Tunnel Vision (21 page)

“Okay. Let’s go before the trail gets any colder,”

Brodie said.

As Maggie started toward the entrance of the police station, Brodie stopped Nicholls. “About what happened Friday. There’s nothing going on between me and Weston.”

“But there was in the past, right?”

“Yeah, there was. I know you’re not comfortable with my lifestyle and I didn’t see any reason to reveal our past relationship to you. It ended years ago.”

“At least that explains why you were so hostile when she first got here.”

“Any time you think I’m stepping over the line, just say so and I’ll back off.”

“Shit! Why should she have it any easier than I did?”

NICHOLLS DROPPED THE women in front of the Chemistry Building and pulled away from the curb. Brodie readjusted her sunglasses before starting toward the entrance to the building.

“You ever broke the bad news before?” she asked.

“No,” Maggie frowned.

“Want this one? Gotta do it some time.”

Maggie took a deep breath and exhaled audibly.

“Yeah, I’ll do it.”

“Just be sympathetic and don’t give any details. She doesn’t need to know any specifics right now.”

“What if she asks how we identified him?”

“Tell her we matched his medical records to the body and leave it at that. She’ll find out the condition of the body soon enough from the funeral home. It’s a safe bet there won’t be an open casket funeral.”

Maggie nodded and entered the building as

Brodie held the door open. She knew notification of next-of-kin was never going to be her favorite part of the job. She tried to think what she would want someone to say to her if their roles were reversed. Before she could think about it any further, she heard Brodie speaking to her again.

“Be direct. There aren’t any good ways to tell a woman her husband has been murdered by some sorry s.o.b. She probably already suspects she’s a widow. Just tell her and then tell her you’re sorry. Try to keep eye contact with her while you’re talking. Ask if there is anyone we can call for her.”

Instant death notification lessons between floors of a building.

Helen Brauner was in her office preparing a cup of tea when Maggie knocked on the open door. She knew the moment she and Helen looked at one other that the woman knew why they were there. There was a slight catch in her voice as she invited the two detectives into her office.

“Dr. Brauner,” Maggie began. “I’m sorry, but I have to notify you we’ve found your husband.”

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“How?”

Maggie glanced at Brodie and then back at Helen.

“He was murdered, Dr. Brauner. I can’t tell you more than that right now.”

Helen placed a hand on the corner of her desk and sat down. Tears formed in her eyes and the overflow ran slowly down her cheeks. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, forcing more tears down her face. She sniffed quietly, but there was no hysteria. Maggie pulled a tissue from a box on Helen’s desk and walked behind the desk to give it to her. Helen opened her eyes and looked at Maggie before taking it and dabbing at her eyes and nose.

“Is there anyone I can call for you, Dr. Brauner?”

Maggie asked gently.

Helen shook her head slightly. “I wouldn’t know who to call. I haven’t needed anyone except Elliott for the last thirty years.”

“Can we take you home?”

Helen blew her nose softly as she shook her head.

“I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this, you know. But even then, there was a glimmer of hope. Just denial, I suppose. I’ll be fine. My assistant can take my last class today. What should I do now?”

Maggie looked at Brodie.

“Whichever funeral home you choose can contact the Travis County Medical Examiner, Dr. Brauner. They’re holding your husband’s remains for now, but they can be released at any time,” Brodie said quietly.

“Thank you, Detective,” Helen said.

“Ma’am, there isn’t any easy way to say this, but Dr. Brauner’s body was burned in an attempt to hide his identity. There’s no need for you to view the remains. It might be some consolation for you to know the medical examiner believes Dr. Brauner was already deceased and didn’t suffer. I’m sorry,”

Maggie added.

Tears dropped from Helen’s eyes as she squeezed them tightly shut and drew a deep breath, as if she were trying to block out the image in her mind.

“I know this is a very difficult time for you, Dr. Brauner. But is there anything else you’ve thought of in the last couple of days we should know about?

Something your husband may have said or something you overheard, that might help us find the person responsible,” Brodie asked.

“I honestly cannot think of anything, Lieutenant Brodie. But I haven’t spent much time thinking about it either.”

