Chapter 47
North Carolina S.B.I. — SSA Tucker
Interview Two — Professor Raines
Behind the one-way glass, Burke stood with Scout.
Tucker entered and shut the door. McHan waited in the corner with a legal pad. Raines sat with a Styrofoam cup in both hands.
“Recording,” Tucker said.
The red light blinked on.
A folder slid across the table.
“Your name keeps surfacing where it shouldn’t.”
Raines didn’t touch it.
“Cedar sachets. Lavender oil. Custom journals. A Royal Quiet DeLuxe typewriter. Cash purchase. Asheville. Two weeks before Lauren Pierce disappeared.”
“Writing isn’t illegal,” Raines said.
“No,” Tucker said. “But those items match what Sara Parker described.”
He tapped the folder. “That’s alignment.”
“You’d find that in half the homes on faculty row. We’re writers.”
“Not from this vendor. Small supplier out of Boone. Three shipments in six weeks.”
Raines opened the folder.
“Delivered to my campus office. Half disappeared within a week.”
“Stolen?” McHan asked.
“Students take things.”
“You didn’t report it?”
“Over lavender?” A thin smile. “No.”
Tucker flipped a page. “Tenure denied. Publication disputes. Formal complaint.”
“Context matters.”
“Then give it.”
“My mentor wanted ownership of my work. I refused.”
“He described obsession.”
“We’re done discussing my career.”
“We’re here because every time we pull a thread, you’re under it.”
Behind the glass, Scout murmured, “Lauren.”
Tucker didn’t break eye contact. “Lauren wrote that you watched her. Not flirted. Watched. Why?”
“I supervised her.”
“She wrote it felt like being studied.”
“That’s dramatic.”
“She’s dead.”
Silence.
“Where is Special Agent Tessa Quinn?”
“I don’t know.”
“Those items match that room.”
“I didn’t build that room.”
“Then who built it?”
A beat.
“Sinclair.”
“You’re looking at the wrong man.”
Behind the glass, Burke’s eyes cut to Scout.
“Why?”
“He collects people. Stories. Attention.”
“He had access to Lauren?”
“Yes.”
“Sara Parker?”
“Yes.”
“Tessa Quinn?”
A nod. “He prefers women with something to lose.”
“The typewriter. Where is it?”
“In my study.”
“We’ll have a warrant before sunset.”
Tucker shut off the recorder.
“Don’t leave town.”
Raines didn’t blink.
Interview Three — Professor Keller
North Carolina S.B.I. — SSA Tucker
Ten minutes later, Keller sat cuffed at the table. Sweat darkened his collar.
“Recording.”
The red light blinked on.
“You and Lauren,” Tucker said. “Where?”
A photo slid across the table.
Keller glanced down. “That’s not my house.”
“Your colleague’s. The one teaching abroad.”
Another photo.
Lauren laughing. Keller’s hand on her arm.
Keller’s jaw tightened.
“An affair,” Denton said. “Your wife was pregnant.”
“You don’t know my marriage.”
“But Lauren thought you were separated,” Tucker said.
Another photo.
Keller’s wife at a baby shower. Keller beside her.
Silence.
“I cared about her.”
“You cared about yourself.”
Keller leaned forward. “She said she’d go to HR. To my wife. I panicked.” His voice pitched higher on the last word. A sheen of sweat gathered at his hairline.
“People panic,” Denton said. “They don’t build rooms.”
“I didn’t build anything.”
“When did you last see her?”
“In my office. She said she was done hiding.”
“And?”
“I grabbed her arm. Then I let go.”
“Did you follow her?”
“Yes.”
“To the parking lot.”
“You didn’t chase her.”
“No.”
“Where is Special Agent Tessa Quinn?”
“I don’t know.” His voice rose. “I met her once. I’m done talking.”
Tucker shut off the recorder.