Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle (97 page)

“My notes say that you work as a TA for Professor Dino Tadesco, is that correct?”

“I do. Dino’s a good guy.”

“He keeps this place afloat as well, I understand.”

“Yeah. Without him we’d have closed our doors.”

Kala rifled through her notebook to have Nate think she was refreshing her memory. It gave her time to study him. “Leah was in his class?”

“Yup.”

“Did you work with her?”

“She was in the seminar class that I’m a TA for and I graded her papers.”

Like pulling teeth.
“What kind of a student was she?”

“Conscientious. Not brilliant, but she worked hard and did what she had to do to get decent marks.”

“From the photos I’ve seen of her, she was very attractive.”

Nate’s eyes didn’t waver from hers. “She was. Kind, too.”

“I see you’re married.”

“I’m not the one Leah was sleeping with, Detective.”

“Do you know who was?

“Not a clue.”

“Surely you must have your suspicions.”

“I only found out about it because Jucinda felt she had to share.”

“What about Wolf? Was he still into Leah?”

“They were friends. Other than that, I don’t know. Neither was much good at sharing their innermost feelings.”

“Is your wife a student, Nate?”

“My wife?” For the first time, Kala heard his voice tremble with real emotion. He glared at her. “Trisha has nothing to do with this.”

“I never said that she did.”

“She works as a prison guard at the women’s pen.”

“Shift work?”

“Yeah. Trish was on nights when Leah went missing. I’m sure you have that in your notes already too.”

“Actually, I don’t, but thanks for clarifying.”

His ears turned crimson at the tips and angry red patches stained his cheeks. Otherwise, his gaze remained level.
I’ll bet you hate your body giving you away like that,
Kala thought. Hard to control the flush of blood to your face.

She returned to her spot on the couch and watched Nate for a while. If he knew she was studying him, he never let on. She bet he hid his emotions well for the most part. Like everyone who worked here, he knew the tricks of telling a believable lie and the tells when spinning a story. The psychology of the psychologists. Might make for an interesting study.

Kala’s phone buzzed and she reached into her pocket. She checked the number before holding the phone to her ear. “Yes, Vera?”

“Sergeant Rouleau would like you to come to the station for one o’clock. Leah Sampson’s parents will be here then and he wants you to speak with them. Gundersund will be here as well.”

“Okay. I’m on my way.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

 G
undersund checked his rear-view and saw Stonechild make a left turn behind him into the lot. She followed him down the row of parked cars and slid into the empty space next to him. He waited for her to get out of her truck and join him where he stood checking his phone. When he looked up, she was as unreadable as ever, her body language distant. They fell into step and started for the main doors.

“Rouleau wants us to meet him in the lounge on the first floor. He and Fiona are with Leah’s parents and will hand them off to us to carry on with the interview.”

“They came in on their own?”

“Yeah. Mrs. Sampson’s been sedated most of the week. They said they were finally feeling up to talking about their daughter.”

“Okay.” She tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Get anything new on Bobby Hamilton?”

“He was up on assault charges twice. The first time he received a suspended sentence.”

“And the second?”

“Hamilton spent six months in the slammer. He got into an altercation with a guy who rear-ended his car. Hamilton chose to settle the matter with his fists even though the other guy was older and didn’t put up any resistance. The judge ordered an anger management course, and Hamilton now tells everyone he’s cured.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“His boss in city garbage said he shows up on time and does his job without complaint. Keeps to himself.”

They kept walking. Stonechild had her head down, keeping pace with his long strides.

“Who did he assault the first time?” she asked.

They’d reached the main entrance and Gunder-sund leaned past Stonechild to grab the door. “The first time he beat on his mother. She tried to drop the charges, but the judge wouldn’t let her. Bobby was high at the time of the assault and mad she’d turned down his music.”

“Makes me glad I never had a kid.”

“A teenage stoner kid anyhow.”

They waited without talking outside the lounge. Gundersund checked his messages and kept a watch on Stonechild out of the corner of his eye. She leaned against the wall next to him with her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes were closed and she looked to be sleeping.

