Murder is Academic (7 page)

I looked around the crowded auditorium, usually reserved for rock bands or comedy acts. Today the venue was different. Those in attendance included most of the staff and faculty of the college, a smattering of students, mostly those in student government, numerous local, regional, and state political people and a representative from the state college office.

Of all of those in attendance today, I was most impressed with the number of faculty from this campus. As much as they disliked Talbot, no one wanted to miss his funeral. It was a gathering of the curious and the gossipmongers.

Many individuals spoke at the service. Having performed the onerous task of praising an unworthy colleague, these speakers sought to insure like praise when their time came. There was hardly a wet eye in the place.

The minister announced there would be a gathering at the president’s residence. Feeling slightly bilious following the service, probably because my stomach reacts poorly to situations where the only food offered is a buffet of lies, I was in need of something to settle the butterflies. Snooping might do it.

At the residence, I was about to grab for some pasty white stuff on a round of bread from the buffet table, when I spied President Talbot’s wife, and the chase was on. Stomach ache forgotten, I made my way over to her. Her first name was Penelope, but she was known to her close friends as “Bunny” for all the years she and her husband lived in Onondaga Falls. She was anything but cuddly. A tall, ruddy faced woman, she adorned her large earlobes with small dangle earrings and spit curls over each ear. I wondered if she thought these baubles made her look more feminine.

“Mrs. Talbot, you have my sympathies. Such a shock. I suppose it’s too soon to think of the future and what your plans will be?” I took her hand in mine.

“Well, the college council has been very nice to let me stay on in the house for an indefinite period of time. Of course, I’ll have to vacate by the time a permanent president is appointed. I think I’ll take a few months to decide. I never had my own career, you know. Talbot’s work always came first, and that’s as it should be.”

“Oh, but I thought you were a realtor several years back. Didn’t you sell some of the condos on the lake?” I knew she did.

Bunny brought her hand up to her spit curls, pressing them against her cheeks. Her hands must have been damp because the patting of her hair caused it to unroll and the curls began to look more like sideburns. Her eyes darted around the room,

“Yes, but that was just a brief time, and Talbot thought it might be perceived as a conflict of interest, especially if a new staff or faculty member were to use me as their agent. So I gave up my license. I must circulate now.” Bunny raced off to talk with others in the room.

“Boy, she left in a hurry.” Annie handed me a plate of food. ”What did you say to run her off like that?”

“I merely was talking about her future plans and mentioned her work in real estate. Wasn’t there some flap about that around the time you came here?”

“Was there. All new faculty were directed to Mrs. Talbot and strong-armed by President Talbot to use his wife as their real estate agent. Remember that dump I rented when I first came into town? Bunny found that for me.”

“She try to get you to buy into the condo project?”

“She sure did. She wanted me to purchase on the basis of some plans that were drawn up. They weren’t scheduled to begin construction for over a year. Meantime my money was going to be tied up in a place I couldn’t move into for years.” Annie shook her head.

I smiled, remembering what happened.. “The college council finally took Talbot to one side and “encouraged” him to remove his wife as a recommended realtor to new faculty and staff. I guess my bringing up her past work made her uncomfortable.”

“Laura, dear. Thanks so much for lunch the other day.” Jeanette appeared at my side.

“You’re entirely welcome. You looked like you could use a break. That mob scene in the offi
ce must have continued on for the rest of the day.” I scanned the room for a moment. “Say, isn’t that Stanford’s wife, Tiffany or Melissa or… Bethany, that’s it.”

Annie nodded. “That’s her. I understand she’s back from the university and is looking to do some research for her dissertation at the Biological Field Station.”

“Looks like they’re having a bit of a tiff.” Although I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the din of conversation in the room, I noticed Stanford’s red face and Bethany’s angry body language as she leaned into her husband. As I watched, she spun around and rushed from the room.

“Back in a minute.” I handed my half-finished plate of food to Annie and pursued Bethany out of the door to the front yard.

“Bethany.”

The young woman turned in my direction. “Oh, Dr. Murphy. How nice to see you.” She wiped her eyes with a tissue and waited for me to catch up. “Damn. I seem to have left my car keys home, and I’m not going back in there to ask Will for his. I guess I’ll just walk.”

“Where are you off to? I’m ready to leave this scene anyway. Can I give you a ride?”

“Oh, anywhere. I really just need some time to sort things out a bit.”

“Could you use an ear? We could go for a drive.”

“What I could use is someplace to think.”

“I’ve got just the place, my deck overlooking the lake.” I took her arm and headed her toward my car.

I unlocked the car door and asked Bethany to wait for me while I ran back into the house to tell Annie I was on my way home and to see if she could hitch a ride with someone else. She was busy pretending to listen to Edmond Dewar of the music department drone on and on about a new piece of music he composed. He served as head of the committee on campus to which Annie would be presenting her credentials in the fall for promotion, and she wasn’t missing an opportunity to schmooze with him.

“I’m sure Dr. Dewar can drop me off. We can continue our fascinating discussion of his newest composition. Right, Edmond?”

Annie could really pour on the charm when necessary.

In the car on the way to the house Bethany discussed her work at the university and her hopes that she could complete her dissertation at the Biological Field Station.

“But that could prove difficult now with the problems between Will and me. When I first suggested doing research here, Will seemed interested in the idea, but as the plans were finalized, he became less enthusiastic about my work.”

“What’s the problem with your work?”

Bethany chewed on her bottom lip and looked out the window of the car without replying.

When we arrived at the lake and settled on the deck with some iced tea, Bethany remained silent about her problems with Will. I didn’t push her and turned the conversation to reminiscing about her undergraduate days and the women’s studies course she took from me. In the middle of talking about the course, Bethany set down her glass, cleared her throat and looked me in the face.

