He was forty-one years old and had been on the police force since he was twenty-two. He had the kind of skin that did not reveal his real age and he often passed for someone much younger. A cop was all he had ever wanted to be and he had become one of the best.
Logan had never fallen into trap that so many other officers did of stopping in the local bars after work. He didn’t mind having a brew with the guys once in a while but he could take it or leave it.
Sitting around watching television was a waste of time as far as he was concerned. He had spent his entire adult life as a cop and had been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal on four occasions and had been the Detective of the year twice. He was the only detective to have been selected for this honor two times.
His height wasn’t intimidating at five eleven but he could stop people in their tracks with his hard ass look. If it weren’t for the paperwork this would be the perfect job for him.
“Yo, John, the captain wants to see you,” one of the other detectives called out.
John polished off the rest of his Diet Coke, pushed aside the pile of folders on his desk and headed for the captain’s office. He knocked lightly.
“Come in Logan,” the gruff voice of the captain came through the door.
John stuck his head in and said, “You wanted to see me?”
“Yeah. Come in and have a seat. We may have a situation brewing here so I may have to pull you off your other cases,” the captain told him.
“What’s up?”
“That missing college student, Sharon Lewis. It seems her mother is related to the governor’s wife. Not sure how. Doesn’t really matter. The thing is, she wants to know what progress we are making.”
“You’re talking about a missing person? Since when do we jump for missing persons?”
“Since the Governor asked the mayor to look into it and the mayor told the commissioner and down the hill it flows. You are at the bottom of the hill.”
“Great. Now there is an effective use of manpower. We have three unsolved murder cases on the board and you want me to start looking for a missing person,” Logan said.
“No. I want you to find a missing person. Specifically, Sharon Lewis,” the captain said with a smile on his lips.
“Just great,” Logan said.
“I know, it’s a shitty deal but we have to do what we have to do. In this case, let’s find this dumb college chick.”
“Oooh, you said a politically incorrect naughty. Chick is a bad word. That is so insensitive of you,” Logan chimed in.
“Cute. Just what I need. A PC lesson from you of all people.”
“I suppose you want me to start like right now,” Logan said.
“First, I want you to check with missing persons and see what they can give you,” the captain said.
“Oh, gee thanks. I would have never thought of that,” Logan said sarcastically.
“I know. That’s why I mentioned it. I’ll call down and make sure they cooperate.”
“Look…”
But the captain cut him off, “It won’t do any good bitchin’ to me. It is out of my hands. Do us both a favor, just find the girl and let’s get on with real police work. Okay?”
Logan just grunted and went back to his desk. Missing persons. This was a total waste of manpower. They had a whole division for missing persons. If they couldn’t find her, what makes the captain think he could?
He unlocked his top desk drawer and took out his Sig. SP 2340 Pro and put it in his roto-paddle holster. He liked the feel of the Blueline Sig over the Glock that most of the other officers carried. It seemed to fit his beefy hand better. He especially liked the trigger lock safety. The Swiss-made SP 2340 was not as trendy as the Glock but what he liked best was the fact that it was precision crafted and dependable at all times. He stopped by the Coke machine and dropped in four quarters and pushed the Diet Coke button. Popping the top, he headed down the stairs.
***
“Well, well. Look who has come to visit us lowly civil servants,” Randy Nelson, head of the Missing Persons Division, said as he entered the room.
“I was sent to this den of inequity, believe me, or I would never darken your door.”
“You do indeed darken our door. Our whole door as a matter of fact. We are indeed honored and humbled by your presence. How may we help our esteemed colleague? We have been living for this moment,” Randy said and bowed.
“You guys are very cute. Remind me to laugh. So, knock off the bull. You know why I’m here. Sarah Lewis,” Terry said.
“It would help tremendously if you knew her name. It’s Sharon Lewis,” Randy corrected.
“Whatever. Why haven’t you found her yet so I wouldn’t have to come down and clean up your mess?” Logan said.
“Now why didn’t we think of that? See? We just needed someone to come along with your expertise. But wait, let me see. You guys have three unsolved murders and we have one missing person. Maybe it would be better for me to send someone up to help you guys out.”
“Okay, that was well deserved. I don’t know why they are putting me on this. I sure don’t like it any better than you do,” Logan said honestly.
“Some bigwig has their tit in a wringer. I guess it’s the Gov’s wife.”
“So I heard,” Logan replied.
“Look, I don’t really know what I can tell you. Here is the file with the interviews we have had so far. I suppose it could be her boyfriend. It wouldn’t be the first time. Thing is, he seems clean. We checked his story and it all fits. Still, you might want to have another run at him,” Randy told him.
“Good golly miss Molly. How many interviews did you hold?” Logan asked lifting the heavy, thick folder.
“Forty-one.”
