The Probability of Murder
Read The Probability of Murder Online
Authors: Ada Madison
Praise forTHE SQUARE ROOT OF MURDER
“A fresh, entertaining whodunit…Sophie is an intelligent person who works her investigation using the same skills she applies to math problems and puzzle making. The heroine lives a full life with her significant other, has good friends and a job she loves, and though her days are jammed, she makes time to search for the killer in this enjoyable new academic mystery series.”
—
Genre Go Round Reviews
“Math professor Sophie Knowles makes an auspicious debut in Ada Madison’s delightful
The Square Root of Murder
. Petty academic politics and faculty secrets prove fertile topics in Madison’s very capable hands.”
—Miranda James, national bestselling
author of
File M for Murder
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Ada Madison
THE SQUARE ROOT OF MURDER
THE PROBABILITY OF MURDER
MURDΣR
Ada Madison
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
THE PROBABILITY OF MURDER
A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / March 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Camille Minichino.
Math, puzzle, and games by Camille Minichino.
Cover illustration by Lisa French.
Cover design by Lesley Worrell.
Interior map by Dick Rufer.
Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-56086-0
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®
PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
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If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
Thanks as always to my dream critique team: mystery authors Jonnie Jacobs, Rita Lakin, and Margaret Lucke. They are ideally thorough, supportive, and knowledgeable about all things publishing, and without them, I’d still be on my first book.
Thanks to Dr. Jeanne Trubek, mathematics chairwoman at Emmanuel College in Boston, a constant resource for this series, and to Dr. Sally Dias, woman of many titles at Emmanuel and my friend and supporter.
A special word about my good friend, chemist and ice climber William McConachie. Bill offered countless resources in the form of stories, photographs, accident reports, websites, and manuscript critique. He suited up, demonstrated his tools, and guided me through the fascinating terrain, in a way that was inspiring. He stopped just short of taking me with him up the side of an icy mountain. (Whew.) If I missed a detail, forgive me, Bill, and thanks for your patience and thoroughness in sharing your passion.
Thanks also to the extraordinary Inspector Chris Lux for continued advice on police procedure. Chris is always available to
answer my questions or share a laugh. My interpretation of his counsel should not be held against him.
Thanks to the many writers and friends who offered critique, information, brainstorming, and inspiration; in particular: Gail and David Abbate, Kathryn Andrews, Judy Barnett, Sara Bly, Nannette Carroll, Margaret Hamilton, Mary McConnell, Ann Parker, Mark Ramos, Mary Solon, Sue Stephenson, Jean Stokowski, Karen Streich, Mark Streich, Ellen Twaddell, and Ellyn Wheeler.
My deepest gratitude goes to my husband, Dick Rufer, the best there is. I can’t imagine working without his support. He’s my dedicated webmaster (
www.minichino.com
), layout specialist, and on-call IT department.
Finally, how lucky can I be? I’m working with a special and dedicated editor, Michelle Vega, who is superb at seeing the whole without missing the tiniest detail. After seven books with Michelle, I’m more impressed than ever.
There is no royal road to geometry.
—EUCLID
Another Friday, another party in the Benjamin Franklin Hall lounge, the most rocking place on the Henley College campus. Putting Henley, Massachusetts, on the map.
Pity the poor humanities majors, with no building to call their own, no colorful mathematicians and scientists to celebrate.
Today the honoree was mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius.
“The wicked superhero,” cracked computer genius Daryl Farmer, a freshman all the way from California. “How old is the dude? Like, two hundred and seven?” Daryl stood with one hand in his jeans pocket, the other on his hip. Apparently the guy was unconcerned about aggravating his statistics professor, who could manipulate his grade. If I were so inclined.
“Two twenty-one,” I said, amazed at how close he’d come.
“Wish I had a blowup of the dude for the wall on my side of the dorm.”
Nerdy, sarcastic guys like Daryl were a new addition to the formerly women-only college. I liked them.
Daryl did have a point about the abstruse personalities the Mathematics Department came up with when it was our turn to choose a theme for the weekly celebrations.
The parties in the Franklin Hall lounge were sponsored by its occupants, in ascending order, by floor: the departments of mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry. We took over the otherwise drab uncarpeted room on the first floor and displayed posters and equipment that evoked the Woman or Man of the Week.
I love teaching math. I didn’t even mind the extra work involved in chairing my department this year. But there was no question that the gatherings were more fun when one of the sciences was in charge.
Since classes, and the parties, started eight weeks ago, the get-togethers they’d sponsored involved safety glasses, asbestos gloves, magnets, and, almost always, things that plugged in and flashed on and off. We’d seen colored smoke, fire, and liquids that changed hues before our eyes. Stiff competition, the only drawbacks being the unhealthy smells when the Biology Department took the lead and the risk of an explosion when it was the Chemistry Department’s day.
Our fun meetings had grown from seasonal to monthly to, now, weekly. The idea was to motivate the math and science majors to read beyond their textbooks and their mandatory class assignments and interest them in the historical backgrounds of the celebrities in their fields.
“Bring them in with food; keep them here with the excitement of learning,” said my optimistic colleague Fran Emerson as we took seats next to each other for the Möbius presentation.
We faculty were cheered by a standing-room-only crowd today, as we were most weeks, refusing to believe the free snacks and soft drinks that lined the conference table were the main attraction. Glancing at the paper plates in the hands of many students, overflowing with cheese, crackers, fruit,
and enough brownies for their own dorm party, I could tell some food budgets ran out by Friday afternoon.
A senior physics major took it upon herself to bring us to order, using a bell and clapper from the storeroom to get our attention. Students made a last-minute dash to the goodies on the conference table and eventually took seats on chairs or on the floor and fell silent.