Tunnel Vision (12 page)

It was nearly eight-thirty and classes would be getting underway soon. A few students still straggled across the campus, looking as if they had just rolled out of bed and were still wearing whatever they had slept in.

She knew she should have checked in at the department before driving to the university, but had decided she was capable of conducting a couple of interviews on her own. Brodie might be pissed off and she knew it. To fend off some of her potential anger, she left a message with the dispatcher to notify her training officer of her location and the approximate time she would return. The night before she had gotten a list of professors in Elliott Brauner’s department. Even though she didn’t have class schedules for them, she decided to prowl the halls of the Biology Building and visit Brauner’s office. She left her purse in her car, locked it, and walked up the steps into the building. A little more than forty-eight hours earlier there had been near panic in the building as students and staff members strained to see what all the excitement had been about. Now it seemed as if nothing remarkable had happened. Inside the front door was a directory listing the office assignments for professors in the building. She didn’t remember seeing it the day Garcia’s head had been found and reprimanded herself for missing a detail like that. Looking at the list of names, she checked the directory. Dr. Malcolm Roth’s office was listed as 316. Dr. Elliott Brauner was 330.

As she climbed the stairs to the third floor, the smell of formaldehyde grew increasingly stronger. With most of the labs located on the second floor, it was understandable, but the smell seemed to rise and permeate into the third floor and grow stronger. Maggie could hear the sound of keyboards clicking rapidly when she reached the top of the stairwell. Occasionally a phone rang behind one of the doors. Fluorescent lighting lit the walls and floor making them seem slightly yellowed. The hallway was Tshaped and Maggie looked to see which direction the room numbers ran before moving farther down the hall. Near the end of the T, she found 316. The name Malcolm Roth, Ph.D. was neatly stenciled in black on the opaque glass door. Below it, in slightly smaller lettering, “Microbiology”.

Maggie decided to skip Dr. Roth for the moment and locate Brauner’s office. Halfway down the T was Room 330. There were no lights on inside and the same stenciling she had seen on Roth’s door was also on this door. Elliott Brauner, Ph.D., Microbiology. She tried the doorknob, but the room was locked. Returning to Roth’s office, she knocked on the door. A moment later the door was opened by a handsome young man in his late twenties, a cell phone pressed between his shoulder and ear.

“May I help you?” he asked.

Maggie smiled and showed him her badge. “I hope so. Detective Weston with the Cedar Springs Police Department.”

“Is this about what happened Monday?”

“No. I’m investigating a missing person. Dr. Brauner’s wife filed a report that he hasn’t been home for a few days.”

The man smiled at her and opened the door wider, ending his conversation and clipping the cell onto his belt. He was medium height and weight and his light brown hair was neatly styled. He wore tan Dockers over a polished pair of loafers. Maggie hadn’t seen a man wearing loafers in a while.

“I’m sorry, Detective. Please come in. I’m Daryll Chambers, Dr. Roth’s assistant. He doesn’t like students dropping by without an appointment and I thought you might be some eager coed looking for free answers to the next exam.”

Maggie stepped into the office and glanced around. Anti-everything posters hung on the walls of the outer office. A wooden desk was pushed against one wall. A computer cursor blinked where Chambers had apparently stopped when he answered the door. Next to the desk was a row of four-drawer file cabinets. The room was in moderate disarray, but no more than one would expect in any college office. “Is Dr. Roth in class now?”

“Until ten,” Chambers nodded looking at his wristwatch. “Then he has a break until after lunch. If you need to talk to him you might try back then.”

“I noticed that Dr. Brauner’s office is locked. I don’t suppose you have a key.”

“Only Dr. Brauner and his assistant have a key to his office as far as I know.”

“I gather you know his assistant, Mr. Obregon, since you’re both in the same department.”

“Everyone knows Tony. We were all a little surprised when Brauner made him his assistant. But then Brauner is a little unusual himself.”

“How so?”

“Distant. Never associates with anyone else in the department unless his wife is with him and forces him to. Tony’s pretty much the same way, so I suppose that’s why they’re able to stand one another.”

“Are Mr. Obregon and Dr. Brauner friendly?”

