Page 32 of The Perfect Deception
Diane didn’t like the sound of that.“What?”
“We have a spare key hidden in a rock in the rock garden out in front of the house.Could I impose on you to check things out?”
Diane paused before responding.She was torn.She was hesitant to enter a mostly darkened house that she was unfamiliar with.But she was also curious to check it out.She’d heard stories about the Patel’s being socially…wild and was intrigued to see evidence of it.
“I don’t know.I’d feel more comfortable if Maynard came with me but he’s on a plane right now.”
“I’d really appreciate it, Diane.”Melanie’s voice was pleading.“If I don’t know what the deal is, it’s going to eat at me the rest of the weekend.”
Diane relented.She told herself that she was just being neighborly.But deep down, she knew that it was her snooping instinct getting the better of her.
“All right,” she said, trying to sound more reluctant than she felt.
Melanie gave her instructions on how to locate the fake rock and asked her to call back once she knew what was up.After hanging up, Diane collected her pepper spray and put the leash on Carmine.He was confused by the idea of a second late-night walk, but there was no way she was going into that house alone.
Everything went smoothly.The rock was easy—too easy in Diane’s estimation—to locate.It looked like a piece of misshapen gray plastic rather than a real rock.Anyone on the lookout for such a thing would figure out the ruse immediately.
The key opened the front door just fine.Melanie had prepped her that there wasn’t an alarm system.Diane flicked on the foyer light and with the pepper spray in one hand and Carmine’s leash in the other, made her way up the stairs.
She was briefly tempted to call the police non-emergency line to have them stay on the call with her.But she knew what they’d say.Don’t go in the house.We’ll send a unit over.And if she was honest with herself, she didn’t want that.She wanted to sneak around the place with the owner’s permission and no one to watch her.
So she left her phone in her pocket as she made her way to the second floor.Once there, she could immediately tell which bedroom to check.There was a stream of light peeking out from a room about halfway down the hall.
She headed that way, tiptoeing even though she knew it was slightly ridiculous.She was nearly positive that there was no one here.When she got to the door, she took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob, and twisted.It turned easily.She pushed the door open.
The bedroom was huge and it took a moment to orient herself.The bed was at the far end and she made her way there, walking slowly.She was about a third of the way to it when she stopped.There was someone in the bed—a man.
Her face flushed with embarrassment and she was about to rush out when she noticed something.The man, lying on his back in slacks and a dress shirt, wasn’t Robert Patel.Ignoring the section of her brain screaming at her to get out of there, she took another step forward.And then another.
Suddenly, she heard herself gasp.She recognized the man.It was Mark Tropper, another neighbor.In fact, he was the husband of Belinda Tropper, the woman who had accompanied Melanie Patel on the girls’ trip to Catalina.What was Mark Tropper doing in the Patel home, all by himself, sleeping in their bed, when the homeowners were out of town?
Then an idea popped into her head.What if Tropper wasn’t alone?What if Robert Patel’s claim of shoulder soreness was an excuse to return home early and engage in some sort of homosexual union with Patel?What if Patel was in the bathroom right now, preparing to come out and slide under the covers?
She should head out now, before it was too late.What if Carmine suddenly barked and Patel came out of the bathroom?Or Tropper woke up?If that happened, how would she justify herself?And how would she explain any of this to Melanie Patel?It would be mortifying for everyone.She had to leave.
Before turning to go, she took one last glance back at Tropper.That’s when she noticed something she’d missed before.The man’s head was turned at an extremely odd angle, one that looked so painful that she couldn’t imagine how he managed it.
Against her better instincts, she took a step closer.Carmine pulled at the leash, trying to get back to the door.She tugged him forward.Then she noticed something else.Tropper was completely still and silent.No chest-expanding exhales.No snoring.A cold pit materialized in her stomach out of nowhere.She disregarded it and took another step.
That’s when Carmine barked.Startled, she jumped slightly.But Tropper didn’t react.Sensing that something was very wrong she moved closer to the bed.Carmine continued to bark and tried to scramble away.
She was just steps from the bed now.That’s when she saw it.A giant, deep red stain covered Tropper’s neck and the collar of his shirt.It looked like he’d been…cut?
Diane finally allowed herself to accept what she was seeing.And when she did, she began to scream.The sound, along with Carmine’s relentless barking, echoed through the house.But Mark Tropper still didn’t move
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Jessie tried to hide her frustration.
They’d been at this for hours now and all they’d managed to do was hurt their own case.
She knew she shouldn’t look at it that way.Eliminating a suspect was just another step in the process of finding the killer.But that fact didn’t make it feel any better.
They’d spent all evening working with the research team to follow up on Walter Winston’s alibi.Just as they’d suspected, when Jamil checked the GPS data for the man’s phone and vehicle, he found that the items had remained unmoving at his apartment building all of last night.
Hannah had checked with every cab company that served the area.None of them showed a record of a driver picking up a ride around Victoria Park and traveling to Lafayette Square.Beth had provided a near-death knell to the “Winston as killer” theory when she found footage from traffic cameras adjacent to his building.One had a view of the main entrance of the building and the parking garage gate.Another showed the rear entrance of the place.
Zooming in, she was able to see when Winston pulled into the garage on his way home from work.It was at 5:19, right around when he claimed.There was no sign that he left again via any door or gate.It wasn’t definitive beyond a reasonable doubt, but the combination of data points told Jessie that they needed to move on for now.
