Tunnel Vision (16 page)

“That’s enough!” Maggie said as she stood up quickly. “I don’t need a fuckin’ morality lesson from you. Royce barely tolerates me as a trainee.”

“You can’t expect me to sit back and watch her teach you how to get killed! Is she still a drunk?”

“She has never been a drunk!”

“Give it up, Mag!” Tim stood and stepped away from the table. Striding toward his only daughter he continued. “She was a drunk! And when you

confronted her about it, she lost it and beat the shit out of you! You spent three days in the fuckin’

hospital!”

“She didn’t beat me!”

Tim reached out quickly and grabbed her roughly, pushing hair away from her face. “This scar on your forehead tells me different.”

“If you hadn’t had a fuckin’ hard on about getting her fired because of Stan nothing would have happened!”

“She let my best friend get murdered because she didn’t back him up. She admitted it to the review board!”

“That’s a lie!”

Pulling her closer to him, he said, “She told the board she was distracted by thinking about fuckin’

you on her day off.”

“I read the transcript of the review board. You were the one making that accusation. You didn’t know a damn thing about my relationship with Royce,” Maggie said as she jerked her arm away.

“You assigned her to a duty you knew would make her stand all day on her injured leg. You assigned her to the worst patrol sectors alone hoping she’d be injured or killed. You ordered other officers to call in sick so you could double-shift her when you knew she was already exhausted. You did everything you could to break her, but you couldn’t!”

Stopping in front of Maggie, he sneered, “I made her miserable enough to resign. I didn’t plan on her smacking you around, but at least you saw the light and kicked her ass out.”

“You were the reason she drank too much that night. If you had done that to any other officer under your command you would have been fired and you know it. I had to force her to leave before you got her killed! What happened was an accident you created. Face it, Dad. You can’t stand the idea that your daughter is a dyke and you took it out on Royce. Well, you know what? Even though Royce isn’t a part of my life anymore, I’m still fuckin’ women every chance I get. I was before I met her and I always will. Get used to it!”

Her head snapped to the side as Tim slapped her. Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall as she glared at her father. He was shaking with rage when Sean and Dan pulled him away from Maggie.

“Get out of my home, Margaret.”

She threw her napkin on the table and glanced at the faces of her brothers and sisters-in-law. One side of her mouth curved into a half smile. “Well, it’s been a fun evening. Tell Mom it was a great meal.” Turning away, she walked out of the dining room and toward the front door.

“Mag!”

She was halfway into her car when she saw Carl running toward her. “What?” she shot testily.

“I’m sorry, Maggie,” he said.

“No. I’m sorry you and the others had to see that little scene.” Looking at her brother she asked, “You feel the same way, Carl?”

“I only met Royce once…”

“Not about Royce. Are you ashamed because your sister is a lesbian?”

Carl looked uncomfortable and paused before answering.

“Guess that says it all,” Maggie said. “Tell Mom I’m sorry, okay.”

“Wait, Mag. I’m not ashamed of you. I just don’t understand it, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, neither do it. I know who I am, Carl. And this is who I’ll always be. I can’t change that and I can’t change what you and the rest of them think about me.” Smiling slightly, she said, “But if it makes you feel better, I don’t think it’s catching.”

“This will blow over, Mag. You know how he is,”

Carl shrugged.

“Yeah, I’m afraid I do,” Maggie said as she started her car.

WHEN BRODIE STRODE into the squad room

before daylight the next morning, she was surprised to find Maggie already at her desk. “You had breakfast already, Weston?” she asked her trainee.

“Uh…no, Lieutenant. I sort of got involved in going over notes and reading reports.”

Pulling her jacket off, Brodie said, “Go grab something to eat while I brief Donaldson.”

Maggie watched Brodie stack a few file folders together. She had been the recipient of her training officer’s harsh penetrating eyes, but also remembered the liquid softness in them when they had been alone. It was a look she had never found with another woman. The memory brought the beginning of a smile to her lips. Brodie frowned when she caught Maggie looking at her.

“Something on your mind, Weston?”

“Sorry…no…just trying to put a few things

together in my mind.”

