Murder in the Dorm

by C. G. Prado

  “Was he struck on the right or left side?”

  “You’re thinking right- or left-handed. That’s a detail we can’t release. What I will add is that whoever struck Kelsey had to be roughly six feet because of the angle of the blow. We didn’t learn much from the family. Kelsey’s mother is in a senior’s residence and pretty much out of it. A brother lives in Chicago and told us he’d not seen Kelsey since his high-school graduation. He’s taking care of the funeral arrangements. We learned nothing from Kelsey’s personal effects except that his laptop is missing. We found a printer and a power supply in his dorm room, but no computer. From the little we know his activities at the university consisted of going to class, eating in the cafeteria, and working and sleeping in his dorm room. We’ve no information about where he went off-campus. We don’t know if there was anyone he was seeing. Aside from the connection to McDermott that you told us about, no one has come up with the name of anyone with whom Kelsey spent time. When we talk to McDermott we may learn more.”

  Matson spoke for the first time.

  “We’d really like to get some idea of who he saw or where he went off-campus. Nothing we’ve seen or heard about what he did here has been of any use.”

  DeVries and Matson left and Charlie walked to the Club. He was later than usual, but there was room at the Club table. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone there from Computing. Charlie then asked after someone in Computing to whom he might talk. More people joined the table and eventually Charlie got a name: Janice Sommers. He’d try her the next day; he’d invite her to lunch.

  Over dinner Charlie carefully avoided mention of Kelsey or DeVries. He opened a bottle of a quite nice cabernet to distract Kate and mostly succeeded but did catch her looking at him pensively a couple of times. Fortunately, her favorite TV show aired on Thursday night, so she took the rest of her wine to the den and Charlie relaxed with a book.

  Chapter 3

  The First Friday

  Charlie was in his office by eight-thirty and talked to a couple of students who’d made appointments. He called Janice Sommers at ten and invited her to lunch, saying a colleague had given him her name and he’d tell her the whole story over a glass of wine. Charlie then made notes to sort out what he’d been told: Kelsey was killed in a way that seemed unpremeditated. He’d been hit on the head, likely as the culmination of a bad argument. The killer had availed himself or possibly herself of a bookend in Kelsey’s room. The most plausible scenario was Kelsey in a heated dispute with someone, that someone losing it and hitting him, then getting the hell out when he or she saw Kelsey go down. DeVries and Matson thought whoever struck Kelsey was roughly the same height, six feet, no doubt because the angle of the blow meant the bookend had been swung parallel to the floor rather than angled from above or below.

  As to who the assailant might be, unfortunately access wasn’t a factor. Some years earlier there would have been limits to who could get into the dorm, but the main doors were no longer locked until midnight. Kelsey’s killer could easily have been in his room before that and slipped out unseen afterwards since all dorm doors had panic-bars.

  Charlie realized the morning had slipped away and had to move to meet Sommers. He arrived at the Club just at noon to find a slender, well-dressed woman with long auburn hair waiting in the entryway. She gave him a big smile.

  “You must be Charlie; hello, I’m Janice.”

  Once at their table, Charlie ordered wine for them and started on his prepared explanation. He didn’t get far.

  “Oh, I know about your involvement with the murder of Barrett Wilson, and I’ve been told that if it hadn’t been for you the killer might have gotten away with it. I also know there was a related murder off-campus and you were a great help to the police with it, too. When you called I was delighted. As soon as you said who you were I assumed you’re involved with Kevin Kelsey’s murder and might tell me something.”

  “Well, the reason I got in touch with you is that I didn’t know Kelsey and know almost nothing about him. I was hoping that you could fill me in on him, not about the academic side, but what he was like as a person. The detective I worked with last time wants me to ask around about Kelsey. All I’ve gotten for her so far is that Kelsey was close to an exchange student named Lawrence McDermott.”

