‘Or anytime in the near future,’ said my dejected son, who was lying face down on Luna’s bed.
‘I’m not sure I’m ready for sleet and ice,’ I said. ‘Didn’t bring any boots or scarves or gloves.’
‘I have an extra pair of all-weather boots,’ Miranda offered.
I looked down at her obvious size six feet, then down at my size tens. ‘Thanks, but—’
‘I have a scarf and some extra gloves, though,’ she said.
I smiled. ‘Thanks. The scarf might fit.’
‘Jeez, Mother! You can just go buy—’ started my son, but was interrupted by hoots from both Miranda and myself.
‘When freezing conditions have been announced?’ Miranda said. ‘As of the moment it began raining every store in Austin was sold out of anything warm. Doubt if you could find a windbreaker left anywhere.’
‘Oh, come on—’ he started.
‘And umbrellas. I think people in this area think of umbrellas as disposable. Because every time it rains they have to go out and buy a new one,’ I said. ‘And they’re all gone within fifteen minutes!’
‘Ain’t it the truth!’ Miranda said. ‘I have an extra one of those, too, if you need it.’
‘Thanks, but I have one in my car—’ I stopped myself. ‘Yeah, I might need it, seeing as my car’s not here.’
We were interrupted from this titillating discussion of the shortcomings of the buyers for every retail shop in Austin by the ringing of Miranda’s phone. She picked it up, looked briefly at the screen and said, ‘Hey, Dave. What’s up?’
The slight frown on her face turned into a tentative smile, one that grew as she listened. Then she said, ‘We’re on our way!’
‘We shouldn’t go talk to her now,’ Luna said, frowning at Champion. ‘With her husband right there.’
‘Why not? See how she takes the news?’
‘The news?’
‘You know, that Bishop Alexander came on to her. She might not be aware of it.’
‘You have a point.’
They left their drinks on the table – although it was a self-bussing establishment – and headed out the door.
‘Damn!’ Luna said, pulling the collar of her winter jacket up to cover her ears. ‘When did it get so cold?’
‘And start raining?’ Champion asked, sticking his hand out from under the coffee shop’s awning.
‘Shit, they’re heading somewhere fast!’ Luna said, spying the Fuchses as they dashed off.
‘See where they go. Probably trying to get out of the rain,’ Champion said.
‘You sure they didn’t see us?’ Luna asked as she hurried along the sidewalk, her head bent to keep from getting soaked. It wasn’t working.
‘So what if they did?’ Champion said, walking fast, hunched over from the rain that was fast becoming sleet. ‘We’re just following a really weak hunch. And they have no idea what we’re doing.’
‘They went in that store,’ she said, pointing at a high-end kitchen store. ‘I love this place.’
‘Remember, we’re not here to shop!’ Champion said.
‘Actually, that’s what we should be doing! Just a coincidence we ran into them?’
Champion shrugged. ‘Could work. What are we looking for?’
‘Specifically?’ Luna asked and laughed. ‘One does not come into a place like this for a pair of kitchen scissors. One comes into a place like this to see all the things one wishes one could afford.’
‘Oh, does one?’
‘Don’t make fun.’
‘Why not?’
They entered the store, Luna unable to take her eyes of the wares. Hundred-dollar – each – knives; butcher-block cutting boards made of wood Luna was pretty sure was endangered; things that sliced, diced and julienned; other things that graded in five different degrees; juicers that could handle up to twelve oranges at a time; blenders with more buttons than her car; food processors, the cost of which would pay half her monthly mortgage; and so many wondrous things that Luna was afraid she was going to hyperventilate. She was thinking that she’d absolutely have to bring Pugh here when Champion touched her on the shoulder.
‘There they are,’ he whispered, pointing to a section of the store that had obviously been an add-on. There was a small ramp leading to an open space big enough for a single door that led to another room.
‘Ooo!’ Luna said, spying not the Fuchses but the incredible array of tablecloths, napkins, placemats and other textiles.
‘Get a grip!’ Champion said, taking her by the arm and leading her up the ramp.
‘This one!’ Luna said, grabbing a tablecloth covered in Santa and his reindeer that sat upon a table marked clearance.
