Gingerbread Man: A Marlow and Sage Mystery (A Nursery Rhyme Suspense Book 1)

by Lee Strauss

  “Go ahead. I need a few more minutes.”

  Zed shrugged. “It’s your funeral.”

  I hadn’t told Zed about Teagan’s no-show yet, and he hadn’t asked. He knew me well enough to read my moods and kept his distance when things were sour. Right now my mood smelled like vomit.

  I hiked up my heavy bag onto my shoulder, and once outside, I leaned into the wind and walked briskly.

  “Hey, Marlow!” Paul and Steve fell into step beside me.

  “Hey,” I responded back without slowing.

  “Where’s Zed?” Steve asked.

  “Dunno.”

  “We just thought,” Paul said, “since you guys are always together.”

  I shot him a look. “Like you guys?”

  Paul slapped his head. “Man, we gotta brings some chicks into our scene.”

  “Speaking of chicks,” Steve said. “How’d it go with Virtual Girl last night?” His thick brows jumped. “Can we call her Reality Girl? Are you going to break the curse of girl-lessness?”

  I groaned inwardly, wishing I hadn’t told the guys I’d planned to meet her. My excitement had dimmed my senses. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

  Why did I say that?

  Paul grabbed my arm. “Seriously? You kissed her already?”

  “Shut up. And no. And I’m not talking about it.” I didn’t want to tell them I was worried for Teagan, that maybe she was the victim of the campus attack. And if she wasn’t then she stood me up and I didn’t know why. I didn’t want to tell them that, either. Thankfully, I arrived at the science lab. I gave them a quick chin nod. “See ya later.”

  I was the last to arrive, and I took a seat at the last empty table. There was an uneven number in this class, which meant I got to sit alone. I was glad. I didn’t want to have to talk to anyone and force amiability.

  Professor Garvin stood at the front of the class, rubbing his bald head with one hand, and told us to continue working on our hypotheses assignment.

  I opened my files on my laptop and stared at my work. I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose as if that was a special trigger to help me focus. My working title beckoned me: A Singular Quantum Event.

  I forced my brain to concentrate on quantum physics but it stubbornly skipped back to Teagan. I wouldn’t be able to work until I knew she was okay.

  I switched screens, logged onto the campus internet and re-read my messages.

  @averagegeek99: Where were you?

  @averagegeek99: You did say the coffee shop by the library didn’t you?

  @averagegeek99: Is there more than one?

  @averagegeek99: I don’t know what happened, but I’m really sorry I missed you.

  She hadn’t answered.

  My nerves shot off, and I scratched my head with both hands, my mind going to the darkest place. What if it was her? What if the girl who had been raped and killed was Teagan?

  If she were ignoring me, she’d be in class and not hanging out in chat forums. I forced myself to focus on my assignment.

  When the hour and a half was up, everyone gathered their things and left. I returned to the forums and typed.

  @averagegeek99: Teagan, I don’t know why you didn’t show. Maybe I said something to make you mad or turn you off, but can you please just let me know you’re okay?

  @art4ever: Stop writing to me.

  My neck flushed with the pleasure of relief and the bitter pain of rejection.

  @averagegeek99: Will you at least tell me what I said?

  @art4ever: Just stop!

  One exclamation mark had the sharp edge of a knife. She didn’t want to talk to me anymore? Fine. At least she was safe. But I was still really, really pissed.

  This was a load of bull. I didn’t need her company anyway. I was busy. As it was I was going to be late for my advanced calculus class. I grabbed my coat and backpack and raced out.

  17

  

  Sage

  I eyed Teagan from across the room as she paced the narrow space between our beds. “What’s the matter with you?” I asked.

  “Nothing.” She stopped and stared back at me. “What if it’s Marlow?”

  I squinted in question. “What if what’s Marlow?”

  “The killer?” She lowered herself onto the edge of her bed and whispered, “Marlow didn’t show.” She lifted her palms as if she didn’t want to put words to the rest of her thoughts.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, though I immediately knew what she was saying. “He stood you up last night?”