  “I spoke briefly with a Detective Matson but couldn’t tell him much other than that I’d had Kelsey in two courses last term. He almost never spoke in class, got middling grades, and never approached me outside of class. I was aware he was friendly with Lawrie McDermott. They were both in one of the courses and I saw them together elsewhere on campus. I don’t recall seeing Kelsey with anyone else.”

  “Did you ever overhear anything between them?”

  “No, but their conversations were rather intense. It wasn’t as if they were arguing, but were serious about whatever they were discussing. I did several times see McDermott talking to someone else, though; a woman named Barbara Kline. She’s in third-year.”

  “Okay, this is a tricky question because it invites exaggeration or evokes invention, even if unintentional. Was there anything about Kelsey that struck you as out of the ordinary?”

  “I see the problem, but I think I have a couple of credible answers, one trivial, one maybe not so. The latter is that Kelsey never once looked me in the eye. He always seemed to focus on my forehead, so it seemed he was looking at me but wasn’t really. The other thing is that he always carried a copy of The Wall Street Journal and often read it in class. Most of the students have their laptops on their desks and I thought it quaint that Kelsey carried a paper around, though he also had a laptop. It was the eye thing that bothered me; he struck me as furtive, but perhaps he was only pathologically shy.”

  Charlie and Sommers finished lunch and headed off in separate directions after he promised to keep her informed on the case. He hadn’t learned much, but had reconfirmed the connection between Kelsey and McDermott and gotten Barbara Kline’s name. No point calling DeVries yet. He wondered how her interview with McDermott would go.

  When he got to his office, Charlie looked up Kline and jotted down contact details. He then spent the afternoon working on his paper and talking to a few students who had questions about his epistemology course. At four-thirty he went home to find Kate again sitting in the living room.

  “I don’t feel like going out tonight. Can you cope with a pizza?”

  “A pizza is fine. A bit later, though. Let me open a bottle of something good and we’ll talk a bit.”

  Charlie, who favored California wines, decided the upcoming pizza demanded a red and went for a zinfandel-based blend a friend had put him onto.

  “Okay, I know you don’t want me involved, but DeVries has asked for help. I want to fill you in on what I’ve learned; perhaps you’ll see something I’m missing. Kelsey was killed in what appears to be an unpremeditated way, probably by a man roughly his height. He was hit on the head with a bookend. He’s been connected only to an exchange student named McDermott. Kelsey was a mediocre student and didn’t take part in class discussions. Given the changes in dorm rules, pretty much anyone could have gotten in and out of Kelsey’s dorm room without being seen. The only odd thing is that one of Kelsey’s profs thought he was furtive or possibly very shy.”

  “Maybe Kelsey was peddling drugs to other students and owed his supplier.”

  “That’s one scenario. Drugs aren’t a problem at Meredith, but there’s undoubtedly some use and so there must be some suppliers. Anything else?”

  “I’ve read about online cheating schemes where students are provided with essays for money. Maybe Kelsey was a source and screwed up.”

  “I don’t know; I don’t see the money in something like that being big enough to involve someone killing Kelsey. I think it would be peanuts compared to drugs so not a plausible motive.”

  “But if he was killed because of owing drug money or maybe skimming, wouldn’t the killer want him to serve as an example? The murder would’
ve been premeditated.”

  “Right; that’s a good point. Can you think of anything other than drugs?”

  “A woman?”

  “There’s been no indication that Kelsey was involved with anybody, though I was told his friend McDermott seemed interested in a female student named Kline.”

  “Could they have been at odds about her?”

  “Maybe, but from what I’ve heard it didn’t sound like there was a lot going on between McDermott and Kline. I’m going to talk to her, though, and to McDermott.”

  “You should. McDermott might let something slip he wouldn’t tell the police.”

  Charlie was pleasantly surprised how Kate had responded. She seemed less bothered by his interest in the case and even showed some interest of her own. That was all to the good as Charlie thought she might have some worthwhile suggestions to make. When the pizza arrived Kate further surprised Charlie by returning to the case.

