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

“I don’t know…there was just something going on. One thing Grace Wilson said is that Professor Siemens did try to curry favor with higher-ups, and that would obviously include the university president.”

“Running with the big dogs…huh.“

The conversation took them back to their offices. Wes went to his office…Jillian went to hers and they both sent their texts. She also did some work at her computer, then hit the print key.

They reconvened in Wes’ office, and he said “OK, I’m on with the Chief in 30…Al’s coming over, too. I’ll go up and brief them before it’s show time.”

“Me too?’

“No, the Chief said I could handle that…AND, she and Al want you to keep up with our interview schedule—I think you’re on soon with another former prof…right?”

She nodded and he continued, “The news conference is a big event and they want to be prepared, and all that, but at the end of the day, it’s just talk…it doesn’t move our investigation along one iota. Which is why they don’t want it to be too much of a distraction to us. Anyway, the Chief has seen the prelim from Angel…she forwarded a copy to Al…and they just want me to give them the ‘executive summary,’ including the low-down on our meeting with the Prez. Main thing, given the media attention, the clock’s ticking…”

“I have one more question, Wes. That tapestry behind President Davidos’ desk…is that what I’m thinking it is?”

“I don’t want to go all ‘Maltese Falcon,’ but yeah, that was the symbol…the knight was a Templar.”

“What’s with that?”

“I have absolutely no idea.“

“OK…give me just a sec…”

Jillian returned to her office and grabbed the photo she’d printed. She returned to Wes’ office and handed it to him. “For Voss and his team…to show at her condo.”

Wes looked at the photo, looked at Jillian, and said, “Alright.” The photo was of ASU President Jacques Davidos.

Earlier, Jillian had texted Carolyn Patek, her former thesis advisor…she had Carolyn’s numbers in her Contacts—both her office and cell number—but also knew them both by heart. Carolyn had some time at 3:30.

Wes waved goodbye at 2:45, said, “Wish me luck,” and headed upstairs to the Chief’s office. He was carrying his note pad and a larger folder.

At 3:15, Jillian took a long drink from the water fountain and headed toward Wilson Hall. Along the way, she thought about their interview with President Davidos. She told herself not to be paranoid—also Wes’ advice—but he really did seem to be fixated on her, which obviously made no sense.

She also wondered about the press conference. While Wes took it in stride—like most things—she knew that it was a big deal…she could imagine the cameras and the questions. She worried that President Davidos was trying to shift attention to the police to ‘protect the brand’…she laughed, thinking, “Great, I’m starting to think like Cedar Lanning.”

What most concerned her is that how very little Chief McCaslin and Chief Rosas would be able to say…she’d felt that same ‘lack of anything substantive’ when she’d briefed the Task Force. At this stage, she and Wes didn’t have much that you could call ‘definitive.’

“Oh well,” she thought, “there was still a lot of forensic detail that isn’t ‘in,’ especially Professor Siemens’ media information.” She knew this info—once they had it—could make a difference.

She thought, “But enough of this…I need to think about the meeting with Carolyn…and remember, it’s not just a visit, it’s an interview.”

As she crossed University Dr. and entered the main campus, she noticed that this late in the afternoon the students had thinned out. Soon though, in about an hour, there would be a second wave: night students. When Jillian worked on her MS degree, all of her grad seminars were late in the afternoon or early in the evening, which worked just fine for her because, by then, she had the job in Research at the Tempe PD.

Saying hello to her professors in the MU had been a treat—even though they’d been freaked about Professor Siemens, which she told herself was understandable—and it made Jillian eager to visit Carolyn. Carolyn had helped her so much during graduate school, and Jillian now considered her to be a friend as well as a mentor.

She was from a small city in Texas called New Braunfels. Jillian had never heard of it although Carolyn had said it was near San Antonio. The city had a German heritage, but also was home to many of Czech heritage who migrated to the U.S., especially Texas, during the 19th century. Carolyn proudly referred to them and to herself as ‘Czechans.’ Patek was a Czech name.

Given where Carolyn was from, not surprisingly she did her BA at UT, San Antonio, where she’d had a double major in Sociology and Criminal Justice. She went to UT, Austin for her PhD: Sociology with a minor in Women’s Studies, and had studied with one of the top Sociology of Gender scholars in the U.S. Then, it was on to a post-doc at the University of Michigan, this one in quantitative Sociology. So, from what Jillian could tell, Carolyn was a double threat: qualitative and quantitative Sociology…actually, a triple threat because she’d also taken a one semester sabbatical to study narrative analysis with Professor Michelle Rafter at the American University in D.C. Jillian had once put pencil to paper, and, accounting for her degrees and her time at ASU, figured that Carolyn must be about 38. She also was a single mom; she had an adopted daughter—Alena—who was now maybe seven or eight.

When Jillian was a senior, her staff undergrad advisor had recommended that she should seek out a mentor who was successful, well-respected in the department, and student-oriented. That was Carolyn Patek to a T. ASU had been her first job after the Michigan post-doc, and from what Jillian had heard, she had been a go-getter from the outset…breezing through tenure and promotion, even labeled an ‘exemplar.’ When Jillian moved into the 4+1 program, Carolyn