm and pulled her out of the apartment. “It might be best if you hold the rest of what you want to say downtown.”
When they reached Stone’s car, he stopped and pointed at a red motorcycle parked at an angle. A blue helmet sat on the seat. “Is that yours?”
She stared at the bike. “Yes, it is.”
He opened the passenger door and then a third door for the rear seating. Gourneau climbed in reluctantly.
“I’d prefer to take my bike and meet you there.”
“Not happening,” Stone replied. “You have a way of hiding.” He looked at Roberts. “Can you get someone to pick up that bike? We need to have it checked out.”
“Okay, I’ll have it taken to the police garage.”
“Why are you taking me downtown?”
Stone answered calmly. “I’m going to prove you murdered three men.”