  “How are you going to approach Kline and McDermott?”

  “Not sure. I need to get them to talk and not sure how to best go about it.”

  “You have to milk your involvement in the Wilson case. You have to intrigue them, and that starts with impressing them with what you did for DeVries, which was considerable. Otherwise you’re just another prof and they might not be too willing to tell you anything. Tell them how you helped the police and they’ve asked you to help again. Throw in something about the police not understanding the university milieu and not asking the right questions or not paying enough attention to some things they’re told.”

  “You’re right. I want to engage them, and what you’re suggesting will make them feel like they’re being let in on something and contributing, too.”

  Dropping off that night Charlie realized, or perhaps admitted to himself, that even if he knew next to nothing about Kelsey, he was involved in the case. It was very different from the Barrett Wilson case, but it was still challenging. In any case, the killing of a student on campus demanded quick solution and DeVries and Matson didn’t seem to be doing terribly well.

  Thinking of DeVries, Charlie hoped that even though she intended to be more circumspect than she’d been in the Wilson case, she wouldn’t cut him out entirely. He didn’t want simply to feed her information and hear nothing in return. The only thing he could do to insure she didn’t cut him off was to come up with something she and Matson not only didn’t know but might not learn without his help.

  The obvious place to start was with Lawrie McDermott and Barbara Kline. And Kate was right. He had to present himself as someone helping the police and with a track record in doing so. Talking to Kline and McDermott would have to wait till Monday, but on Monday he’d find both of them and learn what he could.

  Chapter 4

  The First Weekend

  Saturday morning was overcast and gloomy. Over his morning coffee Charlie decided it wasn’t a good day to do what he’d planned, which was to have a look at a couple of new cars. Kate drifted into the kitchen and after a cup of coffee she was ready to talk. They decided to stay in. They had enough food and the wine supply was more than adequate.

  After a second cup Charlie went to his computer and searched the social media for Kelsey and McDermott. He went first to Facebook and Twitter, but had no luck. He then tried the LinkedIn site and found McDermott, who seemed to be starting early on making connections and finding a job. His profile, though, offered only his name and computing-science affiliation. The only address given was the Meredith computing department. There were very few connections. Charlie ignored a couple at St. Andrews and copied the names of three at Meredith. Kevin Kelsey wasn’t listed.

  Charlie had no luck at all with Barbara Kline. She was on neither Facebook nor Twitter. She wasn’t on LinkedIn. The Barbara Klines he did find were too old to be the right one and had nothing to do with Meredith. In any case, none were in Kingsford. He’d have to wait until he talked to her himself.

  Charlie felt he’d done a good morning’s sleuthing and put the list of McDermott’s three connections in his briefcase. For now he put the case aside and started on his email, deciding to pass on a third cup of coffee.

  The rest of the day passed pleasantly. Charlie and Kate had a late lunch marred only by a mediocre bottle of Chilean malbec that Charlie hadn’t tried before and wouldn’t buy again. Neither brought up the matter of Kelsey’s killing.

  Sunday morning was very different from Saturday. The sun was out and it looked like it was going to be unseasonably warm. Over a leisurely breakfast Kate and Charlie decided they’d go out for lunch after visiting a couple of the dealers whose cars Charlie wanted to check out. The dealerships would be closed on Sunday, so he could get an undisturbed look at the two cars that interested him.

  Charlie had just showered and shaved when he heard Kate calling him. She sounded odd, so he quickly put on his bathrobe and went downstairs. Kate was standing in the entryway. With her were DeVries and Matson.

  Apologizing for not being dressed, Charlie ushered the detectives into the living room. Kate stood in the doorway, undecided about sitting down and clearly not happy.

  “Charlie, we’re sorry to bother you both on a Sunday morning, but this is important. Did you by any chance make contact with Lawrence McDermott after we spoke?”

  “No; I looked him up and am going to track him down tomorrow. I thought he might tell me something about Kelsey that he wouldn’t tell you. Did you get much from him on Thursday?”

