“Dr. Keller, can you tell us exactly what Miss Lewis said to you?” Richards ask.
“She asked how she could get a better grade. Would I give her extra credit for extra work?”
“Dr. Keller, this can take as long as you want. It is all going to come out in the end. Everyone in this room will eventually know what happened, so do us all a favor. Tell us what she said, exactly,” Logan interjected.
“Fine. She came in and asked about her grade. I said she was going to be lucky to get an F. She had missed so many classes and tests. She started to cry and ask if she could get a better grade by doing extra work. I told her it was too late for that and suddenly she just stopped crying and got a strange look on her face. She said something like; that simply won’t do. I want to get an A out of this class. I want you to give it to me,” Keller said.
“And then?” Richards prompted.
“She said that if I didn’t she would go to the Department Head and tell them I had propositioned her for sex in exchange for a better grade. She said I would never become Department Chair when she got through with me,” Keller said, slumping back in his chair and running his hands through his hair.
“And so you gave her the A rather than take the chance?” Richards asked.
“Yes. I gave her the A.”
“James. I don’t understand. Why didn’t you come to me with this? I’m shocked,” Melanie said.
“I didn’t want to have a negative mark on my record. I am so close to getting what I always wanted. I didn’t know if I could convince you that it was all a scam. She was so convincing. Even the hint of impropriety might have lost me the Chair,” Keller said.
“Don’t you trust me?” she asked.
“With my career, I trust only myself,” he said dejectedly.
“That was foolish,” Melanie replied.
“I did what I thought I had to do at the time,” he replied defensively.
“Dr. Ryan. She pulled about the same stunt on you didn’t she?” Richard said, turning to Terry.
“Almost word for word. She told me she already had an appointment set up with you. She gave me until the following Monday to make up my mind. I decided not to go along with her game. I was willing to take my chances. If I lost my position, so be it.”
“How very noble of you,” Keller muttered.
“No, not noble. It was just what I had to do. I had to live with myself and I didn’t think I could if I gave in. Like you, I did what I thought I had to do at the time. It wasn’t an easy decision” Ryan replied.
“This looks very bad for the University if there are others involved,” Blazer, the other attorney said.
“Yes it does,” added Markham, “We need to see just how far this goes and what kind of damage control we are facing.”
“I appreciate your problem but we have a bigger one. We want to find out who killed Sharon Lewis,” Randy interjected.
“What can we do to help?” Richards asked.
“We would like the employment records on every instructor that Sharon Lewis has had to date,” Logan said.
“Can we do that?” Richards asked Markham.
“We can give you access to them but they must remain on University property,” he answered.
“Fine. After we review them, we will want to talk to each one of them. I think we will find a lot of similar stories,” Logan said.
“I sure hope not,” Markham replied.
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Logan said.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Look at this,” Randy said, “She had five male instructors her freshman year and one female. She got five A’s and one C. Any takers on who gave her the C?”
“By my count she has had fifteen male instructors and only six female instructors as of now,” Logan added.
“This isn’t going to do much to lower our suspect list,” Bull groaned.
“We need to start with the most current ones. The one’s she had this past semester and work back from there. I’ll bet you that everyone gave in to her demands,” Jonas said.
“It doesn’t say much for the integrity of the school if they did,” Logan added.
“Well, think about it. Males aren’t protected by any rights groups. They are on their own. If they are accused, they must have done it. Who comes to their aid? Professors like Keller and Ryan are totally vulnerable in a situation like this,” Randy stated.
“Still. It doesn’t make it right to just roll over and play dead. Integrity has to mean something,” Logan replied.
“Integrity is becoming a rare thing now days,” Jonas said.
“All right, let’s roll guys. Oops, sorry Logan. This is your show now. It just sort of slipped out” Randy said.
“I have real thick skin. You’re right, we need to get going.”
Logan and Nelson started through the personnel files of each of the male instructors. Like Ryan, most were in their late forties and fifties. All were tenured except for one. They spent the rest of the day, phoning the professors and setting up times to meet with each one. They were all assured they were just following up on the Sharon Lewis investigation for background material. Once they heard that, they were more willing to meet with the detectives.
As they met with each one, it wasn’t long before they admitted that they had been blackmailed by Lewis. Each had his own reasons. Most were more afraid of what their wives might think than how the school would react if they were accused. The story was the same in each case. She seldom came to class, showed up during the final week offering sex and demanded an A. If turned down they said she would cry then make a fuss and eventually resort to blackmail. Time after time they succumbed to her threats. Only one instructor said that she actually earned an A in his class. Sharon took a PADI scuba diving certification course for credit and did very well. It was something she had always wanted to do, according to the instructor. He said she really took an interest in the class and was never late or absent from class. She was one of the stronger swimmers in the class that semester. He was the only exception. She didn’t need to make any threats that time.