‘Christmas is over!’ Champion said, hoping Luna was just putting on a show to make the Fuchses think that he and Luna were unaware of their presence.
‘Jeez, Champion! Christmas comes every year, you know? And this is a pretty good price.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’ he whispered, moving close to her ear.
‘Just play along, dumbass.’
‘Don’t call me dumbass.’
‘Don’t act like one.’
‘How about this one?’ Champion said, pointing at a tablecloth adorned with poinsettias.
‘A little loud,’ Luna said.
‘And Santa and a dozen reindeer aren’t loud?’
‘Only when they’re on the roof.’
‘Oh, you’re funny.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Well, hello!’ came another voice.
Looking down, Champion saw Gaylord Fuchs standing before him.
‘Hey, Mr Fuchs!’ Champion said. ‘How ya doing?’
‘Just great. Detective Luna, right?’
‘You remembered!’ she said, reaching down to shake his hand.
‘Just because I’m short doesn’t mean my memory is,’ Fuchs said.
‘Ignore him, he teases,’ said the woman standing behind him.
‘Sorry, this is my wife, Annabelle. Annabelle, these are the detectives looking into that murder on campus.’
She held out her hand, frowning. ‘Awful, just awful!’ she said. ‘It’s usually such a safe campus! I can’t believe such a thing happened.’
‘I know,’ Luna said, shaking her head. ‘You just never know! It must have been quite a weird feeling after what he did to you.’
Annabelle Fuchs frowned. ‘Pardon? After who did what to me?’
‘The victim, Bishop Alexander. After the way he abused you—’
Annabelle Fuchs looked from Luna to her husband. ‘Honey?’ she said.
‘Ah, he was at one of our parties,’ Fuchs said in a rush. ‘He acted like an idiot.’
His wife laughed. ‘So many of them do! But I’m not sure which one he was,’ she said, smiling at Luna. ‘Sorry.’
‘Well, as long as there was no real harm done,’ Luna said, smiling back.
‘You’re looking at the clearance items, I see,’ Annabelle said. ‘They really discount this stuff like crazy. Makes you wonder how big their markup is in the first place.’
‘No kidding,’ Luna said. ‘But I’ll tell you this: if I ever win the lottery, this is where most of the money will go!’
Annabelle laughed. ‘I hear you!’
‘If you’re gonna buy it, let’s do it,’ Champion said. ‘I was due back at the station thirty minutes ago!’
‘Jeez, you’re always in such a rush,’ Luna said, putting the tablecloth down. ‘I’m going to have to think about it,’ she said, then said goodbye to the Fuchses and the two headed out the door.
It was a mess trying to get back to Dave Wisher’s apartment. People in Central Texas don’t have snow tires, chains or other cold weather gear to deal with sleet and icy streets. We just slip and slide and bump into each other instead. There was one very slow head-on collision we witnessed on the slow-moving Lamar Blvd., a car mating with a lamp pole and another on the sidewalk, only inches away from an establishment with a large plate-glas
s window. We weaved our way around all this and made it to Dave’s apartment in just under half an hour. Earlier we’d made the same trip in ten minutes.
Dave opened the door with a bong to his lips. He coughed uncontrollably as he allowed us in and pointed to the beanbag chairs. When the coughing finally subsided, he took a deep breath, grinned and said, ‘Smooth shit!’
‘Tell them!’ Miranda said, having refused to tell us herself the contents of the telephone call from her cousin.
‘Huh?’ was Dave’s response.
‘What you told me on the phone! Jeez, how stoned are you?’ she demanded.
‘Not half as stoned as I plan on getting,’ he responded. ‘What did I tell you on the phone?’
‘About what you found out when you did a comparison on the list of people E.J. gave you!’ Miranda said.
Dave frowned. ‘Who’s E.J.?’ I raised my hand. He looked at me and grinned. ‘Oh, yeah, the hot mama!’ The grin left his face and he looked at my son, his hands held up in a pleading manner. ‘Don’t hit me!’
Graham sighed. ‘I’m not going to hit you, Dave. What did you find out?’
‘About what?’ Dave asked, the frown deepening.