Brodie glanced at her wristwatch and then back at Maggie. As Maggie pushed hair behind her ear, Brodie noticed a bruise on Maggie’s cheek. Frowning, she asked, “What happened to your face?”

“Oh, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. Ran into a door when I took some clothes to the Laundromat,” Maggie said.

“Yeah, well, my briefing won’t take long so you only have about half an hour before we have to start earning our pay again.”

She watched her trainee maneuver through the desks in the squad room, appreciating the fluid way she moved. Mentally snapping out of it, she quickly picked up the folders and went to Donaldson’s office, knocking lightly on the door before entering the Captain’s inner sanctum.

“What’s up, Brodie?” Donaldson said as she stuck her head in the door.

“Thought I would give you a briefing on the cases we’re working, Fred. I was hoping you might have a few insights.”

“Sure. Come on in and pull up a chair. It’s bound to be more interesting than the departmental budget.”

It took Brodie about ten minutes to bring him up to speed on the two new cases. Glancing through the files she handed him, he leaned back in his squeaky chair and puffed his cheeks out as he sighed slightly.

“Any ideas about the perp?” he finally asked.

“I ran it past Dr. Jacobs yesterday. Based on her evaluation, it’s possible he might have done something similar before. We’re running an inquiry for similar crimes,” she explained.

He frowned as he leaned forward on his desk.

“How is Weston doing?” he asked, changing the subject to something more tangible.

“Has an independent streak that could get her in trouble, but she’ll be all right. Plays well with others.”

“I was rudely awakened a couple of hours ago by Tim Weston demanding I remove you as her TO.”

Brodie frowned, recalling the bruise on Maggie’s cheek and wondered if Tim had caused it.
“I guess that’s up to you and Detective Weston,” she said.

“Well, I told him to go fuck himself and let me sleep,” Donaldson said. “And Weston hasn’t earned the right to make demands around here yet. So just go out there and do your job. Catch me a couple of murderers before there’s mass hysteria in the suburbs. I like my town nice and uncomplicated.”

“I’m sorry if my past has complicated things for you, Fred.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why I get the big bucks. So everybody and their dog can take a dump on me if you fuck up. Anything else we should discuss?”

MAGGIE CARRIED A cup of coffee into the living room that evening, picked up the phone and dialed. It was answered on the second ring.

“Dr. Brauner? This is Detective Weston. I’m sorry to call so late, but I promised...,” she began.

“Have you found, Elliot?” Helen said quickly.

“No, we haven’t Mrs. Brauner, but I assure you we’re working on it. I’ve talked to a few people on the campus, but no one seemed to know anything. Mr. Obregon and Dr. Roth thought he was sick. I didn’t see anything out of place in his office either, but, of course, I wouldn’t notice if something was missing. It was very neat.”

“Elliott is a very neat man, Detective.”

“Perhaps if you were to check his office, you might notice something out of place. Do you have a key?”

“Yes. I’ll look tomorrow and if I notice anything I’ll call you.”

“That would be very helpful, Dr. Brauner.”

“You said you talked to Tony and Malcolm.”

“Yes.”

“I hope Malcolm won’t get in any trouble.”

“Why would he?”

“I’m sure you couldn’t have missed the peculiar odor in his office, Detective.”

“I noticed it,” Maggie laughed softly, “but I didn’t see him doing anything illegal.”

“Malcolm is such a sweet man, but I’m afraid he’s stuck in a time warp.”

“He did seem to be sort of a throwback to the sixties.”

“Well, you know what they say about things coming back. It’s a little ironic that his wife is making a small fortune with tie-dyed shirts now. Students are so ignorant of the past that most of them think it’s a new fad. Marj is as bad as Malcolm. When you see them together, it’s like reliving Woodstock. Of course, I’m sure other people have some interesting things to say about Elliott and me. They’re both really lovely people who’d do anything for a friend.”

“Dr. Roth seemed very fond of your husband.”

“Yes, he is, and Elliott likes Malcolm as well. He just doesn’t express his feelings very well.”

