Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar

by Gray Cavender

  She blew her nose and held on to the tissue. “We hit it off immediately. I was flattered because of her reputation and because she was further along in her career. But, it wasn’t just business—well, it was that—but it was more, it was genuine…we were friends. Nelda was the kind of person who made contacts everywhere she went. Her contacts…they opened a lot of doors for me. I’d interviewed for the job here, Director of Skysong, and I’d met important people at ASU…but with Nelda, it was as if I had her imprimatur. With Jacques, President Davidos, with the Provost, with…everyone. With Nelda’s help, I was able to really hit the ground running.” Jillian could see that she was trying to hold back her tears.

  Wes could also see that Moser was struggling so he went in a different direction. “We’ve had several mentions of SkySong in our interviews, but neither of us was familiar with it…what exactly is SkySong?”

  The question was a good distraction, and it seemed to settle her down. “OK, so ASU is very much committed to innovation and to entrepreneurship. It’s a part of our brand. SkySong was initially a partnership between ASU and the City of Scottsdale. This neighborhood had become blighted, and the City hoped that a facility like SkySong would help jump start it economically. And, it has. And for ASU, SkySong is essentially an incubator. There are all sorts of start-ups here, some affiliated with ASU, some not. I’m sure you noticed the other buildings…they house paying tenants, too. The idea with the start-ups is that if they’re successful, they’ll move out and make a go of it. The plan is to promote entrepreneurial creativity for economic innovation.”

  “OK, I think I understand it now,” Wes responded. “And you’ve said that Professor Siemens was a regular out here?”

  “Yes, she was. SkySong actually is an ASU campus, just with a very specific mission, so it makes sense that she’d be here…especially given her interests.”

  Wes nodded as if he now understood and then returned to the original question. “Ms. Moser, I know how unpleasant this is, but because this is a murder investigation, can you tell us anything about the Professor…enemies, any ongoing ‘situations’ that you’re aware of? Literally, anything?”

  “Well, there was a good deal of opposition to the idea of Ayn Rand Studies. Of course, a lot of this was before I arrived. But as I understand it, it was from all across the campus. The social sciences tend to be very liberal, so many of those faculty were vocal, and of course some in English were, too. I think some of the English faculty were angry about Rand Studies being essentially plopped down in their midst. But some were just jealous at Nelda’s situation…her salary, and so on. But, I thought much of this had quieted down over the past year…I really did.”

  Wes asked, “You’ve said you were friends…has she said anything to indicate any more recent issues…threats…anything?”

  “Well, there’s been a lot of back and forth about some kind of anti-Rand Studies article that’s supposed to appear in The Chronicle of Higher Ed. Maybe the talk about that has re-energized some of the opposition.”

  “Anything specific?” Wes asked.

  “Nothing that she’d mentioned, no.”

  “Do you know who the author was…of the article?”

  “No.”

  Jillian asked, “How did Professor Siemens handle the opposition? Did it ever get to her?”

  Moser smiled. “Never. She was undaunted by opposition. If anything…” she paused…

  “If anything…” Jillian repeated.

  “You have to understand, Nelda is an ‘in your face’ type person. She has boundless energy AND boundless confidence. Not only does she not back down in the face of opposition, she engages her detractors. Maybe her approach sometimes made things worse…I don’t know…but that’s just who she is. Nelda isn’t the sort of a person to ‘make nice.’ I suspect if anyone actually does publish the infamous article in The Chronicle, she’ll dash off a smart, blistering reply. Except now…” She sniffled and left the thought unfinished.

  Wes again, “But the Professor hadn’t indicated anything specifically to you about anyone bothering her?”

  She shook her head no.

  Jillian said, “Our forensics team has tentatively established Professor Siemens’ time of death at around midnight or even later. Given that this was so late at night, it makes sense that no one heard anything suspicious…most people were probably long gone by that time. But one thing I wondered is why she’d be at her office that late. Does that seem unusual to you?”

  “Not so much. Nelda was a night owl. She tended to sleep fairly late in the morning, but once her workday got rolling, she’d work long hours. I think it was just a biorhythm thing with her. So, that seems late, but with Nelda…yah…”

  Wes spoke next, after making a point of looking through his notes. “One of her colleagues who we’ve spoken to was Professor David Roberts. He was very helpful, but he also told us that he and Professor Siemens had been romantically involved, although he did say that this was no longer the case. Could he have been a problem?”

  Moser smiled and said, “I don’t think so.”

  When she didn’t add anything more, Jillian asked, “So, who caused the break-up?”

  Moser smiled again. “I guess that depends on how you look at it. In a way, I guess you’d say that David broke things off. But, the reason…OK, he wanted more…he wanted to be, you know, exclusive.” And well…” She paused.

  Wes asked, “And the Professor didn’t?”

  “No…their relationship was interesting, maybe even out of the ordinary. See, Nelda was older than David…by several years…but he was the one who wanted a more stable relationship. Nelda just wasn’t interested in that.”

  “Was she seeing other people,” Jillian asked.

  “Sometimes…maybe not all that seriously, but yes. And David just couldn’t handle that. He gave her…I guess you’d call it an ultimatum. And she said, OK, if that’s how it has to be, then so be it.”

