Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar: Mystery

by Gray Cavender

  “Wow, how so?

  “Well, it was crazy. Her chapter included a review of my Enron book.”

  “OK, but how’s that a personal attack?”

  “Right off the bat, because the Enron book had been out several years by then…it’s a little late in the game for another review. What she did was to pull together any negative reviews, you know, from actual reviews when it was first published. I mean, there were mostly positive reviews, but a couple weren’t so good—and she combined them with anything else she could find…criticisms in other books or journal articles…I’m talking a sentence here, a sentence there…anything…like she was really piling on.”

  “That sounds mean…”

  “That’s why I said it was an ad hominem attack. I assume she knows that I’m planning to go up for promotion to full professor once I publish Corporate Crime Redux, and I think she’s trying to undermine my record.

  “That’s horrible. Is there anything you can do?”

  “Yeah…GET EVEN.”

  “OK…How?”

  He smiled. “See, I did a review of Inside Job that appeared in Crime Media Culture. That’s the documentary film about the run-up to the great recession of 2008. Did you see it, Jillian?”

  “I think so…”

  “Remember, Matt Damon narrated it?”

  Jillian nodded, “yes,” that she’d seen the film.

  Despite her acknowledgement that she’d seen it, he continued his explanation. “The film critiques the actions of Congress, The White House, the Fed…” He paused, then gestured with his index finger for emphasis, “…and all those pro-business academics whose position papers poo-pooed the coming crisis. They were wrong, of course…but they were well-paid for being wrong. And, no surprise…Nelda Siemens was in there…to the tune of 15K. So, in my review, I take up-up where the film ended and essentially track them—especially her—like the movie says…I follow the money.” He smiled and nodded.

  “I assume that she was really PO’d.”

  “I couldn’t care less. This was my way of turning up the heat on Siemens. But, more important, it was about showing how people like her…by their actions AND their inactions…by their complicity…hurt the hell out of people who lost their jobs, lost their homes…and this was around the world. And you know what happened? Not a damn thing…at least not here. In other countries, people went to prison for this…theft. But here in the U.S.—get this—one guy went to prison…one…and it wasn’t really even directly related to this business.”

  “Professor Naremore…?

  “This is the woman ASU hired…she’s despicable!”

  Jillian tried again, “Professor Naremore?”

  A bit annoyed, he answered, “Yes, Jillian?”

  “Does it bother you that Professor Siemens is dead?”

  When she was a grad student, Jillian had heard a couple of stories about Professor Naremore getting mad at someone in his seminar…although not any that she was in. Both times, the offending student had said something that came across as racist. And both times, he’d unloaded on the student. At least, that’s how Jillian had heard it. So, he obviously had a temper.

  He thought for a couple of seconds, and then said, “My gramy always said, ‘if you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all.’ Nelda Siemens is dead…good.”

  Jillian thought that he looked really tense, really angry. For some reason, it popped into her mind that this is what it must have been like to be facing him across the net on the tennis court back at Cal. It also popped into her mind to ask, ‘So, Professor Naremore, now what about that alibi?’ But she didn’t.

  Jillian left Professor Naremore’s office and walked to the far end of the opposite hall. The interview had left her a drained and a little shaken so she was glad that Carolyn’s office door was closed. Her office hours were posted beside the door. Jillian made a mental note of them. She’d call or come by tomorrow to ‘chat’…as the professors would say.

  She left Wilson Hall and walked along the sidewalk that angles across that large green lawn…West Hall on her left and that obelisk or whatever that structure was on the right. Even in this heat, students were seated on it…looking like figures on a funky wedding cake. The lawn, the sidewalk and the obelisk were actually above The Hayden Library. Jillian thought of the hours she’d spent down below, looking for books or academic journals.

  She felt the afternoon heat more than usual: it burned around her eyes so she dug out her sunglasses. There was a slight breeze, but it was hot and seemed to make it harder to breathe. The only way to handle the Arizona summer heat was to not think about it, so she willed herself to do just that.