I got up off the beanbag chair and went to stand next to Dave where he sat on a rolling chair in front of his computer. ‘Remember I gave you that list of names? And you were going to check and see if there was any connection between any of them? I think you found something,’ I said, smiling at him. ‘That’s why you called Miranda.’
‘Oh, yeah! Right!’ He grinned at me. ‘I did!’
He stopped talking for a moment and I asked, ‘And? What did you find?’
‘Oh, you want me to tell you?’
‘Please,’ I said.
He nodded several times, turned to the computer and almost instantly the stoner was gone and the computer hack was in place. ‘OK, see, I ran the names in a couple of algorithms and finally found some similarities. Like that chick with the two-letter no-vowel name?’
‘Tina Ng,’ I supplied.
‘Yeah, her. Her student adviser for her undergraduate studies was one of the others on the list, that Fuchs guy. And also, another connection with those two, he recommended her for the T.A. program.’ He looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. ‘Does that help you?’
I looked over at Miranda and Graham, who were both standing now with faces showing varying degrees of surprise and/or elation.
Looking back at Dave, I asked, ‘Any other connection? To any of the others?’
‘Yeah, well, Fuchs was that guy Alexander’s student adviser, too.’
‘What about Gretchen Morley?’
‘Huh?’
‘Is Fuchs her student adviser?’ I asked.
He looked back at the screen, tapped some keys then said, ‘Uh-uh. Some chick, Reba Dailey, is her adviser,’ he said.
‘Bobby Dunston?’
Again with the taps. ‘Nah. He and that Thurgood chick have the same adviser – Larry something Polish, I think.’
I looked at the name he pointed to. Maybe not Polish but definitely middle-European. I didn’t even try to pronounce it.
‘Nothing that ties the mother to anyone else?’
He shook his head. ‘Nada,’ he said. ‘But I did find something else.’
When he didn’t elaborate, I asked, ‘And what was that?’
‘That chick with the two-letter name—’
‘Tina Ng,’ I supplied.
‘Yeah, her. She’s got another address different to the one the uni has for her.’
I turned and looked at Graham and Miranda, then turned back to Dave. ‘Really? And what would that address be?’
‘It’s over off Enfield,’ he said. And gave me the address.
I kissed the top of his head and he beamed up at me. ‘We’re engaged now, right?’ he said.
‘Absolutely,’ I said and headed for the door, assuming Graham and Miranda would follow.
‘So where the hell are they?’ Champion demanded, standing in the empty motel room Luna shared with the Pugh woman.
‘Hum, well—’
‘Maybe they’re in the kid’s room.’
‘You knocked fairly loud,’ Luna advised him.
‘Yeah, well, maybe they’re hiding,’ Champion said.
‘You want to knock again?’
‘No! I’m gonna get the manager to open the door!’
‘You got a warrant?’ Luna asked.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘If the manager gives his OK I don’t need no stinking warrant. The room doesn’t belong to the kid, you know.’
Luna sighed. ‘Whatever,’ she said and sat down on her bed.
‘You’re not coming with me?’
‘I think you can handle this all on your own.’
‘You know where they are, don’t you?’ Champion demanded.
‘No!’ Luna said with a steady stare. ‘I have no idea. And I’d tell you if I did. But, knowing Pugh, they could be anywhere.’
Champion made a sound like a sick moose and left the room.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Luna dialed Pugh’s number – again. This time she heard the ringing, right there in the motel room. Noting the crumpled bedclothes on Pugh’s bed, she rummaged around until she found the phone. She wondered, momentarily, if Pugh had done that on purpose, then decided it wasn’t her style. If she wanted to ignore Luna she’d just not answer the call. Then, for another fleeting moment, she wondered if possibly Pugh had been kidnapped … One of the only possible reasons she could think of for Pugh to leave her phone behind.
But these thoughts were cut short when the door to the motel room opened and Pugh and the kids came bounding in.
‘Boy, have we got information for you!’ Graham’s new girlfriend said, almost jumping up and down in her excitement.
Luna noticed Pugh put a hand on the girl’s arm, restraining her.
‘What’s up?’ Pugh asked Luna.