  “And what’d he say,” Jillian and Wes asked, almost simultaneously.

  “I think he was surprised. I don’t think he expected her to react that way, but she did. Nelda’s her own person…she liked David—a lot—but if she wanted to see someone else at the same time, well, that’s what she was going to do. So, they broke-up right around the end of the school year…maybe early in the summer…which was good timing for Nelda because she was away a good deal during the summer.”

  “Where,” Wes asked.

  “Mostly consulting…in California, back east, in the Midwest…Kansas, I think. For her, it was a way of cooling things down between them…you know, out of sight, out of mind.”

  “And for Professor Roberts?”

  “I don’t think he was happy about it, but I know David mainly through Nelda…and since she was gone much of the summer…I don’t really know.”

  Wes asked, “What sort of consulting did the professor do?”

  “Well, Nelda’s on a number of corporate boards of directors. And she also consults with several business-oriented think tanks…things of that sort.”

  “Was that…lucrative?” Wes asked.

  “Very much so, yes. Nelda’s in demand…she’s also a frequent public speaker, and she’s well-paid for that, too. It’s driven by her reputation as a Rand scholar, and now these Rand Studies Centers at several universities…all at a time when there’s been this resurgence of popularity about Ayn Rand and her ideas...in Congress, in several state legislatures, in many business organizations…so Nelda’s been busy. And, yes all in all, her extracurricular activities generate a good deal of revenue for her.”

  Jillian waited to see if Wes had any follow-up questions along this line of inquiry. When he didn’t, she said, “If you don’t mind, I want to return to the question of who Professor Siemens was dating. We really are trying to flesh-out who all was involved in her life, professionally, romantically…anyt
hing.”

  “I understand, Detective Warne. OK, so at the time she was seeing David—like I said, this was last year—she was also seeing a lawyer in Phoenix…Anthony Bradley. He’s with a small firm, Freeman and Bradley, that mostly represents businesses who are defendants in law suits, for…well, for all sorts of things: complaints against businesses by their employees, worker’s comp claims against businesses, breach of contract by an employee…that sort of thing.”

  Jillian asked, “And Professor Siemens was seeing Mr. Bradley while she was also seeing Professor Roberts?”

  “Yes…she’d been seeing David all last academic year, but it was during the spring semester that she started going out with Anthony. David found out about it, and that’s what prompted his…ultimatum.”

  “Were Professor Siemens and Mr. Bradley still seeing each other?”

  “No…but that had nothing to do with David. I think things with Anthony just fizzled when she travelled so much this summer.”

  Jillian looked-up from her IPAD and asked, “Anyone else?”

  Moser nodded. “Yes, for a while Nelda was involved with a professor at ASU’s downtown campus…Carlton Spann…he’s in The School of Public Affairs. He’s a policy specialist, mainly interested in government/business partnerships.”

  “When was this?”

  Moser thought, then said, “This would also have been last year…I want to say during fall semester. Carlton was married, but he and his wife were separated.”

  “Did Professor Roberts know about Mr. Spann?”

  “No, I don’t think so…although, Nelda was not secretive about her relationships. She didn’t advertise them, but she didn’t hide them either...which is how David found out about Anthony Bradley.”

  “And what about Mr. Spann?”

  “I had the sense that Nelda’s relationship with him just ran its course.”

  Wes asked, “Was she seeing anyone now?”

  Moser was quiet, then said, ”I’m not really sure…maybe? Things get so busy at the beginning of the fall semester…and Nelda was away a lot this summer…so I haven’t seen her much. She hasn’t been here at SkySong lately, either. We talked last week and planned to get together to catch up…she said she had some things to tell me…could have been about a new man…or not? I just don’t know.

  She took another sip, Jillian thought to avoid crying. “I’m trying to answer your questions as truthfully as I can.” She paused again as if trying to regain a train of thought. “But, I don’t want to give you a misleading impression. Nelda’s not a runaround…she’s just a strong woman…who enjoys the company of men…and she does as she pleases…that’s all.” She seemed to be on the verge of saying something else, but did not.

  After a couple of beats, Wes asked, “Anything else you can think of that we should know for our investigation?”

  Moser shook her head, as if answering ‘no,’ but also as if simply because she was at a loss for words. “Nelda is a strong, successful woman…she knows what she wants. She’s not always easy, she’s not falsely friendly with people...with colleagues, with students…with anyone. I think that she intimidates people. But still, this…this is out of the blue.”

  Wes said, “Ms. Moser, we’d like to take a quick look at Professor Siemens’ temporary office…just to check it out.”

  Although she seemed surprised, Moser quickly said, “OK.” She picked-up her telephone and dialed. Wes and Jillian could hear the faint ringing at the Information Desk, near the elevator.

  “This is Susan Moser. The police detectives would like to see Professor Siemens’ desk. Please assist them.” She listened, then said, “Yes, that’s correct. Thank you.”

  They ended the interview with an exchange of business cards and the request that Ms. Moser contact them if she thought of anything, no matter had inconsequential it might seem. The last thing that Jillian heard as they left the office was Susan Moser sniffling.

