Chapter 75: Following Her This Time
After Rosanne explains herself, she tells them she will head back to her office.
Bob calls Captain Rogers to let him know what he has seen from the crime scene. Captain Rogers seems to be quite satisfied with what Bob tells him, even though Bob hasn't solved anything yet.
In the mean time, Jack wonders where Nitte could be right now. Why she suddenly showed up, knowing where they were going. Oh shit. Nitte must have somehow planted some kind of monitoring device on him. But Jack strangely isn't too bothered by it. He doesn't mind that Nitte is keeping track of him. He is a bit foolish these days, yes, he knows.
Bob hangs up the phone and leans back on the chair, "So, there is not much else to do with that strange case." Bob sighs, "I wish I didn't have to be dragged into it."
"Why not, Bob? You do have some good detective instincts and you are very observant." Jack compliments.
"I'd rather do my own thing. But, I am curious about something new that might distract me now." Bob says.
"What are you curious about?"
"The fake news story. The high school senior who is supposedly some kind of witch hunter. I know that Rosanne says she makes that up, but she does say that she knows a high school student and she is looking for a witch," Bob throws Jack a glance, and then speaks a bit slowly in order to test Jack's reaction, "Um, are you not curious who this witch Rosanne is speaking of?"
"You're not trying to say...."
"Yeah. I wonder if Rosanne is looking for Nitte. I find it rather curious that Nitte intercepts us, tells us she is potentially framed for killing two people, and then hints at that Rosanne cannot be trusted. Sounds like Nitte knows about Rosanne."
Jack touches his chin, "Hmm. I know what you are trying to say. You are guessing that Nitte is cautious about Rosanne; coincidentally, Rosanne says she is looking for a witch. Looks like, they are some kind of nemesis."
Bob nods and spins his chair around a little, "Although, there is a third possibility that the two girls know each other and are just trying to mess with us. I mean, how the hell did Nitte know where we were going? She even knew we were responding to a call about a case with animal bites. Could Rosanne tell her about it?"
Jack feels his face warm, "Well, my guess is Nitte probably is spying on me or something. She did spend some time in my apartment. She probably somehow planted a bug on me."
"If you want, we can get you over to the technology department and de-bug you. They have something like a metal detector that can scan frequency from devices."
Jack finds it interesting that Bob says "if you want" like Bob can see that he doesn't really mind being spied on. Damn it, Bob can be quite astute sometimes. But Jack thinks Bob is quite dumb when it comes to interacting with Rosanne.
"I'll think about it. Right now Nitte is not hurting me." Jack smiles.
Bob says, "Well, let's just assume Nitte and Rosanne are enemies to each other. Rosanne wants to... um.... annoy Nitte, maybe to force Nitte to confront her."
"Yeah, that's possible. I should try to contact Nitte and see if she knows about Rosanne."
"It's kind of... peculiar that Rosanne uses the word, 'witch,' because I haven't considered her as a witch."
Jack laughs, "Probably because Nitte has all kinds of strange magic powers. People call women they don't understand witches all the time. Although, it seems uncharacteristic for Rosanne. She seems to be very... political correct about everything."
"But another thing that makes me curious is the high school kid Rosanne speaks of."
"Yeah, it sounds quite stupid, to be honest."
"Right. I understand high school kids are on their phones, on their mobile devices all the time, but, they still need something substantial to make them click, make them share. They have to actually find this rumor somewhat believable or at least intriguing."
"Do you think there really is some kind of high school hero type of person?"
"Or, someone that might make them suspicious of being one." Bob picks up his cell phone again.
"Is there anyway to find out?" Jack asks.
"Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is some good old-fashioned police work."
"Oh boy. What are you going to do now?" Jack is not sure if he wants to know. He can sense that Bob might want to get him to partake it. Why doesn't he want to partake it though? Maybe because this could be some kind of conflict between the two girls, and he doesn't want to take sides. Well, he might want to take Nitte's side already.
"I'm just going to follow Rosanne tonight. Hopefully, she will be contacting the high school student she says she knows. If not, I will just have a friendly chat with her." Bob smiles confidently.
But Jack doesn't think Bob can be so confident about interrogating and getting information out of Rosanne. Bob is either acting a little bit too stupidly harsh or he is acting like a misogynist from another period of time, where he seems to show care, but just not the right kind.
"Well, Bob, if you are going to have that chat with her, don't hesitate to call me as a backup or I can play the good cop for you. I think you only know how to play a bad cop when you see her." Jack chuckles.
"Oh. Hmm. I guess." Bob seems to not notice that about himself just yet. At least not very clearly.
*** ***
Just as he has planned, Bob waits in the lobby of the police headquarter building, thinking he can catch Rosanne this way. At about 6:18 in the evening, Rosanne appears in the lobby, heading for the revolving door.
Bob has put on a pair of fake glasses but not a hat or baseball cap, because he thinks wearing a hat at this time of the day just seems more suspicious. He follows her out and keeps about 10 feet from her. She walks in a normal and a steady pace so it's not that hard for him to keep up.
Bob is confused now, because instead of going to a subway station like he presumes she will do, she heads to the parking area and then she stops abruptly. Bob gets nervous for a second.
Shit, did she notice something?
She rests her right foot on its side, like she is twisting her ankle, but she seems to be simply thinking.
"Damn it Bob. My bicycle!"
Rosanne then reaches a hand into her bag, trying to find her phone. Bob realizes she might be about to call him.
Oh shit. Bob needs to quickly mute his phone or she will hear his phone buzzing.
Too late. Rosanne is already calling. And Bob's phone starts to vibrate in his pocket, which makes a very audible noise.
Rosanne turns around, gasps, seeing Bob standing about 8 feet away from her.
Bob's heart is beating so fast. He can't remember the last time he feels this way.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone