Old Friends and New, Another Murder

by Christa Nardi

  “Oh, and we get to question both Max and Stella separately.” He groaned. “I’m hoping you can occupy him while we do the office search, maybe get him calmed down. My thought is that Detective Fabry will do his interview.”

  Fabry shook his head. “So, Sheridan, anything else I should know about your friend Max?”

  “He’s prone to hysteria and tirades about his rights? And you should both know, Joe has already been bothering him and asking him questions and generally getting him excited and scared.”

  CHAPTER 11

  U p early, I was surprised to see Maddie in the kitchen, making cookies of all things. Peanut butter cookies.

  “You’re up early and baking? What’s up?”

  “Luke’s been working so hard. He needs some reinforcement. After school, Ms. Melina is taking Nedra and me to Pets & Paws, and we’ll bring Luke some cookies for all his hard work.”

  “That’s very nice of you, Maddie.”

  She shrugged. “He doesn’t seem to have family that support him. Only Mrs. Chantilly and, well, she’s …she’s different. It doesn’t seem like his parents or even his grandfather, Mr. Buchanan, interact with him much. Least not when we see them both at Pets & Paws.”

  I nodded. She was right on. Blake Buchanan didn’t exactly act grandfatherly or interact with Luke much when he visited the shelter. It was pretty obvious Blake was watching over Mrs. Chantilly. And the nuances of their relationship had to be awkward for Luke, given the family ties.

  “That’s a good thought and a not quite so random act of kindness you’re doing. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. Just be sure you clean up the mess.”

  She nodded and worked on it as she moved trays in and out of the oven. Most of the area clean, she squealed, “I’m late!” and bolted to her room. I packed up the cookies, leaving a dozen for the house. And set aside a couple to enjoy with my coffee.

  Frantic, Maddie ran into the kitchen and stopped short as I handed her the container of cookies.

  “Here ya go. Behave for Ms. Melina. I’ll call when we figure out what time we’ll be home.”

  She nodded, took the cookies, and dashed out the door. The house was quiet. Fabry had picked up Brett even before I was awake. I took a deep breath, ate my cookies, and got ready to go.

  Looking at the clock, I muttered to myself, “They’re probably already in his office” and chuckled. Max’s office, like everything else related to Max, most often looked like a typhoon had gone through and upended everything.

  About half way to Cold Creek, Brett’s text showed up on the screen, “Terra or Ali notified Max. He’s on his way in. What’s your ETA?”

  I dictated my response “Thirty minutes or so.”

  As I had guessed, Max and I arrived at the college about the same time. He almost knocked me over as I walked out of Georg’s café coffee in hand.

  “Careful, Max. How are you?”

  “Sheridan, I don’t understand what’s going on. Terra called me and said the police were searching my office, had a search warrant. What do they think I could possibly have that’s connected to Landry’s death?”

  “Max, you need to chill, here. It’s not a question of what are they looking for. Is there anything in your office the police shouldn’t see?”

  “My results. The mice experiments. That’s all proprietary information – intellectual property.”

  “They’re too busy to read papers and nothing in the papers is related to Mr. Landry’s death, right?” I hesitated and asked, “Max, in your experiments with the mice, were you ever testing drug effects?”

  “What? No, I study learning and behavioral response. Food if you go down this path, mild shock if you go down that path. The only time drugs were ever in the lab was when someone from the vet clinic came in and euthanized the mice. All because that stupid man closed my lab. He had no sense of science or research.”

  He ranted on about the Chancellor and President of Cold Creek College and how they didn’t value research. They closed down his research and refused to endorse his writing any more grants, arguing that for a private four-year-college, he was wasting a lot of money. Of course, the trigger for this had nothing to do with money, but politics.

  We reached the Psychology Department offices and Terra and Ali waved, eyes wide as they spotted not only me but Max. Administrative assistants for the department, they kept everything going smoothly, most of the time. Terra, the more outgoing of the two, walked toward us.

  “You have to stop them, Terra. That is my office and my work. Why haven’t you stopped them?”

  “Dr. Bentley, calm down. We can’t stop them. They have a warrant to search your office and your lab. Detective Fabry suggested you might want to call your lawyer if you’re concerned.”

  She hesitated briefly, but continued as he started to walk toward his office. “Dr. Bentley, you can wait in the departmental office or you can sit in my office. You aren’t allowed near or in your office while they search.”

  “What? I have to be sure they don’t steal anything or move anything out of place, mess with my system.”

  I snorted, trying hard not to laugh. “Sorry. Max is there anything valuable in your office or lab?”

  “My research is valuable, Sheridan. You just never understood. Dr. Grant never understood. No one here understands the value of research.” Arms waving, his voice got louder and louder. Students peaked around the corners and I heard doors opening and closing.

  “Max, try to stay calm. We can sit and chat and you can tell me about Stella and your new house.” I gasped as I said house, realizing he still didn’t know that was part of the plan.

  “Sheridan, you need to make your husband stop. Can you do that for me? I’ve been a good friend to you, helped you out.”

  “Max, I don’t think you murdered that man. I don’t think anyone really thinks you did. They have to check out every lead.”

  “And it’s Detective Fabry, not Brett in your office.” Terra added. She looked at me and pointed down. I smiled. Brett was in the lab downstairs.

  “So how about it, Max? Sit and bring me up to date on all that’s happening in your life until they’re done with your office.”

  He nodded and Terra volunteered her office. As we settled in, I asked Terra to let Kim know where we were. I had no doubt she’d tell more people than Kim. My only hope was that Max would calm down before Fabry showed up to interview him or he got the call from Stella they were at the house. He was flushed and sweating, his hands shaking as we settled into the chairs in Terra’s office.

  “Tell me about your new house. What prompted you to move out of Cold Creek?”

  “Stella’s mom passed and left her some money. She was heartbroken and her mother’s will said something about using the money to invest in real estate. Stella checked on properties we could buy to rent, all in Cold Creek. I never knew so many people rented.”

  A small four-year private school, students lived in the dorms at least for the first two years or commuted from home. It never occurred to me their homes were rentals either.

  “Who is renting – not specifically, but generally? Students?”

  “Some students, yes. No available apartments and what the realtor said was some of them want to be on their own so three or four rent a house. Sheridan, some faculty members rent instead of own. I didn’t know that either. Especially, new faculty. It was an eye-opener for me.”

  “And you decided?”

  “The realtor convinced us – this is all her fault – that we should look to buy a bigger house and rent our small one. She’s the one who found the house in North Shore. It’s this new development of larger houses and all tucked into the woods. It’s not in the town itself, about a fifteen-minute drive to the new coffee shop there. And bigger than our other house. And… and Sheridan? It wasn’t as expensive as buying one the same size in Cold Creek.”

  That sounded odd. “Stella likes the house?”

  “She picked it out and was emphatic about one t
hing.”

  Stella tended to not speak up much and followed Max’s lead most times. His statement intrigued me.

  “Emphatic about what?”

  “There’s a room downstairs that could be a master bedroom or study, with its own bath. All wheel-chair accessible.” He shook his head. “When her mother was dying, Stella wanted to bring her here to Cold Creek. We didn’t have room. She was emphatic that whatever we bought had the space and could accommodate either of my parents if needed.”

  I smiled and patted his arm. “That was very sweet of her.”

  We chatted about other topics for a while. I kept glancing at my watch waiting for the next trigger to Max’s hysteria.

  CHAPTER 12

  A s voices reached us, we both turned to the opening door. I recognized Joe’s voice before he strutted in. Max visibly tensed and his coffee sloshed over the top as he set it down, not too gently. I patted Max’s arm again as I stood and intercepted Joe.

  “Hi, Joe. Good to see you. I hope we have a chance to chat while I’m in town.”