  When the angular sidewalk intersected with the main, wide sidewalk that cut through the campus, Jillian took a left and headed back toward the Tempe PD Headquarters. She thought about how to present the gist of the interview to Wes. She refused to jump to conclusions, but still…

  Her cell vibbed—she could feel it even in her purse. She’d turned-off the ringer before she interviewed Professor Naremore. Jillian read the display…an announcement about a meeting tomorrow for ASU’s Sexual Harassment Task Force. Earlier, before…Professor Siemens…she’d received a Doodle Poll message asking her to identify potentially available meeting times, which she’d done. Apparently, tomorrow at 9am was the time everyone agreed to. She thought, ‘OK, Al said I was still on the Task Force, but I’ll need to clear this with Wes...after I recount the interview with Professor Naremore.”

  In addition to the text, she also saw that she’d had a phone message…actually, from Wes…who called while she was in the interview. He wanted to let her know that he was heading downtown to interview Carlton Spann, one of the Professor’s former lovers.

  Wes said, “My phone call with Professor Spann revealed some things of interest. It seems that their relationship didn’t end as neatly as Susan Moser told us. Anyway, he’s in so I’m on my way to the Phoenix campus. I’ll check-in when I finish with Spann. We can exchange info.”

  As she crossed the street back at Headquarters, Jillian saw two TV news vans...parked…and a crew doing a stand-up in front of the main entrance on 5th. She thought this was the same group she’d seen earlier at ASU. She took the employees’ side entrance…and tried not to look like a detective.

  Jillian saw no TV crews in the hallway. She did see Officer Peter Voss who was lingering around Wes’ office. He said hello, and told her that Wes had gone to Phoenix downtown for an interview, but didn’t know when he’d be back. He’d wanted to tell Wes…but could tell her, instead, that they’d found Professor Siemens’ car in Lot 10, her assigned lot. He described the car as a ‘bone white Lexus SUV, tricked-out with all the bells and whistles.” He reported that Angel and her team had gone over it and tentatively pronounced it ‘clean,’ although they’d impounded it and were conducting more tests. Officer Voss also said that, so far, their canvass of the units around Professor Siemens’ condo had revealed nothing of note. But, “not to worry,” he told Jillian, because most of the owners hadn’t been in. He and the other officers would return hopefully after the residents were home from work.

  While they waited for Wes, Jillian and Officer Voss made small talk. Soon, she excused herself on the pretext of needing to check-in with Lt. Timms. She did want to say hi to Linda, her former boss, but mainly she thought that Officer Voss’ eyes were a little too bright, his conversation a little too effervescent.

  Linda, Lt. Timms wasn’t in; she was in the meeting with the Chief. Jillian didn’t want to re-visit Officer Much-to-Friendly so she found a vacant interrogation room, opened her IPAD, and did some work on Google.

  CHAPTER 6

  Jillian didn’t pay much attention to the fact that she was in an interrogation room. Really, it was just a non-descript room with a small table and four straight-back chairs, pretty much like what you see o
n TV police dramas. What gave these rooms their sense of gravitas, she figured, is that someone who was in such a room was being questioned by the police, and as often as not, for some bad situation. Mainly today, it was a quiet place to work.

  Jillian started with Billy Gilroy. First, she checked-out his entry on the English Department’s webpage. MFA and a PhD from The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC). He’d come to ASU from UNC Wilmington nine years ago. Five years ago, he was promoted to Full Professor. From his resume—she’d heard her professors refer to this as a C/V (Curriculum Vitae)—she noted entries for the book and the glossy newsletter that she had seen represented in the posters in Gilroy’s office. The resume listed other titles, what she assumed were books of poetry, and poetry criticism in academic journals. He’d also written one novel. He’d served as an editor for a poetry journal seven years ago. That was pretty much it for his webpage.