Ten minutes later, the door swung open across from him. Stonechild was instantly at attention. Rouleau and Fiona walked out together. Gundersund could see the Sampsons sitting together on the vinyl-covered couch against the far wall. They were a tiny couple, grey-haired with faces lined in grief.

Fiona had her game face on: lips a straight line, eyes evasive, no emotion to be seen. He knew from experience that she could play any role required of her. There was a reason she won at poker. She looked from Stonechild back to him. Her lips curled slightly upward as her eyes seemed to assess what he knew she’d consider a threat. It had taken him a while to understand the depths of her jealousy. She may not want to be married to him, but she didn’t want anyone else to be either.

“Detectives,” Fiona said looking at him. She nodded at Rouleau as he took his leave. She stepped closer to Stonechild and held out her hand. “You must be my husband’s new partner. I’m Fiona Gundersund.”

Stonechild reached out a hand and shook Fiona’s. “Kala Stonechild,” she said. Stonechild was as good a poker player as Gundersund’s wife. She waited until Fiona had disappeared down the hall to glance his way. Gundersund’s expression was apologetic and slightly amused.

“After you,” he said, stepping back for her to enter the lounge.

Mrs. Sampson did all the talking while her husband sat next to her.

“Leah was the type of kid who brought home stray animals and people. She had such a big heart. We worried she’d get taken advantage of.” Mrs. Sampson patted her husband’s knee as she spoke. “We lived in Brockville, so Leah grew up in a small town with everyone knowing everyone. Kingston would have been a big city to Leah but she was determined to come here.” Mrs. Sampson shook her head. “She wanted a career that helped people and there was no university in Brockville. We believed this was a safe town and were happy that she decided to stay close by.”

“Did you know she was dating Wolf Edwards?”

“Of course. She adored Wolf but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to settle down. Even as a child in Brockville, she wanted to see the world. We didn’t have a great deal of money and our vacations weren’t exotic. Camping in the province, mainly. Once we made it to Nova Scotia, remember dear?” She kept talking without waiting for a response. “We had to scrape to send her to university. We took out a loan and of course Leah worked and took out student loans. She had to work very hard at her schoolwork. It didn’t come easily. We moved into an apartment in Montreal after Leah left. My brother owns the building and is giving us a discount in exchange for us looking after the property. Leah wasn’t happy about it. Thought it was beneath us, but we have to live somehow. She has a lot of friends in Brockville though. She could always find somebody to stay with.”

Stonechild leaned forward to capture her attention. “Do you know of anybody who might have wanted to hurt Leah? Did she say that anything was troubling her lately, or was there a change in her behaviour?”

“Oh my, no. Everybody loved our Leah. She had different boyfriends but they always parted friends. She didn’t have a nasty bone in her body, did she dear?”

Mr. Sampson seemed to have waited for this cue to speak. “Leah called last month and said she wanted to come visit. Said she was going to finish her classes and take some time away to think. That was a change in pattern,” Mr. Sampson said.

“Of course, she’d broken up with Wolf,” Mrs. Sampson took the floor again. “I thought it was just the breakup that sparked her needing a change of scene.” For the first time, her eyes clouded over and she reached over to grab her husband’s hand. “Maybe we missed something. Leah might have needed help and we should have seen it. I should have listened to you when you said you wanted to come see her last month. If only we had.”

Gail had stopped for an extra large cappuccino on her way to work and the kid behind the counter took his sweet time frothing the milk. It didn’t help that he was a trainee and his orders were already backed up. She’d been late leaving home so an extra twenty minutes wasn’t the end of the world. She made it to the call centre at six-thirty, half an hour late. Juicy had already left at five and Nate was antsy to leave.

“It might help if you could be on time for once. That way I wouldn’t be late getting out of here every night.” He scowled at her before gathering up the student papers he’d been reading. He stuffed them into his burlap bag.

She crossed to her desk and dropped into the chair. Nate was usually such a level, pudding personality. His file was a study in boredom. Something had to be up. “Who’s my partner tonight?” she asked.

