Imperious

by C. M. Sutter

  Amber took the lead. “There are several things that didn’t sit well with us, but mainly it was the lack of food in the refrigerator and the receipts we found in the trash that proved alarming.”

  “How so?”

  “The receipt from the grocery store contained items that weren’t in the apartment or the trash can. We asked the neighbor when the trash pickup was, and she said Friday, but Becca bought the groceries on Saturday. The milk, a jug of water, the creamer, and a three-bean salad were all missing from the refrigerator, and none of the containers were in the garbage can. There weren’t expired canned goods in the pantry or empty cans in the trash either. A receipt from Pizza Pie was in the garbage from the night before Becca died. She ordered a carryout calzone, and according to what Jodi Prentice told us, she spoke with Becca that night. She said Becca was studying for her chemistry final and didn’t mention anything about feeling sick.”

  Jack wrinkled his forehead until his brows nearly touched. “That’s very odd. Check with the pizza joint, anyway, and see if they’ve ever had food poisoning complaints or fines from the health department for spoiled food.”

  I wrote that down on my to-do list.

  “Anything else?”

  I set the pen on my desk. “There’s definitely more. We found lingerie in Becca’s drawers and birth control pills in her medicine cabinet, yet Jodi swears Becca didn’t have a love interest. She said Becca would have confided in her if she had.”

  Amber added her two cents. “And if Becca cared enough about a man to be intimate with him, she would have been over the moon. I know I would have told my closest friend everything about the guy if I were in her shoes.”

  Adam nodded. “I concur. I’ve heard the gushing that goes on between Mia and her friends every time one of them has a crush on a boy.”

  Jack scratched his chin. “So Jodi was adamant about Becca not having a boyfriend?”

  “She was, Boss, and that leads me back to the mysterious Mike that Becca couldn’t stand. Jodi didn’t know his last name, but she said Becca hoped she wouldn’t have to see him again until the fall semester starts.”

  “So he’s a student and likely going into his sophomore year like Becca would have been?”

  I looked at Amber. “We assumed so.”

  Jack turned to Clayton. “Becca wanted to go into the biochemistry field according to what her mother said, and both girls took chemistry lab.”

  “Yep, they sure did.”

  Jack headed to his office. “Take a ten-minute break. I need to look through my notes to see if the Coles mentioned what Daphne was planning as a future career.”

  Amber started a fresh pot of coffee while everyone else scoured their notes for anything that could be a clue.

  Jack returned to the bull pen ten minutes later. I poured coffee for everyone and took my seat.

  “Okay, the Coles said Daphne wanted to be a horticulturist once she graduated college. See if Becca took horticulture classes.”

  Billings logged on to his laptop and pulled up the school’s curriculum. “They don’t offer horticulture classes, but they do teach botany.”

  “And that takes us back to Mike,” Clayton said. “Daphne and Mike were in the same botany class.”

  I grimaced. “And I still bet he’s the same Mike who had the hots for Becca.”

  Adam shook his head. “I’m not so sure. The professor said he never noticed any interaction between Mike Taylor and Daphne other than as classmates.”

  “Maybe Mike was only interested in Becca, and Daphne wasn’t on his radar,” Amber said.

  “Nah, Mike Taylor was a straight arrow. We didn’t sense anything off about him, and Becca didn’t take botany classes, anyway.”

  Jack sighed. “Okay, talk to the chemistry professor again since that was the only course Becca and Daphne had in common.”

  Clayton rubbed his forehead. “But we already talked to him for the second time yesterday. He’s—”

  “Shit,” Adam said. “He’s the botany and chemistry professor. There has to be a different Mike in one of Becca’s classes, and apparently it isn’t the Mike Taylor that Daphne knew.”

  “It is a common name,” Jack said. “And without a last name, finding the right Mike is going to be a lot harder.”

  “Maybe not. The admissions department would know every Mike who had just finished his freshman year. Becca told Jodi she wouldn’t see him again until fall, meaning he was a freshman too.”

