*
"Did you see those marks on that girl's back?" Chin said as Pepper headed up Richmond Street towards the university. The sun was shining and it was a glorious Monday morning in early April, but neither of them felt like smiling.
"Yeah, that was something, all right. There weren't just two or three marks-her back was raw."
"Why would he do that after she was already dead? I just don't understand that. It's not like he's causing her any more pain."
"Maybe he was just taking out his anger after he was through with her. Who knows? I think there's a lot of things about this guy we'll never understand."
"Speaking of which, what's with you and Ian?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been working with the guy for a year now, and whenever it's just the two of us, he's great. But as soon as you and Wallace show up-and especially you-it's like he gets his back up. What's that all about? Did something happen between you two?"
"Not that I can think of. We went to school together at Western, but I never really knew him very well. He's always been known to fly off the handle at times, and I've always thought he was a bit of an asshole, but maybe that's just his way of dealing with the pressures of the job. He's smart though, and you could have done a lot worse than getting him for a partner."
Pepper's phone rang, the distinctive sounds of the synthesizer from Gary Numan's 'Cars' piercing the air.
"That ringtone sounds familiar. What is that anyways?" Chin said.
"That's 'Cars', by Gary Numan," Pepper said as he swung a quick right onto St. James Street and pulled to the curb. "You definitely need to improve your knowledge of great music, Chin. Tell you what, you teach me Jeet Kune Do, and I'll teach you all you need to know about music."
"I'd rather chew on tin foil."
"It's Wallace," Pepper said as he answered the call. "Rupe, I've got you on speaker phone. Chin and I are still in the car."
"I just wanted you to know something I just found out about the Skinner girl before you got there. Guess what her major is?"
Pepper and Chin looked at each other. "Sociology?" Chin asked.
"Bingo, you're today's winner, Chin. There's a six pack of Orange Crush waiting for you when you return to the station."
"Did she have Drummond for a teacher?"
"Actually, no. The sociology department at Western is huge. There are a number of profs that handle first year classes, with Drummond being one of them. He also teaches some more specialized courses in third year. If she'd stayed on track, she would have had him in third year. So bottom line-she never had him, but she would have known who he is. As far as him knowing her amongst all the sociology students, that's really hard to say."
"Okay, thanks, Rupe, that's good to know."
"Okay, good luck. Oh yeah, there's still no reply to our Frank Booth posting on the Reaper website."
"Have you sent an e-mail back to The Sandman yet?"
"Not yet-working on it."
"All right. We'll see you later."
"So," Chin said once Pepper ended the call and pulled away from the curb. "Alicia Skinner definitely may have been on Drummond's radar, even if he didn't have her in one of his classes."
"A lot of coincidences seem to be starting to come together, don't they?"
"You're right about that."
Every Breath You Take Page 45
