Chapter Ten - Janine Farmer
CHAPTER TEN
Janine Farmer
DETECTIVE JANINE FARMER was a serious woman, a practical woman. After working for the Denver Police Department, she thought she had escaped the corruption of the city police when coming to work for Summit State University. Her superiors proved otherwise, but that’s a whole different story.
A third-generation law enforcement officer, police work was as natural to her as breathing. She had no real intimate relationships to speak of, nor did she care to spend much time with her family. Farmer had a few close friends, former police officers themselves— who spent their days in the bars in Aurora — a Denver area suburb. She found work for the university dull at times, but the paycheck without the threat of another bullet wound helped her remain steady.
As a university police officer, her jurisdiction was comprised of all three square miles of Summit State University, if you included the newly acquired Sibley-Palmer University Medical Center. The 15,000-student campus worked much like a small town and so did the university police department.
While the department was small with three alternating patrol officers for routine matters, Detective Farmer was the only dedicated police detective on campus. Her duties included higher-stakes incidents than what the duty officers often responded to. While her fellow patrolmen responded to noise complaints on Greek Row, traffic and parking violations, or emergent campus issues— Farmer’s duties were more concentrated. She collaborated with city law enforcement on cases concerning the university, investigated sexual assaults all too common on campus, robberies, unlawful entry to campus facilities, and now the disappearance of Naomi Halston.
While the city university had expressed interest in taking over the case, university trustees and other powerful figures above Farmer’s pay grade had intervened, placing their trust in her efforts. Publicly, the university officials stated they had full faith in SSU PD and Detective Farmer, but she knew it had more to do with optics than anything else. She didn’t care either way, she took the case seriously despite the political pressure.
Stepping into Bellamy’s lab, she took in the surroundings and wrinkled her nose at the sterile cleanser smell reminding her of a hospital.
“Hello, Dr. Bellamy?” She called out, but the lab was silent, draped in darkness save for the the glow of the office light shining through frosted glass. She made her way across the lab, her hand resting on her firearm instinctively.
Tapping on the glass of the door that read, Dr. Richard Bellamy, Sibley Palmer Endowed Professor of Psychological Sciences , she called out once more, “Dr. Bellamy are you in?”
She opened the door and found Bellamy sitting at his desk hunched over his laptop, flipping through emails.
“Detective Farmer,” he said snapping the lid of the laptop shut but not before Farmer was able to see the blurred faces of what appeared to be military soldiers. Gruff men in uniform, stern, and practice faces. Looking to be long since retired.
“I’m sorry to disturb you. I figured you’d be on campus, thought I’d drop in,” She said. Farmer had been a detective for several years on the Denver Police Department, she knew the element of surprise was to her advantage when she came around with more questions to ask. Not to mention, being a university police, she didn’t need probable cause to enter university property.
Bellamy removed the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes, “Not disturbing me at all. I was looking up some old funding sources…” But stopped himself, his exhaustion making him more loose-lipped than usual. “To what do I owe this late-night visit?” He continued, glancing at the clock: 8:45 PM.
She moved closer, her gaze sweeping the cluttered office. Her eyes lingered briefly on a framed diploma, then stacks of research documents piled haphazardly on Bellamy’s book desk, “I had a few follow-up questions about Naomi Halston.”
Bellamy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, “Of course. Please sit,” He said gesturing to a chair across from his desk.
Farmer remained standing, crossing her arms. Her eyes were fixed on him. “You mentioned in our last conversation that you hadn’t seen Ms. Halston outside of the labs in weeks prior to her disappearance. Is that still your recollection?”
Bellamy nodded thoughtfully, his teeth clenched in his mouth. He leaned back in his chair, trying to appear at ease with the question, “That’s correct. Naomi was one of the senior research assistants. She was working on her dissertation research on data derived from a larger study we are conducting here in the lab. She was a bright young woman, exceptionally dedicated. Our interactions were strictly professional. A real shame about her disappearance. ”
Farmer tilted her head slightly, “Strictly professional. Interesting.”
The air in the room thickened, she pulled a notepad from her pocket and flipped it open. “We’ve had a few new developments in the case. I have an eyewitness report seeing a woman matching her description entering the Henderson Building late at night on the day she was reported missing. Alone. Say around 9 PM, but our review of the security footage doesn’t show her leaving.”
A bead of sweat formed on Bellamy’s temple. He grabbed a tissue from the desk and dabbed at his forehead, then cleaned his glasses.
“Hm, well,” he began, his words measured. “The lab has multiple exits. It’s possible she left through one of the side doors not covered by the cameras. It’s not uncommon for students to work late, especially Naomi. She was well into her dissertation research. I had reviewed a few drafts of the first chapter.”
Farmer didn’t respond. She flipped to another page in the notebook. “Were you in the lab around that time that night?”
Bellamy’s throat was dry, he cleared it, “No.” He said almost too quickly. “I wasn’t. I was on my way to give a lecture at the University of Notre Dame.”
Farmer’s mouth tightened, her eyebrow raised. “And no one else was working in the lab that evening?”
“As I said in our previous interviews, Detective Farmer, my graduate students make the schedule for themselves. They’re each given a key with access to the lab. We provided your agency with the building schedule, if they’re on that schedule, then they were here. If they’re not on that schedule…well, you get it.” Bellamy said, his neck started to sweat.
Farmer scribbled something in her notepad, “Is there anyone who could have been in your lab that wasn’t on that schedule?”
“You would have to ask them. I don’t supervise the day-to-day operations of my lab. That is Naomi’s job. Or, well, it was.” Bellamy responded, his voice trailed off.
“I see. Well, Dr. Bellamy, if you happen to remember anything else — anything at all — I’d appreciate a phone call.” She handed him a business card. “We’re trying to piece together Naomi’s movements that night. We’ve been able to account for everything up until about 9 PM that night.”
Bellamy took the card and forced a smile, “Of course, Detective. Happy to assist any way I can.”
Farmer nodded, turning to leave. She paused in the doorway. “One more thing,” she said, glancing back at Bellamy. “Naomi’s roommate mentioned she had been acting strange leading up to the day of her disappearance. Quiet. Distracted. She even told a friend she felt like someone was watching her and that she’d received some distressing news.”
Farmer exited the lab and gave the door one last glance over her shoulder. Was Bellamy telling the truth? Was his relationship with Naomi “strictly professional?” After the initial report of the girl’s disappearance, Farmer followed the few leads to interviews with Bellamy and his graduate students. It struck her as strange that his students were not very forthcoming. They hadn’t lied exactly, but their version of detail was thin at best. She knew that Bellamy bullied his students into signing Non-Disclosure Agreements, even extending to university officials.
The students had been reticent to share any real information and she had hit several dead ends. Only recently when after interviewing Naomi’s roommate had she made any headway with the girl’s state of mind and a name from her past. Otherwise, the details were slim and university administration was pushing Farmer to close the case.
She exited the Henderson building and stepped into her university-issued police cruiser, she had an early start tomorrow, and she had an off-campus interview to conduct.