Page 25 of Absent Reason

The professor's facade cracked, and for a moment, Amber saw fear in his eyes at the question. But then he composed himself. Amber saw him pulling a mask of control back into place.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said coolly. His lawyer nodded in agreement, or perhaps in approval that his client wasn’t going to give up too much.

"Really?" Simon spoke up now. "So when an FBI tech team starts to go through every one of your devices, they won't find any evidence of contact between you and her?"

The lawyer cut in then, obviously knowing that it was a dangerous line of questioning. "Evidence of a professor contacting his students proves nothing other than that he was doing his job."

"We have at least one other student who is prepared to say that you were in a relationship with Mia," Amber said. “I imagine that number will go up when we start looking for more.”

The professor and his lawyer exchanged a glance, and the lawyer leaned in closer to whisper something to his client. Professor Samuels shook his head, his eyes darting between Amber and Simon.

The professor's lawyer raised an eyebrow. "And who is this student? Do you have any evidence to back up their claim?"

Amber ignored that point for now, not least because theydidn'thave any hard evidence, just a rumor. It was time for her to keepthemoff balance. "We also know that you tried to ask out Kelly Wasner. She turned you down, didn't she?"

"Asking someone on a date isn't illegal," the lawyer said, in the same neutral tone he’d been employing.

Amber leaned back in her chair. "We're more interested in the connections Professor Samuels has to two recent murder victims. One with whom he seems to have been in a relationship at some point, the other who seems to have turned him down for a similar relationship. Did Mia end your relationship, Professor, or did you?"

He didn't answer, but Simon added his voice to Ambers, obviously deciding to keep pushing.

"Our current theory is that you don't like it when women turn you down, Professor. I think that you became angry when Mia broke up with you and that you were angry with Kelly because she wouldn't go out with you at all. I think that you lured them to two bridges here in Verdice, and you hanged them in some kind of sick punishment for rejecting you."

The professor looked aghast at the thought of it. Or maybe at the thought of being caught out. Amber wanted to know which it was.

"No, I would never do something like that!"

Simon looked at the professor levelly, with no give in his expression.

"Professor, it would be wiser for you to tell us the truth about this. If there is anything that you're hiding, now is the time to come clean because wewillfind out the truth."

There was a long pause before Professor Samuels spoke. "Fine," he said finally. "Yes, I had a relationship with Mia. It was consensual, and I cared for her deeply. But I had nothing to do with her death."

"Then why did you run from us when we came to ask you about it?" Simon asked.

That was the key question. Why had he run away the moment the FBI had arrived? This wasn't some habitual criminal who would always run the moment that he saw law enforcement. This wasn’t someone with outstanding warrants who’d known that he could afford to let them catch up to him. No, this was a supposedly respectable professor. There had to be a reason why he'd fled.

"I thought... I thought you were there to arrest me."

"For murder?" It seemed to Amber as though they were edging closer to an admission from the professor. Even his lawyer looked a little worried.

Professor Samuels fell silent for several seconds, then started to have a whispered conversation with his lawyer. Amber could make out the urgency there, but not any of the words.

Amber and Simon exchanged glances, knowing that they were getting closer to the truth. Finally, the lawyer leaned back and cleared his throat. "My client is willing to cooperate with your investigation on one condition."

Amber raised an eyebrow, wondering why Professor Samuels suddenly thought that he was in a position to set conditions. Wondering why he needed to. "And what's that?"

The lawyer put the next part carefully. "That we agree that his other... transgressions have nothing to do with your case."

"What'transgressions'?" Simon demanded. There wasn't any give in his voice. It was obvious that he didn’t want to cut any deals without knowing all the details.

"As I understand it, there have been several affairs with students over the years," the lawyer said. "But that is hardly a matter for the FBI."

"These murders are, though," Amber said. "And I’m sure you can see how such illicit relationships might provide the motive for a killer. Do you have an alibi for two nights ago, Professor Samuels?"

The professor was silent for a moment or two. He looked embarrassed. "I was... with another of my students."

"It doesn't bother you that you're their professor? That you hold all the power in that relationship?" Amber snapped at him.

---