  She shook her head, her face flushed with embarrassment.

  “Oh my God, Teagan.” Panic flushed through my chest. “You need to tell someone.”

  She sprung to her feet and paced some more. “He wrote me this morning. He acted like I was the one who didn’t show.”

  “Do you think he’s trying to establish an alibi?”

  She flopped on her bed. “I don’t know. I don’t even know him. I’ve never seen him in person. He probably looks nothing like his profile picture, which would explain why he didn’t show.”

  I didn’t know if she was overreacting or if she was onto something.

  Her scowl drew deeper. “Or maybe he did show! Sage? Maybe he was there the whole time watching me!”

  My whole body broke into goose bumps. “You have to tell someone, Teag. Call the police.”

  “And tell them what? That I was stood up? That’s hardly proof.”

  “Still, it’s a tip. I’m sure they get lots of false ones before the real ones come in. No one who calls knows if theirs is the real tip or not.” I walked across the room to her desk, grabbed her phone and tossed it to her on the bed. “You have nothing to lose and maybe you’ll save a life.”

  Teagan made the call. We didn’t have to wait long for her to make her report as the police were already canvassing the campus. Within half an hour two detectives showed up at our dorm.

  “I’m Detective Kilroy,” the female cop said. She had dark hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. She motioned to her partner, an African American male. “And this is Detective Simpson.”

  Teagan told them everything.

  “His name is Marlow Henry. He’s a science student. I met him online.” Teagan showed them their chatting transcripts. Her cheeks reddened when their flirty comments came up.

  Detective Simpson asked, “So, you’ve never met him in person?”

  “No.”

  “And you can’t confirm his identity or whereabouts last night?”

  “No.”

  The detectives shot each other a look, just short of an eye roll. Listening to Teagan talk, I could see how to them she sounded like a girl who was just angry and humiliated for being stood up.”

  Detective Kilroy spoke into a handset. “Marlow Henry. Science student. Check his alibi.”

  At least they’ll get this Marlow guy’s alibi and if he has one, they can scratch him off the suspect list.

  Teagan slumped on her bed after they left and my heart went out to her.

  “Teag,” I said. “You did the right thing.”

  “He’s only ever been nice to me and maybe he had gotten the café mixed up. I could’ve just implicated an innocent man.”

  “Well,” I countered. “If his alibi checks out, then no harm done. They won’t tell him they got their tip from you.”

  “He’s smart,” Teagan said. “He’ll figure it out.” Her phone rang and she groaned. “It’s my mother. She must’ve heard the news.”

  I smiled sympathetically. Mrs. Lake was beautiful, but a tough mother to manage. I admired Teagan’s patience. Just being in the same room with Mrs. Lake made my anxiety levels soar. She was so intense and demanding, and she micromanaged Teagan’s life with an iron fist. My mother wasn’t always reasonable, but she was a walk in the park in comparison. I left for the lounge to get something to drink. I wanted to give Teagan privacy. I also didn’t want to get sucked into their ongoing drama again.

  18

 
; 

  Teagan

  The week passed by slowly. Everyone was on pins and needles waiting for an announcement that the killer had been caught. The senator’s son who’d been arrested for the rape of Vanessa Rothman was released and charges dropped. His lawyers got him off on a technicality, but now with a second blond female student victim, the police were looking at a possible serial rapist.

  It almost made Teagan want to dye her hair.

  Her mom called her every night now, and she spent at least ten minutes reassuring her. She never walked alone or after dark. She was careful.

  Despite this huge blight on the university, Teagan really enjoyed her professors and loved the art she was producing. It was too late in the year to transfer somewhere else. Besides, Thanksgiving was coming. She’d be home then, and her mother could rest easy for a while.

  Every day Teagan half expected to hear that Marlow Henry had been arrested, but his name was never mentioned anywhere. Especially not in this dorm. Sage expertly avoided any discussion of him.