“Forty-one? Was she Miss Congeniality or what?”
“Mostly, or what,” he said, “She wasn’t very well liked by a lot of people from what we could ascertain. I mean, no one seemed to have it out for her but no one was very sad either, except her boyfriend.”
“Nice looking,” Logan said, holding up the photograph provided by her boyfriend.
“Evidently it was all on the outside. Nice looking but evidently not a nice person”
“Other than the boyfriend did anyone else jump out and grab you?”
“A couple. We are really just starting to sort through all of this. It’s a lot of stuff to follow up on. Here are the ones on our A list,” Randy said, handing him a stack of files.
“Yikes,” Logan replied.
“Yeah, I know. It is going to be a lot of leg work.”
“The rest are eliminated?”
“Not exactly. They looked like they were just casual acquaintances. We were going at them after the others were checked out,” Randy said.
“Of these, any hotter than the others?” Logan asked.
“Three or four. Mike Weaver, her boyfriend is on top. Adriane Thompson, her last girlfriend…”
“Girlfriend?”
“Yeah. She had an interesting sex life. Seems she was a switch hitter,” Randy said.
“Great. What ever happened to normal people?”
“Hey, we’re going to hell in a handcart buddy. It won’t be long now. The US is going to be the next Sodom and Gomorra and you know what that means,” Randy replied.
“I’d like to tell you that you are wrong, but I’m not sure I don’t agree with you,” Logan said, “Who else?”
“Dr. Terry Ryan, her Business Law professor and Dr. James Keller, her Political Science professor,” he said.
“Why them? Did they have something going on with her too?”
“No. Not as far as we can tell so far. Ryan had a run in with her over her grade. She was getting an F and wanted an A. She threatened to blackmail him about sex if he didn’t do it. He said he held his ground and refused to give in to her demands. He seems okay on the surface but we haven’t done any real digging yet.”
“Humm. That would sure put him near the top of my list. What abou
t the other guy?” Logan asked.
“James Keller. I had a very bad feeling about him. Nothing specific but he was, you know, elusive. He was hiding something, I just don’t know what it is yet,” Randy said.
“Maybe he was getting blackmailed too,” Logan offered.
“Could be, but he is much older. Probably sixty or so. Terry Ryan is in his early forty’s I would guess,” Randy said.
“From the sound of things, Sharon Lewis wouldn’t let a little thing like age get in her way.”
“You could be right. So, how do you want to go about this?” Randy asked.
“Hey, this is still your case and department. I’m just doing what I was told to do. I would be happy to give you a hand. The thing that will really step on my bunions will be if she just took off to Las Vegas or someplace like that.” Logan replied.
“She wouldn’t be the first missing person to do that,” Randy agreed.
“I’m sure. So what do you want to do?”
“I’ll take the love birds and you take the nutty professors. I’ll give Jonas and Bull the others and they can start checking them out,” Randy said.
“Works for me. I don’t get along with queers, oh, I mean, gay people, very well.”
“We will debrief after each shift and see how it is going until we work our way through the list or she turns up,” Randy replied.
“Okay I’m off. I’ll talk to you later,” Logan said, waving his hand over his shoulder.
C HAPTER EIGHT
Logan took the files back upstairs and opened the first file. Dr. James Keller was Sharon’s Political Science professor and according to his statements she was doing just fine in his class. She was receiving an A for her work. She had gone to see him on Tuesday to turn in her final project by Keller’s account. She turned it in, he quickly looked over it and she was on her way. He had not seen her since. His statement implied that he had spent most of the week at the University, finishing up before the summer break.
The rest of his time he spent at home, alone, reading or working on a research project. No one could verify his whereabouts since he lived alone. The only night accounted for was Sunday when he had driven to Richmond, Indiana to visit his eighty-seven year old mother. He had been doing that for the past six years, ever since she was placed in the nursing home.
The side notes said that he was arrogant and evasive in most of his answers. Especially the ones concerning Sharon Lewis and her work in his class.
By contrast, the file on Dr. Ryan indicated that he had given them a different picture of Sharon Lewis.
Logan read each statement and made some notes of his own. He decided to start with Professor Keller. It was only a short drive to the University and at that time of day, the traffic was light.
It took him longer to find Keller's office than the drive over. Like most colleges, they threw up buildings in no particular pattern with very little thought given to student’s convenience. Getting from point A to point B on time was their problem.
“Yes, may I help you?” a prim looking secretary asked when he finally located the office and entered.
“Yes. I’m looking for Professor Keller,” Logan said.
“Dr. Keller. I’m sorry but he asked not to be disturbed. He is trying to clear his desk today,” she said.
“Well, if you would tell the doctor, Detective Logan needs to have a word with him, I would appreciate it,” Logan said, showing her his shield.
