[Kitt Hartley 04] - Death Awaits in Durham

by Helen Cox

  ‘All right, that’s all we’ve got time for but we’ll pick up the issues Lauren raised next week,’ Harriet Lowenthal said over the lectern mic while shuffling her papers into a pile.

  Oh dear. Grace had been so preoccupied with her plot to wind up Kitt, and all that had transpired that day with the investigation into Jodie’s disappearance, that she’d zoned out of the lecture for at least the last forty minutes, and the lecture was only an hour long. Perhaps it was incidents like this that made Kitt crinkle her nose up so often when in Grace’s company.

  The rest of the students began to move but Grace, as instructed by Kitt, pulled on her coat and scarf, before reaching under her long cardigan and flicking the switch on a radio unit clipped to her belt. The mic at the lectern buzzed for an instant. Just long enough for Lowenthal to frown at the device until another student approached to ask a question, distracting her. A faint ringing sounded out in Grace’s earpiece.

  This was it. She was online.

  Ensuring her voice was little more than a murmur, Grace said: ‘Dark Halo to Carrot Top. Come in, Carrot Top.’

  ‘Grace!’ Even with the distortion through the earpiece there was no missing the disdain in Kitt’s voice. ‘That’s not my code name and you know it. I’m Red Flame. This is not a game, you know?’

  Grace put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle so the rest of the students didn’t think she was crackers for laughing to herself. ‘Anything can be a game if you let it,’ she muttered down the mic.

  ‘In my experience, people who live by that rule don’t get to play many hands.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I forgot your code name.’

  ‘Forgot, my foot. Stop messing about and focus on the task in hand, will you?’

  ‘Are you sure about this? As far as we know Lowenthal has no link whatsoever to Jodie. She was a mechanics student and Lowenthal is in the social studies department. I can’t imagine them crossing paths.’

  ‘Trust me, if something unsavoury is going on around campus, Lowenthal will know all about it.’

  Sighing, Grace made sure the wires from the radio set weren’t visible beneath her scarf. Kitt wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what Lowenthal had done to deserve the title of arch-nemesis but she had to assume it was something pretty serious for her to be so convinced of Lowenthal’s involvement. Slowly, she walked down the steps next to the raked seating to the front of the lecture hall where Lowenthal was answering a question about cataloguing fiction subgenres. Grace watched on as Lowenthal explained the merits of using the Library of Congress Classification system.

  Harriet Lowenthal looked to be a similar age to Kitt. She had a head of tight chestnut curls that shook with her enthusiastic gesticulations and Grace had noticed since the very first class that she favoured thick, dark lipsticks. Today was no exception. Her lips were a deep purple and seemed to move twice as fast as those belonging to the average person.

  ‘Yes, Grace?’ Lowenthal said.

  ‘Hi. I’m sorry to bother you but there’s something I need to ask about and you seem the most approachable tutor on my roster.’

  ‘Ha! That’s not saying a lot for the other tutors on your roster,’ Lowenthal said with a smile that didn’t quite make it to her eyes.

  Grace returned the smile in as genuine a fashion as she could. She needed to get Lowenthal onside here if she was going to somehow casually ask if she knew anything about Jodie’s disappearance and simultaneously have any hope of passing her cataloguing module. ‘What can I say? I just get a good feeling in your lectures. They’ve really opened my eyes.’

  ‘Flattery won’t get you a grade-raise but that’s nice to hear,’ Lowenthal said, packing some pens and a notebook into her handbag. ‘What is it you wanted to ask about? I’m only on campus for a few more minutes so I’ll need to make it quick. If it’s something sensitive or time-consuming we could always book an appointment tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh no, this won’t take long at all. The thing is, I ran into another student at a freshers’ event – Patrick Howard – and he told me what happened to his fiancée, Jodie.’

  ‘Oh yes, that was tragic,’ Lowenthal said. Though she was saying the right thing about Jodie’s disappearance, her tone of voice didn’t betray any sadness or remorse at all. In fact, her response was pretty much the definition of lip service. Lowenthal snatched up the rest of her papers and began heading out of the lecture hall slowly enough that it was clear she meant for Grace to follow her.

