Her Own Drum

by Ali Franklin

  “Did you make any phone calls or turn on your computer while you were here?”

  “No.”

  Maddie looked at her. “Is there any way you can prove you were in your office at the time Cora DeLuca was killed?”

  “No.”

  Maddie flipped through the pages of her notebook and looked back up at Abby. “I trust you don’t have any upcoming travel plans, Ms. Strimple?”

  “No, I don’t. Why? Are you going to tell me not to leave town?” Abby’s smile was forced.

  “Not at this point. But if you are planning to go somewhere, please let me know before you do.”

  Abby promised and Maddie went to the door. “Have a good day, Ms. Strimple.”

  “You too,” Abby whispered, watching her leave.

  Maddie returned to the sheriff’s station. As she entered the bullpen, she noticed Nicki Statton talking with a detective. She frowned and walked over to them.

  “Ms. Statton.” She gave the woman a curt nod. “What brings you here?”

  “Detective.” Nicki nodded at Trainor then gestured to the man. “I was just talking with Isaac about a hacker who’s been accessing campus data.”

  Maddie frowned. “Are classes in session?”

  “No, they start next week.”

  “That’s odd. Isaac, aren’t most campus hackers students?”

  “They are,” said Isaac. “And they usually hack to inflate grades or add courses to a transcript. This one is unusual.”

  “Any leads?” asked Maddie

  “Nothing yet,” said Nicki, “but we’ll get him.” She stood up and shook Isaac’s hand.

  The two women walked across the bullpen together. Maddie wondered if Ryan had told her friend about Maddie kissing her yesterday. Nicki seemed to be acting normally, but Maddie was curious.

  “Ms. Statton, I’m on my way to lunch at Tom’s Diner on the next block. Would you like to join me?”

  Nicki smiled. “I could eat.”

  They had a pleasant lunch. The two women got along well, and they obviously spoke the same law-enforcement language. By midway through the meal they were on a first-name basis.

  “Nicki, how long have you been at Haverwood?”

  “Two years.”

  “Where were you before that?” Maddie expected to hear the name of another small private college.

  “I was with the LAPD for eight years.”

  “Los Angeles?” Maddie almost spit out her food. She recovered, annoyed with herself for assuming Nicki was just a campus cop. “What division?”

  “Burglary, then homicide.”

  “You must have been busy.”

  “Affirmative.” Nicki smiled. “We had a lot of business when I was in homicide. When I decided to move back to Texas, I figured working at a college would give me a chance to positively affect young people.”

  “Is this your first homicide at the campus?”

  “It is.” She frowned. “Not exactly what I was expecting.”

  “We’re working hard to close it. I’m sure it isn’t helping enrollment.”

  “I’m just glad it happened during the summer. This might have created a real security situation if it had happened during the semester.” Nicki looked at her watch and stood. “I’d better get back. If this hacker gets through another firewall or two, we’ll be in real trouble.”

  Maddie stood up and shook Nicki’s hand. “It was good to see you, Chief.”

  “You too, Detective.”

  22

  Ryan and Grace discussed Grace’s search for the hacker over burgers and fries at the SUB. Grace described how the perpetrator had overcome more advanced security measures at every level in order to reach increasingly sensitive data. She explained the intricacies of the security and the breach in terms even a novice like Ryan could understand. The dean was impressed; Grace really knew what she was doing.

  As they walked back to Glaser Hall, Ryan asked what Grace’s next steps would be.

  “I’ve done almost everything I can with the computing power I have at home. I’ll have to see if Kyle can give me access to the computers on campus. Without that, I don’t know what else I can do.”

  “What about our computer lab? asked Ryan. “Would it have enough power?”

  “Computer lab? Do you have a computer science program at Haverwood?”

  “Yes. The lab is over in Miles Hall, behind the library.”

  “Think I could use it?” asked Grace.

  “Sure, at least for the day. The students won’t need it until Monday. I can’t give you the key, but I can unlock it for you. You can use the lab and lock up when you leave this afternoon.”

  “That would be terrific. I bet I can really make some progress from there.”

  They walked to Ryan’s office to get the dean’s “master blasters,” three master keys on a ring with a bright green palm tree attached. Then the two women headed to Miles Hall, walking behind the amphitheater and around the pond. They cut between the library and the SUB to arrive at Miles. Ryan showed Grace to the third floor computer lab, a broad room with multiple workstations and an array of oversized monitors.

  “Will this do?” Ryan swept her arm around the room like a model on a TV game show.

  Grace was already powering up one of the machines. “Are the servers up here too?”

  “I wouldn’t know a server if it walked up and bit me,” said Ryan.

  “Never mind. This is a good start.” Grace smiled and rubbed her hands together.

  “Can’t wait to get to work, huh?”

  “I want to catch this guy.”

  “You seem pretty sure you can get him,” said Ryan.

  “Unless he’s smarter than all the rest of us put together, we’ll get him.”

  The computer came on with the loud “power on” sound that both Ryan and Grace were used to hearing when they logged on in the mornings.

