Purl Up and Die (10 page)

Sandy took another sip of her sugary drink. “I was sitting on the floor outside my physiology professor's office, waiting for him to finish with a class so I could ask questions on a project he'd assigned. I had my book open and was reading the next day's assignment when I heard voices across the hall. Professor Smith came out of his office and Laura was with him. They obviously didn't notice me on the floor across the hall, because Laura kept talking to him. And her voice got higher. I remember her saying, ‘Please, let me do some extra credit project so I can raise that grade.' Something like that. I just remember how upset she looked. Anyway, Professor Smith shook his head and said, ‘No, that wouldn't be fair to the other students who took the exam.' Then he locked his office door. Laura kept pleading with him, her voice getting higher as Professor Smith started to walk away. She looked like she was going to follow him, but Professor Smith kind of waved her off then hurried down the hall and left.”

“What did Laura do? Did she follow after him?”

“No. I remember she just stood and stared at his closed office door. At first, I thought she was reading the notices on the bulletin board next to it. But she kept staring for several minutes. I remember because it was weird. I was trying to read that chapter assignment, but I kept looking up at Laura and she was still standing there.” Sandy took a longer drink of latte.

“Did she do anything else? Did she leave finally?”

“I thought she was going to because she started walking down the hall. But she didn't go down the stairs. Instead she went into the ladies' restroom. I went back to reading my assignment. Then a couple of minutes later, I heard this crying sound. A woman's voice. I looked up and saw Laura, crying loudly and running down the hallway right past me. Her hair was suddenly all messed up, and the top of her blouse was open. She really looked upset. I wondered if there had been some guy, you know, some weirdo hiding in the women's restroom and he made a move on her or something. Anyway, she kept crying all the way down the hallway and down the stairs. I guessed that she went outside. It wasn't until a couple of days later that everyone heard about a woman student accusing a professor of sexual assault. I never even thought of Laura until we all learned the professor accused was Professor Smith.” Sandy looked into Kelly's eyes. “From that moment on, I had this bad feeling about Laura. I just knew in my gut that she was the one who charged Professor Smith with assault.”

“Did you ever tell anyone else about what you saw?”

“I told a study group friend what I'd seen, and she said not to get into it. After all, I hadn't seen anything. Not really. Just a conversation between a student and a professor, then a girl running out of the restroom crying.” Sandy shrugged. “My friend was right. I hadn't really seen anything. So I never told anyone else. But, you know, I have never been able to forget it.” Sandy gave Kelly a wry look. “It always bothered me for some reason.”

Kelly met Sandy's clear gaze and nodded. She wanted to give her affirmation. “I know how you feel, Sandy. Sometimes we see things that look kind of everyday normal on the outside, but something about it bothers us. I call it my gut or my instinct. If it keeps poking me about something, I've learned to follow it up. There's something I need to know.”

Sandy smiled in acknowledgment. “I know what you mean. I live by my instinct all the time. Trust it implicitly.”

Kelly returned her smile. “Thank you so much for sharing that story with me, Sandy. Now maybe my gut can help me find some answers to who killed Laura Brewster.”

Sandy's smile disappeared. “I sure hope it isn't Professor Smith. I heard lots of stories about how his career took a nosedive after those charges of assault.”

“Well, I'm sure the police will find out who did it, Sandy. And my money is still on the violent intruder who broke into Laura's apartment. That makes a lot of sense.”

Sandy gave a little shiver. “Brother, I think I need to warm up this coffee after hearing that.”

Kelly joined her at the coffee bar once again.

Afternoon of the next day

“Hi, Lisa. How's your PT workload coming?” Kelly said, looking up from the yarn on her needles. “You're usually booked solid.”

Lisa dumped her bag on the long library table. “That's for sure. I swear, today has been frustrating. Every client was late. Only about five minutes, but that adds up, and totally screws up your schedule.” Lisa settled into a chair across the table from Kelly.

“I hear that.” Kelly finished her knit stitch before glancing up at Lisa.