  ‘Tragic, yes, you won’t hear any argument from me on that score,’ Grace said, as they headed out into the corridor, which smelled vaguely of warm custard due to its proximity to the department canteen. The sickly sweet smell never failed to turn Grace’s stomach. Probably because she’d never forgotten seeing the canteen custard for the first time. She was no custard connoisseur but she was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to be that shade of brown.

  ‘And is there some reason you wanted to talk to a faculty member about this?’ Lowenthal said, re-establishing Grace’s attentions.

  ‘Patrick mentioned, in passing, that he’s hired a private investigator to get to the bottom of her disappearance once and for all. It’s been a year and the police haven’t found anything so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Apparently, the PI has already come up with lots of new leads the police didn’t uncover.’

  ‘And I’m sure if Patrick Howard keeps throwing money at them, they’ll keep finding leads.’

  ‘Oooh, what would she know about it?’ Kitt hissed into Grace’s ear. Grace bit her lip to keep from smiling. Thankfully, Lowenthal would likely put any amusement on show down to her cynical quip.

  ‘You might be right about that but hearing what happened to Jodie last year really spooked a lot of us first years. I think secretly we’re all hoping she’ll turn up somehow – we’re really working hard to fulfil our weekly quota of gullible first-year behaviour – and I wondered if you had any contact with Jodie or knew of any faculty members who were close to her so that the PI could talk to them and get some background information.’

  Lowenthal paused and looked Grace up and down. ‘I appreciate you’re only trying to help but that episode is one the whole academy would rather forget. If Jodie was going to be found, or wanted to be found, I’m sorry to say she would have been by now.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Look, a word of advice that you’ll thank me for. Don’t rock the boat. Just put your head down, get along with your studies, and you’ll do fine here. I have to go. I have another appointment.’

  Don’t rock the boat? Was Lowenthal trying to say that this was a dangerous path to travel down? If so, why, and what did she know that she wouldn’t outright say? Unfortunately, Grace was never going to get the chance to ask her these questions directly as she had already walked away and turned down a connecting corridor that led out of the social studies building.

  ‘The weasel is out of the den. I repeat—’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Grace, I heard the first time. I’m in position. Subject is heading left past the library in rather a hurry.’

  ‘Moving out that way now,’ Grace said, taking a different exit to the one Lowenthal had used and walking out into the crisp October evening. Dusk had fallen now, which wasn’t likely to make the task of surveillance any easier.

  ‘Damn it.’

  ‘What? Did you lose her?’

  ‘No, give me some credit. I’ve only been on her tail two seconds. The subject is on her phone. I bet she’s calling somebody about Jodie and what you’ve just fed her about the new leads. I knew she was in on this.’

  ‘I’m not sure that her making a phone call really means—’

  ‘You don’t know what she’s like. Oooh, what I wouldn’t give to be able to hear what she’s saying right now. She’s cutting between the social care and sports technology buildings.’

  ‘She’s probably heading to the faculty car park. She did say she was leaving campus so looks like she was being honest about that, at lea
st.’

  ‘Yes, you’re right, I remember. There’s a cut through the halls complex to the car park. Whether she’s changed her mind about where she’s going based on what you said to her is another matter. If she gets in a car and drives off straight away this is going to be a very short surveillance op.’

  ‘Well, I see you, so keep moving. If she changes direction just let me know. It won’t take long for me to whip round the other end of the building if she changes course,’ Grace said. She quickened her step, barely glimpsing the long shadows reflecting across the lake, hardly noticing the formidable silhouette of the library in the fading light or the ornate outlines of the academy’s many prestigious buildings. Her one focus was to keep her sights on Kitt who had her sights set on Lowenthal. Her heart was beating fast at the thought of catching Lowenthal up to something she shouldn’t be, and she decided right then that she was a fan of exhilaration.

  Soon, however, Kitt paused just where the halls opened out into the campus shopping complex and the faculty car park. The whole area was cast in the orange glow of street lamps, probably to deter any car thieves who might be looking to knock off one of the many expensive cars parked up. Grace wasn’t sure what could have caused Kitt to hang back like that but she was less than thirty seconds’ walk from her so she’d soon find out.