  “I’d better get to work,” said Grace. “It sounds like I don’t have much time.”

  “The campus police officers walk through the buildings as part of their patrols. I’ll let Nicki know you’re here so they don’t try to run you off.” Ryan winked. “Please remember to lock the door when you leave.”

  “I’ll remember. I’ll come back to your office to see if you’ve heard from Teddy and Summer.”

  “Okay. Good luck.”

  Ryan walked back to her office and replaced the keys in the top drawer of her desk. If Grace could find the hacker before his next incursion, they would never have to tell the student body (and their hyper-responsive parents) that there had been a breach of sensitive information. Ryan hoped Grace’s confidence in her own skills was well-placed.

  Ryan spent the next two hours talking with Helen. Although the hacking case was important, they both knew the more time parents had to think about a murder on campus, the more likely there would be diminished enrollment in the fall. Cora’s case had to be solved soon. Fortunately, the sheriff’s detectives had withheld certain information regarding Teddy’s “accident” from the public. Because she had been hurt off campus and the press had not connected the case to Cora’s murder, they didn’t have to worry about Teddy’s incident affecting the perception of safety on campus.

  Oscar Martinez came by at three o’clock to talk about the Midsummer Festival, a campus event held each year during the Fourth of July weekend. The festival had been an annual tradition since long before Ryan had come to the college. For the last ten or so years, Helen had been its chairperson and champion. Oscar was convinced that a great festival would help the campus community forget all about the murder — providing it was solved by then, of course. He pledged extra money for this year’s budget if Helen promised to put on the best festival ever. Ryan, Helen, and Oscar were deep in a conversation about an enormous trampoline setup (“Think bouncy houses for grownups,” Helen was saying) when Grace returned from the computer lab. Ryan invited Grace to have a seat in her office while they finished the conversation.

  When t
he details about the festival attractions had been settled, Ryan walked into her office with a smile. She explained the festival to Grace and told her how much they were all looking forward to getting back to the college’s normal routine.

  Grace, who had been examining the pictures on the wall behind Ryan’s desk, turned to her with a smile. “It sounds like the festival’s going to be a lot of fun.”

  “I hope so,” said Ryan. “Did you find anything about the hacker?”

  Grace frowned. “No, and I need to stop for today. I have some errands to run. Any chance you can let me in again tomorrow?”

  “Let’s talk about it tonight.”

  “Do we have a plan for tonight?”

  “Not yet. I haven’t heard back from Summer, which might mean Teddy is still in the hospital. I’ll find out for sure and call you in an hour or so.”

  The women hugged.

  “Great. See you later,” Grace said.

  Ryan smiled as Grace left the office.

  Maddie sat at her desk and stared at the white-board. She felt like they were getting somewhere with Cora’s case. The cyber squad was looking into the incident with the smart fridge, and even though Grace had been in jail the night it happened, Maddie still thought Grace was involved somehow. The detective stared at the four names running down the left side of the board:

  Ryan McCabe

  Grace Loh (?)

  Abby Strimple

  X

  There it was again: her spidey sense was tingling. There was something here — something she could almost grasp. She would just have to keep working the clues. She opened her notebook and started a list:

  1. Find someone in New York who knew Cora and Ryan at the recording studio. Verify that they hadn’t known each other — or been enemies

  2. Find one of Grace’s old girlfriends. How had the relationship ended? Had there been any violence? Expensive gifts?

  3. Find a sorority sister of Cora and Abby to verify that they had indeed been friends in college. See if their paths had crossed between college and Haverwood

  4. Find all of the connections between Cora and Teddy

  She stared at the list, then entered a fifth item:

  5. Who wanted Cora dead and why?

  Looking back up at the board, Maddie decided to go with her gut. She would look into Grace’s old girlfriends first. She reached for her computer keyboard and started searching for the transcripts of her conversations with Grace.

  She looked up as Detective Isaac rapped on the corner of her desk. “Hey, Zack. What’s up?”

  “I found something related your case. Remember how you gave me a list of people whose financials you wanted me to look into?”

  “Yeah, did you find something?”

  “The same night that Dr. Sayers was electrocuted, twenty thousand dollars landed in one of your people’s bank accounts.”

  Maddie’s mouth dropped open. Isaac flashed his eyebrows and grinned. “Want to guess whose account it was?”

  Maddie glared. “Tell me.”

  “Abby Strimple.”

  It took a second to register. Then Maddie sprang into action. She ran into the break room, where Jack was talking with a deputy.

  “Jack, I need you to do something.” She explained what Isaac’s team had found. Jack agreed to take a deputy and pick up Abby for questioning.

  “Just keep her on ice ‘til I get back,” said Maddie. “I need to run an errand.”

  23

  Teddy woke from her afternoon nap to find Summer snoring softly in the chair beside her bed. She reached out and caressed her partner’s arm. Summer opened her eyes and smiled. She sat up and took Teddy’s hand.

  “Hi, honey. How are you feeling?”

  “A little weak, but I’m okay.” Teddy frowned. “Hungry.”

  “I think that’s a good sign. Want me to call the kitchen and have them send up something?”

