Chapter Twenty-Four
Jimmy took a seat on the professor’s obviously brand-new couch, a tag still hanging off the left arm. The rest of the place was mostly unfurnished. It appeared the ex-wife had gotten the furniture.
The professor put one ankle over his knee. “What is this about? Detective Keene, you said?” He offered a smile and then gave what was supposed to appear to be a surreptitious glance at his watch. Jimmy could already tell this guy was a piece of work.
Jimmy took his time picking an imaginary piece of lint off his pants as the professor’s foot bounced impatiently on his opposite knee. “Are you aware of the two women found recently with links to the University of Cincinnati?”
The professor waved his hand around his empty apartment. “No TV yet, Detective. I’m sorry to say I’m out of the loop when it comes to current affairs.”
“No chatter about it on campus?”
“Probably. There always is. I haven’t had the time recently to engage in much chatter.”
“Right. Were you familiar with the girl who went missing from campus about six weeks ago? Miriam Bellanger?”
The professor’s face registered no reaction. “Are you telling me Miriam is one of the murder victims you just mentioned?”
“Sorry to say, but yes. Miriam Bellanger and another woman who went missing quite some time ago, Aria Glazer.”
The professor’s foot ceased its movement. He stared at Jimmy like a deer in the headlights. His throat moved as he swallowed. “I take it you knew them both?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes, I… Christ. Dead? They’re both dead? Murdered?” He ran a hand through his thick head of light brown hair, streaks of gray at his temples. Yeah, the college girls probably loved this guy. “Miriam was in my English literature class on Wednesday nights, and Aria… I just knew her from campus.”
“From campus?” Jimmy repeated, lacing his tone with skepticism.
The professor let out a breath, seeming to deflate slightly.
“Listen, Detective, it would be frowned upon if the university found out, but in the interest of honesty, I had a brief affair with both of those women.” He held up his hands.
“I’m not proud of it, but it’s part of the reason for my recent divorce and something I’ve come to regret. ”
“Where did these affairs occur?”
“Mostly in my office. Sometimes after class, sometimes because they met me there.” He lifted his hands.
“I know what you’re probably thinking, but these women came to me.
” He leaned forward slightly as if divulging a secret.
“Women, especially college women, are often the aggressors these days. And sad to say, they don’t require much other than a clean surface upon which to…
” He let that linger with a small lift of his brows.
Jimmy ran his tongue along his teeth. “I see.” Asshole. He assessed the professor. “If Aria Glazer wasn’t in your class, how did you meet her?”
“From what I recall, we were both getting coffee one night. We started chatting, and… one thing led to another. You know how it goes, Detective.”
No, Jimmy certainly did not know how it went. His wife—God rest her soul—had passed ten years before, and there would never be another woman for him. He’d go to his grave still faithful to her.
Jimmy made a note to pull security from the college, see if anyone could be seen following the women as they left his office and made their way off campus.
“How did these affairs end?”
The professor’s eyes moved upward as though trying to recall. “Let’s see, Aria dropped out of whatever class she was taking Wednesday nights, so I simply didn’t see her after that.”
“She never called you once the affair was over?”
“If she did, I never returned her calls. But I don’t remember. That was so long ago.”
They hadn’t received Aria Glazer’s phone records from that time period yet, but Jimmy would bet his bottom dollar that they’d show she’d phoned the professor plenty. And it wouldn’t surprise him if the professor was telling the truth about never returning the calls.
“There was some indication she might have been pregnant,” Jimmy said. “Did you know?”
Something flashed in his eyes, but he looked away quickly. He knew. “She never said anything to me. If she was pregnant, it wasn’t mine.”
“So, you didn’t know she’d gone missing?”
“No. I swear. I had no idea.”
“And Miriam?”
“Yes, I knew about Miriam. I was beside myself with worry, of course.”
“Of course.” Jimmy barely suppressed an eye roll. “Did you ever reach out to the police? Let them know you’d had contact with her recently?”
“No. Class had been canceled the week before, so I hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks. I didn’t imagine saying anything about my relationship with her would be helpful.”
Not helpful to you. “Didn’t you think it odd that another student you were having an affair with went missing? Vanished out of thin air?”
The professor’s eyes narrowed, and then understanding flashed.
