Corpse in the Campus (3 page)

—In that case, we need to interrogate the other friend and the boyfriend as soon as possible.

An agent came into the room abruptly without having knocked on the door. He was surprised to find Ron and Gordon there and toned down.

—Sorry, I thought that Karen was here working alone.

—No problem. Anything new? —asked the detective, sensing that the breaking in should have a good reason.

—Yes. We have a suspect.

—A suspect? —asked Davies, shocked, as if he didn’t give credit to what his ears had just heard. For a moment he felt that he and Gordon had been wasting time while the rest of their workmates had been working tirelessly.

—Yes. We thought of looking among records for persons with records that had access to the campus and... ¡bingo! There was one guy that has been working in maintenance the last few months that attempted a rape not too long ago, and who also has other lesser incidents in his past.

—Hell! —exclaimed Stevens as he pounded on the table angrily. He was in a fury that things like that could happen in the United States. He was convinced that having a good shared data base on a state level, and less doubting and complacency shown by some judges in particular, this type of people could be held away from this kind of employment that allowed them to have their victims within their reach—. Good job. Do we know where this person is?

—He is here. We have arrested him and he is in one of the interrogation rooms.

K
aren, Ron, and Gordon took their time before entering the interrogation room where Jeff Simpson, Prime Falls Apartments maintenance employee was waiting for them. This was the place Sarah Brown had lived at to the day she disappeared.

They were wanting to get to know this man a little better before launching into him. This was a suspect that seemed to have a lot against him, and the police chief had been right to order his immediate arrest. However, now that they had him under custody, they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes because this could have grave consequences in the immediate future.

After reviewing his record several times, they decided that Gordon should be the spokesperson for this process, since he already had some experience with this kind of persons. They also decided that he should enter alone while Karen and Ron watched the interrogation through the window.

Stevens tried to exhibit his best smile, swallowing all his frustrations the best he could and held out his hand to the maintenance employee as kindly as possible.

—HI Jeff. My name is Gordon, and I am a Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office detective.

Simpson, a muscular introverted black man with somewhat sunken eyes was pouring with sweat. He had big beads of perspiration running down from his forehead to his jaw, and the blue shirt he had on was damp in the chest and armpits areas.

—I shouldn’t be here. You are making a big mistake. The reason is that I’m black and poor, and you want to shove off the murder of that girl so that you can quickly pin on a medal—mumbled the detainee while he was scouring every corner of the room.

—Things don’t work that way, Jeff. And I think that you know that well. You have already had problems with the law in the past.

—Teenagers pranks. If you had been raised in the neighborhood that I grew up in, in Detroit, I can’t imagine the things you might have done in my place.

—Well, it is true that your record seemed to be clean since you moved to Iowa. Yes. Anyone would have said that you had been making a great effort to start a new life. But Jeff, there is the rape attempt and kidnapping a few months ago. Have you forgotten what happened in Davenport so easily?—asked Gordon, as a sponsor or a good friend would talk. He knew that this was the right way to act and that it would work, but it was hard to hold back the nausea most of the time.

Simpson blurted out a loud snort, almost groaning. Later, he tried to calm down, and he began to talk more slowly.

—That was a senseless accusation. I have already asked my lawyer to have that taken off my record. However, since he is a public defender, he already has a thousand things to do and that crap is still there like a chain. I didn’t do anything. Absolutely anything. I was in the wrong place and a witness took me for someone else, and that is all. I have asked for DNA testing, or whatever you call it. I have passed the lie detector, and the judge has let me off without charges, but there we have that damn black mark on my record!

The detective felt confused. This guy seemed to be sincere, and really angry with the system. He could be a damn good actor, but it was true that he had passed the polygraph, but his being an impostor was not the impression he was getting from him at less than three feet distance.

—In that case, Jeff, why are you so nervous?

—Hell, man, hell! I’m scared to death. A few months ago I had to move to another city for something I hadn’t done. In spite of everything, I have been able to get a decent job here in Cedar Falls no less than at the university! I don´t have such a great salary but I can pay my rent and buy myself something I like, now and then. It seemed that life was finally looking up for me, and now this happens to me and you want to pin this on me with no evidence to support you! Whatever the result I’m going to be screwed.

Simpson couldn’t avoid beginning to sob. Naturally, Gordon didn’t feel sorry for any detainee, or any suspect, and much less for those suspected of murder. But this time it was different, and for some reason he felt moved.

—Alright Jeff. Tell me what the hell you were doing last Thursday starting in the morning until well into the evening.

—On Thursday?

—Yes, March 6th—answered Stevens, knowing that he would never be able to forget that day for the rest of his life.

The maintenance employee thought about it for a few seconds. He really seemed to be going back in time, trying to place himself for the previous week.

—Now I remember! I was at the McLeod Center all day. There was a water break and we had to work hard to solve it.

—We had to?—asked Gordon, noticing that his legs were trembling. It seemed that nobody had been worried about knowing where the suspect had been at the time the victim had been kidnapped.

—Yes, I was with Leonard, another maintenance employee. There was also a plumber that the insurance company sent, but I can’t remember his name.

—Jeff, are you sure that what you are telling me is true?

—I can swear to you on the Bible, if you want me to. Besides that, all you have to do is ask them. Also, several groups of students saw me there, because they wanted to know when the showers would be working again. They play basketball there, and they are not very happy about having to come out all sweaty in the cold winter. They aren’t as tough as everyone thinks...

Stevens gently dropped the stack of papers he had in his hands on the table. He felt frustrated, indignant and worn out.

—I’ve got to check your alibi. If what you’ve told me is true, I myself will see that you can get out of here right away and that you don’t have any trouble in your job.

