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

interviewed a woman at Tempe PD who headed the Research Division…I was studying women in policing. Anyway, this woman offered me a job in Research, and, after a lot of thought, I accepted.” So…”

Grace interrupted, “My goodness…you’re the young woman from the newspaper story a while back. You’re the one who kung-fu’ed that criminal…he was a robber…wasn’t he?”

Embarrassed, Jillian’s expression was a combination of smile and grimace. She nodded and then said, “Actually, it was judo, but, yes, that was me.”

“When we were talking the other day, I kept telling myself that, somehow, I knew you, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how. I was remembering your picture…it was there with the story in the paper. Well, I never…” She smiled. “But you’re at ASU now. How’d that happen?”

This question always made Jillian nervous…it’s something that she and Wes had discussed…endlessly. “Well, there were pushes and pulls…Tempe PD is probably higher-up on the career ladder, but I got a really nice promotion by moving to ASU PD.” She was going to say more, but this was a very long and personal discussion. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

Grace smiled and said, “Very well…but I will say this…as a woman who works at ASU, I’m glad you’re here.”

This interaction broke the ice and from that point on, their discussion included more personal matters. They became ‘Grace and Jillian.’

Grace matter-of-factly said she was a religious woman, and was on the governing board of her Episcopal Church. She added that, even though she was not a long-term Arizona resident, she was into history…of Tempe—she was even a docent at the Tempe History Museum over by the Tempe Library—and of ASU. She said, “I probably know more about ASU and this campus than a lot of people who’ve been here for 30 years.”

For her part, Jillian told Grace about her parents, their jobs, but a little about them personally, too…like her mom’s interest in art and her dad’s love of poetry.

Grace volunteered that she had been married, but that her husband had died of a heart attack. “That was several years back. Heart troubles ran in his family.” She said she’d been out on dates now and then, but nothing ‘took.’ She said that she didn’t want to pry but wondered if Jillian had someone ‘special.’

“Funny you should ask. Just before I came over here, my partner, my detective partner,” she corrected, “mentioned a guy I’d dated for a while. His name was Brian. We were both in the Research Division at the time. We dated for maybe 6 months, but…I don’t know...”

Grace smiled and volunteered, “Just didn’t take?”

“Exactly,” Jillian nodded and smiled as well.

When they parted ways at the top of long set of steps that connected Hayden Library to the main campus, they agreed to get together again. Grace said, “And I promise to call you if there are any more English Department coincidences.”

As Jillian crossed the campus and then waited for the light at University, she thought about Professor Keefer’s promotion. She looked across the street to the ASU Foundation Building, the location—for now anyway—of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and soon-to-be Professor Keefer’s office. Was this just some internal matter as Grace thought? Thinking of Grace’s parting words, Jillian wondered, “is there such thing as a coincidence when you’re in the middle of a murder investigation?” She’d definitely tell Wes about Keefer and see what he thought.

She needed to tell him about Professor Billy Gilroy, too. She hadn’t much liked Professor Gilroy when she interviewed him…something about his attitude…like he was acting all ‘professorial’ toward her. Jillian knew this was crazy—the guy was a professor, after all—but she wasn’t a student and hadn’t been for a while. She felt like he was evaluating her…giving her some kind of an exam. She sensed that probably this was how he acted toward everyone…his way of being in charge.

Obviously, this was no reason to suspect him of anything. Still, the info that Grace had shared about how Professor Siemens had humiliated him at a faculty meeting last month…that could be a motive. She’d definitely tell Wes about this…maybe they should re-interview Professor Gilroy…and Professor Keefer.

The light changed, she crossed the street and, as she passed the Foundation Building, a woman exited, hurrying to make the light and cross the street and back to the main campus. She was wearing a red dress. Grace Wilson immediately popped back into Jillian’s mind, although the dress was a completely different hue from Grace’s, and the woman looked nothing like her.

Jillian thought it was a shame that a woman as vibrant, as lovely as Grace Wilson would be alone. On the other hand, between her church activities and her interest in history, she seemed to be doing just fine. Also, being the Assistant Chair of the English Department was an important job. Still…

“Speaking of coincidences…” Jillian thought, it was strange that within a very short period of time, Wes had mentioned Brian, a former lover, and then Grace had also asked about her love life. Jillian thought about this as she walked. “OK, the fact that I have no romantic interest at all in Peter Voss does not mean that I’m not interested in a relationship. But for now, I’m comfortable with my life…as is.” As she neared 5th, she wondered if she was filling her spaces like Grace was filling hers. She didn’t think so.

Jillian and Brian Gill had dated for almost seven months. He was a research analyst at Tempe PD, in a different section of the Research Division. He was a nice guy, but Jillian always felt as though they’d started dating mainly because they had friends who’d said they were a great match. So, they started going out. Being with him was always nice, for instance, he was a good, gentle lover. But, Jillian had never felt “in love” with him. Once they finally discussed this, Brian said pretty much the same thing. To use Grace’s term,