The simple garter or knit stitch was the mainstay of Kelly's knitting repertoire. In the garter stitch, she would slip the knitting needle in her right hand into the left side of the last stitch on the needle in her left hand. Then she would wrap the yarn around the needles, and slide the stitch off the end of the left-hand needle onto the needle in her right hand.
Slip, wrap, slide.
The purl stitch, however, was different. The motions were slightly opposite, and if she didn't do it often enough, Kelly could make mistakes.

“Tell me, how did your visit go with Sandy yesterday?”

“Boy, was that ever informative,” Kelly said, letting the ribbon yarn and needles drop to her lap. “Sandy told me that she was sitting across the hallway next to another professor's office door, waiting for him to finish a class. So she got to witness what went on between Laura Brewster and Professor Smith. She said they both came out of his office and she was pleading with him to give her an extra project to raise her
exam grade. Sandy saw Smith shake his head. Then she heard him say, ‘No, that wouldn't be fair to the other students who took the exam.' She said Laura kept pleading with him, her voice getting higher.”

“Uh-oh, sounds like Laura was on the brink of losing it,” Lisa said, arms folded on the table.

“Yeah, I thought so, too. Anyway, Sandy said the professor walked away and Laura just stood there staring at the office door for several minutes.”

“That sounds a little weird. What happened then?”

“Sandy said Laura walked down the hall and went into the restroom. Then a few minutes later, Sandy heard loud crying and saw Laura run out of the bathroom, hair all messed up and the top of her blouse open. She ran down the hall and down the stairs, crying loudly the entire time.”

Lisa met Kelly's gaze. “Oh, boy. Definitely not good. Did Sandy know if it was Laura who went to the campus police and reported a sexual assault?”

“She doesn't know, but ever since then Sandy said she's had a feeling that Laura was the student who accused Professor Smith of assault. She told only one friend, who advised Sandy not to say anything because she didn't really
see
anything.”

“Wow,” Lisa said, looking out the front windows. “That definitely arouses my suspicions, too. I'm inclined to believe that Laura Brewster made the complaint about Professor Smith three years ago, given what Sandy said. I trust her opinion. She's levelheaded.”

“I agree. Laura clearly had a grudge against Smith. And it appears that was her way of getting even. But there's no way to prove it.” Kelly took a sip from the mug of coffee
sitting beside her elbow. “Sandy also said Laura mentioned she had a friend from high school in that same class.”

“Did Sandy mention a name?”

“No, Laura simply told her she went to high school with this girl. Westgate High in Denver, she thinks.”

“That's one of the older high schools in the north of Denver, if I remember correctly.”

“I wonder how close that high school friend was to Laura.” She turned to Lisa. “You're familiar with university records. Is there any way I can access enrollment records for that particular anatomy class?”

Lisa gave Kelly a stern look. “Hold on, Sherlock. Only university personnel can access those records. So don't even think about it.”

“But you're university personnel, right?” Kelly said with a sweet smile.

Lisa laughed. “You can turn off the charm. I can't help you. Grad students don't have that kind of access.”

Kelly screwed up her face. “Drat. I guess I'll have to see if I can tempt Megan with a potential . . . uh, how shall I phrase it? Software breach?”

Lisa's blue eyes popped wide. “You mean hacking into the university system?” She threw up both hands in the “stop” position. “Not another word. I don't want to hear about it.”

“Don't worry. I won't compromise your sense of ethics. But perhaps you might bend them just a little by scribbling down the department's log-in code. Pretty please?” Kelly smiled slyly. “In the interest of criminal investigation, you understand.” Kelly slid a small scrap of paper across the knitting table to Lisa, along with a ballpoint pen.

Lisa rolled her big blue eyes and released a huge sigh, then she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder in what Kelly recognized was a gesture of impatience. Lisa took the pen and scribbled on the scrap of paper and shoved it across the table to Kelly. “There. I expect her to get in and out and only check enrollments. Promise?”

Kelly crossed her heart then held up both fingers. “Scout's honor,” she said with a big smile.

Lisa frowned at her. “Were you even a Girl Scout?”

“But of course,” Kelly said with a big smile. “Or maybe it was the Camp Fire Girls. I can't remember.”