Chambers laughed lightly. “About as friendly as a cobra and a mongoose. They fight all the time. Just last week I was on my way here and came up the back stairs. When I passed Brauner’s office they were practically screaming at each other.”

“Really? Could you tell what they were arguing about?”

“No, and I didn’t want to know. Although I did hear Brauner use his favorite phrase when he deals with students.”

“Which is?”

“This establishes a new standard for incompetence and carelessness,” Chambers said raising his voice and smiling.

“Was he addressing Mr. Obregon or another

person?” Maggie inquired.

Chambers seemed to think a second and then shrugged. “I assumed he was talking to Tony because before I got to my office I heard a door slam. The next thing I heard was Tony calling Dr. Brauner a stupid old fucker.” Chambers smiled sheepishly and said,

“Excuse my language.”

“Do you remember which day last week you

overheard the argument?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t. But it must have been near the end of the week. Definitely after Wednesday.”

“I’d like to get into Dr. Brauner’s office and take a look around. Do you know anyone who might have a key to the other offices?” Maggie asked, glancing to a key ring lying on Chambers’ desk.

“I only have a key to this office,” Chambers said as he picked up his key ring. “I can call maintenance or security. One of them might have a master key for all the rooms.”

“I’d appreciate that, Mr. Chambers,” Maggie smiled as he picked up the desk phone and started to pocket his keys while punching in a few numbers. The keys missed his pocket and fell to the floor. Maggie picked them up and handed them back to him as he explained the situation to whoever answered the phone, said thank you, and hung up.

“Thank you, Detective. The security supervisor said he’ll send someone over in a few minutes. You can wait here if you want,” Chamber said casually.

“Thanks, but I’ll go back to Dr. Brauner’s office. Thanks for your help,” she said. As she reached the door, she looked back at Chambers who had already sat back down at his desk.

“I’ll be back around ten. Please tell Dr. Roth I’d like to speak with him,” she said.

“Will do,” Chambers said without looking up. Maggie waited outside Brauner’s office for about ten minutes before she heard footsteps trudging up a back stairway to the third floor. Finally she saw a gray head appear over the top step. A man in his fifties, wearing dark brown work pants and a shortsleeve tan work shirt, displaying a patch with the university seal on the right sleeve, appeared to be winded by the time he reached the top step. As he took a deep breath and approached her she could read the name “Ralph” embroidered over his left shirt pocket. He was carrying a large metal ring with dozens of keys hanging on it.

“You the one who wants in 330?” he asked as he reached her.

“Yes,” she replied.

“You got permission from somebody?”

Pointing to the badge hanging over the waistband of her slacks, she said, “Yes, again.”

“Sorry, but, as I’m sure you know, we’ve had a little trouble here recently,” Ralph said as he fumbled through the keys looking for the right one. “And I sure don’t want no trouble from Dr. Brauner on account of me letting someone in here.”

“Who else would have keys to this office?”

“Besides this one, probably only three or four. Dr. Brauner’s a little paranoid about who has access to his office. He has us change the lock every time he gets a new assistant. Must have somethin’ top secret in there. Ah, here is it,” he said absently. He turned the key and opened the door.

“Thanks. I’ll make sure it’s secure before I leave,”

Maggie said as she reached in and flipped on the light switch. She looked around the room as Ralph searched for the key to Brauner’s inner office. When he finally opened the door, he turned to leave. “Tell you what I’m gonna do, Officer. I’ll set the doors to lock automatically when you close it. It’ll save me another trip.”

Maggie stepped back out into the hallway as half the man’s body disappeared down the steps.

“Ralph!” she called out.

“Yeah,” he answered, stopping to turn halfway around.

“Would the janitorial staff have a master key, too?”

He scratched his head a second before answering.

“Yeah, I think they might, now that you mention it.”

“Do you know a janitor named Cruz Garcia?”

“Heard the name. I believe he works evenings and I only work days.”