“Please call us if you think of something later or if you need our help,” Maggie said. “You have my card.”

“Yes, I’ll try to think over everything we did last week. I’ll call if I remember anything.”

Brodie followed Maggie out of Helen Brauner’s office and into the hallway.

“I wish there was more we could do,” Maggie said.“The only thing we can do now is try to find whoever killed him,” Brodie responded. “Nothing else will help put this behind her.”

They weren’t in a hurry as they went down the stairs to the first floor.

“By the way, you handled that fine, Weston,”

Brodie said.

“I hope I never have to do it again.”

“Then you better find other work. But it’s not as bad here as in Austin. Murder is a pretty rare occurrence in Cedar Springs.”

As they left the building. Nicholls was parked at the curb in a No Parking zone waiting for them.

“Can’t you read signs, boy?” Brodie asked as she and Maggie reached the car.

“Who’s gonna give me a ticket? The campus

cops?”

“Did you get the schedules and addresses?” she asked as she slid into the car.

“Yep. All computerized, just like I thought. Took about fifteen minutes.”

“Let’s see it,” she said.

He handed her a small stack of computer printout sheets and started the car.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Let’s go over this list to see where everyone is this morning. Then we can divide it up.”

He pulled away from the curb just as a campus security car was slowing down next to him. The campus security officer squinted hard at Nicholls as he smiled and waved at the officer.

“Did you see that moron? Trying to stare me down. Jesus, what an idiot. How did the widow take the news?”

“About as well as could be expected,” Brodie said.

“And either she doesn’t know anything useful or she does and isn’t telling.”

Nicholls parked their car in the parking area reserved for professors in the Science Quadrangle.

“We’ll meet back here in about an hour unless one of us happens to trip over something promising. Remember we only have this week before everyone rabbits out of here for spring break. Work as fast as you can, but be thorough,” Brodie instructed.

“Some of the kiddies may be leaving mid-week,”

Nicholls said. “It’s pretty common for students to ditch classes the last two or three days before break begins.”

“Well, maybe graduate students are a more

dedicated bunch,” she said as she looked around the parking area.

Nicholls and Maggie had lists with five names each on them. Except for Brauner’s class, most of his graduate students didn’t have many classes in common. Brodie decided to interview Tony Obregon first. The graduate assistant’s background still bothered her even if Helen Brauner thought he was a born-again intellectual.

When she approached Brauner’s office, the door was half open and the lights inside were on. She pushed the door open farther and saw a Hispanic male in his late twenties sitting at a desk in the front office looking over a stack of papers. Obregon looked up as the door opened. He was wearing cheap, black frame glasses and apparently hadn’t bothered to shave in a day or two.

“Can I help you?” Obregon asked, looking over the top of his glasses.

“Are you Antonio Obregon?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Detective Lieutenant Brodie,” she said flatly as she pulled her badge out.

“If you’re here about Brauner I already told some chick from the police that I didn’t know nothin’. Haven’t seen the old man since last Wednesday or Thursday.”

“Which was it? Wednesday or Thursday?” she asked as she entered the room and looked around.

“Brauner taught a class on Wednesday. I saw him then. I was in Thursday afternoon, but he wasn’t here.”

“So Wednesday was the last time you saw him?”

“Didn’t I just say that?”

“Timing is very important in this case, so I’d appreciate it if you can be specific where times are concerned. Considering the experience you’ve had with the police in the past, I’m sure you can understand that, Tony.”

Obregon pushed his chair back and got up to face her.“You want somethin’ specific from me, ask. Otherwise, get the fuck outta here. I got papers to grade and a lecture to prepare.”

“You teaching Brauner’s classes now?”

“Until you geniuses at the police department find him, yeah.”

“We already found him, Tony. And he won’t be back. He’s dead.”

For an instance she saw a flash of disbelief cross his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. In the years he had spent in and around gangs, he’d probably seen his share of people who died before they should have through no fault of their own.

“When?” he asked.

“I can’t say much about the case right now, but we’re questioning everyone associated with Brauner.”

