Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar: Mystery

by Gray Cavender

  Wes looked up and added, “I hope I’m clear that on all of these texts, Roberts is the one doing the inviting. Seems like maybe he’s trying to get them back together.”

  Jillian nodded. “There are some emails along those lines, too.”

  “Right. OK, on to Professor Keefer. There are only two texts in the months before their Montreal get-together, and that goes all the way back to the spring. Both are about arrangements for professors who are visiting ASU…things like what time to pick-up them up at their hotel…or that they’re running late for dinner.”

  Wes glanced down to find his place on the printout. “Of course, all this changes after Montreal. There’s two, sometimes three a day…stuff like, ’I’ll always remember Montreal differently, now,’ or ‘last night was fantastic.’ Then, starting about two weeks ago, he invites…she declines. This is in…” he checked his notes, “… three different texts. She begs off that she’s too busy.”

  Wes arranged print-out sheets side by side and moved one hand down each sheet. “Jilly, some of these texts declining Keefer’s invites line-up with her more recent get-togethers with Roberts. Now, we know that Siemens and Keefer did have a date the Saturday night before she died—he told us that, and now you have some confirmation from other residents at her condo.”

  She nodded and he continued. “The day after that Saturday ‘sleep over,’ there’s a text from Keefer saying how much he enjoyed ‘last night,’ and another one saying that he’s relieved that things are good with them. Her response…neither confirms nor denies that things are good, just an invite from Siemens for drinks after work ‘one day next week.’ He responds that he’d hoped to see her sooner, but she texts back explaining that she’s booked till mid-week. He agrees saying, ‘till Wednesday, then.’ But of course…that never happened.”

  They both were quiet for a few beats, then Wes added, “No texts between Siemens and Davidos. And, that’s it for me.”

  As she listened, Jillian made notes. She finished her last note as Wes was ending his review. She nibbled on her pen, then asked, “Any indication in the texts that Roberts knew about Keefer or that Keefer knew about Roberts?”

  “Good question, and no.”

  She nodded. “Same with the emails. Maybe with one exception, which I’ll get to in a minute. As for Professor Siemens’s emails…I’d characterize them like you did with the calls and the texts…a lot of professionally-related traffic. The emails give us an even better picture of her life…which is really interesting.“

  Jillian nodded to herself, and continued. “Again, like you, there’s a lot less back and forth with Professor Keefer in the spring. And what there is…is professional…regular English Department business. Things like…emails where she asks for things related to that Ayn Rand conference that she was planning. But, there are also a few emails…” she paused and glanced at her notes…”four of these. They’re about Professor Keefer’s promotion to Associate Dean. I’d characterize these emails as ‘her supporting him.’ She tells him that she’s talked with someone—a professor or an administrator, can’t tell which—in his behalf. Her comments are cryptic, but I take it that one of her contacts actually was a member of the Search Committee for that dean’s job.”

  Wes said, “Hmm. So, Siemens was lobbying a committee member for Keefer. Were there other candidates for the job?”

  “Yes to both questions. There were three candidates plus Professor Keefer. Two were from other universities…external candidates. Like I said, Professor Siemens apparently had a contact on the Search Committee and lobbied that person on Professor Keefer’s behalf. Here’s the thing, though, that lobbying wasn’t done on email…she doesn’t even mention her contact by name…just alludes to it in her emails to Professor Keefer. My read is that she lobbied this unnamed contact in person. In another email with Professor Keefer, she shares her ‘take’ on the dean’s position, generally, but also her sense of what the committee is looking for…you know, their view of the ideal candidate.”

  “What, like insider trading?”

  “Not exactly…nothing that overt. More along the lines of…she conveyed to Professor Keefer the skills and strengths of what would made a good Associate Dean, at least according to her contact on the Search Committee.”

  When Wes canted his head and squinted, Jillian laughed and said, “I guess that sounds like insider trading, huh?”

  “Pretty much, yeah,” Wes laughed and gave a vigorous nod. Then, he jotted a note in his book.

  “Do you think this is important, Wes?”

  “Maybe…yeah.”

  Jillian thought for a second or two, then continued. “Anyway, other than that, there’s not much interesting about Professor Keefer until after Montreal. The emails change then, at least for a while. I mean, nothing intimate, just more personal, affectionate. But, the tone changes again about ten days ago, and in a way that’s consistent with what you said about the texts…and at about the same time.” She pointed her pen to her print-out and the notes she’d made on it.

  “Also, Wes, it’s like your other point…Professor Keefer is the one initiating the emails. I’d describe some of them as being like ‘I want to be with you…is everything OK.’ Her responses are non-committal…she responds, but isn’t responsive. Does that make any sense?”

  “Yep, it’s like the texts.”

  “Exactly. To me, Professor Keefer comes across as getting a little desperate. Also, there are no emails setting-up or confirming their last get together…the one last Saturday night. From your description, I think they must have made those arrangements through texts.“

  “Or maybe in person…after all, they were in the same building.”