Simpson was cofounded. He didn’t understand anything, but it seemed as if everything was going to work out as if by magic. That tough serious looking character he had before him would end up saving him. Suddenly he felt that a hot current of indignation was taking over his guts.

—The truth is that I am grateful to you; you know I am infinitely grateful. But, why the devil didn’t your people begin asking me that question before arresting me?

That was what Gordon was thinking as he was leaving the room and going to look for Karen and Ron. They met in the middle of the hall and the detective couldn’t repress his indignation.

—Hell, how could you forget something so obvious?

—Calm down, we still have to check that this man is telling us the truth —answered Philips, in a soft but firm tone of voice.

—Karen, I guarantee you 100% that he has just told me the truth. I don’t have the slightest doubt —sentenced Stevens, trying unsuccessfully to repress his anger.

T
wo days after interrogating Simpson, the whole group investigating the case had the sensation that they were at a dead end. Leonard, the other maintenance employee on the campus, and the plumber that had been sent by the insurance company ratified without a shadow of a doubt the alibi given to Stevens.  Also, several students on the basketball team that trained at the McLeod Center confirmed that Jeff had been there all that Thursday March 6th.

Gordon was attending a meeting held by Patrick Thomas, the local police chief. He was a tried but balanced man that knew how to keep cool. He himself, on the other hand was very angry, and thought that he wasn’t doing enough, and that they were goofing like rookies. However, in a sense he had never ceased to be just that: they had never before had to face a case like that nor even similar to it. Surely that which most shocked Stevens, that is, what made him uneasy was not that the group in that place on the whole were incapable of dealing with the situation; what really was torturing his mind was the idea that he personally were not capable of handling the situation, that he personally were to let that poor girl down, and for this reason for justice not to be done. He woke up at night soaked in sweat, and tormented by strange nightmares, which were the result of the cruelest and completest desperation.

—According to the parents’ version, Sarah was a very much loved girl, who had no known enemies. This was an opinion shared by her teachers and acquaintances. Nobody wanted her death, and she had never received not even the slightest sign of a threat—mumbled Thomas, distracting the detective from his anguish and tribulations.

—Excuse me, but it is evident that someone
did
desire her death, because it is a fact that she has been murdered. Another very different thing is that we have not been able to discover it —said Gordon, with a dry and fatigued tone of voice.

That somewhat impertinent correction, though true, provoked a brief uncomfortable period of silence. The police chief, tested and sensible did not take this as anything personal.

—Of course, Gordon. That is our responsibility. I am giving the acquaintances version, and that’s it. It is clear that somebody must have hated her, and that person hated her enough to desire her death... and to make those desires come true.

—That takes us to think especially of her boyfriend, that is Mark Walton —pointed out one of the agents.

—Yes, that is true. But we must be very careful. After what has happened with Simpson, we can’t goof up again. Now the judge is going to be reluctant to okay any of our movements. And we are lucky that for now the press has not decided to pour out their attention on this case. If they do, we will be much more limited.

Karen couldn’t stop rethinking that the body had no signs of violent aggression. It was something that was abnormal, and that had to have a well founded explanation. Suddenly it very much dawned on her.

—Oh Lord, I have just thought of a possibility that we haven’t considered yet.

—Were all ears, Karen—said the chief of police, knowing that he could expect either total silence or some kind of intelligent reflection from her as an agent. Many times he had wondered how the devil she had stayed there in Cedar Falls instead of moving to Chicago to advance in training and find a place where she could let loose her infinite capacities to advance on the job.

—It’s not a matter of ruling out the hypothesis that some friend, or even boyfriend, and we don’t even know the possible motive, were to kill her. But I see very little anger in this crime. There is very little emotional involvement. I don’t know if I am making myself clear.

—Crystal clear. Go on please.

—Well, what if the person that killed her was a person that had a certain amount of authority over her? That is someone that she would not resist because supposedly nothing bad could come from that kind of person.

—A professor?—asked Ron, intrigued and fascinated by the idea.

—Yes, a professor or even a police agent...

Patrick Thomas couldn’t avoid taking a couple of steps backwards. He would never have come up with that kind of monstrosity, even though he did know very well how cruel and mean a perturbed individual could be.

—One of our own?

—Not necessarily. Someone that has come from far away, from Rochester, for example, even from Minneapolis... It wouldn’t be the first time a police officer takes advantage of his status in order to commit a crime, knowing that the victim will be vulnerable to him.

—I’m not going to rule it out, Karen, but it’s hard for me to conceive of it. I prefer to consider that it could be a professor that is obsessed with the girl and that the matter got out of hand —mumbled the police chief, who was still a little shocked.

—It seems equally shocking sir —suggested Ron, that now couldn’t stop mulling over this possibility and that was envious of his colleague Karen’s imaginative capacity.

Stevens had been listening in silence, absorbing the information, as if it had been filtering through his pores and had been getting to his brain in electric shock waves. He admired agent Phillips, and here was evidence that that devotion had a solid foundation. For the first time since the beginning of the meeting he was feeling strangely euphoric.

—This campus has security, doesn’t it?

—Yes, of course. It has 4 security guards, two of which work on each shift by weeks. Two of them work the day shift and the other two the night shift —answered the police chief immediately.

—Has anyone interrogated them?

Nobody answered the question.  Impressive silence set in on the room as if it were to remind everyone that they weren’t prepared to take on an investigation of these proportions, and they would need to make a much greater effort if they really wanted to find the killer as soon as possible.

—Gordon, let’s not torture ourselves any more. It’s evident that it’s not the case and nobody has done it. The majority of us know those persons, we have been working with them for years, and if it had not been for Karen’s comment, I would never have thought of suspecting of any of the four... And I think I am speaking for all —said Ron, adopting a candid attitude in order to search for possible suspects.