The Theory of Death (15 page)

“I had lunch yesterday with your detective or whatever he is.”

“He’s a detective. He was here before I came on to the department.”

“He told me he’s in law school.”

“He is,” Decker answered. “The station house has coffee and a couple of vending machines. Not too tasty. So if you want to grab a muffin or a bagel before we go, I’m fine with that. I’ll pay.”

“Who can resist such an offer?” When Decker didn’t respond, she said, “Thank you.” Her eyes watered. “I’m not myself. Or maybe I am myself and I’m just a rude person.”

Decker smiled. “Eat something, Mallon. You’ll think more clearly.”

“Maybe. Bagelmania is just down the street.”

“Let’s go.” When they got there, Decker handed her a twenty. “Could you get me an onion bagel and cream cheese and a black coffee? I’d like to phone my wife.”

Mallon sighed. “I hate to be a pain but can we eat inside Bagelmania instead of the station house? It’s probably a little nicer.”

“Sure. I’ll join you in a minute.” He managed to call Rina, punching in the correct numbers with thick gloved hands. “Hey there.”

“Hello, stranger.”

“Did Tyler update you?”

“He did. Are you all right?”

“I’m doing okay, thanks for asking. Where is Tyler now?”

“He went out about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Where?”

“He didn’t say. But he did take your car.”

“Swell.”

“He told me you’re trying to decide if the ransacking was staged or not.”

“Several witnesses say that they saw Mallon leaving her dorm room when she was supposedly not there. But no one got a good look and no one spoke to her, so maybe it wasn’t Mallon. I’ll try to dig out a witness who saw her at Pascal Library between twelve and one in the morning.”

“Are you leaning toward one conclusion more than the other?”

“She did seem upset. And I can’t think of her motivation for trashing her own room.”

“Getting attention from Tyler?”

“Yes, that is a possibility. Or maybe she stole research from Eli Wolf and is trying to take the suspicion off herself. But if that was her reasoning, all she did was cast suspicion
on
her. The plan is to take her to the station house until she can make suitable arrangements with the school to live somewhere else.”

“How long will that take?”

“I don’t have a clue.”

“You know you can bring her here.”

“That would be a bad idea. Besides, aren’t you working?”

“I am, but only a half day and not until noon. Maybe I could get something out of her.” A pause. “You know: woman to woman.”

“I’m sure you could get blood from a turnip. But she isn’t invading our personal space.”

“Why are you even investigating the break-in, Peter? Isn’t that a job for campus police?”

“You’re absolutely right.” Decker paused. “She called, so we came, especially since this happened on the heels of Eli’s death.”

“You’re a kind man.”

“You mean a sucker.”

“I mean that despite your gruff exterior, you genuinely care.”

“Call the pope and nominate me for sainthood.”

“Take a compliment, Peter.”

“Thank you, dear.” Decker checked his watch. “I’m going to grab a bagel with her. See if I can learn anything else. I’ll talk to you later. Keep warm.”

“It’s around eighty degrees in the house.”

“It’s around twenty out here. You know, in this advanced age of electronic communication, it’s a shame they haven’t figured out how to redirect temperature over the Internet.”

SHE WAS ENGAGED
with her laptop when Decker came inside. He sat down and spread a thick layer of cream cheese over his bagel. He ate about half when she finally looked up.

“I got about twenty e-mails asking me if I’m all right. That’s twenty more than I usually get.” She slammed her laptop shut. “I have class in a couple of hours. Then I have a meeting with my adviser at noon. Maybe the smartest thing for me to do is just stay in Pascal until then.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“I’ll call Tyler if I’m not.” She looked at him. “Or I can call you. I’m sure you think that I’m a stalker, but I’m not.”

“Mallon, we have to talk about your housing.”

“I’m not going back to my dorm room.”

“You need to call campus housing and find a temporary bed.”

“I don’t want to stay on campus. At least not alone.”

“I’m sure they can get you a roommate.”

“Until I know what’s going on, I don’t want some stranger living with me.”

“I’m sure it would be a student at the college.”

“Even worse. Someone looking over my shoulder trying to steal my ideas.”

Paranoid? Or does she really have enemies?
“You’ll have to find accommodations. I’m out of suggestions. Any ideas?”

