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

That prep completed, she decided to read until bedtime. She briefly thought of Atlas Shrugged, rejected the idea—she’d worked enough today—and picked up Y Is For Yesterday. Before she opened it, she thought about the changes in her life, including why she was even reading this novel. She found her place, then looked away again…she couldn’t believe Sue Grafton was gone…and before Z. And, the novel was about a sexual assault.

CHAPTER 7

Jillian left her condo earlier than usual because she wanted to be on time to the Task Force meeting. The walk from the Transportation Center on 5th, where she left the Jupiter, to the second floor of The Foundation Building was a quick one, so, she arrived ten minutes early to the meeting. Coffee (regular and decaf) were there, also hot water for tea…even a tray of large scones and a jar of Bonne Maman raspberry preserves, her favorite.

This type of meeting wasn’t new for Jillian…she had attended some academic-type meetings when she was a student. As an undergrad, she was involved in planning an end-of-the academic year awards ceremony. That had been even more exciting because at the ceremony she’d received an award that carried a small scholarship. And a time or two, she’d covered for the undergrad rep to the Justice Studies Faculty Meetings. As a grad student, she’d helped plan a student research conference where she’d presented a summary draft of her masters’ project. She wouldn’t say that she enjoyed attending academic meetings, but she did take them seriously. She was prepared…she participated.

Because she was early, Jillian was second to arrive…Sarah Wells was already there, setting-up. “Good morning, Jillian…Good morning, Sarah.” Well before the Task Force, they’d reached the ‘call me Sarah/call me Jillian’ level. As an attorney for ASU’s Office of General Counsel, Sarah had been on the committee that vetted Jillian when she applied for the Detective Sergeant’s position with ASU Campus PD. Sarah had been well prepared: she was familiar with Jillian’s resume—she’d even read the article in Feminist Criminology—and had posed challenging hypothetical questions to Jillian. Jillian had nailed the interview, indeed, she’d breezed through the entire process with flying colors. It helped that ASU had actively recruited her, and also that she’d already attended the state’s police training academy when she shifted from Research to Detective at Tempe PD. Not all campus police departments required a training academy, but ASU did.

A couple of months after Jillian was on the job with ASU PD, she’ gotten an email from Sarah asking if she’d like to do coffee sometime. She was surprised, but answered yes. Sarah’s office was in The Fulton Foundation Building and Jillian was in the Campus Police Building, so they met halfway at the café in Hayden Library. Sarah, who was straightforward, said that she’d enjoyed meeting Jillian during the interview. She was married, but her husband, Zack, who was a district manager with a national clothing chain, was frequently on the road. They’d hit it off and had met for coffee twice more, and once had dinner in downtown Tempe. Jillian was game to have new women friends, too.

One shared connection was that they’d both done their undergrad degrees at ASU, so they had a lot of common ASU/downtown Tempe knowledge. Sarah had a double major in Biology and Philosophy with a certificate in Bio-Ethics and Policy, and had then gone to law school at Georgetown University. Jillian knew a little about law school—she’d even considered it for a while—and knew that Sarah must have had very good grades and a very good LSAT to get in to Georgetown. Sarah had excelled at Georgetown: Law Review; top 5 in her class; a clerkship with a federal district judge. The law review experience is what had prompted her to read the Feminist Criminology article. She had returned to The Valley and worked in private practice for several years with a large Phoenix firm. Then, she had accepted the position at ASU even though it was a lot less money, because, as she put it, “I want to have a life.” She was 32.

Sarah said, “I would ask what’s new with you, but of course I know…the whole campus knows. If it’s OK to ask, any progress?” Sarah was wearing a pale green suit, an off-white blouse, beige shoes with barely a heel, and minimal makeup. Her suit went great with her light brown hair.

“No and yes. We’re interviewing people, but for now…” Jillian shook her head to finish the sentence. “We do expect that today or tomorrow we’ll start receiving detailed forensics reports. That’ll help. But for now, we’re just following our protocol.”

“I heard that you were one of the first officers on the scene. Is that hard?”

Jillian nodded ‘yes.’ Then said, “I know that it comes with the job…but you know, it’s horrible…and it’s…it just makes me mad.”

“Well, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this, Jillian, but I’m glad it’s you…if you know what I mean.”

The two women stood facing each other in a comfortable silence, which was broken by Sarah. “Knowing you, I’m sure that you’ve already thought of this…but these people on the Task Force…they’re going to hit you with a barrage of questions…”

Jillian nodded, smiled, and filled their coffee cups.

Sarah asked, “Wanna share a scone?”

Over the next five minutes, the other members of the Task Force trooped in. Interestingly, Cedar Lanning, whose office was in The Foundation Building, was the last to arrive…he was always late. He worked in ASU’s Office of Public Relations, so he was always busy, or at least that’s the impression that he conveyed.

When people started arriving, Sarah, who was the Chair of the Task Force, was busy greeting everyone, so Jillian visited with Ersula Tenney for a while. They had a lot in common, too, including two degrees each from ASU. Ersula had a major in Women and Gender Studies, and Jillian had taken several electives in that program, so they’d had some professors