  He gave me the acceptable side hug. “We were just saying you needed to be here. Murder and you seem to go together. I need to interview Max.”

  A grunt from behind me made me smile. “I don’t think so, Joe. Not right now. We’re having a private conversation and Max told me he doesn’t want to talk to you. That right, Max?”

  “Absolutely. I don’t want to talk to him.”

  “Now look, the press and the public have a right to hear your side of the story, Max. This is your chance to talk about your relationship with Landry and clear your name.”

  I arched my eyebrow and scowled at Joe as Max grunted behind me. “Sorry, Joe. You need to get your information from official sources. I think Terra explained that Chief Hirsch and Detective Fabry are here right now. I’m sure they will have a statement for you later today. I’m also sure they will clear Max of any wrong-doing, aren’t you?”

  Joe shuffled his feet and with a nudge I prompted him to leave the office. I used tissues to clean up the spilled the coffee. Before I could engage Max in conversation, increasingly loud voices drew near. I recognized Fabry’s and Hirsch’s voices in the mix.

  “Thank you, Sheridan, for making him go away. He’s like a blood hound and after my blood.” His voice was low and unsteady. “I just don’t know what to do. I didn’t kill anyone. I can’t even kill spiders. And Landry was a big guy, even bigger than Brett.”

  I nodded and turned as the door opened. Fabry cleared his voice and took a step into the office, Hirsch behind him.

  “Dr. Bentley, Dr. Hendley. Good morning. Dr. Bentley, this is Detective Fabry. We need to talk to you about Mr. Landry. We can do that here or at the police station. What’s your preference?”

  I watched as Max’s mouth opened and closed and nothing came out. “Max, you need to talk to them, okay. Do you want to do that here? Or go to the station?”

  “Here.” His voice squeaked. I stood up and disposed of my now empty coffee cup.

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes, Max. They need to talk to you and it’s getting crowded in here. I’m not going far. Getting another cup of coffee and then I’ll probably be in Kim’s office.”

  Both men nodded to me as I stepped out and pulled Terra’s door shut firmly. I shooed Terra, Joe, and Ali away from the area. With a glance back at the door, I headed to Kim’s office. Hugs exchanged we went downstairs to Georg’s, got three coffees and made our way to Max’s lab.

  To anyone who didn’t know better, the immediate reaction to the mess with police and dogs would be to blame them. Kim and I laughed as we watched one of the men in a police vest straighten a pile of papers as he retrieved them from the floor. Max’s lab might look better when they were finished.

  The man closest to us walked in our direction. He was older and portly.

  “Sorry, ladies. Police business. Please be on your way.”

  “Officer, is Detective McMann available?”

  His gaze narrowed and he spoke into his collar mic. “McMann still here? Someone at the door wants him.”

  His face softened a little. “Yes, that’s correct.” After a short pause, “I’ll tell her.”

  “Mrs. McMann?”

  I nodded and he continued. “He’ll be right here, but you both need to stay in the hall.”

  “That’s fine. Thank you.”

  He eyed the two coffees in my hands, and loathe as I was to give up a cup of coffee, I was polite. “Coffee – regular?”

  “Nah. But thanks. Appreciate the gesture.” He walked away and Kim and I stepped back from the door.

  “How was Max holding up?”

  “Obstinate and hysterical, as usual. He didn’t seem to understand his lab was being searched as well as his office and at least Fabry and Hirsch are doing the interview. They’re concerned with murder and he’s talking about intellectual property. Geesh. I hope he didn’t think Landry was going to steal his mice data.”

  Kim chuckled. “His data are useless. What I don’t get? Administration closed his lab – this lab – a year ago. Why hasn’t it been cleaned out and re-purposed yet?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe they haven’t figured out a new purpose. Any ideas?”

  The lab space was filled with lab tables, cages, and lots of equipment. Even with that, it could accommodate twenty students working on different things. In reality, Max only had one or two, maybe three, students at any one time. Not good use of the space. The room was fitted for what he needed, with running water, sinks, and so on. To convert it to a single classroom would not make sense. A small college, classes generally capped at twenty students and senior seminars were only ten to twelve.

