Snipped in the Bud (26 page)

She stared at me for a long moment; then her eyes widened. “So, it was me you were referring to in the newspaper article? You’re ready to name me as the killer? Do you truly think I would take another human being’s life?”

“I don’t want to think so, Bea, but I know how much you love Hannah.”

“Which is why I confronted Professor Reed about her Tuesday morning. I may have stepped out of bounds—he was one of my bosses, after all—but my duty to Hannah comes first. I told him in no uncertain terms to stay away from her or I’d report him for sexual harassment. That got his attention, believe me. But I certainly didn’t kill the man.”

“Did anyone see or hear you talk to him?”

“Professor Puffer did. He called me into his office afterward and asked me what had happened, but I refused to tell him. It was none of his business.”

I glanced over at the Dragon’s office, where all was quiet, thank God. “Did you tell the police about your confrontation with Reed?”

“My niece is none of their business, either—but, yes, I did tell them.”

I was so relieved I wanted to hug her. But there was still another hurdle to get over. “When you left here at noon, where did you go?”

“To see Hannah. When I learned she wasn’t in, I went home. My landlady has already verified that for the detectives. I love Hannah as my own child, Abby, and I’d do just about anything to keep her from being hurt, but I would never kill another human being.” She took my hands in hers and gazed into my eyes. “Please promise me you won’t let this get out. It’s been terribly difficult for Hannah and I don’t want to see her suffer any further. After all, Carson Reed is dead, and she’s safe, so there’s really no reason to drag their names through the mud, is there?”

“You’re right.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling for the first time.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from Puffer’s office. At my gasp, Bea shook her head. “He still throws things when he’s upset.” She glanced at her watch. “I really must hurry. I still have to get some things ready for mailing.”

I wanted to hurry, too—away from Puffer. I thanked Bea for her time, wished her a safe trip, and started for the stairway, satisfied that I could cross her off the list.

“Abby, just a moment,” Bea called. “Remember the letters you asked about, the ones Professor Reed was supposed to send out to the clerkship applicants? Surprisingly, they’re right here in my dictation.”

I hurried back for a look. In front of her was a short stack of handwritten notes with envelopes. “Would you mind if I glanced through them?”

I could tell by the pursing of her lips that she was debating the ethics issue. But I
had
promised to keep Hannah’s secret. Surely that was worth a peek. “Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll even stuff and stamp them for you—I remember how to work the stamp machine—then I’ll drop them in the mail on my way home.”

She considered my offer for a moment, then smiled. “That would help a lot.”

As soon as she was gone, I sat down at her desk and pulled the stack toward me. But before I had a chance to look at them, Puffer’s door opened, and from inside his office he yelled, “Boyd! Come in here.”

My stomach lurched. I was alone with the Dragon. And I wasn’t wearing a disguise.
ZAP.

“B
ea just left,” I called nervously. “Sorry.”

Puffer stuck his head out and saw me, and his face went purple. “You!” he bellowed, charging toward me. “How dare you show your face around here!”

“I’m just helping Bea,” I squeaked, cringing as he came to a stop on the other side of the desk.

“After what you told that reporter, you should be banned from this school for life.”

What
I
told the reporter? That did it. I shot to my feet, all five feet two inches of me, sending the chair skittering backward. Fire-breathing dragon or not, he wasn’t getting away with that nonsense. “How about what you’ve been saying about
me,
Professor? You’ve done everything in your power to make me look guilty, so don’t even try to criticize me for defending myself. Talk about nerve!” I huffed loudly and glared at him, hoping he’d back down. Boy, was I an optimist.

Puffer moved slowly around the desk, like a hungry lion circling a lame gazelle. “You’re here to spy on me, aren’t you? To collect more nonsense to feed to the press.”

His eyes were glittering madly, and I was starting to sweat. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Sure it is. You want everyone to think I murdered that son of a bitch Reed.”

“Wait a minute. Reed was found in
your
office with
your
pencil in his neck, so it’s not a big stretch for people to conclude that you killed him.”

“All based on circumstance, not fact,” he sneered. “Or can’t you tell the difference? Fact. A can of black pencils sits on my desk within easy reach. Fact. Reed came into my office to discuss my tenure application, which, for your information, the police found on the desk. Fact. I was short on time, so we agreed to meet later, as my appointment book shows. What happened afterward is pure conjecture. Is it any wonder you flunked my class?”

