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

ahead for an appointment so Susan Moser was expecting them. She stepped from behind her desk, into the doorway, and invited them into her office. As they presented their IDs, Wes said, “Thanks for seeing us on short notice, Ms. Moser.”

Jillian was surprised…Moser was the Director of SkySong, but she was 30 at most. She was about five six with long light brown hair, streaked with blonde highlights. Moser’s make-up was a perfect rose-pink choice for her light complexion. She was wearing the matching jacket to her light grey pants suit, even in the office, so either she just wanted a very professional look, or maybe it was because she’d been expecting them. High heels with stylish, very pointed toes completed the ensemble. What was most obvious, though, was that she’d been crying: puffy eyes, red nostrils, and a number of tissues visible in the wicker garbage basket along with one that had missed its mark…off to the side.

“Please forgive me,” she said as she sat in her office chair. She hesitated, then said, “I’m a wreck. It’s this thing with Nelda…” She dabbed at her eyes and then took a pull from a bottle of Perrier. “She was a mentor to me. But, she was also a friend. I just can’t understand…”

As Moser cried, Jillian thought about how difficult it was, emotionally, to talk with people in these situations, and she never knew what to do. Her natural reaction was to try to comfort her, but somehow that didn’t seem to be appropriate…she was a police detective. So, she did what she always did: she waited, respectfully, and let Moser cry for a while. Wes waited patiently, too.

Then she said, “It’s OK, Ms. Moser. This has been a shock. We understand...and we’re so sorry for your loss. Please, take your time. We’re here to learn more, to try and get to the bottom of this. But we understand.”

Moser’s eyes were still wet, but she took another sip of Perrier, followed it with a deep breath and said, “OK, how can I help? I want to help.”

Wes said, “We know you do…and thank you. As you know, Professor Siemens was discovered yesterday in her office in the English Department. From all appearances, we suspect,” he paused and pursed his lips, “…we suspect murder. Obviously, Detective Sergeant Warne and I are trying to figure-out what happened…who did this…and why? Any information you can give us…for example, enemies, anything you know of that was troubling the Professor…anything…it will help us.”

Moser nodded and answered, but she was obviously in a fog because her answer wasn’t exactly responsive. “So, we’ve both been here for…this is the start of our second year at ASU. We arrived at around the same time, me early in the summer, and Nelda shortly before the start of the semester…last fall. Because of her research focus, she was obviously interested in SkySong. She was here quite often…we even gave her a small space, essentially a temp office, for when she visited.

She blew her nose and held on to the tissue. “We hit it off immediately. I was flattered because of her reputation and because she was further along in her career. But, it wasn’t just business—well, it was that—but it was more, it was genuine…we were friends. Nelda was the kind of person who made contacts everywhere she went. Her contacts…they opened a lot of doors for me. I’d interviewed for the job here, Director of Skysong, and I’d met important people at ASU…but with Nelda, it was as if I had her imprimatur. With Jacques, President Davidos, with the Provost, with…everyone. With Nelda’s help, I was able to really hit the ground running.” Jillian could see that she was trying to hold back her tears.

Wes could also see that Moser was struggling so he went in a different direction. “We’ve had several mentions of SkySong in our interviews, but neither of us was familiar with it…what exactly is SkySong?”

The question was a good distraction, and it seemed to settle her down. “OK, so ASU is very much committed to innovation and to entrepreneurship. It’s a part of our brand. SkySong was initially a partnership between ASU and the City of Scottsdale. This neighborhood had become blighted, and the City hoped that a facility like SkySong would help jump start it economically. And, it has. And for ASU, SkySong is essentially an incubator. There are all sorts of start-ups here, some affiliated with ASU, some not. I’m sure you noticed the other buildings…they house paying tenants, too. The idea with the start-ups is that if they’re successful, they’ll move out and make a go of it. The plan is to promote entrepreneurial creativity for economic innovation.”

“OK, I think I understand it now,” Wes responded. “And you’ve said that Professor Siemens was a regular out here?”

“Yes, she was. SkySong actually is an ASU campus, just with a very specific mission, so it makes sense that she’d be here…especially given her interests.”

Wes nodded as if he now understood and then returned to the original question. “Ms. Moser, I know how unpleasant this is, but because this is a murder investigation, can you tell us anything about the Professor…enemies, any ongoing ‘situations’ that you’re aware of? Literally, anything?”

“Well, there was a good deal of opposition to the idea of Ayn Rand Studies. Of course, a lot of this was before I arrived. But as I understand it, it was from all across the campus. The social sciences tend to be very liberal, so many of those faculty were vocal, and of course some in English were, too. I think some of the English faculty were angry about Rand Studies being essentially plopped down in their midst. But some were just jealous at Nelda’s situation…her salary, and so on. But, I thought much of this had quieted down over the past year…I really did.”

Wes asked, “You’ve said you were friends…has she said anything to indicate any more recent issues…threats…anything?”

“Well, there’s been a lot of