  “All right, let’s switch this up. Adam, you and Chad go interview the pizza joint. Pull the health department records on them and make sure everything looks kosher. No fines, no dirty dining complaints, etcetera, etcetera. Kate and Amber, head to the university. See what you can get from the admissions office as far as anyone named Mike on their freshman roster from last fall.” He gave us a scowl. “Be nice too. We don’t want them to force us to get a warrant. Oh yeah, I need the apartment key back.”

  I dug it out of my pocket and dropped it into his open hand.

  “I’m sending Forensics over there to do a thorough search for prints and DNA. Hopefully something will pop.”

  Chapter 44

  It was late in the day when Amber and I headed west on Washington Street. We didn’t know if anyone would still be at the admissions office, but if not, we’d walk the hallways and interview anyone and everyone we came across.

  My gut feeling was that the girls were murdered and Mike was the culprit. I was sure the mystery would unravel as soon as we learned who he was. The connection, I felt, was him, but we needed the why. I checked the time on my cell phone—4:57. We turned right, into UWWC’s entrance, and passed the faculty parking area as we headed to the small visitors’ lot. I noticed how empty it looked. Amber parked the cruiser, and we walked to the main entrance. Once inside, I took note of the dimmed lights, and I sensed that only a handful of staff and students remained in the building. Many doors had already been closed as we made our way down the hallways toward the admissions office.

  “I’m not feeling good about this. There really isn’t a reason for anyone to be here other than a few professors and students taking exams.”

  “Can’t you just twitch your nose or chant something for good luck?”

  “I’m not a witch, Amber.”

  She laughed. “Jack said to be nice, so I guess that means to you too.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Hey, look, the admissions office door is open.”

  “So you did twitch your nose?”

  “I’ll deal with you later.” I stepped over the threshold with Amber at my heels. I cupped my mouth and whispered to her. “Remember, we have to play nice and put on the charm. That means I’ll do the talking.”

  Amber frowned as I stepped up my pace and reached the counter first. A middle-aged woman seated at a computer glanced up. Her name tag read Constance B.

  “May I help you ladies?”

  I stuck out my hand and shook hers as I made the introductions. “Hello, Constance, I’m Detective Pierce with the sheriff’s office, and this is my partner, Detective Monroe.”

  Amber nodded and held out her badge.

  Constance perched her glasses on her nose and took a closer look. Apparently satisfied, she placed the glasses back on the desk. “What can I do for you, Detectives?”

  “We’re kind of in a time crunch, and we’d hate to make you ladies stick around longer than necessary.” I caught a glimpse of two other women glancing at the clock. “We’d really appreciate your help.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  I smiled. “And that’s all we can ask of you. What we need is a copy of the registered students who started as freshmen last fall, particularly male students.”

  “There’s no way to separate male from female.”

  “I understand. Then I guess we’ll need a list of all of them.”

  Constance looked at her colleagues and then at the clock. “Um, I don’t know if that’s allowed. Something about student privacy, I think.”r />
  “Sure, go ahead and pull out the college bylaws. I guess we’ll have to wait while you go through them. I’m sure they’re lengthy.”

  Another woman wearing a name tag that read Beverly approached the counter and took over for Constance. “I believe you’ll need a warrant for that information.”

  “Possibly, but you’ll have to wait here for it to arrive since each of you will have to verify its authenticity. It could take a few hours—you know how courthouse red tape goes. I hope none of you have plans.”

  “Give us a minute.” Beverly pulled Constance aside. We heard whispering between the women from behind the cubicle wall. I smiled at Amber. The women returned to the counter minutes later, and Beverly once again took the lead. “We’ll need something in writing that says we’ll be held harmless for handing over that information.”

  “Sure thing. Go ahead and write it up. We’ll look it over and sign it. Our lips are sealed, and I’m sure you aren’t about to tell your supervisor, am I right?”

  “Of course we won’t tell anyone. The paper is just for our peace of mind.”