  “Could be,” Jillian said and glanced back to her printout. “Then, there’s an email late Sunday afternoon essentially saying, ‘I’m glad we’re back on track.’ Her response was two words…‘nice night.’ And that’s it for Professor Keefer.”

  “Were Professor Siemens’ emails all in her Inbox?”

  “Mixed. Many of her professional emails were in various files within her ‘Important’ folder. I’m thinking she stashed them there because they’d be easier to find when she wanted to refer them. Other emails were in her ‘Deleted’ Items. Like her emails to Professor Keefer about the dean’s position…all these were in Deleted. So were most the emails about their affair. But, she hadn’t deleted her Deletes. We could have gotten them even if she had…this just made it quicker.”

  He nodded as she nibbled on her pen again. “You know, Wes, my reading of her emails, especially in light of what you said about her texts, is that she was getting ready to end the ‘thing’ with Professor Keefer. Maybe he had a sense that she was moving away from him, and that’s what made his emails seem desperate.”

  “Sounds like…so, what about Roberts?”

  ”I think their emails mostly square with how you described their texts. And given what you said about the texts, I think that they texted more than they emailed each other. That’s probably not surprising…these days a lot of people are more likely to text. I have friends I almost never email because they just don’t read them…so we text.

  He nodded.

  “Anyway, there were a few trial balloon-type emails over the last three weeks. He’d send her an email and early in it, there’d be some professional content, but then with an ‘I’m missing you’ comment at the end. Roberts suggested dinner in a couple of emails and also referenced a text that he’d sent. Her responses were what you noted…vague, non-committal, except for the professional component. The text you mentioned, the one that suggested that somehow they were back on track, there’s nothing like that in the emails. Again, I think they mostly texted.”

  Wes asked, “If she was giving Keefer the brush-off and wasn’t interested in starting things up again with Roberts, do you have any sense from the emails that there was anyone warming up in the bullpe
n?”

  “Funny you should ask…” Jillian said and smiled.

  They reconvened after a quick restroom break. Jillian had sorted her print-outs into three piles. She pointed to them and said, “So, there are three email threads that are interesting.”

  Wes nodded, held up his pen at the ready, and smiled.

  “OK, the first thread shows us a little more about Professor Siemens’ professional side, and it validates what Miriam Moser told us about how she earned extra income. There’s a whole series of emails along these lines, but one thread in particular that I want to talk about.”

  She checked her notes again, then began. “So, there’s a series of emails in an Important File labelled Civism Foundation. Civism is one of the foundations where she was an Affiliate. To begin with, she was paid $5000 plus expenses to present a paper at a conference in late June sponsored by the Civism Foundation in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is also where the Foundation is headquartered.

  “That’s some folding money.”

  “Yes, it is, but, it gets better. So, this speaking fee was agreed to in advance…it’s all spelled-out in emails between Professor Siemens and a guy named Joseph Holmes who is her contact at Civism. One of his emails contains the actual ‘contract for services.’ There’s another email—from her back to him—where she’s signed the contract. It’s in a PDF.”

  Jillian looked up, Wes nodded, and she continued. “After the conference, after her speech in Charlotte, there’s more back-in-forth between Joe and the Professor Siemens. By the way, their emails now are ‘Joe and Nelda.’ OK, in these emails, Joe requests permission to publish her presentation in the Civism Foundation Newsletter. She responds that publication was not included in the original contract, and says that another outlet has expressed interest in publishing her presentation…that’s a quote…’expressed interest.’ But she says that since her paper was presented at the conference, she’s willing to consider Civism’s Newsletter as a higher priority. She adds, though, that the other outlet had mentioned ‘remuneration’…another quote. Joe asks what it will take to get the rights to the paper and to publish it in their Newsletter. She responds: $2000, which she says is less than what the other outlet would be offering. Joe agrees to the $2000, emails another contract, which she signs and sends back to him.”

  “So, a cool 7K. For a presentation and publishing a paper? Whew!”

  “Yes. But get this…a few weeks later, there’s another email exchange—again, with Joe—inviting Professor Siemens to become a formal Affiliate with the Civism Foundation. As her ‘compensation’ (another quote), the Civism Foundation offers to pay her 20 thousand dollars…and that’s annually, Wes. For this fee, she agrees to attend at least one Civism Foundation event per year, one US Chamber of Commerce event per year, and also to make herself available for interviews. These are even spelled-out in the contract: two NPR appearances a year; one PBS News Hour appearance a year; three Fox Network appearances a year. Another contract follows, she signs and returns it.”

  “Man,” Wes said as he jotted down the amounts, “…a few gigs like that and she’s in business. And remember what her dad said about her making good money when she sold her place back east…then about her bargaining hard for her salary at ASU…this explains the condo on the Tempe Town Lake with all the upgrades.”

  “Yes,” Jillian answered. For a second, before she continued, she flashed on what Professor Naremore had said about Professor Siemens essentially ‘selling her ideology for money.’

  “Is there anything in the emails between the professor and Joe that would suggest any sort of relationship there? I don’t see that having any bearing on our investigation one way or another…just wondering?”

  “Not really. Professional at first, then more friendly, but no hint of that, at least not in these emails.”

