The Valedictorian (Sword and Lead Book 3)
Page 4
The professor maintained that he and Jennifer had no inappropriate relationship. He insisted that they had a strictly professional relationship, although he was fond of her. At the end of the interrogation, Harry couldn’t find a motive for the crime, but both the chief and prosecutors agreed that there was circumstantial evidence to suggest Professor Smith could be the culprit. The pressure was building on them to find the killer, and both the chief and the prosecutors made it clear that they were willing to go with Professor Smith.
The day after Professor Smith was arrested, a warrant was issued granting police permission to search his house and office. A dagger was found hidden inside an empty vase outside Professor Smith’s house. It was taken to forensics for examination, and the dried blood particles found on the dagger matched Jennifer’s blood sample. The weapon was identified as that used to kill Jennifer James.
As a team of policemen searched Professor Smith’s house for evidence that would connect him to the murder, another team was searching Jennifer’s room for the article Professor Smith claimed he have gone to the room to give her. They found neither the article nor the file containing the final draft of the essay the professor said he had been helping Jennifer with.
The Department of Justice held a conference where they revealed the identity of the suspect in custody and announced that Professor Smith was going to be charged.
Later that day, at the police station, Harry’s chief called him into his office to congratulate him on closing the case. Harry knew that for the chief, this was the end of the case. Miss Jennifer James would become a file in the police records.
Harry’s inability to find a motive had left him with some doubt about Professor Smith’s culpability. But the discovery of the murder weapon at the Professor’s residence seemed to have eliminated any doubt he had entertained.
Harry thought to himself that Jennifer had been an outstanding student that her family and the University were proud of. Everyone who had the privilege of sharing a moment with her described Jennifer as a kind soul. None would have thought she could engage in a love affair with her university professor, who was twenty-four years older than her. None would have thought that the beautiful and meek Jennifer they knew was engaged in an illicit affair that would eventually lead to her death. Harry hoped that the circumstances of her death would not taint the beautiful memories they had of Miss Jennifer James.
CHAPTER 11
Detective Harry Rogers sat at his work desk in his apartment. Jennifer’s diary was in his hand. It was twelve days since he had been summoned into the chief’s office and assigned the job of finding Jennifer’s killer. It had been a relief to Jennifer’s family that there was finally a suspect in custody, and while the University management were pleased that Jennifer’s killer may have been apprehended, they weren’t as pleased that the likely killer was one of their own professors.
Harry had expected that he would feel an air of satisfaction from uncovering the mystery behind Jennifer’s murder, the type of satisfaction he derived from bringing criminals to justice. But he wasn’t feeling satisfied or victorious. What Harry felt was uncertainty, and that made him uncomfortable.
The case of Jennifer’s murder had been closed, and tomorrow he would return Jennifer’s diary to the station so that it could be returned to her family together with the rest of her belongings. Harry was randomly flipping through the diary, and he saw the address of a website. It had been written down the month she was murdered. Harry thought the website might be the one for the postgraduate scholarship, which might indicate the Professor had been telling the truth about helping Jennifer with her scholarship essay. But it didn’t explain the murder weapon being found at the Professor’s house. Harry decided to visit the website to check if his guess was correct.
Harry was correct. The website was that of a corporation that offered different types of scholarships and grants to female college students in America. Harry clicked on the link for postgraduate scholarships. The page contained information about the scholarship Jennifer had applied for and the qualification requirements. Harry scrolled down, and he saw a list of the ten shortlisted finalists. The list included the names, courses, and institutions of the finalists. The finalists were arranged according to their performance in the aptitude test they had written after scaling through the interview process. Jennifer’s name was the first on the list, with ninety-eight per cent. Harry looked through the list, and the ninth name was also from New York University. The name seemed familiar. Harry tried to remember where he had seen it before. He scrolled further down the site, and there was a picture of a lady with “Meet the Author of our Winning Essay” written boldly below it. The name on the picture was the ninth name on the shortlist. Harry tried again to remember where he had seen the name, but he couldn’t. He logged off the site, thinking how Jennifer would likely have won the scholarship had she been alive. He found it sadly ironic that the person who was helping Jennifer win the scholarship was the same person who robbed her of the scholarship and her life. Harry switched off the computer and went to bed.
Harry was drifting into sleep when he suddenly jumped out of bed like someone who had been stung by a scorpion. He took Jennifer’s diary and flipped through the pages. Harry stopped at a page and stared at it for some minutes before shouting, “YES!”
He had found the name he had been trying to remember. It was the name of the person Jennifer had met with three times during the week before she was killed. Harry switched on his computer and logged back into the Scholarship website. He checked the name and confirmed that it was the same. Catherine Underwood.
Harry clicked on the link to view the winning essay and printed it out. His gut told him that there was about to be a twist in the mystery of the murder of Miss James. Tomorrow, he would confirm. Harry switched off the computer and went to bed.
CHAPTER 12
Harry was sitting in the visitor’s room of the jail where Professor Smith was being held. The prosecutor had opposed his bail application, and the discovery of the murder weapon at his house had left the judge with no choice but to deny bail. Professor Smith tried to force a smile. Harry looked at him and saw an image of a man resigned to his fate.
Harry asked the professor if he could remember the essay he had helped Jennifer with, and he said he did. Harry showed him the winning essay he printed out, and the professor confirmed that it was the essay he had reviewed for Jennifer.