That hurt. But since the Dragon was towering above me, looking very ugly and threatening, I kept silent and looked around for a means of escape.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Kenny carrying a stack of boxes toward Carson Reed’s office. He peered around them and saw us. “I’m supposed to start packing up Professor Reed’s office. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine,” I called.
Really, really fine
. Whether Kenny was a pet thief or not, it was better than being alone with Puffer.

As he continued into Reed’s office, I turned my gaze back to the Dragon, and although my insides were still trembling, I managed to retrieve the chair and sit in it, crossing my arms over my chest and saying nonchalantly, “I think you should leave now.”

And the award for Best Actress in a Tense Situation goes to…Abby Knight!

I’d get no applause from Puffer. In fact, he looked as though he would have liked to go for my throat, but he wouldn’t dare touch me now, not with Kenny there.

At that very moment Kenny came out of Reed’s office and headed for the stairs. My heart sank to the level of my ankle bones. “Leaving so soon?” I called.

“Just going for more boxes. Back in a sec.”

“Want some help?”

“I’ve got it,” he called from halfway down the steps. I risked a peek at the Dragon. Dear God.

His eyes were slits of rage, glaring with such intensity that I could feel my skin blistering. He grabbed the back of the chair and spun me around so I couldn’t see him, then he leaned down from behind me to snarl in my right ear, “I never did like you, Knight. I knew you were trouble from the moment you first bounced into my lecture hall.” He swung the chair in the other direction, whispering into my left ear, “You know what you need?”

Rescuing?

At that moment Kenny came up again, panting slightly. Instantly, Puffer released my chair and stepped back.

“More boxes,” Kenny called and disappeared into the office.

I shot out of the chair, ready to flee if Puffer came at me again. But he simply shook his fist and snarled, “I’m not done with you, Betty Boob.” Then he stalked back to his office.

Kenny came out again and headed for the steps. “Last trip,” he called, then he took a look at me and paused. “Is everything all right?”

I sank into the chair and dropped my head into my hands. “It got a little tense there for a moment but it’s okay now. Stick around for awhile, okay?”

“It was that article in today’s paper, wasn’t it?” Kenny asked as he strolled toward me. “I’ll bet the old Dragon was fuming. He’s got to be worried, especially if you really
are
close to naming the killer.”

“I never should have talked to the reporter,” I said with a groan.

Kenny snickered. “They’re almost as bad as lawyers when it comes to twisting words. He started to turn away, then noticed the letters on the desk between us. “Is that Professor Reed’s stationery?”

“Some of his mail didn’t get out last week. I’m taking care of it for Bea.”

The news seemed to unsettle him—or maybe he was merely being curious as he craned his neck for a closer look. Whatever the reason for his interest, it had my inner alarm buzzing. When that happens, I don’t ask why, I just act. I leaned forward, my hands covering the names on the envelopes. “They’re thank-you notes.”

“Professor Reed didn’t mention anything to me about sending out thank-you notes.”

I shrugged, wishing I could get him off the subject. Then I remembered the newspaper photo. “Say, Kenny, I have a question for you. Didn’t you tell me you met Marvin Brown for the first time on the day of the memorial service?”

“That’s right.”

He was still trying to see the names, so I dropped my purse on top of the envelopes and dug out the print. “Take a look at this. Isn’t that you standing behind Brown?”

He gave it a cursory glance and tossed it back. “It appears that way.”

“So you
did
meet him before the service.”

“All right, Abby. You caught me. But give me a break. Everyone knows how you feel about Dermacol. Can you blame me for not wanting you to find out I was doing their legal legwork?”

“I thought Reed was handling it.”

“Officially, yes, but
I
did the research,” he said proudly, thumping his chest. “
I
wrote the briefs. The only thing he did was sign his name to them.”

“Please tell me that’s all you were doing for them, Kenny.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, someone has been stealing pets for their lab.”

He burst out with a sharp laugh, as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. “You’re accusing
me
of stealing them? Why would I do something as stupid as that?”

“I don’t know. Why does anyone steal? For money?”

“Obviously,” he said, looking bemused, “you’re forgetting who I am. I
have
money.”

Why hadn’t I noticed before now how much he resembled his father—right down to the attitude? “You mean your father has money, don’t you?”

“Same pocket,” he said with a dismissive shrug.

I dangled the black-and-white glossy in front of him. “You and your buddy Dustin were identified from this picture as being the same guys seen in a gray minivan shortly after a Chihuahua disappeared.”