“Will had a number of relationships with his students over time. I was just one of the many.” She began to sob.

“Perhaps he did have other relationships, but, you need to remember, he married you.” I patted her shoulder and ran into the house to find tissues.

“I’m okay.” She grabbed a handful of tissues from the box I offered.

“Are these past relationships causing you and Will problems now?” I was puzzled at Bethany’s crying. “I mean that’s over. Surely you and Will have discussed this, right?”

“I feel like such a fool. Oh, we’ve discussed them all right. He said they were past, that he loved me, that he married me, right? I’m just feeling sorry for myself. I apologize for dumping this on you.” She blew her nose, straightened up and took a swallow of her tea. When she looked up again, the despair present on her face a few moments earlier was replaced by a dark look of anger.

“The real problem is that Will is seeing another student.”

So the rumors on campus were true
.

“Do you think it’s serious?”

“I really don’t care if it is or not. I’ve told him I want a divorce. My timing is a little off. I broke the news to him at the reception after the president’s funeral, but I really meant it. Maybe he did love me, but I can’t continue in a relationship with a man who can’t keep his hands off his students.”

“I can’t tell you what to do, but I can recommend that you do some more thinking about this. I suggest that you get some professional counseling around your decision to divorce Will, and I think you need to talk further with Will about this. You’re hurt and angry now. Sleep on it and do some thinking tomorrow.”

“You’re right, I am hurt and angry. I really wish I could do something to hurt him back. I only found out about this new relationship a few days ago, an anonymous phone call, probably from the young woman herself. When I confronted Will about it, he confessed and seemed so contrite, saying he would break it off immediately. I was so mad I told him I could kill him.”

Bethany and I continued our conversation throughout the afternoon. By the time the sun began pouring horizontally through the pine branches overhanging my deck, Bethany had cried and talked herself out.

“How about you stay for dinner and spend the night?”

“I’d really like that. Let me just give Will a call on my cell and tell him I’m staying with a friend for the night. I’m not going to mention your name. Will seems to think you’re an interfering bitch, er, person and there’s no need to bring my selection of friends into our arguments.”

“I’ll just rummage around in my freezer to see what I can defrost for dinner tonight.”

I left her on the deck to make her call, praying that there was something, anything, to eat in my fridge, frozen or not. Just as long as it didn’t have mold on it.

“No one home. I left a message. Can I help?”

“Uh, no. I think you’d be happier on the deck. I’m not a very good cook, so it’s better not to watch.”

For a moment she looked horrified, but she must have caught the twinkle in my eyes. She laughed. “You must cook the way I do. And, another thing.”

“Yep.” I shoved a pound of ground beef into the microwave. “Chili or something, I guess.” We both nodded.

“Call me Beth. I really hate ‘Bethany’. It just doesn’t fit me.”

“Okay, Beth. I always thought Bethany should be reserved for a petite blonde anyway.” I smiled and looked admiringly at the tall, dark-haired young woman who leaned against my kitchen table.

Over dinner, our conversation turned again to her dissertation.

“It’s in water resources, as you would imagine. Not that I don’t find the topic interesting, but Will has dominated my life to such a degree he even dictated the direction of my graduate specialty. First my parents made choices for me. I felt so free marrying Will as if I made my first decision alone. Not really true, of course, but it felt that way at the time. I’m committed now to the topic and the location for the research, here on the lake with Will supervising it, of course. So regardless of what happens between the two of us, I’m going ahead with my work at the Biological Field Station. I don’t care if he doesn’t want me around here while he’s got another woman on the string.”

“She certainly can’t mean that much to him if he’s willing to end the relationship.”

“Maybe so, but I still feel I can’t trust him. Well, I guess what happens between the two of us personally will have to be put on hold for my research.”

“And, perhaps, until you and Will sort this thing out with a counselor’s help.”

“I’ve put too much of my life into this not to give counseling a try, I guess.” Her eyelids began to droop, and I found mine following suit.

“It’s early, but I think it’s time to hit the sack.” The day’s events and the afternoon sun plus the heavy dinner made me long for bed and for some much needed uninterrupted snooze time. But just to be safe, I warned Beth we might expect a visitor sometime during the night. I had no idea what Guy’s plans were for the evening and, knowing his love of spontaneity, he might put in an unannounced appearance.

“Someone new and interesting in your life? I’ve told you my sad tale of love lost. Let’s hear one of love found. I could use a lift.”

“Tomorrow. Love found has been interfering with my sleep.”

I led the way up the stairs to the guest bedroom. I showed her where the towels were and gave her one of my over-sized tees to sleep in.

“You’re all set.” I turned to go. Beth held out her hand, then threw her arms around me.

“Thanks so much.”

I hugged her back and wished her pleasant dreams, then proceeded to my own room, trailing clothes across the floor as I threw myself onto the bed.

*

I dreamed of someone kissing me deeply. His lips moved down my neck, across my breasts, hesitated, then began to move to my thighs, my knees, ending at my feet. Suddenly, he bit my big toe and said, “Wake up”.

“Wake up, Laura and cooperate a little here. How about some groping in return. I like being the gropee as well as the groper, you know.” Guy sat at the foot of my bed, a goofy smile on his face.

Now I was wide-awake. “And just how did you get in here?”

“Your door was open. Not a good idea leaving it unlocked with a killer on the loose. He might have chosen you as his next victim. Don’t make it so easy for him. If you’re his target, he would expect a little more resistance, don’t you think?” This was not an easy speech for Guy as he was attending to my toe, and the words had to be interspersed between nibbles and bites.