Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (A Dead Cold Box Set) by Blake Banner (best ereader for academics .txt) 📕

“No.”

“You’re not?”

“No, because I don’t know what track I am on. I am just following the inconsistencies.”

“Yeah, you say that, and then you say,” she put on an absurd male voice, “‘Oh, yeah, well, I knew all along that Am shot him, that was obvious!’”

I smiled. “Well, it was kind of obvious, you must admit. But I didn’t know why and I still don’t. Just as I am convinced Agnes was not there when Am killed Robles, but I don’t know why, or where she was.”

“So how can Meigh help?”

“I think there’s an at least even chance she knows where Agnes is.”

“So there is something in my theory?”

“I told you, it was a brilliant theory, Dehan.”

Today was my day for being subtly ambiguous.

Forty-five minutes later, Dr. Meigh showed up in a gleaming white Audi and was shown up to interrogation room one. We followed a couple of minutes later. She was sitting at the table in a pale blue suit with a white blouse and a string of pearls around her neck. She had a dark blue cashmere coat folded on the table. Her hair was carelessly perfect and she smiled as we came in. I was struck again by how large her presence was, considering how petite she was.

Dehan returned the smile and said, “It is very good of you to come in, Dr. Meigh. We know how busy you are.”

“I am happy to help.”

We sat and I leaned my elbows on the table. “Dr. Meigh, let me come straight to the point. Where is Agnes Shine?”

Her eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t lose her smile or her cool. “I have no idea! What on Earth makes you think I know?”

“Because you lied to us about how close you were.”

“I certainly did not.”

“You led us to believe that you were little more than acquaintances, Dr. Meigh…”

“I believe what I said was that she was as close to me as she was to anybody, except Jose. And that is true.”

“Which was actually a misleading answer. We asked you how close you were, but you didn’t mention that she went to stay with you every weekend.”

“Why should I? I don’t see how that is remotely relevant.”

“Is that where she is now?”

“Don’t be absurd!”

I sat back and Dehan frowned. “In what way exactly is that absurd, Dr. Meigh?”

“Do you really think I would risk my career and my position at the university by harboring a fugitive from the law?”

Dehan’s frown deepened. “I don’t know. Would you?”

“Of course not! Look here, is this what this interview is going to consist of? You bullying me about my friendship with Agnes?”

I smiled amiably. “No. You were friends then? More than simply acquaintances?”

“Yes, of course we were.”

“Had she told you about Dr. Robles’ visits to the Dare 2 Dream Club?”

She hesitated. “She hinted that his attraction for Alicia was possibly a front.”

“And what about Am Nielsen?”

“What about him?”

“You were initially against his joining Dr. Robles’ research team.”

“Well, he was a bit of a clown.”

“You told us you didn’t know who he was.”

“You reminded me and I refreshed my memory. As I say, he was a clown.”

“But he proved to be an asset in the end.”

“He was a good student, and Jose seemed to like him. Jose was effectively leading the research, it was his choice of team.”

“They were close.”

“Quite close, yes.”

“Do you think they were lovers?”

She looked genuinely startled. “Good heavens, no!”

“You seem very certain.”

“Well, it just never occurred to me…”

“Dr. Meigh, where is the missing part of Dr. Robles’ research?”

“What?”

“What you showed us the other day was incomplete. The developments he was working on with Am Nielsen were not there.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Where is the rest of his research?”

“What I showed you is everything we have. There is nothing else.”

I sighed and drummed my fingers on the table for a moment. “You described Dr. Robles as brilliant. You described both him and Agnes as brilliant.”

“They were. I hope she still is.”

“Yet what you showed us at your house was nothing but a very pedestrian review of existing technology. That is not exactly what you could describe as brilliant.”

Her cheeks colored. She drew breath, hesitated and looked away. “Look, Detective, I am a scientist, but my position at the university means that most of my work is administrative. You might even say political. I represent the interests of the university. I deal a lot with Washington and major industrial interests. I quite simply have no time for actual research. So I delegate it. My team’s published work will credit Dr. Patricia Meigh et al. But the truth is it is the et al who do the actual scientific investigation. I employ people like Dr. Robles, they benefit from the university’s reputation and financial clout, and I benefit from their brilliance.”

I nodded. “You’re an academic. Your interest is in the corner office.”

“That is a little uncharitable, but yes, essentially that is how it works. My point is I have not actually examined Jose’s work in some time. I know in general terms what it is about and what it aims to achieve, but I have not reviewed it for several months. We were due to go over it in January, in fact.”

I grunted. “Well, if I were you, I would review it a damn sight sooner than that, because all the key developments are missing.”

I waited for her to say something, but she just stared at me. Dehan said: “While we are on the subject, Dr. Meigh, perhaps you could explain something to me.”

Meigh’s eyes shifted. She was beginning to look alarmed. “What?”

“If you are not personally involved