Meeting over Murder

Lieutenant Ferrari walked back across the crusty snow amid streams of light filtering through the trees, illuminating the white surface of the ground. Around them rose the ancient silhouette of purplish-blue shadows, the hedge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She spotted Detective Ron Owens getting out of his ordinary looking white sedan, complete with a snowcapped roof. “Jamison, fill him in, will ya? I’ve got to talk to the witness.”

Jamison nodded and made her way delicately over the frosty ground to a balding man in his forties, built like the linebacker he had been in high school, with the addition of twenty pounds of beer belly.

“Dr. McLeod?” Jenna addressed as she neared the professor, who was staring absently at the ground.

Randi’s warm brown eyes lifted to assess the detective. She seemed to be about her same age, mid-thirties. Her face was round with a button nose and stunning blue eyes, and despite the masculine clothing, she sported vivacious curves. Hot, in no uncertain terms. When did they start giving cops a body like that? Randi felt guilty for the first thoughts that popped into her head, not because they weren’t all too true, but because of the circumstances. This was the first time she had seen a dead person except at a funeral all clean and arranged neatly in their coffin, and those people had mostly been old. “Yes,” she answered, straightening and tensing just a little.

“I’m Lieutenant Ferrari, and I’m the lead detective on this case,” she stated in introduction. Jenna extended a hand, which Randi took, and they exchanged a firm grip. “So, tell me exactly what happened, what you saw and did when you arrived at school this morning.” She took out a notepad and pen and leaned comfortably against the blue Ram.

Nice truck, Jenna thought, and turned her gaze to the professor. Professor? she mused, glancing up and down her long, lean frame. She looks more like an athlete to me. No, no, focus. You must stop checking out every woman you meet.

As Dr. McLeod related the events, Jenna was impressed with her sense of observation and deduction, in addition to her lack of hysteria. It was evident the teacher was shocked and saddened by the death of a student, but she was holding everything together quite well for a civilian.

“Did you know the victim?”

“Yes,” Dr. McLeod answered in a bereaved tone. “Allison was in my English Lit class. She was a good student and a promising writer. She seemed happy, was a fabulous violin player, had lots of friends. She didn’t hang out with the party crowd, and I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt her.” Glancing at the notes Jenna jotted down, Dr. McLeod pulled a folded sheet of paper from her coat pocket. “I took the liberty of making a list of names of her friends. I figured you’d want to talk to them.”

Jenna looked up into intelligent, caring, umber eyes, her lips parting in mild astonishment. “Yes, thank you. I was going to ask about her friends.” She has a keen eye for detail and anticipates what questions I will ask. She deserves that PHD. “Do you know if she had a boyfriend, a bad breakup, or anything? Or have you seen any suspicious people hanging around that don’t belong on campus?”

“I’m not sure about boyfriends, but someone on this list should know. As for strangers on campus—well, there wasn’t anyone around this morning and I’m usually gone by or before four in the afternoons. I wish I could be of more help. I feel like there should be more I can do,” she lamented.

“Dr. McLeod, you have done well,” Jenna stated in sincere praise. “You spotted something out of the ordinary, investigated, discovered the body before anyone else arrived, preserved the scene, called it in, made a list of friends—all with no one asking or telling you what to do. If all my witnesses were as adept as you, we’d have far fewer unsolved cases, I can tell you that.”

Randi blushed and inclined her head. “Well, I do watch a lot of crime dramas. But truly, if there is anything else I can do to help, please do not hesitate to call me.” Randi handed the detective a professional card with her name and number on it. Please call me, she thought, adding for her own moral satisfaction, so I can help you catch the murderer before he kills any more students.

Lieutenant Ferrari took the card and slid it into her jacket pocket. “To be honest, I will probably need to talk to you again after I interview these students. Thank you for being so helpful. I will be sure to let you know when we have a suspect in custody so you and everyone else at the college can breathe easier.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Ferrari; I appreciate that.” Randi studied the sincerity in the detective’s face. She really does care.