Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar by Gray Cavender (classic literature list txt) 📕

Al and the Chief agree on…Davidos being a player. Actually, I guess there are two places where they agree…Al also says we should proceed with caution. He reminded me, or I guess reminded us, that President Davidos has a temper.”

“Let’s see…Professor Keefer is a reactor and President Davidos has a temper. So, in terms of personalities, both these guys are still possible suspects.”

“Yep. Of course, Keefer didn’t do himself any favors by omitting his affair with Professor Siemens. And, in terms of re-interviewing Davidos, what would we get from another interview…other than a measure of grief? And if we do re-interview him, what do we ask that we haven’t already asked him? At least with Keefer, we had new lines of inquiry: his job situation and its link to his affair with a murder victim. Re-interviewing him was a no-brainer. As for Davidos, I need to think about this. The Chief didn’t warn us off, she just said to be careful. Same with Al.”

“OK. As for me, after work I’m going to canvas Professor Siemens’ condo. I’ve downloaded more photos—I even added Professor del Valle…just to be through. I’ll call ahead and see if Mr. Sasour can have someone meet me over there.

“Sounds good. And Jilly, try to give some thought to how V.I. Warshawski would proceed on our case.”

They didn’t debrief at Postinos after work because Jillian wanted to get over to Professor Siemens’ condo before it got too late. Wes did take her to her home, weaving through rush hour traffic, which was even worse than usual. She’d called Saadh Sasour, the management rep, before she left the station, and he agreed to meet her himself.

Jillian didn’t change clothes and didn’t start dinner. She did brew a cup of strong black tea and ate a banana and some almonds to tide her over. Dinner would have to wait till later.

Later, after the canvas at Professor Siemens’ and back at her own condo, Jillian texted Wes. “Hits on profs Keefer and Roberts…still iffy on Davidos…nothing on the others…will fill you in tomorrow. Nite, Jillian.

She made a hefty salad with kale, carrots, onions, avocado, fresh mango, pine nuts, and a hard-boiled egg that she cooked before she’d left for Professor Siemens’ condo. She watched the 10 o’clock news to see the coverage of the demonstration. There was footage of the speaker—the guy with the bullhorn—of the counter-demonstrators, and interviews…lots of interviews…with the speaker, with Cedar Lanning, even a blurb from Andrew Paxton.

They all said pretty much what Jillian would have predicted they’d say. Maybe, like Professor del Valle, it was getting harder to surprise her.

CHAPTER 12

“Did that Sasour guy meet you at the Professor’s condo?” They were having morning coffee, seated in Jillian’s office, and she was briefing Wes from her IPAD notes.

“Yes, and he was really helpful. He met me in the lobby and keyed me up to Professor Siemens’ floor. He even gave me a print-out of the names and unit numbers of everyone on her floor.”

“Your good deed continues to reap benefits. I like that.”

“I guess so. We talked about that day in class when I spoke-up for him, although I did fess up that I didn’t remember it very well. We also talked a little about what we’ve been doing since ASU. He was interested in how I became a police detective, so I told him that story.”

She hit a key on her IPAD and the screen changed. “Anyway, two people ID’d Professor Keefer from my photos. They’d seen him several times over the past month, even as recently as last weekend. Remember, he told us that he’d been there then…had stayed the night with her.”

“Good…so that fits,” Wes said, and took notes in his small spiral pad.

“And as for Professor Roberts…OK, a couple who live two doors down from her…Trent and Cynthia Newcomer…” she referred to her IPAD…”said they’d seen Roberts. The husband was vague—he was sure he’d seen Roberts but couldn’t remember how long ago. The woman was more specific. She saw Roberts leaving Professor Siemens’ condo unit. He was saying goodbye to the Professor who was standing in her doorway…she said hello to Ms. Newcomer. This was late Tuesday afternoon of last week. Ms. Newcomer was certain because she’d been shopping and was coming home with her grocery bags. She’d also seen Professor Roberts at least one other time…within the past month, she thought.”

“OK, good work, Jilly. So, we’ll want to re-interview Roberts for sure. He seems to have had more going on with the Professor than he told us. First Keefer…now Roberts. These professors…” he said and shook his head. “And Davidos? You said that was iffy…”

“First, I agree about Professor Keefer and Professor Roberts. They most definitely have not been forthcoming. As for Davidos, OK, nothing from the Newcomers. I did talk with a Michael Tannon, who Officer Voss had interviewed earlier. He’s the one who thought that he’d seen Davidos there…now, he’s not sure. He said that maybe he’d seen him on TV, maybe KAET on a special about universities in Arizona. And another guy—James Rush, who wasn’t originally interviewed by Voss and his team—said basically the same thing. So…”

“No definite ‘hits’ on Davidos, then?”

“No. Those two guys who said they’d seen him were ‘possibles’ at best. I guess this argues against interviewing President Davidos again.”

“Let’s not rule out another interview with the Prez, but, let’s put it on hold…for now.” Wes checked his notes, then looked-up and said, “Look, Jilly, I know you sensed that something was going on between them…and, you might be right. I appreciate your instincts…you know that. It’s just that, if we are going to re-interview the President of ASU as a part of a murder investigation, I want us to have a solid reason…firm footing.”

“I agree, Wes. We’d need more.”

“Well, the main thing is that you went back over to her condo there and came away with new info. This just goes to show something about canvassing…you’ll never find everyone at home on the