Marlee recognized one of the cops standing watch outside the house. He was in her criminology class and had mentioned during an in-class discussion that he was an officer seeking his degree. She didn’t know his name, but that didn’t matter.
“Um, excuse me,” she began.
“You’ll have to keep moving along, miss. This is a crime scene,” the tall, pudgy officer said.
“I know. Beth was our friend, and we were at the party last night. We thought we would come back here and give our statements. I don’t know your name, but you’re in my criminology class. My name’s Marlee McCabe. I sit in the second row,” Marlee said at a rapid pace before he could interrupt and send her and Kristie on their way.
“Okay, I recognize you now,” the officer said grabbing for his walkie talkie and speaking into it. After a few seconds, a voice responded and instructed the officer to escort Marlee and Kristie to the front door. “I’m Officer Stevens. Barry Stevens,” he said before leaving them at the door.
A short, stout man dressed in a gray suit and sporting a crew cut met them at the door and introduced himself as Detective Barkley. “I understand you were both at the party last night and saw Beth Van Dam.” He was curt and straight forward in his delivery.
Marlee nodded. “Yes, we both live in the same dorm as Beth. She came here from work last night. She told her boss she was sick so she could leave early. I talked to her around 9:00 pm. Kristie saw something too,” she said nodding her head toward her friend.
“What did you see?” Detective Barkley asked looking at Kristie. She relayed her story of seeing Beth walking upstairs with the creepy guy around 9:15 pm.
The detective followed up with several questions and then gathered their names and contact information before dismissing them. Marlee and Kristie looked at each other, not satisfied with their interaction. It had been all take and no give on the detective’s part.
“So how did Beth die?” Marlee blurted.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss the details right now. We won’t know until the autopsy is completed,” Detective Barkley said, flipping shut his notepad and placing it back inside his suit jacket pocket.
“Autopsy? You mean they’re going to cut Beth open?” Kristie said, horrified at the thought of her friend being dissected.
“Yes. Autopsies are standard practice in death cases. Thank you both for your cooperation. I’ll be in touch,” said the detective as he walked back inside the house.
Officer Stevens appeared at their side and ushered them outside the crime scene tape. “Thank you for providing information on this case.”
“Can you tell us what’s going on? Beth was a friend of ours. She lived in our dorm. We just want to know what happened,” Marlee pleaded.
“We all want to know,” Officer Stevens said with a sigh. “Do you two need a ride home?”
“Sure!” Kristie and Marlee called out in unison, glad that they wouldn’t have to walk home in the freezing wind. The officer utilized his walkie talkie again and a car drove up beside them.
“This officer will drive you home. Thanks, ladies. We’ll be in touch. If you have any further information, please let us know,” said Officer Stevens as he opened the back door of the police cruiser and helped them into the back seat.
Kristie started to talk on their chauffeured ride home in the police car, but Marlee shushed her. “Anything we say might be recorded,” she whispered, paranoid that they could unwittingly be pulled into the case. Kristie nodded and not another word was uttered until they were dropped off in front of their dorm and they thanked the officer for the ride.
Marlee let herself into her dorm room, and Kristie followed. Jasmine sat at her built-in desk, simply staring straight ahead. After a recap of their interactions with the police, Jasmine had questions. “So, was Beth… Was she still there?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see her. We talked to a cop who’s in my criminology class and then a detective. After that, we were given a ride home. We didn’t even get to see Tim or John to see how they were doing.” Marlee was disappointed that she and Kristie hadn’t learned more during their time at Stairway to Hell, but was glad they went and provided what little information they had.
“I wish I knew what happened when Beth went upstairs with that guy,” Kristie said. “He looked like a weirdo, but I never thought about trying to steer her away from him. I figured she was a big girl and knew how to get rid of guys she didn’t want hanging around her.”
“It’s not your responsibility, Kristie. You said Beth was laughing and talking as she went upstairs, so there’s no way you could have known something bad could happen. Besides, we don’t even know if that guy was involved,” Marlee said.
“Maybe he had nothing to do with her death,” Jasmine said, anxious to alleviate any burden Kristie felt about Beth’s untimely death.
“I know, but I still feel guilty. I may have been the last person to see her alive, other than the creepy guy,” Kristie said. “I wonder who he is. I haven’t seen him before on campus or at parties.”
Marlee reached into her closet and pulled out the university yearbook from the previous year. Even though none of the three had attended then, Marlee purchased the annual to familiarize herself with more of the students in her classes and find out about campus life at this school. An added benefit was that if she saw a guy in class she could always go to the yearbook and search for his picture to determine his name, hometown, and grade level.
“Let’s start looking through this.” Marlee plopped the annual down on her desk and gestured for Kristie to take the chair since she was the only one of them who actually saw the guy.
After several pages’ worth of big permed hair, goofy smiles, and serial killers in the making, the trio decided to take a break. It was after 1:00, and none of them had eaten breakfast or lunch. They walked over to the Student Union and took the annual with them to peruse as they ate.