  “Two possibilities. One would be to turn this into a computer lab. Yes, there’s already one in another building, but this would be more convenient for students in this building. And see if someone in science can use any of this equipment. The second would be to convert this to two rooms – one a classroom and one a true student lounge with charging stations for phones and tablets and laptops.”

  I nodded and then smiled as Brett walked toward us. He side-hugged Kim and gave me a hug and kiss, wary of the coffee cups.

  “Here you go. A mess, huh?”

  “That is an understatement. And the garbage hadn’t been emptied in who knows how long. The place stunk when we opened it up. Thankfully, there is a back door. Did you know that?”

  Kim and I both shook our heads.

  “Anyway, the first thing we did was open the door, remove the garbage, and get the fans going. Which, of course, added to the loose paper on the floor.” He shook his head.

  “Where does the back door go?”

  “To the dumpster out back.”

  “He always kept everything locked up tight, if not orderly.”

  “And the door was bolted and locked from the inside.”

  “Have you found anything? Dogs find anything?”

  “Lots and lots of paper. No offense, but the amount of paper he went through represents a lot of trees. Didn’t he take what he needed when they closed the lab?”

  Kim nodded. “He had to come down, deal with any remaining mice, disassemble his mazes and other equipment. The latter are all in storage. He was told to clean out anything he wanted and he turned in the key.”

  “Kim had just mentioned that nothing’s been done since then.”

  Brett pulled his fingers through his dark curly hair and shook his head. “Anything dated is more than a year old. We’re about done and as soon as Fabry and Hirsch finish with him, we’ll be heading to the house.”

  “I’d gotten him calmed down – well, as calm as he ever is – and then Joe showed up, followed by Fabry and Hirsch.”

  Brett nodded. “They didn’t find anything either. I truly feel bad for Max, but he made a threat and the man he threatened is dead.”

  CHAPTER 13

  F abry and Hirsch came down to the lab when they finished the interview. Next stop was the hou
se, and I went with Fabry to help keep Max and Stella occupied. The new house was easily twice the size of their previous home. What had been crowded in their old home barely filled this one. Two stories, with the master suite on one end of the first floor. The most amazing thing about the house and yard was that they were immaculate. Nothing out of place.

  We were told to make ourselves comfortable in the patio. They allowed us to take coffee with us, though Stella had tea instead. The tension was high and I tried to make conversation.

  “This is a beautiful area and you’ve done a great job with the house and yard. How do you like living so far out, Stella?”

  “It’s very peaceful. If I need anything, I can hop in the car and be in the center of town in less than 15 minutes. And North Shore is growing. The new community center has a lot of activities, and I’ve gotten involved in some of them. Sometimes, there are noises in the woods around us. They bother me, but Max tells me it’s just the wild life. I think I saw a fox once and spotted a few deer.”

  “Is there a neighborhood watch or listserv to alert you to anything like the fox or traffic issues or weather?”

  Stella grimaced and I continued, “We’re on a listserv in Clover Hill. We get notices of lost pets, found pets, and all sorts of stuff. Most of the time I don’t read the posts unless it’s about a lost dog or pet.”

  Neither said a word so I waited. Max finally spouted, “No watch, no listserv, but some nosy neighbors.”

  “I only noticed one other house close to here.”

  Max stood and walked to the edge of the patio. Stella looked at him and then answered.

  “It is a new neighborhood. Moss Builders bought up land and they built about six houses so far. This is one of the smaller ones. You must have missed a couple of them. The side roads are hidden by trees. The nearest neighbor is through the trees over there.” She pointed to where Max was standing.

  “That’s where Landry lived. His wife, Celeste … I heard she left him a couple months ago. On the other side, about the same distance are the Hortons. He’s in construction and works for Moss Builders. She’s a teacher. They have four children.”