Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar Read online

  Professor Natalie Martin was from Women and Gender Studies. As an undergrad, Jillian had taken a Domestic Violence course with her…Ersula had taken the same course in another semester. Professor Martin’s area of study was comparative studies of domestic violence, and she had co-authored Anti-Harassment Policies at two other universities, which is why she’d been appointed to the Task Force. She was in her late 40s, but her shoulder-length hair was prematurely white, and had been even when Jillian had taken her undergraduate class. There was a nice contrast between her hair and the blue and black scarf that she wore…scarves were a signature accessory for her. Jillian felt that Professor Martin was a bit stand-offish toward her. She hadn’t been that way when Jillian was in her class, but had become so once she started the MS program. Jillian wondered (OK, assumed) it was because she’d also started working at Tempe PD.

  Reginald Payne was a professor in the Athletic Department. Jillian thought that he was a great addition to the Task Force. He and Ersula Tenney were the only two African-American members on the Committee. His PHD was in Sports Management, and he had been in the athletic programs at a couple of other universities—Kentucky and Southern Methodist—before coming to ASU…so he knew the ropes. What Jillian respected about Professor Payne is that he was very pro-student athlete, but was also ‘no nonsense’ in his approach to maintaining grades AND in his refusal to tolerate any form of problematic behavior among student athletes. He’d made his position clear in the Committee’s first meeting. A student peer who had taken a course with Professor Payne had once told Jillian that he “ran a tight ship.” He wore light tan slacks, a starched dark blue shirt, and his black loafers were shined to a high gloss.

  Isla Para was the student rep on the Task Force. She was a small young woman, maybe five two. Her make-up gave her face a very white appearance, which was in contrast to her dark lipstick. Her long black hair was knotted into a pony tail tied-off by a bright wrist band. A white blouse, a black shirt and black low-cut tennis shoes completed her ensemble…that, and a prominent #MeToo button. Isla was a part of the national alliance of students that was lobbying for strong anti-harassment policies on university campuses. She was a Political Science major, a senior, and the President of a student organization, The Coalition on Coalitions, which was an alliance of a number of campus groups. Jillian remembered seeing her campaign posters all across campus during the student government election. Isla’s two campaign issues had been sexual harassment and tuition hikes…she’d won in a landslide. Back when Jillian was a student, she would have agreed with Isla’s platform, and, for that matter, still would. Isla always made it a point to sit by Sarah at these meetings, either because Sarah chaired the Task Force, or maybe Isla wanted to go to a top ranked law school and was trying to learn from Sarah how to do that, which made good sense to Jillian…everyone needs a mentor.

  They hadn’t gotten far into their agenda when the first question about Professor Siemens came up. Cedar Lanning had been talking about ASU’s brand—he was always talking about that—when he segued into a comment about the murder.

  “So, we’re doing all this work on the Task Force, which is great for our brand, but what’s offsetting it…literally, as I speak…is this murder that happened on campus. The media are having a field day with this…I’ve been with Jacques at least twice a day since this happened…and I can tell you that he’s getting almost non-stop calls from concerned parents who are donors to ASU…I might add…and our friends in the legislature are worried that the more…how shall I say this…hyper conservative element…will milk this event for political gain…given Professor Siemens’ ideological…leanings.”

  He looked directly at Jillian as he finished, then added, “We’re lucky that Detective Sergeant Warne, here, is a member of our group. I’m hoping she can shed some light on an otherwise dark situation.”

  People turned to Jillian, but before she could answer, Isla Para said, “In a way, I was thinking along these lines, too…you know, wondering if Professor Siemens’ political views—they’re pretty much ‘out there’—if they were maybe a motive.”

  Then, everyone talked at once—it was as if there’d been a dollop of pent-up energy just waiting for the right trigger—and the meeting erupted into a din of virtually indistinguishable comments. Jillian did hear part of Professor Martin’s question, something about “… that this was a hate crime against women?” She heard this because she was sitting diagonally across from Professor Martin, although the question actually was directed at Professor Farrell…they were in a side conversation.

  Jillian looked over at Sarah who smiled, then spoke. “Excuse me…excuse me please...” She didn’t clink her pencil on a glass or yell, although she did project her voice in a way that commanded everyone’s attention. Things quieted almost immediately, and she continued, “I know we’re all concerned about this horrible event…a member of the ASU community has been murdered…on campus. And, yes, we are fortunate that Detective Sergeant Warne is with us…as a member of this committee. But please, let’s ask our questions in an orderly fashion. Professor Martin, I could hear some of your question…let’s begin with you.”

  Professor Martin, who had looked unperturbed during the brief period of bedlam, continued as if she’d had the floor all along. “Thank you, Sarah, and yes I have one question for Jillian and a comment as well. My question first…could this have been a hate crime against women?”

  “We’ve been in touch with the intelligence divisions at Tempe PD and at ASU PD,” she nodded toward Ersula, “and there are no reports of serious crimes on campus against women…professors, staff, or students. So, we know nothing to suggest that Professor Siemens’ murder was a hate crime. Even so, we are considering every possible explanation, every possible avenue, at this time.”