The female instructors were very straight forward about Sharon’s abilities.
“She was lucky to get the C. She just squeaked by. She had a 69.8 average in the class and I let her turn in one assignment late for partial credit. Without that, she would have gotten a D for the class,” one instructor told them. The rest gave about the same account. She was lazy and always had a reason why she was late to class or missed it entirely. The only one that had a different story was Dr. Elaine Pratt.
“Dr. Pratt. You gave Sharon Lewis an A in your class. That seems above her ability,” Randy said.
“Not in this class. She was a very good student. She studied hard and put a lot of effort into her term project,” Pratt told them.
“Most of the other instructors felt she was a C student at best,” Logan said.
“Maybe so in their classes. How you teach is just as important as what you teach,” she replied.
“And you found a way to get through to her?”
“Apparently so.”
“Do you happen to have any of her old work still around?” Randy asked.
“Oh, I seriously doubt it. That was last semester. I don’t keep student projects. If I did you wouldn’t be able to get into this office,” she replied.
“How about her test scores and quizzes? You have her scores still don’t you? I believe it is required by the University that you keep them for three years,” Logan said.
“Well, I guess I could access them. They are confidential you know. Would you mind if I checked to see if it was all right to release this information?” she asked.
“Please,” Randy said.
She called the Administration Office and a few minutes later she was given the clearance to cooperate with the Detectives.
“Here they are,” she said pulling up the computer screen.
“Are these stored on the main frame?”
“Oh no. I don’t like to mess with the main frame. I have an aversion to getting on to that thing. I just use the University approved grade system.”
“And you just enter their scores after each test or quiz?”
“Yes. Once I grade the papers, or my grad assistant does, I enter the scores and it calculates the percentage based on total points possible. It is really simple,” she offered.
“And once they are entered they can’t be changed?” Logan asked.
“Well, yes. They can be, but I don’t see what the point of that would be. It would defeat the purpose of the program wouldn’t it?” she said.
“Yes, I guess it would but it can be done?” Logan asked again.
“Yes.”
“And who could do that?”
“I could or I suppose my graduate assistant,” she answered.
“Could anyone else make a change?”
“No, not unless they had access to my computer and knew my password.”
“All right Dr. Pratt. Thank you for your time. Just one other question. I believe you are the leader of the Gay and Lesbian group on campus, isn’t that right?” Logan asked.
She hesitated for a second and then said, “That is correct. I have no shame in that.”
“Was Sharon Lewis in that group?”
“She was. She wasn’t very active, but yes, she was a member.”
“So it was like a club?” Randy asked.
“Not exactly. It was an awareness group. We are fighting for equal treatment. She felt the same way as we do,” Elaine replied.
“Was she very close to anyone in particular in that group?”
“She had a friend. I don’t remember her name. Something like Sandy or Mandy,” she said.
“How about Andy? Andy Thompson,” Randy said.
“Could be. I really didn’t pay that much attention to her relationships,” she answered.
“And what about you? Did you have a relationship with Sharon Lewis?” Logan asked.
“That is none of your damn business. I insist this meeting is over. I will not sit here and discuss my sex life with you,” she said, hitting her fist on the desk.
“Alright Ms. Pratt,” Logan said.
“That’s Doctor Pratt. Now if you will please leave,” she said, opening the door. When they were out, she slammed the door.
“Yikes. I guess I hit a nerve.”
“Well, you were real subtle about that question,” Randy joked.
“I figure if you’re going to flaunt it, you had better have thick skin,” Logan said.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Have a seat Adriane,” Jonas said, indicating a chair behind the steel table.
“This doesn’t intimidate me,” Adriane said, dropping down on the chair. She had close cropped hair, and was wearing a tight fitting top with army camo pants and hiking boots.
“It’s not meant to intimidate you. We just have a few questions,” Jonas said.
“I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“No, you don’t. We have Marcia in the next room. I guess I could just start with her and see what happens,” Jonas replied.
“You have Marcia? Why? She hardly even knows Sharon. You have no right to bring her into this,” she said, sitting up straight in the chair.
“Actually, we have every right. She doesn’t look too aggressive. I doubt if it will be very difficult for her to give us any information we want to know,” Jonas said.
“You puke. I’m warning you. You had better leave her alone.”
“Warning? Are you threatening a police officer? That’s really dumb. I can have you locked up for that alone.”
“Look. Just leave her out of this. She isn’t the most stable person in the world. She has a lot of problems,” Adriane said, calming down.
“Then why don’t you just answer my questions and I’ll see what we can do,” Jonas said.
“What do you want to know?”
“Did you kill Sharon Lewis?”
“No. I loved her. I could never harm her. I wanted her to come back to me,” she said.