  ‘She turned this corner about a minute ago,’ Kitt explained when Grace caught her up. ‘It might be better to stick together from here on in and just make out like we’re going to get a few things from the campus shop. If she clocks us I can just say I’m visiting you because I used to go here. That I’m here to reminisce.’

  ‘All right,’ Grace said with a nod. ‘Seems like a believable story.’

  When they turned the corner, however, both of them cried out in shock. Harriet Lowenthal stood not three feet around the edge of the building. Her eyes narrowed. Her purple lips tight and her arms crossed over her chest.

  A moment later her expression slackened ever so slightly as she said: ‘Kitt Hartley, is that you?’

  Nine

  There was a moment’s stunned silence before Lowenthal sneered: ‘At least I see you’ve finally replaced that raggedy blue hat you used to wear.’

  Grace couldn’t believe the switch in Lowenthal’s attitude between here and the lecture hall. If she was hiding that kind of snark behind a respectable appearance, what else might she be hiding? And what on earth had passed between her and Kitt all those years ago?

  ‘It wasn’t raggedy, it was well-loved, that’s all,’ Kitt replied, though she tailed off at the end of her sentence in such a way that she didn’t sound one hundred per cent sure.

  ‘Never mind that,’ Lowenthal said with a scowl. ‘Perhaps you’d like to explain why the pair of you are following me?’

  ‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ said Kitt. ‘We’re not following you, we’re on our way to the shops. Running into you is just one of life’s unfortunate coincidences.’

  ‘Don’t give me that. You couldn’t be more obvious if you tried. I may not have recognized you at first but I did notice you the second I stepped out of the department building. Grace tells me there’s a PI on campus and the next thing I know a mysterious figure in a hat trails after me, speeding up when I do, slowing down when I do, hovering around a corner when I turn it. How stupid do you think I am?’

  Kitt opened her mouth to answer Lowenthal’s question but Grace, knowing Kitt’s temper and fearing for her future at Venerable Bede’s, interjected before she had the chance.

  ‘Kitt, I think we should tell Ms Lowenthal what’s really going on here. If you do she might be able to help us.’

  Kitt glared at Lowenthal for a moment and then sighed. ‘Fine. I am conducting some surveillance on various faculty members to gather background information on the disappearance of Jodie Perkins. I’ve taken to doing a bit of PI work lately and Patrick Howard has hired me.’

  Lowenthal smirked and looked Kitt up and down in what could only be described as a patronizing manner. ‘Well aren’t you the little adventurer? Who knew you had it in you?’

  Making what Grace thought was an admirable effort to ignore Lowenthal’s condescending tone, Kitt replied: ‘My track record of solving cases like this is strong, Harriet. So if you know anything about Jodie’s disappearance you’d do well to tell me now before I uncover it for myself. Is there anything you can think of that will help us find out what happened to Jodie?’

  Lowenthal looked slowly from Kitt to Grace. ‘What did Ms Hartley tell you about me?’

  ‘I didn’t tell her anything,’ said Kitt before Grace had a chance.

  ‘You must have told her something. Otherwise, why did she agree to follow me knowing the risk to her academic career?’

  Grace swallowed hard at that comment. When she agreed to tail Lowenthal, she hadn’t thought about the consequences of their little surveillance game going wrong. Enrolling at Venerable Bede’s had likely cost her her relationship with her parents. She didn’t relish the thought of having to go back and explain that she had been expelled for being part of an amateur private investigation. That said, there was something really off about Lowenthal’s attitude; she had a dark side to her that definitely wasn’t apparent when she was standing at the front of a lecture hall, and if it ever did become a choice between keeping her place at the academy or finding out what really happened to Jodie Perkins, she knew which one she would choose.

  Then again, wouldn’t it be nice if she could do both?

  ‘I didn’t tell Grace anything specific. Though you are hardly my favourite person in the world, I believe Grace should have the chance to make her own mind up about you.’

  ‘How very virtuous,’ Lowenthal said, though she eyed Kitt in such a way it was clear she didn’t totally believe her.

  ‘Don’t think I didn’t notice that you dodged my question about Jodie. Why don’t you do the right thing for once? A missing girl’s life could be at stake, you know.’

  Lowenthal rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t know anything about Jodie’s disappearance. I never even met the girl.’

