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“Don’t beat yourself up about it.Why not call her back?”
“I think she’ll clam up altogether if I do that.We should do some digging.Who are his students?Has he had trouble with any of them?”
“More like they’ve got trouble with him.”
“Either way, that could give us a motive.”
They’d barely started their research – so it seemed to Kate – when A.D.Winters breezed through, a mauve pashmina now complementing the evening gown.
“That was a short evening, ma’am,” Kate said.
“Praise be,” Winters replied.She brandished a red plastic folder.“Bedtime reading.Arrest and conviction stats up to August.And I’ve got news.”
“For us?”
“For you.Bangor PD caught some guy trying to set light to a homeless person’s tent by the port.He confessed to all the attacks.So, we can rule out a link to the deaths of Whitman and the priest.By the way, have you moved from that seat?”
“Actually, we went to visit Whitman’s wife.”
“Leads?”
Kate brought her up to date on the lectures and the threats.Winters listened in silence, biting the top of her index finger in a distracted way.Kate was puzzled; she didn’t need a pat on the head, but she thought the boss would be encouraged.
“I’m getting heavy pressure from higher up about this.There’s a shitty piece in the evening edition of thePost; it implies we’re floundering while the bodies pile up.I know-” She held up a hand to silence their protests.“Iknow.But it is what it is.I’m thinking I should assign you some backup, maybe Huntley.”
Marcus groaned.Kate didn’t groan.She didn’t have any problem with the colleague Winters mentioned, but she realized that she just didn’t want anyone else involved.In spite of outward appearances, Marcus was a discreet partner; he had this ability to disappear into the fabric of an investigation, methodically chipping away at the mass of unknowns until they became answers.And although they’d been partners for less than a year, they’d developed a smooth, seamless way of operating together, communicating without words, sharing the load, complementing each other’s strengths.They didn’t need a number three.
“I will hold off until this time tomorrow,” said Winters, perhaps sensing their opposition, “when we’re going to hold a press conference for the wolf-pack.By then, we’ll need some juicy bones to feed them.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“I felt like he cared about me as a person.You know, if I’d been in any sort of trouble, I could have gone to him, instead of the school counseling service.I mean, Taneesha went to them after she broke up with Zachary, right, and they just gave her Zoloft…”
Kate flashed five fingers at Marcus to indicate that this was the fifth eulogy she’d heard from one of Whitman’s students.Winding up the call, Kate drew a line through the name on her list.
“Someone got to them.I’m wondering if the Dean has bribed or threatened them.”
“Why would he do that, though?”
“The Dean good as told me it’s all about image.Carefully-managed PR.They’re the type of school that depends on generous donations and the right sort of media attention.They don’t want anything putting that in jeopardy.”
“Ok, but isn’t it possible that they’re telling the truth, and he was just very popular with his students?He seemed very popular everywhere else, so why not there?”
“But they’re telling me in such a similar way.That’s the third one who said Whitman was better than the college’s own counseling service!”
“Ok, well, just be careful not to – “
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
There was an awkward pause.They were both tired, Kate reminded herself.Even the most perfect partners got on each other’s nerves from time to time.
“How are you getting on with the CCTV?”she asked.
“The killer’s very savvy,” Marcus said, a certain relief in his voice.“There’s a way you can get from the main entrance or the library, to the professor’s building without your image being captured once, and he’s done it.I’m going to see if there’s any incidental footage, but that’ll take some time.I almost wish we did have Huntley as backup.”
“Do you?”