“Look, if it was a crime of passion, you might be able to get off easier,” Jonas suggested.
“But I didn’t do it. I couldn’t. I’ll admit I was upset with her but I would never hurt her.”
“People do strange things in the name of love. Do you know how many kill the ones they are supposed to love? Kill them rather than let them go? It happens all the time,” Jonas said.
“I didn’t do it. You have to believe me.”
“You were mad enough to go to her boyfriend’s place several times,” Jonas said.
“I just wanted to talk to her. He was just using her. He didn’t love her the way I did. She was just a shack job as far as he was concerned. He didn’t deserve her,” Adriane replied.
“You got violent enough to start a fight. According to him you went after her physically and he had to intervene. You even attached him,”
“He’s a jerk. A user. A user and a looser. I was just trying to shake some sense into her. I wasn’t really going to hurt her. She just wouldn’t listen.”
“And so you finally got to her and she still wouldn’t listen and you killed her.”
“No. I did not kill her. We did meet once after that but we just talked. I never laid a hand on her. I just wanted to explain how I felt about her,” she said.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
Jonas wondered when was the last time she had ever cried about anything. There was a knock on the door and in came a man dressed in an expensive looking suit.
“I am here to represent Miss Thompson,” he said.
“Really? And how did that come about?”
“It doesn’t matter. Unless you intend to charge my client, this interview is over,” he said.
“Your card,” Jonas said and he handed a card over. The names, Malcolm and Stein, Attorneys-at-Law were on the card.
“It figures,” he said.
They represented most of the cases involving Gay and Lesbians in the city. He knew that Adriane couldn’t have hired them. She didn’t have the resources and she hadn’t called anyone since he had brought her to the station.
“Adriane, do you want this gentleman to represent you?”
“Who are you?” she asked.
“William Stein. I have been retained to represent you in this matter,” he replied.
“Who hired you?”
“Does it really matter?”
“It does to me.”
“The Gay and Lesbian Equality League,” he told her.
“Why? I don’t need a lawyer,” she said.
“That’s what you think now, but believe me, they are going to hang this on to someone and you are a likely target just because of your sexual orientation,” he told her.
“That’s a crock,” Jonas said. “Do you want him to represent you? I would be glad to toss him out of here.”
“I guess I do. Is it going to cost me anything?”
“Absolutely not. All of your legal expenses will be picked up by the GLEL,” he told her.
“Are you representing Marcia as well?”
“Who is that?” he asked.
“My partner. She is in the next room,” Andy said.
“I suppose I could if it is all right with the League. I would have to call them first,” he replied.
“Would you?”
“Certainly,” he said and stepped outside of the room to use his cell phone.
“Adriane, you don’t need a lawyer now. You haven’t been charged. This is just a process to eliminate you as a suspect. If you don’t talk to us now, I can’t eliminate you,” Jonas told her.
“I doubt there is anything I can tell you that will totally eliminate me. If someone wants to pay to represent me I might as well let them. It isn’t costing me and I have some insurance in case you do arrest me,” she said.
“Look, if you lawyer up, we won’t be able to help you any longer,” he said.
&nb
sp; “What are you doing to help me now?”
Jonas was about to make an argument about her statement when the attorney came back into the room.
“It’s all set. Our firm will represent both of you,” he said.
“Great. Then can we get out of here?”
“Detective. Unless you intend to charge either Miss Thompson or Miss Burton we are leaving now,” he said.
“No. I don’t intend to charge them at this time. You realize that by them leaving they are still considered potential suspects. If they stay and answer our questions we may be able to eliminate them,” Jonas said. He knew he was talking to a brick wall.
“So you say. Miss Thompson, we should go now.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“What?” Logan almost yelled, “You mean to tell me that an attorney just suddenly showed up saying he was their representative? That didn’t send off any alarm bells? That didn’t seem strange to you?”
“Yeah, it did John, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was as shocked as you are. He was their attorney and he wanted to end the interview. What else could I do? We aren’t ready to charge her yet.”
“How did he even know she was at the station? You said she didn’t make any calls. Who hired them and how did they know you had her in interrogation?”
“I don’t know. He said the GLEL was picking up the tab. Who notified them, I don’t have a clue” Jonas said.
“That won’t do in homicide. It is our job to know everything. I want you and Bull to find out. I want to know who actually hired them and how they knew we had brought Thompson in for questioning. I know they represent half the gays in the city but I want to know how they came to represent these two particular twinks,” Logan said.
“If it helps, I don’t think she did it. She may be a dike but she was totally in love with Sharon and I just don’t see her having the heart to do something like this.”
“That’s not my point. My point is that someone knew we were talking to Thompson and that someone could well be connected in some way. If we follow the trail it just might bring us closer to the killer,” Logan said.
BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files Page 7