  ‘Who were you on the phone to just now, then?’ Kitt said, looking at Lowenthal askance.

  ‘Not that it’s any of your business but I was talking to my boyfriend. Got yourself one of those yet? Or are you still pining over what’s-his-face? Leo?’

  ‘Theo,’ Kitt corrected, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. ‘That’s all in the past but thanks a bunch for dragging it back up. A class act, as ever.’

  ‘Look, sheer prejudice aside, I don’t know where you got the idea that I would know anything about Jodie going missing but the last thing I need is you buzzing about me while I’m trying to get on and do my job. So here’s what you really need to know: the night Jodie disappeared I was out with several faculty members at The Library.’

  ‘The campus library?’ asked Grace.

  ‘No, the pub in town. We were trying to take the edge off the beginning of term with a few glasses of wine. There were quite a few people there but Karen Flacky and Julian Riddsdale were two of them. They’re both in my department and once the pub shut we continued the party round at Julian’s house until the early hours. If you’re desperate to waste yet more of your time you can double check it with them.’

  ‘Checking anything you have to say is above board won’t be a waste of time,’ Kitt countered.

  ‘Suit yourself.’

  ‘And I assume, since you haven’t mentioned it, that there’s no one else you can think of that I should talk to in connection with this case?’ said Kitt.

  ‘Not on the academy faculty, no,’ Lowenthal said with a sly smile.

  ‘What about people who aren’t part of the academy faculty?’ said Kitt.

  ‘There may have been a rumour just after the investigation was closed that the police didn’t have the guts to go after a suspect in the case who so happens to be a prominent student here at Venerable Bede’s.’

  ‘Who’s that?’ asked Kitt. ‘Come on, out w
ith it.’

  ‘If I tell you, do you promise I won’t need to see you or speak to you again for the duration of your stay here?’

  ‘Assuming you’re telling the truth, yes,’ said Kitt.

  ‘Fine. Selina Grant.’

  Kitt frowned. ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘You’ve heard of Grant Computing, haven’t you?’ Lowenthal said with a sigh.

  ‘Everyone has,’ Kitt said with a shrug.

  ‘Selina is Humphrey Grant’s daughter. Far as I know, the police never questioned her. Probably because they know millionaires can afford good lawyers.’

  ‘I think I’ve heard of her,’ said Grace. ‘She’s studying sports technology. Second year . . . which means she was in the same year group as Jodie.’

  Lowenthal nodded. ‘That’s her. From what I understand from staffroom gossip she and Jodie were pretty much inseparable until about a week before Jodie disappeared.’

  ‘So, they were friends and had some kind of altercation?’ said Kitt.

  ‘You’re supposed to be a PI. Why don’t you find out yourself?’ Lowenthal said. ‘I’ve done you a favour by not shopping you to the dean for harassment. Don’t expect another one. If I find you sniffing around me again I’m going straight to Berkeley about it.’

  ‘You can’t blame me for wanting to check in on you, given our history, can you?’ said Kitt.

  Lowenthal shook her head. ‘Same old Kitt Hartley. Too serious for her own good and won’t let a damn thing go. I gave my apology for what happened years ago. If you’d had the decency to just accept it maybe you’d be making better use of your time more than ten years after the fact.’

  Kitt raised an eyebrow and didn’t so much as flinch. In Grace’s experience, Kitt was a pretty forgiving person. Certainly, she’d had a lot of things to forgive Grace for over the time they’d worked together, including her impromptu impersonations of Kitt and an assortment of deliberately embarrassing secret Santa gifts. Last year Grace had really pushed the envelope by purchasing Kitt a hardback copy of a book entitled How to Bonk at Work. Come to think of it, there wasn’t much forgiveness involved in that instance because to Grace’s surprise and slight disappointment Kitt sat reading it earnestly at her desk for the rest of the afternoon. Apparently in a bid to make the point that, as far as she was concerned, a book was a book. At any rate, Grace’s pranks didn’t always go according to plan and Kitt had never given any impression that their friendship was in jeopardy. Thus, if Lowenthal had apologized for whatever she did and Kitt had still refused to forgive her then it must have been something truly heinous.