“You know what, Abby? I’m betting lots of people ride in gray minivans. All that picture proves is that I was at that protest march.”

Damn. He had me there. “We also have photos of a gray minivan driving into the Dermacol facility just after it was used to snatch a dog.”

“And that connects me to the thefts how?”

It didn’t connect him at all, and I was out of ways to get him to confess. The problem was, I was also more convinced than ever that he was involved. “Then you’re flat-out denying you had anything to do with the pet thefts?”

He gave me a look of disgust. “What do you think?” Then he walked away, shaking his head as though he couldn’t believe how absurd I was.

Frustrated, I called after him, “I don’t believe you, Kenny.”

“You know what? I don’t care. Try to prove it.”

“I will.”

At least he’d forgotten about the letters. And how cleverly he had avoided giving straight answers to my questions. He strode back to Reed’s office, where I heard him tossing books into boxes. I’d rattled him; that was evident by the noise he was making. Good. There wasn’t much I could do about Dermacol’s testing policies, but I was going to find a way to connect him to those pet thefts.

I glanced over at Puffer’s office, surprised to see that his light was out. He must have left while I was talking to Kenny. Odd that I hadn’t heard the elevator ding.
Okay, Abby. Get those letters stuffed before he decides to come back and make good on his threat.

I started to stuff the top letter into the envelope but couldn’t resist taking a peek first.

Poor Ms. Albertson. How disappointing it would be to get that rejection. I slid it into the envelope, then picked up the next one. The name stopped me in surprise.

Kenny was rejected?

I got up and walked over to Reed’s office, where I found Kenny pulling file folders from the desk. He looked up with a scowl. “What now?”

“Professor Reed told you in person that he’d selected you for the clerkship, right?”

“Yes.” He gave the drawer a shove and rose, a distrustful look in his eyes. “Why?”

My inner alarm was starting to buzz, so all I said was, “I was just wondering.”

He stared at me, not saying a word, so I returned to Bea’s desk to ponder the matter. There had to be a mix-up. Kenny was arrogant but, as he’d pointed out, he wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t claim something he didn’t have, especially something as big as a federal clerkship. Reed must have written Kenny’s letter, then had a change of heart.

Or had he? As Marco had pointed out, everything we knew about Reed giving the clerkship to Kenny
came
from Kenny. I thought back to the first time he mentioned what Reed had done for him:
“He’d just secured a clerkship for me with a federal appellate judge. I hadn’t even had a chance to thank him.”

But if Reed had told him in person, wouldn’t Kenny have thanked him then?

Too many things weren’t adding up. I needed someone to look at the facts objectively. I turned my back on Reed’s office, pulled out my cell phone, and hit speed-dial number two. “Marco, listen to this,” I whispered. “I just found a letter Carson Reed wrote to Kenny telling him he’d been turned down for the clerkship. The letter was dated Monday, yet Kenny says Reed informed him Monday afternoon that he’d been selected. Something’s not right.”

“Where are you?”

“At the law school. Kenny is here packing up Reed’s office and Puffer was in earlier, but he left, thank God. So what do you think? Am I right to be suspicious?”

“If Kenny was rejected, then someone else must have been chosen? Any way to check on that?”

I shuffled through the remaining letters. “There’s nothing here. Maybe I’m wrong, and Kenny did get the clerkship. Maybe Reed changed his mind and forgot to pull his letter.”

“Have you told Kenny about it?”

“Not yet.”

“Good. Put it in your purse and come back here. I’ve got new information.”

I glanced at the Dragon’s dark window. “About Puffer?”

“About his phone.”

“I knew it! He replaced it, didn’t he?”

“He probably had to. After I told Reilly what you remembered about the handset lying in Reed’s lap, the cops went to his office to confiscate it as evidence. Good thing, too, since the lab tests showed it was used to deliver a blow to Reed’s head. But get this. Reilly checked his original notes. When he arrived at the murder scene, the handset was in the base, yet no fingerprints, not even Puffer’s, were found on it. Someone wiped it clean and put it back. Luckily, they were able to find traces of scalp on it.”

“I’m confused. It couldn’t have been Puffer who put it back. He didn’t arrive until
after
Reilly got there.”

“Are you sure he wasn’t up there earlier?”

I thought back to the moment I found Reed’s body, then I ran through the events up to when I stepped out of the office for air while Kenny got ready to heave into the wastebasket. If Puffer had returned then, Kenny would have seen him. Besides, Reilly had shown up a few minutes later, so it couldn’t have been Puffer.