by C. M. Sutter
Her voice cracked as she responded. “The very best.” She covered her face with her hands and broke into sobs.
Amber handed Jennifer a travel-sized pack of tissues from the glove box. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
“Can you think of any reason that Daphne would park in the faculty lot?”
She shook her head and dabbed her eyes. “Not a clue. She’s never done that before, plus she doesn’t drive to school that often.”
I cocked my head. “You take turns?”
“No, Vince takes her to school when she has late classes.”
Amber jotted that down. “Vince who, and what was his relationship to Daphne?”
“Vince Meroni, her boyfriend.”
“Is Vince a student here?”
Jennifer nodded. “Sometimes. He shows up just enough to avoid getting expelled.”
“Is he here now?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him, but I know Daphne had exams today. I assumed she spent the night with him since she didn’t come home last night. But now that I see her car—”
I glanced at Amber. “When did you talk to Daphne last?”
“Yesterday. She had two exams, then she mentioned spending the rest of the day with Vince.”
“Where does he live?”
“At the Trace, in apartment three. He’s so disgusting, but Daphne likes bad boys.” She blew into a tissue. “I mean liked.”
I tipped my head at Amber, and we excused ourselves for a minute. “I need to update Jack on this Vince character. He needs to be interviewed right away.”
“Go ahead. I’ll keep Jennifer talking.”
“Good enough.” I crossed the lot and joined Jack, Lena, and the forensic team at Daphne’s car. “What’s the word, Boss?” I rubbed my chest and coughed into my hand. The air suddenly felt thick, and breathing was difficult.
Jack glanced my way. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Must be the humidity.”
Lena popped her head out of the car and asked Jason to get the gurney. She shook her head as she backed away from the vehicle.
Jack stared at her. “Well?”
“Her large muscles are completely stiff. I’d say she’s been dead for at least eight hours and getting her out of the car isn’t going to be pretty or easy.”
Jack grimaced. “Can we push the seat back as far as it goes and then recline it?”
“Yeah, that’s our only option, and I hope it works. Kyle, get a few more shots of the way she’s sitting and the seat position before we pull her out.”
“Any obvious signs of a struggle?”
“Nothing. Give me a minute, Jack.” Lena helped Jason position the gurney alongside the vehicle.
“Sure thing.” Jack turned to me. “What did you get from that witness?”
“Her boyfriend’s name and that he’s probably the last person who saw Daphne alive.”
Jack whistled and waved to get Clayton’s attention then looked back at me. “Got this boyfriend’s address?”
“Sure do. His name is Vince Meroni, and he lives at the Trace in apartment three.”
“Good.”
Clayton jogged over. “What do you need, sir?”
“Is he a student here or not?”
I nodded. “The witness said he is once in a while.”
Jack frowned. “Okay. Chad, the deceased had a boyfriend named Vince Meroni. See if he’s here, and if he isn’t, call the PD and have someone meet you and Adam at apartment three at the Trace. You need to shake Vince’s tree and see what he knows. If you can’t find him, have the locals pull his DMV file. He’ll likely be wherever his vehicle is. They can put out a BOLO for it.”
“On it.”
Jack raked his fingers through his hair. “Got your notepad handy?”
“Yeah, one second.” I pulled the notepad and pen from my pocket and flipped to an empty page. “Go ahead.”
“Write down the boyfriend’s name, the young lady that Amber is with, and Jeanette Fry, the woman who made the 911 call. At this point, unless Lena rules Daphne’s death a suicide, they are people we’ll be touching base with again.”
I looked toward the faculty entrance and the area was empty. “Did Jeanette explain why she walked over to Daphne’s car?”
“Yeah, something about assigned parking. She was going to ask why Daphne was parked in a designated spot. Guess the faculty members have parking stickers on their windshields. Sounded innocent enough.”
“What about Becca Morbeck, Boss? This new development kind of overshadows the reason Clayton and Billings were coming here to begin with.”
