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

that she’d missed ASU…just a little…and that it was nice being ‘back home.’ It made her feel good when Grace had said something earlier during coffee that she was glad Jillian was at ASU.

But, enough of all that…Jillian wanted to end her day with some fun reading. She went to the kitchen, grabbed the two books of poetry that her dad had brought, and took a seat in the living room. Both books were slim volumes. The Cavell book had the original cover from the publisher. Gilroy’s had one of those thick library-book covers.

She started with Professor Gilroy’s book. The photo on the rear flap was of a considerably younger Billy Gilroy. Jillian looked away from his book and thought about him.

She still didn’t much like Professor Gilroy, but, at the same time, she felt a little sorry for him. He had that condescending air, but she thought that it must be especially embarrassing for someone like him to be insulted in front of his peers by a person like Professor Siemens, who apparently knew his vulnerable point, and was willing to go for it. Still, she had no sense, no intuition even, about whether this would motivate a man like Professor Billy Gilroy to kill someone.

Back to the book, Jillian browsed the table of contents. Unlike her dad, she couldn’t judge the merits of these poems so she simply chose a few with interesting titles. The first was like prose, just in stanzas; two others were more obviously poems. After she read them, she remembered that Fred Cavell had provided a Forward, and turned the beginning of the book. It was warm and supportive, in a professor/student way, but also something like a friend might write.

Then, she picked-up the Cavell book. The cover, which she hadn’t seen in a long time, brought warm, fuzzy feelings. Before opening the book, she glanced at the back cover. There was Fred Cavell as she remembered him: a mane of unruly white hair, not over the top, just appropriately flamboyant…the guy was a poet. She went to the table of contents and chose three selections that she remembered. She read the first two of these, marked her place with her finger, and thought about having heard these poems on a number of occasions. Then, she read the third one…her favorite.

Jillian preferred these poems to those of Professor Gilroy, but wondered if maybe it was just the pleasant memories of hearing her dad reading them aloud…in that voice that poets use.

CHAPTER 10

Jillian rode the Jupiter to the ASU PD. As they’d agreed, she planned to work on her Sexual Harassment Task Force assignment for a couple of hours before heading over to meet Wes to prep for their follow-up interview with Professor Keefer.

It was fairly quiet in the building so, after a few ‘good mornings,’ she got down to it. She started with key points raised in the latest meeting, some based on Professor Martin’s ideas, some on language that had floated around at the meeting, and some on the more specific issues that she and Ersula had discussed. She typed-in phrases and some sentences to flesh-out the bullet points, all to be expanded later. Her plan was that once she had a good, advanced draft, she’d run it by Al. But that would not happen for a while.

She had been at it for about 45 minutes and making good headway when her ringtone pulled her from the screen. She glanced at the caller ID as she answered. It was a 480-area code (Tempe and its surrounds), but not an ASU prefix, and not a number that she immediately recognized.

“Hello?”

“Good morning, Jillian. It’s Grace…Wilson.”

Jillian had a quick presentment that Grace was calling to cancel the interview with Professor Keefer. “Morning Grace,” she responded, her mouth already forming a frown.

“After yesterday, I promised myself that if anything new came up, anything that might have any bearing on your case, I’d let you know.“

“And…” Jillian perked-up, the frown gone.

“Well, something has come up. I have no idea if it’s of any relevance to you, but it might be important.”

“I appreciate anything, Grace.”

Jillian heard Grace take a deep breath, and then she began. “OK, so yesterday I told you that Jonathan—Professor Keefer—was being promoted to Associate Dean…right?”

“Yes…”

“It’s not going to happen.”

Jillian responded with a long, drawn out, “Why…?”

“Something’s up. Hold on just a second, please.” After a pause of six or seven seconds—Jillian could hear a breeze distorting the silence—she continued. ”OK, someone was walking by and I wanted to wait till they were gone. I’m outside our building and on my cell…didn’t want to call from my desk.”

“Grace, what’s up?” Jillian was on high alert now.

“Well, as near as I can tell, Jonathan went from friends in high places to being a persona non grata. He’s not going to be promoted. He may even be ‘out’ as chair.”

“Do you have any ideas about why this is happening…or not happening, I guess.”

“This is why I called, Jillian. I overheard Professor Begay—he’s a Regents Professor and one of the most prestigious professors in the department—talking with Professor Chu…she’s very respected, too. Anyway, Professor Begay was telling her that Jonathan and Nelda had had a fling.” She paused, then continued. “I’m trying to be careful here, Jillian…this is gossip, after all.”

“Still, this might be really important, but I understand, Grace, and I’ll be careful.”

“I know you will. Jillian, I’ve never heard an iota of anything about an affair between them…never. But, Professor Begay is usually in the know…and obviously something has happened…so, who knows?”

“Wow, I’m reeling here.”

“I guess I am, too. I hope this helps.”

“Whatever the explanation, this is amazing news. Thank you so much, Grace. By the way, are we still ‘on’ with Professor Keefer at 11?”

“Oh yes, you are the police, after all.”

“Thank you again, Grace.”

Jillian dialed Wes from memory.

“Morning, Jilly.”

“You’re not going to believe this.”

Jillian saved and backed-up her Task Force work, and left ASU PD immediately. As she crossed Apache Boulevard, she thought of cutting