  Minutes later, with the list of students’ names in hand, Amber and I followed the hallway back to the main entrance. I pushed open the double doors, and we headed to the cruiser. As we walked, I glanced at the faculty parking lot again, remembering the morning Daphne was discovered dead in her car. We had to solve this case for both her and Becca. Justice needed to be served.

  I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a man walking toward a white SUV. “Amber, isn’t that Mr. Morton?”

  She looked over her shoulder. “Where?”

  “Over there in the faculty lot.” I pointed at the vehicle, but he had already climbed in and was pulling away. I yelled and began chasing the SUV, but it was too late. He had turned onto the street and was gone.

  “What the hell were you doing?” Amber asked as I returned to the cruiser.

  “I swear that was Mr. Morton.”

  “Leaving the faculty parking lot? He said he was a real estate investor, not somebody who works at the university.”

  “I know one thing for sure. I’m looking over those witness statements again to see what he drives. That looked like an Explorer to me.”

  Amber got in behind the wheel and started the car. She tipped her head toward the dash-mounted computer. “Just pull his name from the DMV database. It’s faster.”

  “Yeah, smart thinking. I’ll do that right now.” I woke up the computer and logged in. Seconds later, I was on the DMV site for Wisconsin and typed in his name. I turned to Amber, and my jaw dropped as if its hinges had snapped. “Amber, his name is Mike. Mike Morton, remember?”

  “Yeah, but he isn’t a freshman or a student. Don’t get stuck on the name Mike. There are plenty of them. We need to find the right guy, and that man you saw in the parking lot probably wasn’t even Mr. Morton.”

  I ignored Amber’s comment and glanced at the screen as the computer was doing its search. “Shit, there are two hundred and seventeen men named Michael Morton with vehicles registered in the state. What town did he say he lived in?”

  “He didn’t.”

  “Fine, then I’ll pull up each driver’s license photo.” I set the page to show fifty thumbnails at a time. I gave each one on the first page a glance then moved on to page two. “There he is, the fourth person on line three.” I clicked on the thumbnail, and his driver’s license photo filled the screen. “It shows that he lives on the outskirts of North Bend.”

  Amber stopped at the red light. “Is the address beyond the city limits and in the county’s jurisdiction?”

  “Give me a second to check the map. Yep, off of Highway Z. Now let’s see what vehicles are registered to him.” I tapped the options on the sidebar, and the next page showed his registered vehicles. “Sure as shit, a white Explorer, and it looks like that’s his only car.”

  “Okay, so because he was at the university, that makes him a killer? I doubt if Jack would go along with that.”

  I huffed. “No, but why was he parked in the faculty lot?”

  When the light changed to green, Amber pressed the gas. We were two miles from the sheriff’s office. “Maybe he saw a nearly empty lot and parked. Remember that picture in Becca’s phone gallery? He was probably at the college to sign something as a parent.”

  “Doubt it. I’m digging deeper. The guy was a tool, anyway, talking down to us like he did. Plus, I got a raging headache when he showed up. Maybe he’s a misogynist who likes killing college girls.”

  Amber frowned. “I think you need some coffee. You’re going off the rails. Let’s review the list of students, separate all the Mikes from the rest, and see if they had any classes in common with Becca before we start accusing random people of murder when they happen to walk out of the university’s door.”

  “Whatever. I’m still running it by Jack.” After Amber parked in the empty space meant for the cruisers, I climbed out of the car and crossed to our building. We entered the bull pen to see two people sitting with Jack in his office. I raised my brows at Billings, who was on the phone. He shook his head, so I turned to Clayton and whispered. “What’s going on, and who are those people?”

  “We’re in the middle of a new shit storm.”

  “Something with the pizza place or Becca’s apartment?” I asked.

  “Neither. Pizza Pie was clean, no complaints or issues with the health department, and Kyle and Dan are still working the apartment.”

  Amber nodded toward Jack’s door. “Then what?”