Jack let out a puff of air. “I know, and now Lena has her hands full with another victim. Speaking of that, what’s the story on Daphne’s family?”
I shrugged. “We weren’t working on that.”
Jack scratched his cheek. “That’s right, it was Ebert who said her previous address was in Manitowoc. Go inside and track down somebody in Admissions. Find out Daphne’s emergency contact person and get their phone number and address.”
“Wouldn’t a family member’s name be on her phone?”
“Forensics already bagged it to check for prints. We need to get a handle on these deaths and fast. Speaking of that—”
I followed Jack’s eyes to the curb in front of the campus. “Shit, the press is here, and they’re heading our way.”
Chapter 16
“How many times do you think the city boys have arrested people here?” Adam looked from apartment to apartment and shook his head. People sat on their porches, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer from tall boys. They watched life go by with no apparent ambition to do anything other than what they were doing.
“Probably more than I care to count. This place is known as Trouble Central due to fistfights, disorderly conduct, drugs, and domestic abuse. In my opinion, the Trace should be bulldozed into the ground.”
Adam laughed. “And then what, put in another soccer field? How many are in the county now, seven?”
“Or more.” Clayton jerked his head. “A patrol car is pulling in. Let’s see who they sent.”
They climbed out of the cruiser just as the patrol car rolled to a stop at their side.
Clayton nodded. “Billy Bachaus, good to see you.”
The officer killed the engine, got out, and shook hands with Clayton and Billings. “Vince Meroni again?”
“You know him?”
“As well as I know my next-door neighbor. He’s been nothing but trouble since age nine.”
Adam frowned. “Yet he’s a college student? How does that work?”
Billy swiped the air. “No different than athletes who have zero interest in academics, yet they get a free ride to college in hopes of getting picked up by a professional team. Grandpa foots Vince’s rent and expenses as long as he’s enrolled in college. The thing is, the kid never goes to classes, and honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t been expelled. So what has he done now?”
Clayton shrugged. “We don’t know that he’s done anything, we just need to talk to him about his girlfriend’s death. We were told he may have been the last person to see her alive.”
“Jeez, who’s his girlfriend?”
“The student who was found dead in her car at UWWC this morning.”
“No shit? Then let’s go bang on his door and see what he has to say.” Billy led the way to the front of the building. “It’s right here.” He balled his hand into a fist and rapped hard against the dirty tan door. “Did you notice an old black Altima in the parking lot?”
“Can’t say that I did or didn’t.”
“So you didn’t look for it?” Billy banged again.
“It’s your jurisdiction, dude.” Clayton took the sidewalk to the parking lot and looked out over the fifty or more cars parked there. He jogged back to the door where Adam and Billings still stood.
Billy looked at Chad. “Well?”
Clayton glanced at his notepad. “Tags are TXK-
640?”
“That’s the one.” Billy banged again, harder that time. “Police. Open the door, Vince. I know you’re in there.” He cocked his head. “I hear footsteps.”
The door cracked open, and a pissed-off Vince Meroni stood there in his boxer shorts. “What the hell, dude, I’m trying to sleep.”
Billy pushed past him. “Aren’t you supposed to be taking finals?” He looked around the disheveled apartment.
Vince laughed. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that as soon as I remember what courses I’m enrolled in. What do you want, and where’s your warrant? In my book, this is the definition of harassment.” He began to close the door.
“Leave it open. It stinks like shit in here.” Billy glanced at the overflowing garbage can. “Have you been home all day?”
“Does it look like I’m dressed to go out?”
Clayton spoke up. “Did you see Daphne Cole this morning?”
“What did I just say, dude?”
“The name is Detective Clayton.”
“Whatever. No, I haven’t seen Daphne, and I haven’t left my apartment. She said she felt sick last night and went home around six o’clock. I haven’t seen her since. I called her phone last night to check on her, but it went straight to voicemail. I figured she was sleeping. Why?”
