CHAPTER NINETEEN
Moose and Christian stepped back into the building where the professor’s office was located. The security guard they’d met the other day wasn’t on duty but the one who was gladly allowed them in.
“I think the dude’s a creep,” he said.
“Why do you say that?” asked Christian.
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling. The way he looks at the girls without looking at them. Does that make sense?” Moose nodded.
“Go on.”
“Well, sir. He always thinks he’s being sly, his head down and stuff. But, do you remember in high school when your teachers would wait outside the classroom or sit outside in the halls during breaks or something?”
Both men nodded, listening intently.
“This is college. Not high school. Kids come in and out of classrooms at odd times for all sorts of reasons. He would take a chair and sit outside the door pretending to read a book. They were always religious books but I never once saw him open the bible.”
“Religious books? What do you mean?” asked Christian.
“I mean like How to Make Your Wife Obey Your Commands, that kind of bullshit.”
“Is there a book called that?” frowned Moose. “Believe me, my wife would make me eat it if she saw that in my hand.”
“I hear ‘ya,” said the guard. “Anyway, he was just really weird. There was this one student, Allison. She wasn’t very pretty, a little on this thick side, if you know what I mean.”
“We know what you mean,” frowned Christian.
“Hey, I’m not knocking it. It’s just that around here it seems the girls are all pretty and thin. Anyway, she actually liked the guy. She would talk to him, sit with and ask about the book, all of it.”
“Did he respond to her?” asked Moose.
“He did but it was like he was forcing himself to do it. You could tell that she was not the girl he was interested in speaking with.”
“Do you know her last name?” asked Moose.
“Sure. Allison Morgan. She still attends here but I don’t see her as much. She’s majoring in chemistry.” The men nodded at him as he opened the office door for them. “There you go. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”
“Thanks, man.” As he walked away Christian tapped his comms. “I’m going to assume that you heard that and are looking for Allison Morgan.”
“Already on it. We’ve got a few guys going out to see if she’s home. We’ll let you know,” said Tanner.
The two men stepped inside the office, noting the lemony smell of cleaning fluid. In spite of the adventure the day before, other than desk being moved, it was neat and clean.
They began pulling books off the shelf, most to do with nursing, chemistry, pharmacology, or biology. He did have some books on engineering, government, and law which seemed out of place. Each one was fanned, to look for potential hidden documents or photos.
“Coverture? What’s this?” asked Moose.
“Coverture is an old law that said upon marriage, a woman's legal rights were suspended, placing her under the protection, that’s bullshit for control, of her husband. I get the protection thing, but control?” frowned Christian. “Can you picture any of our wives giving up all control to us?”
“Not in a million fucking years,” said Moose.
It was three hours of combing through books that didn’t have so much as a dog-eared page. They were crisp, neat, clean and orderly.
“Nothing. Anything inside the desk?” asked Moose.
“A few sheets of paper about the university policies and that sort of thing. There’s this,” he said tossing it to Moose. “It’s an insurance statement on his car.”
Moose glanced down at the paper and frowned.
“Wait a minute. He wasn’t driving a Jeep when we saw him. He was driving an older model Chrysler.” The two men looked up at one another. “Fuck. He’s got a second vehicle.”
“This is the address,” said HG walking up to the porch with Mo. They knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Knocking again, they waited a minute and then heard someone behind them.
“Can I help you?” asked a young woman.
“Are you Allison Morgan?” asked HG.
“Yes. Who are you?”
“My name is HG and this is Mo. We’d like to ask you a few questions about Professor Teller Wayne.” Her entire face turned beet red and she looked down at the bag of groceries in her hand.
“He’s not my professor. I just know him from the university,” she said pushing back the two men.
“We understand, Ms. Morgan, but it’s very important. There is a young woman missing and one dead and we believe he knows something about it.” She opened and closed her mouth several times, then nodded at them.
“Let me put the groceries down. We’ll sit out here if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” said HG. They could see her through the screen door setting the groceries down and then pushing her phone onto a table. At first they were concerned that she might text him, warning him of something. But she only seemed skittish.
“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked. She had a soda in her hand but both men shook their heads.
“Thank you, but we’re fine,” said Mo. “Ms. Morgan.”
“Allison. I’m just Allison,” she said.
“Allison. We understand that you struck up a friendship with Teller. Is that right?”
“No. I mean, we spoke several times but we weren’t friends.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs, pushing her jeans toward her ankles. “This is so embarrassing.”
“We are not hear to judge or make you uncomfortable but this is very important. Anything might help,” said HG.
“He’s a nice-looking older man. I mean, he’s not Prince Charming but he’s smart and well-groomed, just nice. I stopped to speak to him one day outside his classroom. At first he was really friendly with me. He was willing to talk to me about anything and I thought we were hitting it off.
“I wasn’t in his class, so I thought maybe, well, you know.” The two men nodded with a small smile, trying to make her feel better. “He talked a lot about gender roles.”
“Gender roles?” asked Mo. “What do you mean?”
“Well, he firmly believed that women should be in the house. Sort of a barefoot and pregnant scenario. At first, I laughed. I didn’t think he was serious. I mean, how could someone so educated be so ill-informed about the world?”
“It’s a great question,” said HG. “Did you let him know your opinions?”
“Yes,” she frowned. “He immediately changed his attitude toward me. He wouldn’t even say hello any longer. He was just completely rude. I was so hurt and I don’t even know why.”
“Because you thought he was a friend,” said Mo, “and friends don’t judge you. Was there anything else that stuck out for you during your conversations?”
“Only that even though he was talking to me, he was always looking at the thinner, prettier girls behind me. I don’t think he knew that I saw it but it’s not something a girl like me misses.” She blushed again and the two men stared at her for a moment.
“Allison, forgive me, I’m a married man but I can tell you that if I were single, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask you out at all,” said Mo. “I think you’re beautiful, smart, and obviously very kind.”
“Thank you for saying that,” she said shrugging, “but not every man sees it that way.”
It was as if the winds of Irene Robicheaux had blown across the grass. A young man next door walked out of his house and turned toward them.
“Hi, Allison. Everything okay?” he asked slowly making his way over.
“Oh, hi Kyle. Yes. Everything is fine.”
“Okay. Well, if you want to go to the parade later I’m heading down there at six. We could walk together. You know, just to be safe.”
“Sure. That sounds like fun,” she said smiling at him. “He’s nice. He’s working on his technical degree from the VoTech school. Always tries to include me in plans with him and his friends.”
Mo smirked at HG, both men shaking their heads.
“Allison, honey, that man was flirting with you and was very protective of you. He also looked at the two of us as if he could strangle us. He’s into you.”
“No!” she whispered.
“Yes,” said HG. “Trust us. We know these things.”
“He’s lived next door for two years! Are you telling me that man has been flirting with me for two years?”
“I would imagine so. Maybe he’s shy like you,” smirked Mo. “Thanks for your time, Allison. And have fun at the parade tonight. Make sure to hold Kyle’s hand, you know, for safety and all.”
She couldn’t say a word as they walked away, both chuckling to themselves.
“I’d sure like to see the two of them holding hands at that parade,” smirked Mo. HG laughed as they pulled away in the truck.
“I don’t think we have to worry about that. Kyle looked like he’d been waiting long enough.”