  Billings hung up the phone and shook his head. “Damn it. The van that was towed in this morning and sitting in the impound lot does belong to their daughter.”

  I took a seat at my desk. “Keep your voice down, Adam. Who is the daughter, and why are they here?”

  “They’re Mr. and Mrs. Hahn, and their daughter, Naomi, went missing. Nobody has seen her since Tuesday, when she left the campus.”

  Amber cupped her hand and whispered. “Another student?”

  Chad gave her a nod. “The parents weren’t that concerned until yesterday, when they couldn’t get through to her on the phone. They texted her but said the return texts seemed suspicious. They weren’t written the way Naomi speaks. They contacted every friend they could think of, but without Naomi’s phone, they were sure they missed some. Anyway, nobody has actually seen her or heard her voice. Patrol noticed a van at Riverview Park yesterday and ticketed it last night when it was still there after the park closed. This morning, it was towed to Impound, where it’s still sitting. Now the parents showed up to file a missing persons report.”

  I glanced through the wall of glass. “The shit keeps piling up.”

  Clayton agreed. “That’s putting it lightly.”

  “Kate is rubbing off on you, Chad. I think you need some coffee too. We know nothing about this Naomi other than she hasn’t been in contact with her parents for two days. She’s considered missing, not dead. Maybe she went on a quick out-of-town trip with one of her friends to celebrate the end of the school year. You know how teenagers are.”

  I gave Adam a quick look and noticed his furrowed brow. I was sure his concerns went to Mia and her safety while she was away at college. Amber crossed to the coffee station, came back with the carafe, and filled our cups.

  “Here, calm your nerves. It doesn’t mean this case is related to the others.”

  Minutes later, Jack stepped out of his office and escorted Mr. and Mrs. Hahn to the door. “I think I have everything I need for now. One quick question, though. Did Naomi go to Riverview Park often?”

  The couple looked at each other and shook their heads. “Not to our knowledge, Lieutenant Steele.”

  Jack put his hand on Mr. Hahn’s shoulder. “Keep in touch with Naomi’s friends and let us know if you hear anything. Meanwhile, the missing persons alert with all Naomi’s identifiable features will hit every police department in the state. She’ll show up, and hopefully she just went on an impromptu trip with a
friend.”

  Mrs. Hahn wiped her eyes. She didn’t look as optimistic as Jack tried to sound.

  “I’ll have my patrol units scour the county, and I’ll contact the city boys. Is there any place in particular Naomi hung out?”

  Mr. Hahn held the door open for his wife then looked back at Jack. “She liked to jog along the bike trail through town.”

  Jack nodded. “I’ll let Chief Sanders know that, and we’ll be in touch. Since her van is in the impound lot, anyway, we’ll take a good look at its contents and let you know what we’ve found. Riverview Park will be searched thoroughly too.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

  Jack closed the door behind the couple and let out an exhausted-sounding sigh. “Can this week get any worse?”

  Billings spoke up. “That was a rhetorical question, right?”

  Jack pressed his temples. “Go home, it’s after six o’clock. I’ll let Horbeck and Jamison know about Naomi Hahn.”

  Chapter 45

  A chilled bottle of beer sat on the table and formed a ring of condensation around its base. He wiped the water away with his forearm and placed the bottle on the classified section of the newspaper. His eyes searched the front page for the latest news on the deaths of the two university students.

  “Aah, here we go. That’s it—three paragraphs?” He chuckled at the lack of evidence from the buffoons who considered themselves law enforcement. “North Bend is the perfect place to commit crimes. The cops here are a joke.” The article was the same as yesterday’s, with a slightly different spin on the reporter’s theory. He’d suggested the girls took their own lives, and he was convinced foul play wasn’t the cause. Since no tampering was discovered with Becca’s car, he was sure the pressures of college exams were to blame. “Not a bad theory to run with. Obviously, the cops are keeping tight-lipped about the real cause of death. I’m sure the toxicology reports have come in by now.”