Harry left the jail and drove straight to the University. At the University, he asked to view the CCTV tapes of the night Jennifer was murdered. And in the footage, he saw a woman wearing a hoodie, her face obscured, enter the hostel a few minutes after Professor Smith left. Harry zoomed in and was able to get a side view of the woman. Catherine Underwood. The CCTV also recorded her leaving the hostel a few minutes later with a brown file in her hand.
The CCTV footage confirmed that Catherine was at the scene of the murder shortly before it took place. It also recorded Catherine walking out of the hostel with a file Harry believed to be the final draft of Jennifer’s scholarship essay. Thus Catherine Underwood became Harry’s new suspect. However, he decided against sharing the new twist in the case with his chief and the prosecutor. Harry also wanted to conclude the investigation without interviewing Catherine. This way, he would be able to keep a close eye on her in case she slipped off.
* * *
Harry pressed the doorbell of a house two blocks away from Professor Smith’s. He had been trying to figure out if Catherine had planted the murder weapon at Professor Smith’s house, so he decided to go to the neighborhood to investigate. He thought that maybe someone might have seen her. Harry’s interview with Professor Smith’s neighbors had been unfruitful, and he was driving out of the neighborhood when he noticed that the house two blocks from Professor Smith’s had a CCTV camera.
A middle-aged Caucasian woman opened the door. Harry introduced himself and showed her his badge. He asked her if the CCTV camera at the side of the buildin
g, which showed a part of the street, was working. She confirmed that it was. Harry said that he would like to view the footage for a police investigation. The woman asked for him to produce a warrant, and when he said he didn’t have one, she declined. Harry told her that the footage could help prove Professor Smith’s innocence, and she agreed to let him take a look at it.
Harry rewound the CCTV footage to the night of the murder. The camera recorded Professor Smith drive past, and he was hoping to see Catherine drive behind, but no car followed. He fast-forwarded the footage to the night after the murder. The camera recorded Professor Smith drive past, and a few minutes later, a car driven by a woman who distinctly resembled Catherine Underwood drove past and parked at the other end of the road.
CHAPTER 13
Harry sat at his desk, his note pad opened in front of him. He began to reexamine the chain of events the night before Jennifer’s death. Jennifer had met with Catherine on three previous occasions the week before she was murdered, to discuss the postgraduate essay, probably. Catherine had called when she was with Franklin, and Jennifer left her boyfriend’s place to meet with Catherine. Professor Smith had called Jennifer when she was with Catherine to tell her that he would be available to meet her. Professor Smith had said during the interview that Jennifer said she was with someone, but she would be with him soon.
Jennifer must have told Catherine that she had to leave to meet with her academic advisor. Catherine must have known that Jennifer was going to see Professor Smith for him to review the final draft of her essay and decided to follow Jennifer. Catherine waited for Jennifer to leave Professor Smith’s office with the final draft, and then followed Jennifer to her hostel.
Catherine must have waited outside the hostel until midnight came so she could go into Jennifer’s room, kill her, and steal her essay. As she was waiting, she saw Professor Smith walk into the hostel to give Jennifer the article she had forgotten. By then, Jennifer had changed into the yellow gown Professor Smith had mentioned. Catherine waited for the Professor to leave before she went into Jennifer’s room, killed her, and took away Jennifer’s essay.
Professor Smith’s present at the hostel that night had given Catherine the idea of framing him for the murder. Since Professor Smith had already left by the time she came out of Jennifer’s hostel, she wasn’t able to trail him home. So she waited until the next day when she could follow him him home after he left work.
Catherine had trailed Professor Smith and planted the murder weapon in his house. With the knowledge that Professor Smith’s relationship with Jennifer and his presence at the scene of the murder minutes before Jennifer had been killed would make him a suspect. The discovery of the murder weapon in his house would prove his culpability.
Harry closed his note pad and headed for the chief’s office.
The CCTV recordings of Catherine Underwood at the crime scene the night of the murder, and her presence in Professor Smith’s neighborhood were enough to convince a judge to grant the police access to her phone records and a warrant to search her apartment.
The file containing Jennifer’s essay and the article Professor Smith had gone to her room to give to her on the night she was murdered was found in Catherine’s room. Her phone records also showed that she spoke to Jennifer on the dates indicated in Jennifer’s diary, and on the night Jennifer was murdered.
Miss Jennifer James was a gifted young woman whose academic prowess made her a once-in-a-generation type of student. She captivated and enchanted everyone she encountered with her kind heart. And she had lost her life in an inhumane manner at the hands of someone who coveted her gifts.
Exactly fourteen days after Amanda Johnson’s scream pierced the night and New York University woke up to the brutal murder of a Valedictorian, Detective Harry Rogers arrested Miss Catherine Underwood for the murder of Miss Jennifer James.
About The Author
Rhiley McCabe Rhiley McCabe is an emerging fiction author and the creator of the nail-biting thriller series, "In The Line of Fire".
Rhiley specializes in the thriller, crime, and suspense genres; his work promises to have you at the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Rhiley McCabe lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland with his wife and five children. They often take trips to other countries during the summer months. The inspiration for his stories comes from the many places that they visit and the people he gets to meet on these trips.
Books In This Series
Sword and Scale
Thrilling crime fiction from author Rhiley McCabe. Next in this series...
The Orphan
Following Catherine Underwood’s arrest for the murder of Jennifer James, it seems like the prosecution has been handed an open-and-shut case.
But for Detective Harry Rogers, the trail hasn’t come to an end. A chance tip-off leads to new evidence that will throw the whole case into doubt.
Everyone has something to hide in this mysterious new story from Rhiley McCabe…
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
About The Author
Books In This Series