  Next, she tried Wiki. Gilroy’s entry here was mainly a fleshing-out of what she had just read on his departmental webpage. The only other interesting piece of info was a statement that he’d studied at UNC with Fred Cavell, who apparently was an important poet. Jillian wasn’t sure, but thought that maybe her dad had read her some of Fred Cavell’s poems…she’d ask him. The Wiki page included a comment from Cavell, apparently taken from a “Forward” he’d written for one of Professor Gilroy’s poetry books. Otherwise, it was a fairly short entry.

  Jillian decided to turn next to Professor Siemens—she was the murder victim, after all—but instead found herself, without even thinking, going to the Justice Studies webpage and pulling up Ian Naremore. Her interview with him had been that unsettling. His page was basically the norm for such pages: a short statement of teaching and research interests, his educational pedigree, and his C/V. She did read that at Cal he’d majored in Legal Studies as an undergrad. So, it made sense that he’d go on to that Jurisprudence and Social Policy PhD program. He’d also earned a Certificate in Criminology from Cambridge University. That was the certificate that she’d told Wes about, and also the way that he and Russell Griffiths had hooked-up.

  The C/V listed publications. The one he’d mentioned that stirred-up the controversy with Professor Siemens was entitled, “Follow the Money: A Critical Review of Inside Job.” He had published papers in several law reviews and had another, longer batch of publications in criminology journals…she remembered citing articles from some of these journals in her own term papers.

  Professor Naremore’s Wiki page was more interesting. The ‘Early Life’ section recounted that he was a poor kid for whom The University of California’s only relevance was traffic congestion on football Saturdays. Later, he’d go to Cal on a tennis scholarship. The entry said that Professor Naremore had been a nationally ranked college tennis player. It even included a quote from a former coach who said that what made him such a good tennis player was that he was a fierce competitor, and that during volleys, “Ian would not stop until he had won the point.” There also was a comment from Professor Naremore who said that a life-changing event came when he heard the film director, Spike Lee, speak on the Berkeley campus. Lee had talked about the importance of an education. He had warned young black athletes not to be distracted by high school or college sports—most of them would never be good enough to go pro—so Spike said they should study hard and get something out of their education, something that could generate a career. That motivated a young Ian Naremore to do just that.

  According to the entry, Robert Tipton, a law professor at Cal, had been an important mentor for Naremore during his graduate studies. Tipton was an internationally regarded criminologist in the area of regulation and crime. Jillian had heard of him, and not only in Professor Naremore’s classes. Tipton had written the “Forward” to Professor Naremore’s Enron book…Jillian knew that “Forwards” were a big deal in academic books.

  Next, she did turn to Professor Siemens…ASU material first. Her English Department faculty profile photo was a head shot. In it, she wore a green jacket, a cream-colored blouse, and a necklace of dark, coral stones. The photo was much more of a close-up than the one in the Professor’s condo so Jillian could see more detail: the jacket fabric looked to be silk. The Professor had a creamy complexion, and again, her make-up and hair were perfect. Here, her hair was longer than Jillian remembered from her lying on the floor in her office…more like the condo photo of her receiving an award.

  Professor Siemens’ English Department webpage was organized like the others she’d just accessed. Jillian had already seen her degrees reflected in the framed diplomas on her office walls. The two books on Ayn Rand that Professor Gilroy had mentioned were listed, as was an edited volume of articles, journal articles, and chapters in other people’s edited volumes. The Professor had been productive, although not as much so as had Professor Naremore. Jillian couldn’t tell from the titles which book chapter was the one wherein Professor Siemens had attacked Professor Naremore.

  Professor Siemens’ Wiki entry was considerably longer. It listed a smattering of the corporate boards she was on, and also noted her affiliation with several think tanks. Jillian knew them to be of a conservative bent because she’d heard them mentioned (and so labeled) on NPR. With some organizations, she was listed as ‘A Fellow,’ and with others as ‘An Affiliate.’ Professor Siemens had been at Mount Holyoke before ASU…one of the Seven Sister Universities that Professor Gilroy had mentioned.