By the time they finished their meals and decided to go back to the dorm, they had combed the entire 1986 yearbook, and Kristie found no one looking remotely like the guy she saw with Beth. “Maybe he didn’t get his picture taken,” Kristie said.
“Or maybe he’s a freshman or a transfer and wasn’t here last year,” said Jasmine.
“It’s possible that he’s not even a student. John is from Britton, and Tim is from here in town. I say we wait until this evening, then give Tim another call to see what he has to say. And also to make sure he and his roommates are handling everything okay,” Marlee suggested.
Jasmine and Marlee hung out in their dorm room the rest of the afternoon. One by one, many of the girls on their floor dropped in to talk about Beth and try to make sense of her death. Kristie was meeting three fellow students for a group project in her English class, but after that was over, she joined them. None of them had any new insights or ideas, but gathering together in times of chaos was important.
“Beth was a character. I’ll never forget some of the things she said when we went out to some of the bars. She was fearless and would say anything to anybody,” Marlee reminisced. “She was one of the funniest people I’ve ever known.”
Jasmine nodded. “Me too. She always knew how to cheer me up when I was having a bad day.”
“That girl could drink more than most men I know,” Kristie said, giving Beth a huge compliment. “And she wasn’t that big. I don’t know how she could hold all that alcohol.”
“She could party, that’s for sure. But she also carried a full load of classes and was always working at 7-11,” Marlee said.
“You know, I never really saw her around the dorm or on campus much. When I saw her, it was always at a bar or a party,” Jasmine observed. After thinking about it, Marlee and Kristie agreed that Beth did not have much of a presence on campus.
“I never saw her roommate, Angie, around much either,” Marlee said. “Maybe they just have different schedules than us.”
Polly gave a quick knock on the door and came in uninvite
d. “Did you guys hear the big news yet? About Beth Van Dam?” Always excited to be in the power position with gossip, Polly rattled on, assuming that Kristie, Jasmine, and Marlee knew nothing of their friend’s death. “I heard she died from blood alcohol poisoning because she was a severe alcoholic!”
“We already heard that Beth died. Where did you get your information, Polly?” Marlee asked, trying to keep the disgust out of her voice. Polly acted as if this was a story line in one of the daytime soap operas they watched.
“Blake, one of the roommates at the house told me,” Polly said.
“Who’s Blake? What does he look like?” Kristie enquired.
“Long, dark hair, usually pulled back in a ponytail. A mustache. He’s a fox. I’ve had my eye on him for a while,” Polly said with a giggle.
“Seriously? You’re hot for that guy?” Jasmine blurted, not even attempting to hide her disdain.
“Well, yeah. Who isn’t? Just look at him,” Polly said, oblivious that the others in the room found Blake vomitus.
“When did you talk to him?” Kristie asked.
Polly turned beet red. “Um, this morning. Why?”
“What time this morning?” Marlee asked, even though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
“Around 9:30.”
“How did it come about that you were talking to Blake that early in the morning?” Marlee persevered.
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but I stayed overnight with Blake. I slept in his bed, but nothing happened,” Polly said quickly.
“Wait. So, you went back to Stairway to Hell after you dumped us off at the dorm?” Kristie asked, having difficulty believing her roommate would do such a thing.
“Yeah, well, after we got back, you fell asleep right away,” Polly said to Kristie. “I could hear you snoring. I couldn’t sleep, so I called Blake. We’d chatted a bit at the party, and I thought we hit it off. When we talked, he asked me to come back to the party, so I did.”
“Really? That’s funny, because you were in such a big rush to leave last night. You didn’t seem like you were having much fun,” Marlee observed. “Why did you call Blake last night?”
Polly released a deep sigh. “Like I said, I couldn’t sleep and just thought he and I had a connection, so I called the house and talked to him for about fifteen minutes. He said the party was dying down and asked me to come back so we could talk one-on-one without people interrupting us. So, I got dressed and drove back over there. We hung out in his room and listened to music and talked. We made out a little, and then we both slept with all of our clothes on.”
“What about the class you desperately needed to attend this morning?” Marlee asked pointedly. “That was the reason you made us leave so early last night, remember?”
All eyes were on Polly as she stammered her way through a half-assed excuse. “I remembered late last night that the class had been cancelled for today. Sorry.”
“How did you find out about Beth?” Jasmine interrupted, changing the topic before the conversation turned nasty.
“We heard a commotion downstairs, and Blake went to see what was going on. He came back and told me that Tim found Beth dead outside. After the cops got there, they talked to everyone in the house, including me. I hung out at Stairway to Hell for a while and then came home.”
“Why do you think Beth died from alcohol overdose?” Marlee asked.
“Blake and I and some of the others at the house were talking, and it was the only scenario that made sense. I really liked Beth and thought she was a nice person, but we all knew she had a major drinking problem, right? Did you ever see her at a party or at the bar when she wasn’t sloshed?” Polly said.
“Just because Beth liked to party doesn’t automatically mean that she drank herself to death,” said Jasmine.
“I know, but it makes the most sense. It’s not like somebody at the party killed her.” Polly indignantly defended her theory.