“I’ll just sleep in the library.”

“That is not sustainable.”

“I can stay with you.”

“That would also be a no.”

“You let Tyler stay with you.”

“Yes, I do. He’s a coworker. You are not.”

She made a face. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Who is your adviser again? Katrina Belfort?”

“Yes. I tried for Dr. Rosser but he’s too
busy
. He gave me Belfort probably figuring that a woman should only work with a woman, the pig.”

“He told me you were very gifted.”

Mallon’s face registered shock. “For your benefit. He hates me.”

“How do you get along with Dr. Belfort?”

“Good, actually. I call her ‘Katrina.’ She’s on a first-name basis with most of her students.”

“Maybe you could stay with her? You can’t be afraid of her stealing your material because she already knows your research.”

“Not all of it.”

“But she knows what you’re working on. What do you think? Do you feel comfortable enough to ask her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then it’s campus housing, Mallon. Unless you prefer the police station or a homeless shelter.”

“At least at those locations, no one will steal my work.” She shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to call.” She looked in her contact list and then touched the name. The line rang several times until the voice mail kicked in. “Hello, Katrina, it’s Mallon Euler. I’m sure by now you heard about my mishaps. I was wondering if I might ask a favor. Could you call me back?” She recited the numbers and then hung up. “I don’t know where she is at seven in the morning, but she isn’t answering her cell.”

“I have to go to work. Do you want to come to the station house or would you rather go to Pascal?”

“I’m feeling a little calmer now … more like drained.” She looked around. “I’m actually okay here at Bagelmania. It’s public and it has Wi-Fi. I’ll stay here until my first class at nine. I’m due to see Katrina at noon anyway. I’ll be fine … I hope.”

Decker gave her his card. “Feel free to call, Mallon.”

“Where’s Tyler?” She asked the question with appropriate casualness.

“He’s going back to Boston this afternoon.”

“You mean Harvard?” When she didn’t get an answer, she said, “Say good-bye for me. You know, it’s the second time he’s come to my rescue. That’s two more times than anyone else in my feeble life.”

MCADAMS WAS AT
the station house, sitting at Decker’s desk, feet propped up while he was writing on his iPad. He wore a black turtleneck, black cords, and boots on his feet. “I tried sleeping. It was useless, so I came here. I drove your car back, so you’re all set. Dr. Ferraga called me back. You’re meeting with him at eleven-thirty.” He held up a folder. “Elijah Wolf’s autopsy report. The coroner ruled it a suicide.”

Decker stared at him. “Can I sit down?”

“Sure. Pull up a chair.” Decker swatted McAdams’s shoes off the desktop.

The kid stood up. “I wouldn’t need to use your chair if you would have left my desk alone.”

“I cleared off my stuff. Sit down and stop griping.”

McAdams complied. “I got a call from Dr. Kent this morning.”

“Who is he?”

“Math teacher at Exeter. He remembered Mallon. She left because she applied to college early. He wrote her a recommendation. He said she was very gifted in math.”

“So nothing sinister about her leaving?”

“No.”

Decker paged through the autopsy report. “Pretty straightforward. Nothing from the tox screen. Of course, it’s the regular stuff. He could have taken a more exotic drug.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it was suicide.” He put the report down. “I’ll go see his parents tomorrow. Give them the news in person.”

“What do you think happened?”

“No idea. It’s especially curious because Dr. Rosser reported him as being more social within the last month.”

“Saying his final good-bye to those who helped him?”

“Could be.” Decker sighed. “What a shame.”

Even Tyler looked pensive. “Yeah.”

“Anyway, that’s that.” Decker looked up. “I take it you booked a car to drive you back to Boston?”

“I’d like to stick around until tomorrow. I can even come with you to visit Eli’s parents.”

“Tyler, you promised to go back. It’s where you belong.”

“That is debatable. Besides, I have a very good reason for sticking around. Dr. Gold can’t meet me until tomorrow late afternoon. That is, if you still want to bring Eli’s hidden papers to him. I’m hoping maybe we’ll get something from Rosser by that time.”

It was a valid point. “All right. I’ll take you up north tomorrow.”

“I appreciate it, boss.”