“The sheriff’s office received a 911 call from the university this morning about a dead student in the parking lot. It was Daphne.”
Vince grabbed his head and squeezed. “No, that’s impossible. She was alive last night. I mean, I just saw her.”
“You said she felt sick?” Billings asked.
“That’s what she said. Is this some kind of a joke? I know you cops hate my guts.”
“It isn’t a joke, Vince,” Billy said. “Now get dressed. You’re coming to the station to give your statement.”
“I just did for crissakes!”
“It wasn’t on record. Just so you know, you’re the last person who saw her alive.”
“No, I told you she went home. Talk to Jen, her roommate. She’ll verify it.”
Clayton responded. “We did, and she didn’t. Jennifer said Daphne spent the night with you. Now get your pants on and go with Officer Bachaus. He has an interview room with your name on it.”
Chapter 17
I had to look away when Jason wheeled the gurney past me. I couldn’t catch my breath, and my chest felt tight. I turned my head and coughed into my shoulder.
Amber wrinkled her nose. “Are you getting sick? Maybe that’s what your stomach pain was about yesterday. It could be something as innocent as the flu.”
I cleared my throat. “I hope not. I’ve had the flu, and it doesn’t feel very innocent.”
Jack watched Jason as he loaded the gurney into the van, then he turned back to us. “Did you get information on the parents?”
“Yeah, the address in Manitowoc is theirs, and I thought you’d want to make the call.”
Jack lifted his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. “The hardest part is telling two families their daughters are dead and we have no idea why.”
Clayton and Billings returned minutes later and joined us as Daphne’s car was loaded onto the flatbed.
Kyle addressed Jack as he and Dan watched from the sidelines. “We’ll give the car a thorough going through, sir, as if it were a criminal investigation.”
“As far as we know, it could be. Do the same with Becca Morbeck’s car. We’ve only checked it for tampering. I want the cars gone over with a fine-toothed comb. Check both vehicles for blood, DNA, and fingerprints, especially on the door handles and steering wheel. Pull out every slip of paper you find—do the works. Somebody, or something, is killing female students from UWWC.” Jack turned to Billings. “What’d you get from the boyfriend?”
“Nothing. He swears he hasn’t seen Daphne since early yesterday evening. The kid just crawled out of bed, and that was only because we were banging on the door. His story and Jennifer’s contradict each other. He said Daphne went home because she felt sick, and Jennifer said Daphne didn’t come home at all, so she assumed Daphne was with Vince.”
With his brows furrowed, Jack pressed on his forehead. “Damn headache coming on. Daphne was somewhere last night, and whoever she was with knows why she’s dead. Where’s Vince now?”
Clayton spoke up. “Downtown giving a formal statement to Billy Bachaus.”
“Good. Kate, go get Jennifer Tenley. I want to have a word with her myself.”
“You bet, sir.”
Jack lowered his sunglasses as the clouds parted. “Clayton, you and Billings go inside and work the Becca Morbeck case. It’s why you were coming here to begin with. Find out who her friends were at school and talk to every professor she had who’s here now. We’ll interview other people later.”
I went inside the building and had Jennifer paged. Moments later, I saw her walking my way. “My boss needs a word with you.”
“I told you everything I know.”
I shrugged. “Not my call. Let’s go.” We dipped under the police tape and walked toward Jack. “Jennifer, Vince said Daphne went home last night because she was sick, and you said she wasn’t there. Somebody is lying.”
Panic took over Jennifer’s face. “I swear I told you the truth. Vince is a piece of shit, and he’d lie about anything to keep from going to jail again. That place is his second home.”
I sat on the curb with Jennifer while Jack spoke on the phone. He held up five fingers as if to say five more minutes.
“That was tough,” he said when he finally clicked off the call.
“Daphne’s folks?”
“Yeah.” Jack looked at Jennifer. “Seems we have contradicting stories between you and Vince Meroni.”
