Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar Read online

  He looked away briefly, as if trying to remember the remaining details. “Let’s see, I returned the dolly to the closet after wiping it down, too. The garment bag was bloody so I tossed it in a dumpster on my way home, along with the paper towels that I’d used. And when I got home, I changed clothes, went out again, and tossed everything—every stitch—in a different dumpster further from my house. Oh yeah, and I took a long shower when I got home.”

  He was quiet, then said, “And that’s pretty much it.”

  Jillian and Wes had been absolutely quiet during his monologue. It was very still and silent when Roberts finished until Wes broke the silence. “Why did you run away from Detective Sergeant Warne…why’d you re-enter the tunnels?”

  He nodded, almost as if to himself. “So, when I was getting into the elevator, someone called…I thought they were calling my name…but wasn’t sure. When I got to the ground floor, I tried to hurry away, but not appear to be running away…you know what I mean?”

  Wes and Jillian nodded, automatically.

  “But then I heard someone call me again, and I knew it was her.” He nodded toward Jillian but continued to look at Wes. “I knew there was something up…I wasn’t sure exactly what, just something was different in her voice. I guess I panicked. I thought if I could just get away from her, I’d figure-out what to do. I was just trying to buy some time. But then she had to come after me…down below.”

  He finally looked at Jillian, angry at her, as if this was all her fault.

  Jillian responded with a question. “Did you check to see if the Professor was alive when you were still in BAC?”

  “I checked for a pulse, and thought she was dead, but it’s really hard to tell. I just assumed so.”

  Wes asked, “And your prints and DNA on the paperweight?”

  “I wiped it clean. Really clean. I mean, I watch CSI.”

  Jillian asked, “What about the blood on the floor in English?”

  “Yeah, well, once I got her there, I hit her again…I had to generate more blood, didn’t I? I held the paperweight with some tissues from her desk, and then also smeared some of the blood from it on the floor, and on other surfaces in there…like the seat on her chair after I knocked it over… you know, places like that. But, I tried to wipe-off my prints from that paperweight to remove any…what do you guys call it, ‘trace evidence.’ I mean, I really tried.”

  He shrugged, almost as if he was embarrassed, but that quickly disappeared and he seemed pleased with the rendition of the story. He was almost smug.

  The room was quiet again. It seemed to Jillian that never once had Roberts actually said the Professor’s name.

  Again, it was Wes who broke the silence, “Almost worked,” he said. And smiled, but only with his mouth.

  Roberts responded with his intense stare.

  In the time that followed, Jillian received two commendations: a general one from ASU, and another, more specific one from ASU PD. These were displayed in the hallway of the ASU Police Department along with other awards for individual officers and for the Department. Her two awards book-ended the Department’s International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administration Award.

  She also experienced one reality check. A few days after all of the hubbub died down, Al called her into his office. He got to the point right away.

  “Jillian, what you did was great…figuring everything out, and then taking him down like that… But, I don’t like it that you did all this alone…not for your own safety, not for the case. I don’t like it that you went to Roberts’ office by yourself, much less that you pursued him down in the tunnels. We talked about this once before…you make up your mind and go for it, but sometimes…”

  He held up his hand to stop her from speaking. “I know what you’re going to say…you called for back-up, from us and from Wes, which is smart…still, you didn’t wait for it.”

  Without asking permission, Jillian sat in a chair. She felt deflated, and worried that she was about to be in trouble.

  Al stepped from around his desk and scooted the other chair so that it was a little further away from Jillian, but angled toward her.

  “Jillian, I’m not saying you’re a rogue cop…nothing like that. It’s just that we have procedures that everyone is supposed to follow. They’re for your safety…that guy tried to kill you down there. But, the procedures are also designed to protect the case. Don’t forget, he argued that you attacked him. If you’d waited, you would have had a witness.”

  She suddenly felt like she was back in Chief McCaslin’s office after she captured Clay Neeley. She would not let herself cry…she just sighed.

  Al waited for her to gather herself and look up at him. “You’re a good detective, Jillian…I know it, Wes knows it…and you know it.”

  “Does Wes think I messed-up…have you two talked?”

  Al kept his mouth closed, but ran his tongue across his upper teeth…she’d seen him do this move many times when he was thinking.

  “No, Wes and I haven’t talked about this, but maybe you should talk with him…get his take. It’s just that I don’t want you taking actions like this alone. So, no mas…huh?”

  Jillian sat, motionless. Finally, she bit her lip and said, “OK, Chief. I’ll do better…I promise.”

  He smiled. “Just so you know, Jillian, this is NOT a formal reprimand. And, I don’t intend to rain on your parade…you deserve all the praise that you’re getting…you captured a killer. You really are a good detective…I’m glad you came over here. Just…watch it…is all I’m saying.”

  When Jillian nodded yes, but continued to sit, he said, “Go on, get out of here, go do some more good police work,” and made a sweeping motion with his right hand.

  Later, after work, Jillian met Wes at Postinos. When she told him about Al’s comments, he said, ““Yeah, well, Al’s right of course, but, at least you did call for back-up…that’s by the book.”

  “Wes, do you think I did wrong?”

  Wes sipped his beer, then said, “I can’t tell you how to be a good detective, Jilly. Actually, I can…and do…all the time,” he laughed. “What I mean is that you have to find your own way in this business...and you are. Think how much you’ve learned over the last year or two. And, like I’m always saying, you’re smart and you have good instincts.”

  “Thanks, but specifically, should I have gone after Roberts or should I have waited for back-up?”

  “At the risk of contradicting Al, I’m not sure there’s an obvious right or wrong here. You did call for back-up, two places actually, and to me, it’s important that you did that. As to whether you should have gone to Roberts’ office, much less followed him down into the tunnels…that’s a tougher question.”

