Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar

by Gray Cavender

  Jillian nodded. “Yes, I spoke with Professor Naremore. Several people we’d interviewed said he was one of the faculty who was really opposed to Professor Siemens.”

  “He told me that you’d talked with him…he came by my office this morning. I think he was a little embarrassed by some of the things he said about Nelda.”

  “He did make some pretty strong comments.”

  “That’s Ian…he tends to pop-off. If it makes any difference, I think he regrets some of his comments. Of course, he’s a man so he’d never actually say that.” Carolyn shook her head in exasperation.

  ”Do you agree with his views about all this?”

  “Pretty much, yes, I do. Times are tough for universities…financially…especially at ASU. The legislature continually cuts our funding…then, they come along and earmark money for some of these conservative programs on campus. There’s a new one that just started…I forget its name…it’s one of those long ASU-type names…most of us just call it ‘The Philosophy of Dead White Guys’ Department.”

  Jillian laughed.

  “I don’t mind that they have such a department—well actually, of course I mind—but what really chaps me is that the legislature funded them…directly. That’s an ideological thumb on the scales if I ever saw one. And then add the Ayn Rand thing and the Koch Brothers thing, so yes, I mind it a lot. And, I understand why Ian gets so mad. In the same way that the post-feminism claim angers me, the color-blind racism that Nelda espouses is in his face. They’re similar arguments: we’ve dealt with race in America and it’s time to move on…you know, except with food or music…no need for voting laws or anything in the way of affirmative action programs…which is one of Nelda’s hot-button items. So, yes, I understand…still, from what Ian told me, some of the things he said crossed a line.”

  Jillian smiled and nodded. She didn’t think it was appropriate to say too much about the interview with Professor Naremore, even to Carolyn. She also wondered if his visit to Carolyn and his mea culpa with her was genuine, or if it was strategic…and designed to deflect attention from what he’d said and from how bad it had sounded.

  Jillian said, “Let me double-back to Professor Siemens. Do you know…did she get along with President Davidos?”

  “Pretty well, I think. Once a year, he speaks at the Faculty Women’s meetings, and he and Nelda seemed quite friendly.”

  “How is he on women’s issues?”

  “I’d say he’s one of the globalist types that you read about in the masculinities literature. You know, if people do their work and do it well, it makes no difference to President Davidos or, to the multinational people like him, whether the person is a man or a woman, white or a person of color. Of course, it’s still the case that the people who direct these multinationals are mostly white men, but they are not sexist or racist in the traditional sense. Why do you ask?”

  Jillian didn’t want to reveal too much about their interview with President Davidos, but she did want Carolyn’s take on a couple of things. “When my partner and I interviewed President Davidos earlier today, he said he knew Professor Siemens…and I just wondered about their interactions.”

  “Like I said, when he spoke at the FWA last spring, they obviously knew one another.” She thought for a second and said, “They may have sat together. And on second thought, he singled Nelda…at least once…in a positive way.”

  Jillian made another mental note, and then said, “I just wondered how he treated women faculty. Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed to focus on me during the interview. I don’t know if he was trying to intimidate me…or what…but I had the feeling that he’d checked-up on me. He knew about my history with Tempe PD, that I was now with Campus Police, even about my time as an ASU student. It just struck me as odd…made me feel uncomfortable.”

  “Hmm. Maybe it’s just that the campus community is upset about this murder, and he wants to know the people who are involved in the investigation…and you’re one of those people. Or, you know what it could be…you’re also on the Sexual Harassment Task Force. This entire movement is creating a real hot potato, which is a good thing…finally. Remember, ASU has had some bad publicity on this…that’s why there’s a task force. And, he has the rep of wanting to be in control of everything, so maybe he wants to know the players. Or maybe it’s threatening that you’re involved in both of these matters. Obviously, Jillian, Nelda’s murder is a very big deal…it’s a topic on our list serve…Faculty Women’s Association…and on at least one national list serve that I’m on.”

  While the tea steeped, Jillian glanced at the poster in the far corner of the room, between Carolyn’s desk and the windows. The poster was the cover of a book that Carolyn had edited. Jillian recalled the poster in Professor Gilroy’s office and figured that maybe such book posters were “in” among professors these days. The title of Carolyn’s book was Transgressive Detectives: 100 Years of Women’s Crime Fiction. It was an anthology of original articles about fictional women detectives in literature and on TV. The cover featured color photos of Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, Dame Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars, and Jody Foster as Clarice Starling. They were depicted in small panels.

  Carolyn finished stirring in some sweetener, noticed Jillian’s gaze, and volunteered, “We’re still getting good reviews…it’s also being adopted for classes in several universities…so University of Illinois Press has already given me a contract for The Thin Pink Line: Women in the Upper Echelon of Policing.”

  “I wanted to ask…how’s the book is coming along? And that’s great about the contract…congratulations…but you changed your working title. How come?”

  “You’re right, I did. I just thought the new title was more descriptive of what’s in the book…plus, it’s…cooler. And in terms of how it’s coming along…well, I have a complete draft of the whole shebang, and I’m working on revisions. So, I’m pleased.”