  Jillian and Wes returned to the Information Desk and the student worker who’d given them directions walked them down a corridor that was parallel to the one with Moser’s office. This corridor wasn’t as open: small, glass-front offices lined one wall…none were occupied. Further along, some of the offices had translucent glass or some sort of covering so that you couldn’t see inside. Cubicles were on the opposite side of the corridor.

  “This is it. Do I open it or give you the key?”

  The young man was obviously nervous. Wes said, “Please, you open it. And if you’d like, just stay in the hallway while we give it a quick look-see.”

  The temp office was a small room with a glass front. There was space only for a small desk and chair, and a visitor’s chair. The surface was clean of anything…no phone, no computer, and the desk drawers were empty.

  They stepped back into the hall and Wes said, “It looks very empty. Has Professor Nelda Siemens been here lately?”

  The worker shook his head no, and then volunteered, “Most of these offices aren’t permanently assigned, so, other visitors also use them. I guess that’s why people don’t leave anything personal in them.” He shrugged.

  Wes thanked the student worker and they left.

  Wes waited until he’d pulled out onto Scottsdale Road, and then said, “Well, I think at the very least, that interview answered a couple of questions. We know more about how the Professor afforded a luxury condo on the Tempe Town Lake…consulting. And second, we know why she had a box of condoms.”

  Jillian glanced over and said, “Yes, Wes, she practiced safe sex.”

  Wes was quiet for a few seconds, then said, “You’re absolutely right.” He was quiet again, then said, “You did good finding out about why she’d be in her office so late.”

  Jillian nodded, was quiet herself for a time, then said, “I had the feeling that Ms. Moser wasn’t being totally open with us…about something…maybe about who all Professor Siemens had dated…or if she was dating someone new…I don’t know…something. Did you have that sense, Wes?”

  “I’m not sure. I guess I did notice some reservations on her part, but, I put it down to her being so upset.”

  “You could be right about that.”

  “You could be right, too, Jilly.” He focused on driving, braked for a red light at Currie, and then asked, “What’d you make of Ms. Moser’s comments about the relationship between the Professor and Roberts being an unusual one?”

  “I assumed she meant that, you know, usually it’s the woman wanting a more stable relationship. And instead, here it was the man that wanted more stability. Then, too, the age roles also were reversed…in this case, the man is a younger than the woman.”

  “No, not your usual May-December,” Wes said.

  Wes slowed, waited for a bus, turned right on University, then angled right again onto Fifth. He tapped the steering wheel several times, then said, “Let’s do this…I’ll call those guys that Ms. Moser named…Bradley, the lawyer, and the other professor, Spann, on the downtown campus. She said they were old news, but I’ll see what I think…maybe we should interview them in person...maybe not. In the meantime, see if you can schedule an interview with your old professor, Ian Naremore.”

  “Sure, but Wes, I just don’t see him for this. I know that he’s very critical of corporations and business deregulation, but still…”

  “I trust your instincts on this, Jilly...it’s just that his name keeps coming up,” he looked over at Jillian. “But I’m also thinking that he probably knows a lot about the opposition to the Rand Center…and he can give us a better perspective on this, and THAT may lead us somewhere that we need to go.”

  “Do you want to come along?”

  “I don’t think so…we need a division of labor to move things along. Also, after I talk with the Professor’s other love interests, I want to mobilize more uniforms—with Peter Voss in the lead—to canvas the neighbors at the
Professor’s condo. I need to check in with him anyway…he was going to track down the Professor’s car, and Angel and the team were going to give it a going over…and I want to see where we are there.” He tapped the wheel again, then said, “I think the Professor’s office at SkySong is not relevant…it was totally empty.”

  “I agree.”

  “I’m also thinking that since he knows you, Naremore might be more forthcoming if you interview him without me there. By the way, what IS the story on Professor Naremore?”

  “Well, as I said, I had him for several classes...”

  “Inducing the one where you spoke-up for Mr. Sarsour.”

  “This is embarrassing, Wes, but I don’t remember much about that. And, to the degree that I do, I remember more about the insulting comments that the other student made than about what I said in response…I’m not even sure that I even remember Mr. Sarsour.”

  “Well, you certainly made an impression on him, and that’s good. So, Naremore?

  “OK, so in addition to a couple of his classes, like I said, he was a member of my undergraduate honors thesis committee and he was also on my graduate project committee. Actually, he’s a pretty interesting guy, Wes. He grew-up in the Bay Area, although he always emphasized it was the East Bay. He was fairly poor, but he was a really good athlete. What’s unusual is that he’s an African American man, and his sport was tennis…he even went to UC Berkeley on a tennis scholarship.

  “So, an Arthur Ashe type…hmm.”

  “Wes, just because he’s a black tennis player…”

  Wes interrupted, “Yeah, no…I mean, Arthur Ashe was an African-American tennis player, but that’s not why I made the comparison. Ashe was a lot more than just an athlete…although he was a great tennis player. But he also was a vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa…he was an AIDS activist…and he was a writer. So, yeah, he was a star athlete, but he was all of those other things, too. And from what you’re saying, Naremore went from being an athlete to being a professor.”