  “Maybe in a few minutes.”

  “Have you been here all day?”

  “Of course.” Summer smiled. “Where else would I be?”

  There was a quick knock and the door opened. A female figure entered with a bouquet of flowers in front of her face. She lowered it.

  “Detective Trainor!” said Teddy. “What are you doing here?”

  “Please call me Maddie,” said the detective, smiling. “I heard you would be going home soon. I wanted to come by and tell you we’re making progress on the case.” She searched the flat spaces in the room for a spot that wasn’t already covered with flowers. She made a space by repositioning a few items on the counter by the window.

  “You seem to have quite a following,” she said, waving her arm to encompass the flowers around the room.

  Teddy looked at her partner and smiled. “We do have a lot of friends.”

  Summer invited Maddie to sit in the empty chair. As she did, Maddie looked at Teddy.

  “I’m so glad you’re doing well. When will you be going home?”

  Summer explained about the final neurological exam and told Maddie they hoped the doctor would return that evening.

  “That would be terrific.” Maddie looked at Summer. “Have the cyber detectives talked with you about making your home and your appliances safe from intrusion?”

  Summer nodded. “They were at the house this morning. They looked at everything and assured me that the risk of another cyber attack is miniscule. But I’m not taking any chances. Those appliances are going to the scrap heap. We’re going back to having a house of average intelligence.”

  Maddie laughed. “I understand.” Then she stopped smiling and turned serious. “Dr. Sayers— ”

  Teddy held up a hand. “Please call me Teddy.”

  Maddie nodded. “Teddy, you realize you may still be in danger. With your permission, I’d like to post a deputy at your house.”

  Teddy and Summer looked at each other.

  “We could go away for a while,” Summer said.

  “You could, but if you’re in town, we have a better chance of protecting you.”

  “Det—Maddie,” said Teddy, “how long is this going to last? Are there any new leads in the case?”

  Maddie shook her head. “Nothing I can share with you now. We have a team of experts working to trace the signals that were sent to your home. We know whoever sent them is smart, but we’ve got smart people on our side, too.”

  The detective got up and walked around the room while she talked. “I’m no computer expert, so I have to come at the case from a different angle. What we need to know is how you and Cora are both connected to this killer. Why does he or she consider you a threat?”

  “I can’t imagine,” said Teddy. “We both work in the Fine Arts department at the college, but everything is going well there. There aren’t any disgruntled music faculty members that I know of.”

  “What about an unhappy student?”

  “I don’t know offhand of any student who had classes with both of us, but I can get you my rosters. You can get Cora’s rosters from the Registration and Records Office. Ryan could help.” Maddie nodded.

  “Keep thinking about it. There has to be some link between the three of you.”

  “How else can we help?” asked Summer.

  “Our analysts are going through Cora’s computer to see if she received any threatening messages before she was killed, like the one on your fridge. See if you can remember any unusual mail or email you’ve received in the past few months. Has anything out of the ordinary happened?”

  Teddy shook her head. “I can’t think of a thing. But I’ll go through old emails to see if anything stands out. And you’re welcome to look at my computer if you think it will help.”

  “It might. I’ll have someone contact you about that.” Maddie straightened up and smiled. “In the meantime, you should concentrate on getting well.”

  “I have good doctors and a great partner helping me heal,” said Teddy, squeezing Summer’s hand.

  “A good partner is the best medi
cine,” said Maddie.

  “Are you married, Maddie?” Summer asked.

  Maddie twisted an invisible ring on her left hand. “I used to be.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to— ”

  “No, it’s okay.” Maddie gave them a half-smile. “She died a few years ago.”

  Teddy and Summer squeezed their hands and tried not to react to the pronoun.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Teddy.

  “Please, don’t apologize. Life never turns out like we expected. We just have to enjoy every moment with the people who are special to us.”

  “Amen to that,” said Summer.

  As the three women smiled at each other, an easy silence settled over the room. Soon Summer and Maddie heard Teddy’s breathing become slow and regular. Maddie nodded to Summer and got up. Talk with you later, she mouthed. Summer nodded as Maddie softly closed the door behind her.

  Teddy’s doctor did return that evening. She spent twenty minutes poking prodding, hammering, and asking questions. In the end, she declared Teddy was ready to go home, with the caveat that she take it easy for a couple of weeks. Summer promised to keep close watch over her and they agreed Teddy would follow up with the doctor within the next week.

  The release process took almost two hours after the doctor signed the orders. There were medications to arrange for, appointments to schedule, and home-care instructions to be given. The nurses handled each step between caring for the other patients on the floor.

  Finally, Summer pulled the car around to the hospital’s front entrance to pick up her partner, who had been wheeled downstairs by a hospital employee. On Teddy’s lap was a large box with some of the flower arrangements from her room. She had given the rest to the nurses who had cared for her over the past two days. When she and the box had been loaded into the car, Summer and Teddy drove away.

  Teddy sighed as they left the hospital grounds. “I am so glad to get out of there.”

  “You’re not a hundred percent yet. We still have to keep an eye on you.”