  Even though she was obviously speaking to the entire group, Professor Martin maintained eye contact with Jillian. “Thank you. And my comment is to remind us of that data that are very clear on this…women are generally murdered by someone they know…most often by a family member or an intimate partner. I hope you are considering these data, Jillian.”

  “Absolutely, Professor Martin…I had your class, remember? And our investigation is indeed informed by our working knowledge of the data on homicides.”

  Professor Martin smiled, first at Jillian, then at Ersula.

  Sarah asked, “Professor Farrell?” His hand had gone up even before Jillian had ended her comments to Professor Martin.

  “I wanted to follow-up on what Natalie just said…the thing about a murderer being someone the victim knows. The thing is, in this case, wasn’t she murdered late at night…in her office? If that’s the case, wouldn’t the front door to the building have been locked? So, if you put those two things together, the killer would be someone with a key…maybe another professor…which could still be someone she knew…even intimately, I guess.”

  Jillian said, “We are looking into Professor Siemens’ networks of acquaintances…”

  Farrell interrupted, “Could even have been a staff person or grad student…they’d all have keys to the building.”

  Jillian continued, “As I said, we’re creating a picture of the Professor and everyone who was linked closely to her.”

  A few more questions arose, mostly in an orderly manner. Jillian was glad she’d worked on a case summary last night, one that she could share. She tried to give forthright answers, including that they were awaiting a more complete forensics report, but realized that at this stage, she and Wes really didn’t have much in the way of dispositive information. But, the forensics report should come soon, and, in the meantime, they were working the case. Still, it was hard not to get impatient herself as she answered their questions. These committee members reminded Jillian of the people she’d seen when they had first entered Ross-Blakely Hall as they’d responded to the 911 calls…people desperate for answers.

  Sarah again took ch
arge. “I’m going to use my prerogative as chair to move us back to our scheduled agenda, but first, I wanted to say something, too. I know that we’re all shocked by what’s happened, but I also know that Jillian, Detective Sergeant Warne, was a skilled investigator at Tempe PD—that’s why we hired her at ASU—so I want to give her the final word before we move on.“ She smiled at Jillian.

  Jillian looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone. “Thank you, Sarah. Let me assure you that Tempe PD and ASU PD are working the investigation, and we have assembled a team of people on the case. Obviously, there are matters that I can’t share right now, but I can tell you that many of the points that you’ve made here this morning are excellent, and we are considering these sorts of relevant issues in our investigation. I also appreciate Cedar’s concern about the media’s attention, and, along those lines, I can tell you that my partner and I are scheduled to meet with President Davidos later today to brief him on our investigation. For now, we need your patience…we need your support.”

  When she finished, the other members of the Task Force smiled or nodded their approval. Reginald even verbally expressed his confidence in their investigation.

  Sarah declared a short coffee/restroom break, and the Task Force members scattered, some to the coffee, some to the food, and some to the restrooms down the hall.

  As Jillian stood along the wall behind her chair and looked at the other members of the committee, she thought how strange it was to be in this meeting…doing activities she’d done before, interacting with people who she’d known before…only it was different now that she was a detective. It was like how you notice the world when you’re healthy again after having been sick…you just take it all in. Maybe this was why Professor Martin now saw her differently as well.

  She was checking her cell phone messages when Sarah walked over to her. Jillian looked-up and said, “Needless to say, were you ever right about me getting a lot of questions!”

  “Told you…although you’d obviously done your homework. You were straightforward…as much as you can be…main thing…you weren’t flustered. And, yes, that was a load of questions.”

  “And thanks for getting everyone to calm down…so I could answer their questions one at a time. By the way, how’d you do that…they were going crazy…and you got them to quieten down…and you didn’t yell or anything.”

  Sarah laughed. “You went to Gammage Auditorium to hear Justice Sonia Sotomayor, right?”

  Jillian nodded ‘yes’ and smiled at the memory of that night.

  “OK, remember, at one point, Justice Sotomayor was taking questions—she was back on the stage after walking down into the audience—and there was a question that asked her for advice for women who wanted to be lawyers?”

  “OK, I remember her walking through the audience…I couldn’t believe she did that…it was amazing…and how everyone responded to her…and I do remember that she took questions…but I don’t remember them exactly…”

  “Maybe I was just listening more, being a lawyer and all. Anyway, Justice Sotomayor said that women lawyers have to learn to speak-up to be heard by men…to project…without seeming to do so. And she said that projecting is both speaking from the diaphragm, clearly and distinctly, but it’s also a matter of demeanor…of how you present yourself. Anyway, that’s what I did just now…and it worked…almost always does. So, yeah, very good advice from a ‘Supreme’ for a young lawyer…or one in her 30s.”

  Most of the Task Force members were back in the room, if not at the table—some were getting coffee—when Sarah said, “Let’s get started.” Her presence quickly pulled everyone back to the table.

  The next item on the agenda was a report by Sarah and Professor Martin about procuring online anti-sexual harassment training that all ASU faculty and staff would be required to complete. There were several potential vendors and Sarah and Professor Martin were ‘auditioning’ their training modules.