She nodded and walked back into Brauner’s office. The office was set up in the same configuration as Roth’s with a small outer office and a slightly larger room which served as Brauner’s office. The difference between Roth’s office and Brauner’s was striking. No posters decorated the walls and there were no stacks of papers. The outer office looked unoccupied. There was a wooden desk, which she assumed was for his assistant. An older model computer sat on one side of the desk. There were no file cabinets in the front office. Sitting at the desk, she opened the drawers and looked through a few small stacks of papers. Apparently the papers were student assignments waiting to be graded. Other than the papers, everything else in the drawers was what she would have expected to find; typing paper, a bottle of correction fluid, pens, pencils, paper clips. Maggie turned on the overhead light in Brauner’s office. The room was certainly not overly decorated, but had a homier look than the outer office. A bank of file cabinets lined the wall just inside the door. A striped Roman shade covered the window and three potted plants sat on the windowsill. Maggie poked a finger into each pot. The soil was dry and the plants probably hadn’t been watered in several days. Turning away from the window, she surveyed the contents of the room. There were pictures and documents on the walls and she read each one. Three college degrees hung directly behind Brauner’s desk and she speculated they would seem intimidating to anyone sitting in front of the desk. An undergraduate diploma from Columbia and graduate diplomas from the University of Chicago and Harvard. Remembering the picture his wife had shown her, Elliott Brauner had not exactly fit the mental image anyone would have of an Ivy Leaguer. Hanging alongside the diplomas were commendations from the National Institutes of Health, the Center for Disease Control, and a few other governmental agencies she had never heard of. On a side wall between two large bookcases were a series of pictures Maggie assumed to be family pictures. Several pictures were of Helen, but there were none that included Brauner himself. Either the professor had been camera shy or was extremely modest. One of the bookshelves held a small compact disc player. Next to it was a collection of CDs, mostly classical with a smattering of jazz recordings. Brauner’s desk was cleared except for an ink blotter/calendar combination and a picture of Helen leaning against a huge tree, smiling broadly. Maggie sat down at the desk and pulled a drawer open. A stack of official looking papers embossed with the university seal were paper clipped together and lying on top. Maggie took them out and was glancing through them when she was interrupted by a loud voice.

“How the fuck did you get in here?”

She looked up quickly and saw a menacing

looking Hispanic man standing in the doorway of Brauner’s office. He was clenching and unclenching his hands and she reflexively touched the service revolver under her left arm. The man appeared to be in his mid to late twenties and reminded her of more than a few of the Hispanic gang members she had encountered on patrol. He had curly black hair and dark brooding eyes that seemed to drill through her. He was dressed in khaki work pants and a white tshirt. A gold chain hung around his neck and although she couldn’t see what was hanging at the end of it, she would have made book it was a crucifix. There was an old, but still noticeable, scar on the right side of his forehead.

“You deaf? I asked how you got in here?” the man asked loudly, taking a step forward.

“That’s close enough, sir. There’s no need to get worked up,” she said as she stood. The man’s eyes dropped to her waistband.

“You a cop?”

“Detective Weston, Cedar Springs Police. Who are you?” she asked.

“Brauner’s assistant.”

“Tony Obregon, right?” Maggie said with a slight smile. “I was hoping I’d have a chance to speak to you.”

“About what?”

“Dr. Brauner’s wife has reported him missing. I’m checking to see if anything here would tell me where he might be.”

“Well, he ain’t here, that’s for damn sure. You got a warrant?”

“I don’t need one when the family requests assistance. When was the last time you saw Dr. Brauner?”

Obregon shrugged. “Thursday, I guess.”

“So you didn’t see him Friday.”

“I just told you when I saw him. I came in Friday and the office was locked. I figured Brauner must have gotten sick or something.”

“What did you do then?”

“What do you think? I went home and went back to bed with my old lady.”

Obregon turned and stalked back into the front office. Maggie followed him. He sat down and opened a drawer in his desk.

“I suppose you’ve already been through this,” he sneered.

“How long have you been Dr. Brauner’s

assistant?” she asked, ignoring his comment.

“Eighteen months, three weeks, four days, and counting.”

“That’s pretty precise.”

He looked at her and smiled wryly. “Working for Brauner makes you that way. Almost like counting the days on a prison sentence.”