  “Ah, as I told you, we have to be careful how much we tell you, but you’d know this soon enough. McDermott was killed between one and four o’clock on Thursday afternoon, which is why he didn’t show up for our scheduled meeting and we couldn’t contact him. His body was found behind a dumpster in an alleyway next to a bistro where he had lunch on Thursday. The officers who responded canvassed the area and two servers in the bistro recognized his picture. He was something of a regular. The trouble is that his body wasn’t found until Friday during a garbage pickup in the area. To make things worse, neither the responding officers nor the homicide detective who was assigned the case knew we were interested in McDermott. No one made the connection to the Kelsey case until this morning.”

  By this time Kate had sat down. Matson had yet to say a word.

  “I assume you believe McDermott’s death is connected to Kelsey’s?”

  “It’d be a very odd coincidence otherwise. It’s difficult not to conclude that Kelsey and McDermott were involved in something serious. It seems to us that whatever prompted Kelsey’s death directly or indirectly prompted McDermott’s.”

  “Any indication that McDermott was on guard after Kelsey’s death?”

  “When we got hold of him on Wednesday he said he couldn’t go to headquarters till Thursday afternoon. He had credible reasons and we had no grounds to force him to go earlier, so arranged to have him come in to see us Thursday at two o’clock. No one we’ve spoken to seems to have seen McDermott on Wednesday or Thursday morning. Both servers were clear that he lunched alone on Thursday.”

  “That sounds like he was making himself scarce. Maybe that’s why he went downtown for lunch on Thursday, in order to avoid people at the university.”

  “That could be, but we have no idea whether his killer is or isn’t involved with the university. We should be going; we wouldn’t have bothered you except that you might have spoken with McDermott. You will appreciate that with McDermott out of the picture, it’s that much more important to see if you can learn anything from colleagues and students.”

  On that note DeVries rose, as did Matson, and the detectives left.

  “It’s like last time; one death on campus leads to another off-campus.”

  “Kate, all I’m doing is seeing if someone knows something useful.”

  “No; I’m not fussing about you being involved. I can see DeVries and Matson need whatever information you might get. It’s just that I was thinking about something.”

  “What?”

 
; “Well, what you said about height. Do you know how tall McDermott was?”

  “Oh, you think he might have killed Kelsey?”

  “It makes sense. If Kelsey and McDermott were involved in something and had a falling out, McDermott killed Kelsey, and someone else killed McDermott.”

  “That would explain why McDermott seems to have kept a low profile for a couple of days but didn’t leave Kingsford or go to the police when Kelsey was killed. It even explains access; McDermott would certainly know how to get in and out of Kelsey’s dorm room without being spotted. Maybe he’s even got a room in the same dorm.”

  “I wouldn’t usually say this, but I think you should call DeVries right now.”

  Charlie had only DeVries’s office number, but when he called and explained to the receptionist that DeVries and Matson had just been to their house, the receptionist said she’d contact DeVries and ask her to call Charlie. It didn’t take long.

  “Charlie, was there something you wanted to add? And please excuse the background noise. We’re in the car.”

  “No, not add; something to ask. How tall was McDermott?”

  “Six one. Yes, I see. You think he may have killed Kelsey and then been killed himself. We did think of that, but we still haven’t gotten the results on the fingerprints found on the bookend, so we’ll have to wait. Thank you for making the point, though.”

  “Not me; Kate. She thinks McDermott killed Kelsey over a fight about whatever they were into and that someone else then killed McDermott.”

  “Thank Kate. I might as well tell you this since it’ll soon be common knowledge. McDermott was shot, so it was likely premeditated.”

  Eventually Kate and Charlie went out. They drove to one car dealership and Charlie looked over one of his potential choices. The other dealership was further out and Charlie decided he wasn’t that interested, so they went to lunch. Later that afternoon Charlie was reading but his mind kept straying to Kelsey and McDermott.