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

star. And I was referring to your crime-solving skills, you know, on campus, which apparently you get from the movies.” He almost hissed this out.

Jillian, who had said her piece, was turning to leave, but Halliday’s comment stopped her, mid-turn. She wheeled back around, put her hands on his desk—the movie guide still in the right hand—and leaned as far forward as she could.

And exploded. It was a rage that was pent-up after the interview with Professor LeJohns and everything that it revealed, then their interview with Professor Naremore…and her concern that she might very well have to arrest him.

She was livid, but she didn’t yell at Doc. Instead, she grew quiet, measured. “Actually, Doc, Nancy Meyers isn’t an actress. She’s a successful movie director. But then you wouldn’t know that because she doesn’t direct action/adventure flicks or adolescent boy flicks, you know, with a lot of fart jokes.” She stood-up, literally separated only by his desk, and waited for his reply.

By now, Doc was now standing, too, his chair pushed back when he jumped up, glaring as well.

Wes was in Doc’s office in a hurry. “OK, look, you two,” he included both of them but looked mainly at Halliday, “you’re on the same side…remember?”

Halliday reluctantly looked away from Jillian and toward Wes. “This doesn’t concern you, Wes. It’s about my view of her…her…approach. She’s more of a college girl than she is a detective. Talking about movies, for Christ’s sake, and always going on about googling.”

“If this is about detective style, Doc, it’s simple: her methods work for her and yours work for you. You’re both good detectives. While she was here, she’s closed as many cases as you did.”

“Yeah, but she closed them because she had you as her partner.”

“Yeah, Jilly and I were partners, but, we worked as a team. Just like you and ‘The Pope’ (Halliday’s partner was named John Paul, so of course…). “When you guys closed a case, you both got the credit. Same for us,” he said. He gestured toward Jillian, and then started counting numbers with his right forefinger: “Two murders, three manslaughters, a sexual assault. You know the name of that song.”

Jillian wanted to confront Halliday some more—she could almost feel it—but she didn’t want to interrupt Wes. She could see that his comments had reached Halliday…at some level. He wasn’t as agitated as he’d been.

“You both need to stand down. Especially you, Doc,” he said, his eyes back on Halliday. “You’re the veteran here…you know what’s right. I heard you congratulate Jilly after we closed that big one early last year…man, you were first in line, and you weren’t just blowing smoke, either…you meant it.”

“Yeah, well…”

“Unh uh, Doc. We are all on the same side. A woman gets murdered. Beaten to death. She’s a professor and everyone over there,” he pointed in the general direction of the ASU campus, “is freaked. We have to get this thing sorted. And we are. And Jillian is up front on this. So…”

Wes waited them out until Jillian and Doc shook hands. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Thanks, Doc. Me, too,” Jillian said.

Doc said, “Good luck tomorrow, Wes. You got Diane which is about as good as it gets.”

“You got that right.”

After Doc had left, Wes sat at Jillian’s desk. He had his case notes and was about to go to Diane’s office to discuss the upcoming trial.

Most of her adrenalin was spent, so she was a little shaky. “Sometime I just don’t get it, Wes. What did I do that was so wrong?”

“Probably not any one thing,” he said, looking at the movie guide laying on the edge of her desk. “I imagine that this is partly about you having a college degree.”

“You have a college degree.”

“Indeed, I do. And you have two of them…and, you’re a woman. He’s been at this for a while now, you…not so long, and you already outrank him.” Wes scratched an imaginary beard. “You know, earlier we were talking about a symbolic assailant, and what that means to a cop. I figure that in your own way, Jilly, you are a kind of symbolic assailant to Doc.”

“Like I was to Larry Gruber?”

“Well, not exactly. Doc is nothing like Larry.” Wes thought for a second, smiled and said, “Well, maybe they are a little alike…sorry. Whatever…you’re a threat to someone like Doc. He’s a by-the-book cop. He’s pretty good, but you, you’ve been here for a lot shorter period, and you are on the upswing. Just imagine what he’s going to think about Georgia…with her go-getter attitude…and she’s from LA so she’s not going to take any crap from the likes of Doc Halliday.”

“I guess what drives me crazy is that this job is hard enough without Doc’s BS. I mean, you heard what Professor LeJohns said…I may have to arrest my former professor.”

“Well, Jilly, if that bothers you, I can arrest him…and you can just…watch.”

“Wes…I’m serious…everything is lining-up against him,” she tapered-off, frustrated.

“Sorry…just trying to make you lighten up.”

“I know. I’m just worried, that’s all. I mean…”

“OK, quick review…Naremore is an angry man, maybe with good reason, but maybe for other not-so-good reasons, too. It seems like he was obsessed with the Professor…emotion could be relevant here, but so could just flat-out self-interest…his desire to stop her grievance against him before it happens. Does that make him our murderer…I don’t know…it might. But, here’s the thing, Jilly, if it comes down to it, and Naremore’s our killer and you have to arrest him…you will. You’d be sad, but you’ll do what you have to do…if it comes to that.”

She sighed, then asked, “What do you think, Wes…about the evidence?”

“Let’s just wait and see. I think we’re getting close, but I do want you to review your case notes…bear down on that…you just might see something that we’re missing. We could still use another break. Hey, I know…maybe you can watch some more movies tonight.”

Jillian threw the movie guide at Wes.

“Sorry, I got to run…Diane’s on the other side of