“Wolf, but he’s going to be late. He called ten minutes ago.”

“And where’s Mark?”

“He left with Tadesco. They had a meeting with a possible funder.”

“Are you sure the two of them weren’t meeting up with Jack Daniels and Jim Beam? They seem to be spending a lot of time chumming it up in the pub lately.”

Nate tightened the straps on his bag. He swung it over his shoulder and walked closer. “They wouldn’t be pleased to hear you smearing them. Be careful what you say, Gail. Sometimes I think the walls have ears.”

“I’m not scared. If they want to fire me from this low paying, thankless job, I wouldn’t stand in their way.”

“Tadesco’s applying for department head and he’s a little protective of his reputation right now. I’ve seen him angry a few times and he can be vindictive.”

“Well, I’m not the one he needs to worry about.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You must have heard the rumours.”

“What, that he’s gay? That’s just people talking.”

“You know what they say about where there’s smoke.”

Nate held up a hand. “You go too far sometimes, Pankhurst. Stop spreading this shit or you’re going to get into trouble. That female cop was here all morning, by the way.”

“The Native?”

“She’s observant and smart. Looks at you with those bottomless black eyes and gets you to say things you never meant to. I’d look out if I were you.”

“Sounds like a threat.”

“Hell, do whatever you want. Just don’t say you weren’t warned when it blows back. I’m late meeting Trish so I’m going to shove off.”

“I consider myself warned.”

He slammed the door behind him and Gail put her feet up on the desk, clasping her hands behind her head. It was satisfying to have one of her human experiments turn out as predicted. She’d made up the rumour about Tadesco a month ago, but only told Juicy, who predictably told Nate. Half the campus probably had heard by now that Tadesco was bent. One improbable little lie with no proof told to one person and it goes viral. Tadesco was even well liked, proving nobody was immune to malicious gossip. She felt a flush of guilt at the thought of what she’d started but pushed it away. She hadn’t forced Juicy to tell anybody; in fact, she’d asked her not to. Tadesco wouldn’t find out anyway and if he did, he’d laugh it off. He’d never know the rumour began with her.

She looked toward the front door. Nate was supposed to lock it on his way out, but she didn’t remember hearing the click. He’d been in a big hurry and might have forgotten, or maybe he left it unlocked because Wolf was on his way. He should have known better though. The rule was not to leave a female counsellor alone in the unlocked office on evening shift. Gail put her coffee cup on the desk and swung her feet onto the floor, brushing away the feeling of unease.
I’m just jumpy because of Leah,
she thought. It’s only normal to get paranoid when your co-worker’s been murdered.

She was halfway to the door when the phone rang on her desk. She looked back and hesitated. Should she keep going and risk missing the caller or sprint back to her desk? By the time she made it to the door, the caller would probably have hung up and that could lead to trouble. A student thinking about suicide might be reaching out one last time. She’d talked one down just last week. There was really only one decision.

She managed to pick up the phone in time, sinking into her chair as a girl’s tearful voice filled her ear. The door would have to wait, and Wolf should be here in a few minutes anyway. No point getting herself in a knot for the sake of ten or twenty minutes. What could it hurt to have the door unlocked until then, if it even was.

“Take a deep breath and start from the beginning,” Gail said, putting her feet back up on the side of the desk. “We have nothing but time to sort this out.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

 “I
s everything okay, Dalal?” Miss Cummings’s voice penetrated through her worries and Dalal saw her English teacher’s concerned eyes staring at her from the front of the class. Dalal took a quick look around and saw her classmates watching her too. Joe met her eyes from two rows over and smiled encouragingly. She looked back at Miss Cummings.

“I didn’t hear the question. Could you please repeat it?”

Miss Cummings watched her a moment more before picking Sally Jones to tell how Iago duped Othello into killing Desdemona.

Dalal looked down at her desk, even more miserable than before. She tried to concentrate the rest of the afternoon, but Miss Cummings didn’t ask her any more questions. Finally, the three-forty bell rang and Dalal put away her books and pencils. She stood to file out with the rest of the class. Miss Cummings stopped her at the door.