  “But what do you think?”

  “OK, on the one hand, you didn’t have to do that all by your lonesome, especially going down into the tunnels. I mean, what was Roberts going to do…make a run for it, and where…is he going to seek asylum in Russia?” He laughed again. Then said, “Jilly, I’m kidding, but I’m also trying to get you to lighten-up. OK?”

  “OK.”

  “So, if you hadn’t gone after him, he might not have run for it at all. And if he had, we would have picked him up somewhere…at the airport or on the way to LA. On the other hand, you did first-rate detective work…figuring everything out like you did. And, it’s human nature to want to finish it up.”

  Jillian sat quietly, looking at her untouched wine glass.

  “Say something, Jilly.”

  “I was excited, Wes. I figured it out…OK, I should have figured it out even earlier, but once I did, I wanted to arrest him…because of what he’d done. I thought I’d covered all the bases by calling you, and leaving that message for you with Doc…and by calling ASU PD. I really did. And then, it seemed like the right thing to do to go get him. I knew someone woul
d be right behind me.”

  Wes smiled. “Well then, that’s that. Main thing, think it through…take some time…and ask yourself if something like this happens again, what’s the right play? You’ve got good instincts, Jilly, but you’ve also got a lot of smarts. You know what I think…I think the longer you’re at this, the smarter you’ll be about it.”

  “Like you?”

  “Yeah, well….” he said, and toasted her and smiled.

  Other things went more smoothly. She and Ersula completed their work on the sexual assault task force report. It was modified and approved by the City of Tempe. A companion rule was passed, after a lengthy debate, by the ASU Faculty Senate.

  A time or two, she saw some of the key players from the case on campus. Jillian was meeting Grace Wilson in Ross-Blakely Hall when she saw Professor Keefer. He acted like he hadn’t seen her…just looked in a different direction and kept walking.

  She and Grace got together now and then. Once, Grace gave her a personal tour through Old Main, ASU’s oldest building, and recounted stories about it being haunted. She said that a janitor who worked in the building late at night told her about hearing the indistinct voices of students, but when he went looking, floor to floor, the building was empty. Grace’s delivery made it a scary ghost story, but then she winked.

  Another time, Jillian was having lunch with Carolyn Patek upstairs in the MU, and walked by Professor Gilroy who was seated at a table with companions. When she spoke to him, he preened, and as she walked on, heard him say “that’s Detective Sergeant Jillian Warne,” and preened some more.

  Jillian was having lunch with Carolyn to celebrate…she’d gotten on a serious roll and finished her book ahead of schedule. She’d submitted it to the University of Illinois Press, the manuscript had been accepted and was already in production. On the strength of this, Carolyn had put her papers forward to go up for promotion to full professor during the next academic year. No one wanted to jinx her, but most of her colleagues thought she was a shoe-in.

  Jillian had also arranged a meeting with Carolyn and Wes, and she shared some of her data from the police academy women she’d interviewed. Wes was still working on the ‘build a better cop’ program.

  Jillian and Georgia became sparing partners in Chai’s judo class. Georgia had a fierce intensity that scared Jillian but also impressed her. Still, Jillian knew some advanced counter moves so that she could beat her, although Georgia was learning fast.

  Sarah Wells delivered a healthy baby girl. When Jillian visited them at their home, Sarah gave a mock introduction. “Jillian, meet my daughter, Ruth…Ruth, meet my friend, Jillian.”

  “She’s precious, Sarah. Is she named Ruth someone in your family?”

  “No, come on…I’m a woman lawyer. It’s an homage to RBG.”

  Lt. Linda Timms completed and defended her dissertation. Jillian attended the defense, and Chief McCaslin was there, too. Everyone went out for a champagne celebration afterward. Graduation was still a few weeks away, but already people were calling her Dr. Timms.

  Jillian had caught a case involving a string of IPAD thefts. The thefts were mostly in Hayden and the other libraries across campus, although interestingly, there had been a similar spate of thefts in the libraries at ASU’s other campuses, as well. There seemed to be some sort of organization behind the thefts. She’d been interfacing with Ersula and the Crim Intel division at Tempe PD, and had been using the data bases from ASU PD, too. Jillian thought she was starting to see a pattern.

  She had been conducting another round of interviews at Hayden Library and felt that she was closing in. Her interviews completed for the day, she exited the library and had just walked-up that long flight of steps to the ground level.

  Spring semester was winding down. The spring flowers were long gone, and there already had been several 100-degree days. It was mid-afternoon so the band that had been playing over by the MU when she had entered Hayden Library was gone.

  Jillian looked over toward Wilson Hall…it was second nature for her to look over there. The back door to Wilson opened and Wes stepped out…at least she thought it was Wes, but couldn’t be sure. There is a low-hanging portico at that small back entrance so it was a bit dark, and her view was partially blocked by a concrete column. The man stepped forward, and looked carefully to his left where a blind spot blocks a view of oncoming bikers.

  Once safely out on the sidewalk, he turned toward Jillian, who was standing maybe 30 yards away at the top of the steps. It was Wes. He saw her then, and waved.

  She was happy to see him. They gave a quick hug.

  “Were you in Wilson Hall?”

  “Yes, I was visiting Ian Naremore,“ he answered as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

  “Really, why?”

  “Oh, I’d seen a UTube video from back when he was playing serious tennis…this would have been in his college days. That guy was some kind of competitor.”

  “So, you were there to talk about tennis? With Ian, Professor Naremore?” She gave Wes her most incredulous look.

  “Well, that and some other stuff.” He smiled, then said, “Not to change the subject, Jilly, but I sorta miss you. How about a drink at Postinos…after work?”

  The End