  “Alright.”

  Jillian glanced back at the print-outs, then continued, “Anyway, there are emails about other affiliations just like the one with the Civism Foundation. They’re for less money, but still….”

  “They do add up,” Wes said, thinking.

  “So, I mentioned Civism because it’s a good overview of her extra income, but also because it’s connected to a second thread.”

  Wes nodded his interest.

  “OK, so Professor Siemens was a keynote speaker at Civism’s Charlotte Conference. There were other speakers, of course…maybe not keynoters, but others. Among the other speakers was…” she paused for affect, “President Jacques Davidos.”

  Wes’ eyes opened wide. He placed his pen on the table and leaned back in his chair.

  Jillian smiled. “In reading her emails, I came across an exchange between Professor Siemens and President Davidos. Wes, this was after the Charlotte conference. There were some interesting points in their exchange, so, when I took an earlier restroom break, I called Grace Wilson and asked her for some clarifications. She’s already texted me with the info.”

  Jillian took a sip of her fizzy water, then continued. ”Professor Siemens and President Davidos took different flights to Charlotte...different days, even. But, they flew back to Phoenix on the same flight. They hadn’t been scheduled to return on the same flight, though. Professor Siemens changed her reservation so they could fly back together. She was even able to get a seat next to the President.”

  “Geez, Jilly, do you think this is another Keefer-type Montreal conference?”

  “Well, it’s not…”

  Wes interrupted her. “You said you’d called Grace Wilson. Did she get the flight info for you?”

  “Yes. OK, in the first place, ASU requires online travel authorizations before travel, and reimbursement claims after a trip. Without too much trouble, Grace was able to find out the details about their flights…to and from Charlotte, and to see that Professor Siemens had changed her return flight. A part of that authorization process went through the English Department.”

  Wes interrupted again. “A last minute flight change…that must have cost a lot. Anyway, from the emails…what about any shenanigans…either while they were in Charlotte or after they got back?”

  “To answer your first question, yes, changing her flight was expensive. Plus, get this, they both flew first class. Apparently President Davidos usually flies first class. So, for Professor Siemens to sit next to him, she upgraded to first class as well. And, the President’s office paid for that leg of her flight…the change and the upgrade.”

  “And this info came from Grace Wilson?”

  “Yes. Again, the part about modifying Professor Siemens’ flight…Grace accessed that herself. She said the information was in the reimbursement claim, including the part about the involvement of President’s office. Grace did say that was a budgetary hassle. And she was able to get info about President Davidos’ flight schedule through a ‘friend’ in the President’s office.”

  Wes laughed. “Ms. Wilson is turning out to be a helpful friend. So, anything about an affair?”

  “I think that sometimes just being nice to people pays off…which I learned from you, by the way. Anyway, in terms of an affair, that’s not altogether clear. Look at these,” she said and scooted one set of print-outs across the table to Wes. “Check out the parts that I’ve highlighted in yellow.”

  Jillian walked around the table and sat in the chair to his left. She pointed and said, “See, this first email is dated June 23…that’s a Saturday. They returned from Charlotte on Friday the 22nd.”

  “Got it,” Wes said.

  “In the email—which is from Professor Siemens to President Davidos—she says how much she enjoyed his remarks at the Civism Foundation Conference. And that because of his leadership, ASU has become a world-class university…that she’s proud to be on his faculty. As an aside, Wes,” she said, marking her place on the print-out with her finger, “Grace told me that Professor Siemens looked down on ASU and mo
st of her colleagues.”

  Jillian returned to the print-out and said, “Then, a little further down in the email, she thanks President Davidos for covering her upgrade and says how ‘stimulating’ she found their discussion. Maybe that’s no big deal, but it is an interesting word choice. And notice that she left a space on either side of the word…like maybe to call attention to it.”

  Wes nodded.

  Jillian said, “And, as a fun fact, this exchange is on President Davidos’ private email…not one that most people have access to…I also learned this from Grace.“

  They exchanged a look, then Jillian directed their attention to the next page of the print out. “Later that day, President Davidos responds. His email is professional, saying that he, too, enjoyed the conference and also their conversation on the plane ride back to Phoenix…and that he likes some of her ideas about bringing more members of the business community into one or two ‘targeted’ panels at her Rand conference in the spring. Then, he goes on to offer some comments about ASU serving the business community in the Valley, and how that community can aid ASU.”

  Wes nodded. “Two thoughts…first, this business about bringing-in members from the business community…that’s exactly what Carlton Spann said Professor Siemens lifted from him…her former lover, the prof on the downtown campus.”

  Jillian nodded that she remembered, “But the second thing…I don’t see Davidos’ comment as being very provocative, Jilly. It sounds like the kind of stuff he says in the Arizona Republic all the time.”

  “I know. Like I said, his email is totally professional. But look,” she said, pointing at the print-out. “Professor Siemens quickly follows-up that she’d like to discuss these ideas more with him…” Jillian pointed to specific lines on the print-out and quoted…”any time…at your convenience, Jacques. I know how busy your work days are.“