“There isn’t nothin’ I know that can help you, okay. I saw Brauner after his last class on Wednesday. I was back up here Thursday in the lab, but I didn’t see him.”

“What were you doing in the lab?”

“Brauner had been bustin’ my chops about my research project. Thought I wasn’t spendin’ enough time watchin’ germs grow.”

“Was that what you argued with him about on Wednesday?”

Obregon laughed humorlessly. “That other lady cop tell you that?”

“Did you argue with Brauner about the project?”

she asked again, ignoring his question.

“Yeah, we discussed it.”

“The way I hear it, it was a little more than a discussion.”

“Okay, I got steamed at him and we had a few words. The old bastard thought he was Jesus Christ on a stick and everyone around him was expected to be a dedicated disciple. Unfortunately, I ain’t perfect. I’m smart, but he thought I wasn’t being dedicated enough, so I told him to get off my back about it. We might have gotten a little loud, but it wasn’t no big deal, okay.”

“Guess he must have been hard to work for.”

“But I only got this year to go and then I’ll be away from him.”

“Looks like you got your wish a little sooner than you expected.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have nothin’ to do with his death. I hated his guts, okay, but I didn’t kill him.”

“I didn’t say he was killed, Tony. I just said he was dead. Why do you think he was killed?”

“You ain’t here checking out no traffic accident.”

“You’d be surprised. Know anyone who’d want to see him dead?”

“Everyone who ever took his class. Check all them out and you’ll be workin’ this case until you retire.”

“Ever hear anyone threaten him?”

“Not to his face, but there was plenty of mumblin’

goin’ on behind his back.”

“Just sour grapes or the real deal?”

“Who the fuck knows?”

“Where were you Thursday evening, Tony?”

“Here until about six and after that I was fuckin’

my old lady.”

“And I suppose she’ll back you up on that.”

“What do you think?” he asked with a grin.

“Guess that depends on whether you’re any good or not,” she smiled back. “What’s her name?”

“Rosa Delgado. She lives on McKinney in South Austin.”

“You know her from your gang days?”

“She ain’t connected with a gang. Works here at the university. In payroll.”

“She know about your past?”

“Yeah, I told her.”

“You grade all of Dr. Brauner’s papers?”

“Most of them.”

“Ever have anyone try to bribe you to change a grade?”

“All the fuckin’ time.”

“Ever do it behind Brauner’s back?”

“Nope. Most of these little pricks ain’t got enough money to make me change a grade. Buncha snotty, spoiled bastards who never worked for nothin’ in their lives.”

“I gather you don’t care much for them.”

“Must be why they made you a detective, huh?

Those highly developed powers of deduction.”

Brodie chuckled. “Is that Brauner’s last exam?”

she asked as she looked at the papers in front of Obregon.

“Yeah. Just gave it. Pathetic.”

“Is it the one Brauner had made up?”

“No,” he said with a grin. “I wrote this one. Brauner’s wife asked me to.”

“How’d they do?”

“Shitty so far. There’s one or two who always do okay. The rest don’t know shit.”

“Sounds like you’re as hard as Dr. Brauner.”

“I know what he expects them to know, that’s all.”

“Did anyone seem upset about the exam?

Complain that it wasn’t what they expected. Anything like that.”

“I didn’t hear anything, but I pretty much ignore it when they bitch about the exams.”

“Anything else you can think of I might need to know?” she said, closing her notepad.

“No,” he answered. “That it?”

“For now, but I assume you’ll be around if I need to talk to you again.”

“I’m going out of town for a few days during spring break, but I’ll be around. Have to keep an eye on my bacteria,” Obregon smirked.

She turned to leave as he sat back down at his desk. “By the way, Lieutenant, you might want to talk to Dr. Roth.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know exactly. But him and Brauner had some serious discussions the last couple of weeks.”

“They argue?”

“Not that I heard, but the old man always closed the door when Roth showed up and I thought Roth looked a little shook up the last time he was here. Came out of the office all kinda sweaty and nervous. Brauner never said anything to me, but Roth looked like a kid that just got caught whackin’ off by his mama.”