“Did your husband know Mr. Obregon is or was a member of a gang, Dr. Brauner?”

“Yes, we both know, but he’s overcome his past.”

“I was told that he and your husband had an argument last week. Do you know anything about that?”

“No, Elliott didn’t say anything to me about an argument, but it’s certainly possible. They frequently have disagreements. Elliott is a perfectionist about his field. He detests sloppy work. I think occasionally Tony may not be as meticulous as Elliott believes he should be.”

“So far I’m afraid I don’t have much more to tell you, Dr. Brauner, but we’ll continue looking into it.”

“I appreciate that.”

Maggie leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. She rubbed her jaw absently and winced. Where was Elliott Brauner? Everyone she had talked to so far had described him as meticulous, predictable, not given to sudden changes in his routine. You could practically set your clock by his actions. The only deviation in his schedule she had detected was his last-minute trip to the university the previous Thursday evening to retrieve something he had forgotten. His disappearance that night had obviously not been planned.

Chapter Five

HELEN BRAUNER CLIMBED the stairs to the

third floor of the Biology Building slowly as she fumbled through her purse searching for a large key ring which held a dozen keys of various sizes and shapes. Some of them she had never used before, and it would only be guesswork on her part as to which ones would fit Elliott’s office and file cabinets. By the time she reached the third floor landing she found what she was looking for. The building was quiet and the clicking sound made by the heels of her shoes echoed down the hallway. Glancing at her

wristwatch, she realized it would be at least an hour before anyone else except the most dedicated students and professors would begin making their way into the labs and offices.

It took her a few minutes to find the key that opened Elliott’s office and she made a mental note to label her keys when she got home. To her relief the inner office door was unlocked and when Helen saw her husband’s desk, tears suddenly filled her eyes. In the back of her mind Helen had the nagging feeling she would never see his face again. Setting her purse down, she sat behind his desk and ran her hands over the leather bound blotter covering the desk top. She tried the desk drawers and found them locked. She tried several keys on the key ring before finding one that opened the lock on the desk. She hadn’t really been sure there was a spare key, so she had collected every key she could find at home and hoped for the best.The first drawer revealed nothing that seemed out of place or out of character for Elliott Brauner. Mostly office supplies and a few file folders containing reminders for faculty meetings. The other drawers contained nothing of importance either and Helen wondered why Elliott bothered to lock the desk. She picked up the key ring and crossed the office to three file cabinets inside the office door. She was trying the fifth key that looked like a file cabinet key when Tony walked into the office. She smiled when she saw him.

“Good morning, Tony. You’re in early this

morning.”

“I have a couple of things to check on in the lab, Dr. Brauner. What are you looking for?”

“The police asked me to look around and see if I noticed anything out of place.”

“You still haven’t heard from him?”

“No. But at least the police are finally looking into it. I don’t suppose you have a key to these file cabinets.”

Tony chuckled slightly. “Mrs. Brauner, you know damn well your husband wouldn’t trust me with the keys.”

“He trusts you, Tony. He’s just overly cautious.”

“If you ask me, ma’am, he’s just paranoid.”

She smiled at him. “He wasn’t always like that.”

“I’ve been meaning to call you. The doc was supposed to give an exam to his grad class last Friday. When he didn’t show up, I wasn’t sure what to do so I told them to keep studying and it would probably be sometime this week.”

“Is it in one of these cabinets?”

“I suppose. I never saw it.”

A key finally turned in the cabinet lock. Helen opened the top drawer and looked through the file folders.

“What are these, Tony?”

He looked over her shoulder for a moment.

“Student records. He kept a record on the progress of all his students. Sorta like efficiency reports or something.”

“Have you read them?”

“A few. Not very complimentary.”

“Elliott is really only interested in the best students, especially at the graduate level. He spoke very highly of your work.”

“You coulda fooled me.”

“Well, he believes too much praise can ruin a scientist. Sometimes he doesn’t consider the person inside the scientist,” she said absently as she opened the second file drawer.

A small stack of papers sat in the back of the drawer behind a section of file folders. Helen picked them up and showed them to Tony. “Is this the exam for last week?”