  “Are you still doing any interviews?”

  “Yes,” she grimaced, “even though I shouldn’t be…it’s just that I was able to get interviews with a couple of women who head state police training academies…they’re really are trying to change the culture of policing. One of the arguments that I make in the book is actually relevant to what we were just discussing about Nelda’s perspective. So, for instance, yes, of course, we expect police men and women to exercise agency and to be responsible for their own actions…but they aren’t blank slates. They are part of a police culture…and that affects how they see the world….and they bring to the table all sorts of their own life experiences, including gender socialization, sexual orientation, racial identity, and so on.”

  She blew on the tea, took a small sip, and continued. “So, like in your case, you’re a white, middle class woman, with a graduate degree in Justice Studies. All this background will affect how you see your role as a police detective.”

  Carolyn smiled and continued. “In the literature, this is called structured agency. But, hey, you know all this.” She pointed to with her tea cup to a book on her shelf, one that Jillian recognized because she’d cited it in her project. “Anyway, in terms of my book, that’s got to be it for the interviews,” she said to herself as much as to Jillian. ”I met these police academy women at a conference, they agreed to be interviewed—then and there—and I could not pass them up. I’m working on weaving-in the interviews as I make the revisions.”

  “Will the book be enough for promotion?”

  “Well, of course, I’m not going up just on the book…I’m still getting articles out…so…mainly, I just have to get my book manuscript revised…and in…to the publisher.”

  “That’s great, Carolyn. Will you and Professor Naremore apply for promotion at the same time?”

  “I don’t think so. The University Promotion Committee is not supposed to make comparison of the applicants, b
ut it is human nature that they do. And, Ian and I don’t want to be in competition. Besides, my book is further along than his, so I think he’ll come up the year after I do.”

  They drank their tea and caught-up generally…about Alena, who had just started third grade and about Jillian’s job shift over to ASU Campus Police. Jillian was enjoying the visit, but knew that Carolyn had another appointment, so she closed her IPAD and was starting to say her goodbyes. Before she left, Carolyn told her two last tidbits.

  First, Linda Timms, Jillian’s former supervisor, now had a complete draft of her dissertation and Carolyn thought that she might be able to defend her dissertation sometime in spring semester. Jillian made another mental note…this one to stop by Linda’s office and giver her congratulations and, jokingly, commiserations. Her own MS project had been hard enough, and she could only imagine what a dissertation would be like. Carolyn’s second piece of news was that their article in Feminist Criminology was still among the journal’s twenty most cited pieces.

  Jillian left Carolyn’s office, walked down the two flights of steps, and then cut across that side of campus and walked to the ASU Police Department. She wanted to check her mail, see if anything was shaking over there, and she’d also download some notes to her file on the Task Force.

  She had a text from Wes saying that the news conference went well and that their chiefs had done a first-rate job. In all, Jillian was there for about 45 minutes. She left the building, walked across the street, and, in about five minutes caught the Jupiter, and headed for home. It was rush hour so the bus was crowded and she had to stand most of the way…at least she was near the front.

  At home, she had time to gather her mail, change into her gi, and drive to Judo class. The dojo where she worked-out was in Scottsdale. She’d been taking judo for about three years, and enjoyed it. They always began with yoga-type stretches to loosen up, and the actual moves, once they got into them, felt good at the end of the day…she had to focus and that got her out of her head. Mainly though, Jillian liked the moves, the repetition, and learning to take care of herself in a not-so-violent way that didn’t involve using a gun.

  CHAPTER 8

  As always after judo, Jillian felt a little tired and a lot refreshed. She maintained her good mood on the drive home although the traffic was bad on Scottsdale Road and on into Tempe, when the name changes to Rural Road. Remembering what it was like with Wes the other day, she turned right onto Broadway, found a wrinkle in the flow, and took a left on College Avenue. The water pipe construction was still underway, but at least the traffic on College was moving.

  Back home, Jillian changed out of her gi and into shorts and a T shirt. Then, as she’d planned on the drive home, she went directly into her study and removed from the book case her own copy of Transgressive Detectives. First, she thumbed through the Table of Contents. She liked the articles about all those women detectives: Cagney and Lacey, Blanche White, Masie Dobbs, V.I. Warshawski, Kinsey Millhone, Lisbeth Salander, Veronica Mars, Precious Ramotswe, Jane Tennison, Sarah Lund, and of course, Nancy Drew. In all, there were 14 articles plus an introduction and a conclusion from Carolyn. Carolyn’s chapters provided the context for those fictional women in terms of the relationship between the history of detective fiction—in novels, on TV, and occasionally in movies—and changes in society, including changing perspectives on gender.

  After pursuing the Table of Contents, she turned to the Acknowledgements section. There, among several other names were two ‘thank you’ sentences to Jillian Warne. This always made her smile.

  Earlier, when Carolyn said “we’re still getting good reviews,” she actually meant the part about “we.” Jillian had helped on the book. She had been in her first full year of grad school and knocked on Carolyn’s door one day for a scheduled appointment. Carolyn looked-up from her computer screen toward the door, and clapped her hands (high to low) and said, “YES!” She’d just heard from a British cultural studies scholar who agreed to write a piece on Jane Tennison, the police detective in the U.K. series, Prime Suspect.