“I didn’t lie to anyone. Daphne never came home.”
Jack pulled me aside. “I’ll talk to her in a minute. Right now, I want you and Amber to go back to the sheriff’s office and see if Lena has anything new on Becca. I’ll be a few hours behind you. I need to interview her”—he tipped his head toward Jennifer—“then follow up with Clayton and Billings and talk to the advisors myself. Maybe Becca and Daphne had some courses in common.”
Chapter 18
Alone in that room, he had a bird’s-eye view of the faculty parking lot from the second-story window. Three hours after Daphne was discovered, detectives, deputies, and the man who was calling out orders still milled around two stories below.
He had heard Jennifer Tenley’s name being paged earlier and wondered why. He retraced his steps from the night before as he watched the coroner and her assistant struggle to get Daphne out of her car.
I wiped down the keys and phone. The keys were left in the ignition, and her phone was off until I got here. I didn’t change the seat position, and I was gloved the entire time I was in her car. I think I’m good.
With back-and-forth motions and a lot of tugging, they finally freed Daphne’s body and placed her on the gurney. “Rigor is a real bitch.” He spun at the sound behind him. Meredith Carlson stood in the doorway, staring at him. “Meredith, you startled me.”
“Sorry, I thought I’d be alone up here. Were you just talking to yourself?”
“Yeah, guess I’m busted.” He tried to make light of it, hoping she hadn’t actually heard what he’d said. “It’s a bad habit, especially when I have no idea somebody is eavesdropping on me.”
Her face went bright red. “But I—”
He grinned. “No worries. I’m just pulling your chain.”
“Oh, okay. We have a botany exam in fifteen minutes, right?”
“That’s why I came in early.” He tipped his head toward the window. “I’ve been watching the commotion in the parking lot. It looks like they’re finally wrapping things up and just hauled away the car and the body.”
Seconds later, he saw Jennifer cross the parking lot with one of the two female detectives he’d noticed earlier when they told the students to go inside. She escorted Jennifer to the man who looked to be in char
ge.
“Isn’t that Jennifer Tenley?”
Meredith crossed the room and looked out the window. “I think so, but I can’t be sure from this distance.” She sighed. “Yesterday Becca Morbeck died in that accident, and now this? I didn’t know either of them well, but nobody their age deserves to die.”
He inhaled deeply and caught a fresh lavender scent coming from her hair. “So you only deserve to die if you’re older?”
She blushed again. “I guess that came out wrong.”
The room began to fill with students. He gave Meredith a subtle smile. “I guess we better take our seats. It’s exam time.”
Chapter 19
We walked into the sheriff’s office and took one flight down to the lower level. I stopped in the hallway and grimaced.
Amber looked over her shoulder at me. “What are you doing?”
“Debating.”
She looked up and down the hallway. “With whom?”
“With myself. Go ahead and talk to Lena. I’ll wait out here.”
“No way. If you really think there’s some transference going on, the only way to be sure is to go with me. You haven’t had a stomachache today, have you?”
“No, just a tight feeling in my chest and a cough.”
“Oak pollen. Now let’s go.”
I reluctantly crossed over the threshold with Amber and looked around the corner. Lena’s office was empty. I felt relief and turned back toward the door.
“What the hell, Kate?”
“She isn’t here. Let’s go upstairs.”
“Just hold your horses.” Amber called out Lena’s name.
“I’m examining Daphne in the autopsy room.”
Amber grabbed my arm and whispered. “You’ll never know if you don’t face your fears.”
“I understand, but this has never happened to me, and I don’t know what to expect.”
“Expect to learn something new about yourself if this really is a psychic phenomenon.” She smiled. “It’s a good thing, you’re honing your skills.”
“Says the person who has nothing to lose.”
We entered the autopsy room and saw Daphne lying, still somewhat contorted, on the stainless-steel table. A sheet, draped over her body, covered her to the collarbone, and her neck was supported with the headrest.