Lisa stared at the ceiling and exhaled another huge sigh. “You're impossible, you know that?”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

“Well, hi, you two,” Megan said as she walked into the main room. “What are you talking about? Lisa's got that weird expression on her face.”

“Oh, we were discussing Ethics and Moral Equivalency. Stuff like that,” Kelly said, returning to her ribbon scarf.

Megan stared at her blankly. “Huh?”

“Kelly's teasing,” Lisa said with a wave. “We were comparing notes about demanding clients.”

“Oh, boy, do I know something about that,” Megan said as she set her colorful fiber bag at the end of the library table and settled into a chair.

Kelly looked up from her stitches briefly. “Lisa's been complaining that all her clients were late today.”

“Oooooh, that wreaks havoc on your clinic schedule.”

“Tell me about it,” Lisa said as she dug into her knitting bag and removed a lacy yellow and white sleeveless knit top.

Megan reached inside her knitting bag and brought out a handful of black-and-white yarn attached to circular knitting needles. It looked to be knitted into a circle.

Curious, Kelly pointed to Megan's black-and-white yarn. “Is that a circlet? Are you knitting a neck warmer?”

“Yes, I am. Someone showed me a photo of a neck warmer in one of those knitting magazines, and I fell in love with it. It's a great design. So I checked to see if Mimi had a similar pattern.” Megan pulled out a blue paper copy of a knitting pattern. “So I bought Lambspun's pattern instead of ordering one from a magazine.”

“Good for you, Megan,” Kelly said. “Shop locally. Keep the money in your hometown businesses.”

“Spoken like a true accountant,” Lisa added.

“I agree, so I'm doing my part and buying one of Lambspun's patterns,” Megan said, picking up her stitches on the circular needles.

“Well, it's true. I like to see small businesses thrive. Over the years, I've watched too many of them start up, then struggle to make enough money to survive. The sad truth is the majority of the new businesses don't survive those first five years.” Kelly gave a sigh. “Most of them don't have enough money to last through the lean months and still pay their bills. And their taxes.”

“I think you told us that the taxes are what will get them most of the time.” Lisa looked up from her fast-moving fingers. More of the lacy yellow yarn dangled from her needles now.

“Oh, yeah. That's the fastest way to get in trouble. With the Feds and with the state.” Kelly gave a rueful smile. “They'll jump on you faster than fleas on a dog.”

Lisa and Megan both laughed. “That sounds like one of Jayleen's sayings,” Megan said.

“Close. It's one of Curt's. I love it. It's so picturesque,” Kelly said with a laugh. “Which reminds me. I have to give Carl his monthly flea and tick medicine.”

“Well, well, well, look at this. All three of you here at the same time,” Burt said as he walked into the main knitting room, cup of coffee in hand.

“Welcome, Burt,” Kelly said.

“Yes, sit down and visit with us for a while,” Lisa added.

“I think I will,” he said, settling into the chair beside Kelly. “I get to see Kelly every day and Lisa lots of times, but I haven't seen you in a while, Megan.”

Megan looked up at him with a smile. “This past week I was catching up on lots of scheduled things I'd forgotten about, like doctor's appointments. Eye appointments. Gotta change my contact prescription. I'm thinking of having that Lasik eye surgery so I can get rid of these contacts. Oh, and a dentist appointment, too. They were all scheduled in one week. I'd forgotten about them until I checked my daytimer.”

Burt's expression turned serious. “Everything's okay, right? You did have a physical, didn't you?”

Megan gave him a daughterly grin. “Absolutely. I'm healthy as that proverbial horse.”

Burt visibly relaxed. “Oh, good. Forgive me, I'm just being a dad.”

Kelly smiled at her mentor and father figure. “We depend on that, Burt. In fact, we love it.”

“The shop keeps both you and Mimi pretty busy,” Lisa commented, looking up from the yellow and white yarn.

“Oh, yeah. That and some other stuff.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the central yarn room. It appeared empty of customers at the moment. “Since you three are all here, I might as well share some disturbing news.”