  Carolyn said, “She’s one I really wanted, and she’s in.” When it became obvious that Jillian didn’t know what she was talking about, Carolyn explained that she was working on an anthology about fictional women detectives.

  Jillian said, “That’s great, I love detective fiction.”

  “Really? Who are your favorites?”

  “I read a lot of John Grisham.”

  “OK, but what about women detectives.”

  “Well, I actually like Nancy Drew. When I was a kid, my mom gave me some of the books that she’d read when she was a girl. At first, I just liked them because they were Mom’s books, but then, I got into them. And because I liked them, we also watched some of the original movies on Netflix…from back in the 1930s. I even liked the one from about 10 years ago, the one where Nancy has a hard time fitting in when she goes to a new school in LA. And also the more recent one…” she thought for a couple of seconds…”OK, it’s Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase…it’s a remake of one of those back in the 1930s.”

  “Seems like you know your Nancy Drew. So, who besides her?”

  “That’s easy. Veronica Mars.”

  “Veronica Mars…remind me…”

  “It was a TV series…on cable. She’s a teen detective in Southern California—it’s called SoCal noir. She solves mysteries that are important to the kids in her school. I guess maybe one reason I liked her is that I was in high school, so the stories seemed relevant to me. I mean, it was like I knew some of the characters in the show…or kids like them. And, there’s a longer mystery as to who murdered her best friend. Kristen Bell played Veronica.

  “OK, got it. I just never watched it.”

  “Yes, it’s great. There were only three seasons, but since it went off the air, there’s been a movie, and now there’s a new TV series. She’s older…she’s finished law school and is working again as a private detective…with her dad.”

  Soon, they were seated at Carolyn’s round table and talking about detective fiction with women protagonists. While Carolyn knew massively more about this, Jillian was a fan so she knew at least some of the detectives that they were discussing, from books or TV or movies. Before long, Carolyn suggested that Jillian should sign-up under a Research Apprenticeship number and work with her on the anthology. She said she could use the help, and thought Jillian would have fun. And, she’d earn 3 credit hours. So, Jillian signed on.

  Over a semester, Jillian helped Carolyn with the correspondence with the contributors and even read and made comments on some of the papers, once they started to trickle-in. She also lobbied Carolyn to include a chapter on Veronica Mars, which was easy because, by then, Carolyn had streamed the first season. What was harder was finding someone to author a paper on ‘the teen detective.’ A few Google searches later, Jillian had found names of two potential contributors that she shared with Carolyn. The second one agreed.

  Armed with a tentative Table of Contents, agreements by eight of fourteen contributors AND her intro, Carolyn had gotten a contract for the book. She started shopping for free images for the chapters and the book cover, and Jillian helped with that. Jillian had found two great (and free) shots of Veronica, and lobbied Carolyn to include one of them on the cover…it would crop well to fit with the other cover photos. Carolyn agreed, but on the condition that Jillian would read some detective fiction authors that she suggested…which is how she came to be reading Sue Grafton’s last novel. She’d already read A is for Alibi.

  Of course, many of these women detectives appeared in novels and on TV before Jillian was born, which made doing some of this catch-up reading even more fun. Carolyn had loaned her a few DVDs of old TV shows, and she checked-out several novels from the library. Her dad kidded her that she was getting to read detective novels and watch old TV shows as research. Jillian wondered if he would be critical of th
is research because he tended to read more ‘serious fiction.’ Instead, he told her about debates in the literature as to whether some famous novels by ‘serious’ authors could be categorized as being in the crime genre.

  Working with Carolyn on the book was a first…it made Jillian feel like a real graduate student. And when the word got out that she was assisting Carolyn, her status went up among the other grad students, even the PhD students. Mainly, she learned how hard it was to do that sort of work, a lesson that was reinforced when she started writing her own MS project…and revised it…a lot of times. By the time they got to the Fem Crim article, although that was if anything even more demanding, as least Jillian was used to the work.

  Jillian looked up from the book. Maybe Wes was right about pursuing a PhD. On the other hand, she enjoyed being a detective. She honestly felt that she brought about justice…sometimes.

  As she passed a mirror in the hall as she headed to the kitchen to put something together for dinner, she smiled at her reflection: she was wearing her Veronica Mars T shirt, a gift she’d received for contributing to the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign. She smiled again because, in the movie, Veronica also had a tough time figuring what career she wanted to pursue: lawyer or private detective.

  Jillian had a new frozen pizza that she wanted to try…a cauliflower crust that she’d gotten from TJ’s. While she heated the oven, she diced and sliced vegies: she essentially ‘built’ this pizza herself. She cleaned out her crisper: miniature yellow and red peppers, the rest of a red onion, a few broccoli crowns, some fresh tomatoes, a can of tomatoes for the sauce (diced and ‘no salt added’), some mozzarella, a handful of fresh spinach…the pizza would be a full meal.