  Another week passed without incident. The leaves dropped from the trees and covered the paths in yellow. Exposed branches stretched out like scratchy silhouettes across the teal green sky. Soon the snow would fall. Teagan deeply inhaled the crisp air.

  Jake and Nora had become an official couple. They were well-suited to each other, better than she and Jake would’ve been. She couldn’t help but wonder what he saw in her in the first place. Nora had thanked her more than once for being instrumental in their meeting. She gushed to Sage and Teagan about how she and Jake were soul mates. Teagan supposed that should make her feel good.

  It didn’t. It made her feel lonely and inadequate. Where was her soul mate?

  Her mom kept telling her she had a lot of time to find the one. “Just focus on getting good grades,” she said, “and find a way to support yourself so you never have to depend on a man.”

  It seemed like good advice.

  Teagan was working on an art history project when she heard the ding of the chat room bell. It had been almost three weeks since she last chatted with Marlow and she hadn’t chatted with anyone else since.

  It had to be him and she almost didn’t look, but her curiosity got the best of her. She blinked a couple times as her mind registered the message. She had sense enough finally to experience a cool spread of fear.

  @gingerbreadman to @art4ever: You’re next.

  19

  

  Marlow

  I had this stupid compulsion to time everything to the last minute. Class started at 4:00 pm. The physics department was a twelve-minute walk door to door. So naturally I waited until quarter to before I packed up my books, used the facilities and brushed my teeth—which I did at rapid speed to comply with my three-minute limit, and then I left at precisely twelve minutes to, my heart racing as I hopped down the three cement steps to the campus walkway.

  Which would be fine, except that it didn’t account for any unforeseen mishaps or events that could bite into the tight schedule and there was always an unforeseen mishap or event—I should know better by now.

  The mishap happened on the steps, not two seconds after I exited the door. Another guy was coming in at the same moment, the both of us with our heads down watching our feet. I saw him at the last second, made an impressive dodge to the right and almost passed by unscathed except for the fact that one of my laces had come undone and the guy stood on it solidly while I tried to take my next step.

  The tumble knocked the wind out of me as I exhaled with a painful, “Oof.”

  I became aware of a barely pubescent voice, “Dude, are you okay?”

  I squinted one eye open to see a face almost as nerdy as mine peering down at me. The image blurred and I wondered if I’d hit my head, but then the guy offered me my glasses which I had apparently knocked off while trying to break my fall.

  “Thanks,” I said, feeling like a moron.

  “Are you all right?” the guy asked again.

  “Yeah.” I pulled myself onto my feet. My right knee and elbow hurt, but other than my bruised ego, I was fine.

  I broke into a gimpy jog. Professor Garvin was known to close and lock his doors before starting his lecture to discourage tardiness. The sky above was a bright blue, the sun sending warm yellow rays through bare tree branches, but the horizon to the north was a dark, eerie gray. The wind swished through the piles of leaves in mini whirlwinds. The energy in the air made the hair on my arms stand on end. A storm was coming.

  The thought reminded me of Teagan and her fear of storms. If things had turned out, she’d probably be coming to see me tonight and I’d be the one to comfort her and ease her fears.

  I snorted in frustration and picked up my pace. I needed to attend this lecture if I wanted to get a jump on the assignment. As it was I was going to be working on homework through the Thanksgiving weekend.

  I puffed like an old dog, reaching the hallway just as Professor Garvin stretched an arm out to close the door.

  “Wait!” I rasped out as loud as my burning lungs allowed.

  The door stilled and Professor Garvin’s bald head peeked out. “Mr. Henry. This is your lucky day. Perhaps in the future, you could budget a little more time to travel to my class.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered, trying in vain to compose myself before being ushered inside. A dozen or more heads turned to watch me slide in. I refused to meet anyone eye to eye, keeping my gaze at table level, looking for an empty seat.