  The topic generated some discussion because Professor Farrell asked, “What about creating our own training…why buy something from someone else? I mean, who knows our needs better than we do?”

  Professor Martin paused before answering. “Sarah and I share your view to a degree—we actually discussed doing just that…but these other products have been field tested…in practice. We have data on them…from not-so-good to very good…a reliability measure, if you will.”

  Jillian raised her hand and Sarah acknowledged her. “I’m swayed by Professor Martin’s opinion because she’s written policies for other campuses and knows what they should address…you know, best practices. And Sarah will be ‘up’ on all the legal issues…best practices there, too.”

  Sarah acknowledged Ersula who said, “I want to echo Jillian’s point. This is Natalie’s area of teaching and research, and Sarah will know the legal side. So, yes.”

  For the moment, everyone agreed that Sarah and Professor Martin should continue with their evaluation of the existing training modules.

  Despite the personalities and the competing agendas, Jillian was impressed with the work by the Task Force. Sarah set the tone, but there was also a sense that this was important business that needed tending, and everyone was on his/her game. Even Cedar, once he got beyond his posturing, was an important contributor, although he always came back to ASU’s ‘brand. In a way, the image issue was relevant. When the student anti-harassment movement first gained national attention, ASU had been mentioned because there had been several high-profile sexual harassment cases at the various campuses. No one wants to be on the front page of the newspaper for that. Which, Jillian thought, “is exactly Al’s point.”

  Professor Martin also described a research project that she was just beginning: an anthology of original research articles analyzing news coverage of students (athletes and non-athletes) who were accused of problematic sexual behavior, also professional athletes who had allegedly raped or harassed women, and an analysis of legislation that was designed to prevent harassment in state legislatures (including in Arizona), and finally the Trump Administration’s efforts to undo those efforts and protect those, especially students, who were accused of rape or harassment.

  The edited book seemed like a great idea to Jillian, and could see herself signing-on to do one of these analyses if she’d been in a grad seminar or shopping for a masters’ project. She’d always been impressed with Professor Martin’s knowledge in this area. For example, she said that the statistics showed that as many as 60% of the people who lodged sexual harassment charges suffered some form of retaliation. Jillian hadn’t known this statistic, but upon hearing it said to herself, “well, of course.” Professor Martin said that ASU’s policies had to protect people from retaliation. She also urged that the Task Force must recommend policies that actually did something, actually changed the cultural and legal landscape of the victims of harassment, and not just create some compliance-based policy that only appeared to address the issue. And, she added, because these situations usually involve the powerful taking advantage of the powerless, notions of inequity had to inform ASU’s policies as well.

  The last agenda item was to make assignments for the next meeting. These included a request for Sarah and Natalie to keep working on the online vendor issue. And, Ersula and Jillian were tasked with drafting for their respective departments policies that pertained to investigations into allegations of harassment or rape. These would, of course, need the approval of higher-ups.

  After the meeting, Jillian and Ersula walked together back to Headquarters. The walk was a short one, but they talked quickly and discussed possible wording for the policies of their respective departments. Ersula admitted that she’d enjoyed the ‘fireworks’ at the Task Force meeting, especially when the faculty ‘went after each other.’

  They also compared notes about Professor Martin’s Domestic Violence class. Ersula was impressed that Professor Martin had presented the proble
m as a range of issues, from sexual harassment to rape and other gender violence, including domestic violence. Jillian said that what had most impressed her was not only Professor Martin’s academic knowledge, but also her action-oriented approach. She was active in the community…discussing the issues in local high schools and in the state legislature. Her discussions always included harassment of LGBTQ students.

  They gossiped about what was ‘up’ in the Research Division, and about Jillian’s job shift to ASU. Jillian promised to invite her over to ASU PD and show her around.

  Ersula also asked about Clay Neely, the criminal Jillian had captured, an event that had, on the one hand, gotten her in trouble with Tempe PD and, on the other, had prompted her job shift at Tempe PD. Fortunately (to Jillian), they arrived back at HQ so there was no time to discuss the ‘incident.’

  Wes was on the phone, but motioned Jillian in to his office. She took the chair opposite him. While he talked, he pushed a folder to her: it was the Angel’s preliminary report. Jillian skipped the photos and turned to the actual report. Time of death: 12:30 plus or minus one hour. Cause of death: blunt force trauma. There was, indeed, a fourth head wound. Rape Kit: inconsequential. As for the physical details: blood on the paperweight, on Professor Siemens’ blouse, on the mat under her office chair, as well as smudges here and there, and hers was the only blood source anywhere. Forensic tests confirmed that the paperweight was ‘more than likely’ the murder weapon: it contained both her blood and tissue matches, and its surface configuration matched her head wounds. There were no usable prints on its surface and no DNA either…the end without the blood had been wiped clean except for a single smudge…Angel said they were working it. Angle had hand written: “whoever did this knew what they were doing.” There was a short summary at the end: “Nothing of note in the Professor’s office in the BAC Building; nothing of note in condo; nothing of note in her car.