He seemed to sag farther. “Josie,” he breathed.
“Josie Stratton.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Yeah…I thought about Josie. But”—he looked up at Jimmy, eyes wide—“the guy who took her killed himself. It wasn’t possible…
I mean, yeah, I thought it was bizarre. But it’s not entirely unusual that college girls go missing, Detective.
Surely you know that. It was a terrible coincidence, but nothing that involved me. ”
Jimmy watched him. Vaughn Merrick’s eyes widened farther. “You think I’m involved in the abduction and murder of those two women? What possible motive would I have for that?”
“Losing your position? Your career? Your family? Seems like a pretty solid motive to me.”
“I did not harm those women, Detective,” Professor Merrick said through gritted teeth. “And we all know who harmed Josie Stratton. I’m sorry, but I’m done here. I’ll be calling my lawyer. If you have any additional questions, you can talk to him.”
* * *
“Ms. Merrick? Detective Jimmy Keene with the CPD. Do you have time to answer a few questions?”
The pretty brunette woman who stood at the door looked surprised, then hesitant, but took a step back, allowing him admittance. “Of course, please, come in.”
Jimmy followed her through the ranch-style home, noting the fully furnished rooms. As he’d suspected, Ms. Merrick had taken the furniture in the divorce.
“Please, have a seat,” she said when they’d entered the living room, indicating a pale gray sectional strewn with lots of pillows.
Jimmy took a seat on the edge of the sofa, turning toward Ms. Merrick who sat toward the other end, taking one of the many pillows and holding it against her stomach. “Can I offer you a beverage?”
“No, ma’am, thank you. Mrs. Merrick—”
“Please, Alicia. And it will be Neely soon. I’m taking my maiden name back.”
“Ah. I see. I understand your divorce is very recent. I’m sorry about that.
I’ve actually just spoken to your ex-husband.
” He didn’t mention that he’d had a tail put on him, a car that would watch the professor’s comings and goings like a hawk.
His connection to the three victims was too suspicious not to, though there was nothing at this point to hold him on.
So the department would follow him, keep a log of his actions to the minute.
Alicia frowned. “Vaughn? Why?”
“Have you heard about the crimes involving the two women connected to UC?”
“Just that two women were murdered. Starved, right? It’s been all over the news, and I’ve caught bits and pieces. I haven’t heard more than that. I’ve been busy getting my new home unpacked.” She assessed him. “What do those women have to do with Vaughn?”
“Well, ma’am…” How to put this delicately? “His name came up during the investigation, and we weren’t sure of the connection until I spoke with him a little bit ago. It turns out—”
“He’d slept with them.” Alicia Merrick’s voice sounded dull, almost dead. She cast her eyes down and scratched at her neck, which had suddenly developed red blotches. “Of course he had.” Her eyes snapped to Jimmy. “But what does that mean to your investigation?”
“We don’t know yet. Your ex-husband claims their disappearances and subsequent murders have nothing to do with him. He didn’t even know they were the ones in the news.”
Alicia squeezed the pillow against her body tightly. “Vaughn doesn’t watch much TV.”
“You don’t seem surprised that your husband was sleeping with two university students.”
“I’m not,” she snapped, but then her shoulders curled inward and she looked down.
Meek, Jimmy thought. Little fight left in her.
Not surprising. She’d been married to a man who sounded like a chronic cheater.
Years of that had to whittle away a woman’s self-esteem until it barely existed.
“But I am surprised he was involved with those two women.”
“You had never heard their names before you saw them on the news?”
“Never. I…I knew Vaughn had started cheating on me again when I filed for divorce eight months ago. I didn’t care who it was.
What did it matter? It was always a different version of the same young co-ed with perky boobs and a tight ass.
” Despite her bitter words, her face was more sullen than angry.
“I see. You said your husband had started cheating on you again. Do you know how many times he’d strayed before?”
Alicia laughed, but it sounded brittle and died a quick death. “Too many to count, and those are only the ones I knew about or suspected. Vaughn craves attention, Detective. He’s a classic narcissist.”
Narcissist. Maybe. Maybe not. People liked to throw that word around without actually knowing what it meant. Selfish asshole? Yeah, Jimmy had diagnosed that the minute he’d met the professor.