  The last chair left was beside Blaine Tucker. I suppressed a groan. Blaine was everything I wasn’t: tall, clean-shaven with neatly trimmed hair and what girls would call a strong jaw. He had no need for glasses and when he smiled, he produced two “adorable dimples,” according to the girls in the room. I didn’t think they realized how their voices carried over all the stainless steel.

  And he was smart, otherwise he wouldn’t be in this class.

  Life wasn’t fair.

  “Hey, Marlow,” he said.

  “Hi. Where’s Gina?” Gina was Blaine’s pretty brunette girlfriend and his usual lab partner. If she’d been here, I’d get a table to myself, but Professor Garvin wanted everyone to have a partner when possible.

  “Sick today.”

  “Oh.” I unloaded my books, settled onto the stool and leaned forward as Professor Garvin started his lecture on quantum physics and the many theories regarding the possibilities of alternate realities and parallel universes.

  “Time can be perceived like a fork with many tongs extending out in parallel realms. In many ways the same, but also different.”

  Blaine whispered from the side of his mouth, “This is a crock.”

  “They’re just theories,” I whispered back. “And there’s a lot of supporting evidence.”

  Maybe in another universe Blaine was the dork and I was the cool, smart guy with the pretty girlfriend.

  By the time the class ended, the storm outside had descended into a fury. I kept my chin tucked into the collar of my jacket and pinched my eyes against the sting of the wind. It hadn’t started raining yet, but when it did, it would be a downpour. I walked as fast as I could, body pressed to the wind, eyes opened only slivers, just enough so I could make out where I was going and hopefully avoid another embarrassing tumble.

  Once I made it back to the safety of my dorm room, I stripped my outer clothes and plopped onto my bed, exhausted. I folded my hands behind my head, closed my eyes and tried to relax. I imagined Teagan Lake with me, lying pressed against my side as I stroked her back and made comforting noises in her ear. Every time the wind whistled through the windows or a clap of thunder sounded in the distance, she’d whimper and press herself closer.

  I didn’t let my imagination go beyond that. Even in my daydreams I was a gentleman. I wondered what she was doing and who she was with. Probably that jock. My stomach muscles tensed at the thought. Maybe I should start going to the gym.

  I huffed out loud at the absurdity. Me and my skinny arm
s pumping iron next to those hockey jerks? Not gonna happen.

  20

  

  Teagan

  Teagan squeezed the plastic bottle of brown goo on her hair, unsure if her eyes were burning from the chemicals or from the emotional impact of watching her blue streak disappear. Her plastic-gloved fingers trembled against her scalp as she worked the solution into her roots and dragged the color along the blond strands until every last bit of yellow had disappeared.

  You’re next.

  Those two words were a fiery stake to her heart. Whoever the hell gingerbreadman was scared the bejeebers out of her.

  Her first impulse was to delete, delete, delete. Then she’d curled up into a little ball on her bed and moaned softly into her pillow. That was how Sage found her.

  She had to pull the message out of her trash bin on her laptop, but thankfully it was still there. Proof she wasn’t going crazy. Sage insisted that she call the detectives who’d questioned them before.

  She did, and they followed up, but gingerbreadman was a tech wiz and had encrypted his address. They offered to put a watch on her and her room, an offer she accepted. Teagan didn’t dare tell her mother, because she would’ve freaked with a capital F. It was only two days until Thanksgiving when she could go home where she’d be safe. Hopefully, this maniac would be caught before school started up again after the holiday weekend.

  The timer buzzed and Teagan stepped into the shower to wash out the dye. She wiped the fog off the mirror when she was done and breathed out a long breath of relief. She was no longer blond. Not only was she barely recognizable to herself, she no longer fit the description of the attacker’s type.

  Teagan dried her hair with the blow-dryer and studied her new look in the mirror. Hair color made a big difference in a person’s looks, but she was still her. The way she stood, the way she walked, where she walked to. Eventually he would notice, especially if he were really looking for her.