  Her Wiki entry did note that she was a controversial figure. Perhaps it didn’t say it exactly in these words, but she’d obviously been in several dust-ups with other professors, and not just with Professor Naremore. There also had been fireworks when she’d spoken at The University of New Hampshire. A conservative campus organization had invited her to speak, but another group had opposed her. She did speak, but there had been a boycott. According to the entry, her comments had been provocative.

  These disputes constituted only a portion of her Wiki entry, but still they were enough to have their own section labeled Controversies. The part of the entry about her position at ASU was, for the most part, what Jillian had already gleaned elsewhere.

  Jillian looked away for the screen and thought about Professor Siemens, her career, and the controversies that had surrounded her professional life. She also thought about her lying dead in her office, and wondered if any of those controversies had any bearing on her murder. She thought, too, about Professor Naremore’s harsh comments about her.

  Her short reverie ended, and it was back to the task at hand. Jillian Googled Ayn Rand, and her immediate response was “Whoa.” There were a ton of entries, including several Wiki entries…so many entries that at the bottom of the page there was a series of numbers indicating more pages...a lot of them. She was thinking that maybe she should do this later, when there was a knock at the door of the interrogation room. She’d been so engrossed in her work that she was startled, and actually jumped a little in the chair.

  It was Wes…she motioned him in.

  “What are you doing, Jilly?”

  “I’m doing some Google homework on all the players. I’ve read entries for Professors Gilroy, Siemens, and Naremore. I was about to get into Ayn Rand, but there were so many…I was blown away.”

  “Jilly Warne, Google detective. But why don’t you just use Eduardo’s office?”

  “Oh, I just wanted to be able to focus, and this room was just quieter…fewer distractions.”

  Wes thought for a second, nodded and said, “Em, I see. So, was Peter Voss a welcome distraction or a not-so-welcome one?”

  “Wes…it’s just that…Wes, I’m just not interested…”

  “OK, I understand.”

  “Well good, although I don’t know that I do…”

  “Yeah, Jilly, I guess the question is, are you just not especially interested in Peter Voss or not interested in general?”

  “Maybe a little of both,” she grimaced. “
For sure, I’m not interested in Officer Voss…OK, I’m sure he’s a nice guy…I just didn’t feel any attraction toward him. As for the ‘in general’ part, I don’t know, Wes…sometimes I think that maybe seeing someone who you work with isn’t such a good idea.”

  “You mean, like Brian?”

  “Like Brian...“ she nodded…“because if it doesn’t work out, then you have the problem of continuing to work together, and that can be…uncomfortable.”

  “I hear you. Also, I think you are correct that Peter has some non-professional interest in you. He’s been asking ‘those sorts of questions:’ what’s she like, is she seeing anyone…you know, things like that.”

  “Yes, I sensed ‘that’ sort of interest. Like I said…I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice guy, Wes, I just don’t…”

  “He is, indeed, a perfectly nice guy, but no worries, Jilly…that’s your call. I’m not playing match-maker.”

  Wes was a good partner AND a good friend. He rarely stuck his nose in her business…OK, now and then…but the nice thing about them as partners AND as friends, is all of the stuff that didn’t need to be said. So, Jillian smiled, relieved.

  “Thanks, Wes. Now, take a look at this…it’s a Wiki entry for Ayn Rand.”

  Wes pulled a chair around so that he could see her screen and took a seat. He glanced at the page and then scrolled down to the notice of continuing pages. “Holy moly…you read all this?”

  Jillian laughed, “No, I just pulled it up. I was going through the entries for some of the other people we’ve run across…they were more manageable…I’ll make a summary for you. And, I will read through this Ayn Rand stuff…sometime. But enough about all this. In your phone message you said you were going to Phoenix to interview Professor Spann…what’s up?”