“Did the police give you any clues as to what happened to Beth?” Marlee asked, anxious to uncover facts rather than Polly’s assumptions.
“No, they just asked questions,” Polly said. “I asked them what they thought happened, and they didn’t have an answer.”
“When did you last see Beth last night, Polly?” Katie asked, curious if Polly knew anything about Blake and Beth walking upstairs together.
“I guess it was when I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water after I went back to see Blake. Beth staggered in and sort of fell against the counter. She was really drunk and slurring her words. I tried talking to her, but she wasn’t making any sense, so I walked away.” Polly scratched her head as she recalled the events of the previous evening.
“Did you see Beth walking upstairs? Or did you see her upstairs when you were with Blake?” Marlee asked, unsure how to approach the topic of Blake and Beth going upstairs together that evening.
“No, I only saw her circulating around the main floor talking to people and then in the kitchen when she was trashed,” Polly replied. “Why all the questions? Do you guys know what happened?”
The three all shook their heads. “We’ve been talking about it, trying to make sense of everything. We don’t have any inside information. I called Tim this morning, and he told me about Beth,” Marlee said, purposely leaving out the fact that she and Kristie had walked over to the house and been questioned by the police earlier in the day.
After more discussion of Beth’s passing and what could have caused such a horrible ending, Polly left and went next door to her own room. After Polly was out of earshot, Marlee turned to the other two and said, “We need to get some inside information on this.” Kristie and Jasmine nodded in agreement.
And I think I know how I can get it, Marlee thought.
The truth is usually hidden in plain sight, but no one wants to see it. No one really wants the whole truth.
Chapter 5
After three phone calls, Marlee found the information she was looking for. A friend of a classmate’s roommate led her to the contact information for Officer Barry Stevens, Marlee’s classmate from criminology. He was a full-time officer, unmarried, and lived with two other guys, both of whom worked in law enforcement.
That evening, Marlee called Officer Stevens, asking to meet with him right away. She didn’t say it, but implied that she had new information to share about Beth’s death. They agreed to meet right away at the university library.
It was nearing 7:00 pm, and since it was Friday night, the campus was buzzing with activities and students rushing to get off campus in pursuit of night life. She breathed deep as she entered the library. Marlee loved the smell of books and absorbed the scent of them every time she went to study.
Officer Stevens was sitting on a bench just inside the front doors. No longer clad in his uniform, he sported jeans, tennis shoes, a sweatshirt, and a heavy coat. No one would guess he was an officer of the law by the looks of him. “Thanks for meeting me,” Marlee said.
Barry Stevens stood up and motioned her toward the back of the library where there were small enclosed study rooms. They were mainly used by graduate students who spent the majority of their lives in the library, but any room that was unoccupied and unlocked was fair game. Finding an open room, Marlee led them inside and closed the door behind them.
“So, what did you find out?” the police officer asked Marlee as they both sat down in the cramped room.
Knowing she couldn’t tell him outright that she didn’t have any new information, she decided to pass on the hearsay Polly told them earlier. It wasn’t factual, only the uneducated guesses Polly and some of the roommates at Stairway to Hell had conjured.
Officer Stevens furrowed his brow. “A person from your dorm told you this? Was she interviewed?”
“Yes, Polly said the police talked to her and all the roommates there this morning after Beth’s body was found. Personally, I have a hard time believing Beth drank herself to death. I think there has to be some other e
xplanation,” Marlee said, hoping to garner additional information from the young officer.
“You know I can’t talk about it,” the officer chastised. “When information is meant to be released to the public, an announcement will be made.”
Marlee took a deep breath, mustering all of her inner strength. “Look, Beth was my friend, and I’d like to see justice for her. I’m in your criminology class, and I know you don’t really know me, but I plan on going into something in the law enforcement field myself when I graduate. I was thinking maybe we could work out some sort of arrangement.”
“Like what?” The officer looked at her with a mix of skepticism and curiosity as he raised his eyebrows.
“You tell me about new developments and theories on the case, and I’ll report anything I find out on campus directly to you,” Marlee said.
“You need to report any new information to us no matter what,” Officer Stevens said, scowling at the student.
“I know. The detective gave me his card and asked that I contact him with anything else. I just thought that maybe you were looking to make detective and that if I pass new info on to you that it might help you in getting promoted sooner.”
“How do I know you won’t repeat everything I say to your friends? I could get fired for releasing unauthorized information.”
“I’m not a blabbermouth, and I won’t repeat any of it. The only thing I want is for whoever’s responsible for Beth’s death to be held accountable. That’s all,” Marlee insisted, looking him directly in the eye. “I promise.”
Barry Stevens looked at the floor, pondering his next move. “If anything I tell you gets out, I’ll know it was you who gossiped it around campus. I can make life tough for you, you know.”
Marlee was indignant. “You don’t have to threaten me. I already promised not to repeat anything. You won’t have to break my knee caps.”
For the first time that night, Officer Stevens cracked a smile. “You watch too much television. We don’t break knee caps, just give you multiple parking tickets.”
Fatal Footsteps Page 3