‘Nothing much,’ Luna responded. ‘What’s up with you?’
‘Same. Nothing much.’
The two women stared at each other for a long moment until a sharp banging began on the door to their room. All eyes turned to Pugh.
‘Champion?’ she asked, looking at Luna.
‘Nobody knocks like that but a cop,’ Luna responded.
‘Should we let him in?’ Pugh asked.
Luna shrugged. ‘What could it hurt?’
‘Me!’ Graham said.
Luna stood and ruffled his hair, an affectionate action she’d been doing since he was seven years old. ‘You’re almost off the hook,’ she said and went to the door to let in a rather angry cop.
He was sputtering, he was so mad. I tried not to laugh but it was hard. We knew who’d done it and my son was going to be scot-free in seconds. As soon as Champion allowed us to speak.
He finally took a breath and I said, ‘We know who did it—’
‘Gaylord Fuchs,’ Champion and Luna said in unison.
‘Well, shit!’ Miranda said and flopped down on a bed. ‘How’d y’all find out?’
‘You first!’ Champion demanded.
‘Fuchs was Tina Ng’s student adviser during her undergrad days, and he’s the one who recommended her for the T.A. position,’ I said. ‘Now you!’
Champion clammed up so Luna took on the tale. ‘We saw Fuchs and his wife at that expensive kitchen store—’
‘Oh, yeah! The one on the drag? I want to hit that before we leave—’
‘Absolutely!’ Luna said. ‘My God, the shit they have in there—’
‘Oh, for God’s sake!’ Champion said. ‘The point of this is that Mrs Fuchs knew absolutely nothing about Bishop Alexander, or him reportedly groping her. Not to mention that she was definitely not his type.’
‘So does any of this prove anything? And what are we saying happened?’ I asked.
Champion sank down on the bed. ‘No proof, to speak of. It’s all circumstantial. What we need is a confession—’
‘Which is why y’all went to Gretchen Morley’s, right?’ Miranda demanded. ‘What happened?’
‘She lawyered up,’ Luna said.
‘But I know her attorney,’ Champion said, ‘and I’m hoping she’ll talk Morley into throwing at least Ng under the bus.’
‘Do you think Morley even knows about Fuchs?’ I asked.
‘It could go either way,’ Champion said. ‘But, if I were Fuchs, I’d want as few people as possible knowing my involvement. I’d lay money on the fact that only Ng knows about him.’
‘So if Morley throws Ng under the bus, so to speak,’ I said, ‘then you’re hoping Ng in turn will do the same with Fuchs?’
Champion sighed. ‘It’s what we have.’
‘Well,’ I said, ‘maybe we should push matters along ourselves.’
‘Oh, shit,’ Luna said. ‘Pugh’s got an idea. We’re all in trouble now.’
There was no way this was going to work, Champion thought as he watched Miranda Wisher walk up the steps to Tina Ng’s house. This wasn’t the place near campus that was on her university papers, the one Luna and Pugh had been in earlier. No, this one was off Enfield, a section of the upper crust near the downtown area where some mansions had been turned into student housing and others stayed just the way God intended them. Tina Ng’s house was neither a mansion or a used-to-be mansion. It was a rather modest home on a small lot that Champion knew would go for over half a million in that area. Maybe closer to three-quarters of a million. According to Pugh, the records showed Tina Ng owned the house outright, which meant she had heavy money coming in from somewhere.
They were all in the Pugh kid’s beat-up Toyota, as it was less conspicuous than any other vehicle at their disposal. The mom had the front seat with Luna and Champion in the back. There was a little more leg room now that the Wisher girl was out of the car. The girl had insisted she be wired but, seeing as how she had a perfectly good cell phone that could pick up any conversation going on between herself and Ng, he had declined to wire her up. She was obviously disappointed but went in with her cell phone in her pocket nonetheless.
They could hear the chime of the doorbell when Wisher rang it, coming in loud and clear from the Pugh kid’s phone. They saw and could also hear the front door of Tina Ng’s home open.
And of course Tina Ng said nothing, just stared at Wisher. Finally Miranda said, ‘Nice house.’
Student Body Page 18