“Well, we might as well know what Eli’s papers were about. Maybe that’ll provide some answers to why he did it. After that, I’m kicking you out of the house.”

“I’m a pain, I know.”

“No, you’re not a pain.” Decker was silent. “Let me ask you something. And it’s sincere.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Why are you doing all this busywork with me when you have no intention of going into law enforcement?”

“You don’t know that. Even I don’t know that. The only thing I do know is I’m not doing a nine-to-five desk job. I’m just too damn restless.”

“Most of detective work is a nine-to-five desk job.”

“No, no, no. You sit at a desk, but you don’t do a nine-to-five desk job. There’s a difference.” A pause. “I’m going to graduate law school. I’d be stupid if I didn’t. And I will pass the bars—bars as in plural—because there’s lots of money for me when I do. And maybe I’ll be a lawyer. Or maybe I’ll be a real detective in a real city. Or maybe I’ll finally go to Hollywood and write that Oscar-winning screenplay. The world is my playground, Decker. Don’t be the one to stifle my dreams.”

“If your dream is to become a cop, you’re aiming low.”

“Aiming low definitely fits the idle rich.” He gave Decker a forced smile. “So as long as I’m staying another day, I’d like to come with you to talk to Dr. Ferraga.”

“Sure, come with me.”

“And I have the time to go with you to visit Eli’s parents. It’s on the way back to Cambridge.”

“Sure.” Decker thought. “I might as well come with you to Cambridge.”

“Makes sense.”

“Take a notepad, McAdams. It’s easier than writing on your iPad.”

The kid held up a spiral pad. “I got it out of your desk. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Like it matters if I minded?”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’d take it regardless of your feelings. I was just practicing at being polite.”

I
WAS NOT ELI’S
primary adviser.” Aldo Ferraga spoke with a slight singsong Italian accent. Decker had looked him up before the interview. The professor had been in the country over twenty years. “I know you spoke to Dr. Rosser. I’m sure I have nothing to add.”

“But you did work with Eli, being on his thesis committee.”

“It is a small department. I’m on quite a few committees.” Ferraga was short and slight. He had light eyes that were red-rimmed, and he sported a full, dark beard. He wore a white shirt with no tie, brown pants, and a brown corduroy jacket with suede patch pockets. Brown suede loafers on his feet. The blazer was more than just an affectation. It was cold in his office.

“I’m going to visit his parents tomorrow,” Decker told him. “Would you like me to relate any kind of a message to them?”

“You have not talked to the parents?”

“Not since the official ruling.”

“It was a suicide?”

“Yes, it was ruled a suicide.”

“Then it is a tragedy—for any young person. It is especially sad when it is a young person with so much promise. He had an unusually superb mind. He will be missed.”

“Did he seem troubled to you?”

“Intense yes, but not troubled. I saw Elijah as a gentle boy. He did not have the killer academic instinct. He was happy to help anyone who needed it.”

“Socially awkward?”

“Not so much for this department.” A pause. “At the Christmas party last month, he was quite engaging … talkative”

“He was studying Fourier analysis?”

“He had decided to focus on Fourier transforms, actually.”

McAdams tapped his pencil against his notebook. “That’s upper-division math.”

“Yes.”

“So it’s an advanced field of study.”

“I wouldn’t say advanced. It is a basic field for any mathematician. I suppose it depends on what you do with it to make it advanced.”

“What was he doing with it?” McAdams asked.

“You’ll have to ask Dr. Rosser.”

Decker said, “He’s not all that forthcoming.”

“Many academicians take a proprietary interest in their students.”

“Especially one who was hiding papers behind a desk drawer.”

“Yes, I had heard. You have the papers?”

“I do.”

“But you refuse to show them to any of us.”

“Too many people want to know what is in them. It’s safer to show them to someone outside the university to prevent plagiarism.”

“Providing that your outside source is trustworthy.”

“Dr. Mordechai Gold at Harvard,” McAdams said.

Ferraga smiled. “Of course. And when you find out what the papers are about, perhaps you can relate to all of us what could be so valuable that Elijah felt the need to hide his work. From our limited conversations—we did have a few conversations, yes—it did not appear that Eli was on the verge of a major breakthrough.”