“I see. Another gentleman was here last week. I’m sure the doctor told him everything then,” she said not budging from her chair.
She gave him a disapproving look like he was something that had just crawled out of the woodwork.
“I have a few follow up questions.”
“He is very busy. Could this be done some other time?”
“Sorry. I’m afraid not.”
“Well, this is very inconvenient,” she said haughtily, “You could have called for an appointment. The Professor does not like to be disturbed by unnecessary interruptions. He has very strict rules about that.”
“Betty,” Logan said, looking at the nameplate on her desk, “The police are not in the habit of making appointments. Our business is never unnecessary. Hauling his butt down to the station to talk would be a lot more inconvenient, I can assure you of that. Now, please, go tell your boss I want to speak to him or I will simply go in myself. Either way, I will talk to him.”
“You don’t have to be rude,” she said indignantly and pushed back her chair.
A few seconds later she came back and said the doctor would see him now. She didn’t look at him as she sat back down at her desk and fiddled with some papers.
Keller’s office was a clutter of books, papers and photographs. Many pictures appeared to be of him with some notable minor celebrities like past Mayors and politicians. He had white hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed in a week. He looked over the top of his glasses as Logan entered.
“I talked to you people last week,” he said in a gruff voice by way of greeting.
“Yes. I know, but I have a few follow up questions for you.”
“Couldn’t you have just called? I’m quite busy.”
“Well, believe it or not, so am I. Why don’t we just get down to it then you can get back to your work I can be on my way?” Logan suggested.
“Fine,” Keller said, sitting down behind his desk that was in disarray like the rest of the office.
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, “What is it you want to know?” he asked.
“You said that Sharon Lewis, your former student, was a good student, is that correct?”
“I said she was doing all right. Not brilliant but fairly good.”
“Good enough for an A in your class?”
“Yes. Not a strong A but she did enough to earn an A,” he said, not looking directly at Logan.
“Humm. I understand your class is hard. You don’t give many A's. I had your grade list pulled for the past three years and I only counted a hand full of A’s given out, but Sharon Lewis was smart enough to get an A. Do you have her test scores that I could look at?”
“Sorry. I don’t keep that kind of material after I enter the grades. I have too many students to keep the tests,” he replied.
“I didn’t ask for the test. Just her scores. Surely you keep those.”
“Not always. I keep some of them but not all test scores.”
“Really? I thought it was the school's policy that you keep records on all students for at least three years. I understand it can be done on the computer or in a grade book. Something about the student’s right to challenge a grade,” Logan said.
Professor Keller didn’t say anything for several seconds.
“I’m sorry. That is confidential information. I would need to get the legal department's permission before I released that information.”
“You would huh? How about a court order instead? I can make a phone call and have one here in less than an hour. In the meantime, I could just sit and watch you work,” Logan suggested.
Keller placed his fingers together with his elbows on his desk. Logan could see he was trying to decide if he should call the attorney or try to handle this himself.
“I’ll tell you what. I am so swamped at the moment, why don’t I have them printed out and I’ll have them sent over or we could just fax them,” Keller suggested.
Logan acted like he was give it some thought and then said, “The thing is, I’m here and you’re here. If I had any questions I would have to come back and bother you again. Let’s just do it now and I can be on my way and not have to bother you anymore.”
“I really don’t have the time right now,” Keller protested.
“Find the time or I’ll have our computer people come over and do it for you,” Logan said, tiring of this cat and mouse game.
“This is very inconvenient,” Keller bristled.
“And I appreciate your taking the time,” Logan replied.
<
br /> The professor pulled up a screen and printed it out for Logan. Logan looked it over and then at Keller.
“An A student?”
“She did extra credit work.”
“Really? It must have been some extra credit. She is missing scores for two tests and the rest are just in the 60% range. How much and what kind of extra credit did she do to get her scores up to an A, doctor?”
“I don’t think I like the tone of that question.”
“Me either, but I still want to know.”
“All right. I’ll tell you. This is very embarrassing. You have to understand the situation. You may not believe what I’m going to tell you,” Keller said.
“Well, if it helps any, I’ve just about heard it all. So what’s the story?”
“She came to my office and basically threatened me. She said that if I didn’t give her the A she would go to the Department Chair and say I propositioned her for sexual favors. She even had an appointment set up in case I didn’t come through. Look, I’m up for the Chair position next year when our current Chair, Melanie Sorenson, retires. I have worked too hard to let some twit screw it all up. I decided it wasn’t worth it so I gave her the A.”
Logan folded his arms and looked at the professor. “So, you basically gave in to her demands.”
“I didn’t just give in. I did the prudent thing. I deserve that Chair position and I didn’t think this was worth losing it. Hell, she even offered sex for the grade. Can you imagine that? Like I would be interested is some snotty little dumb blond like that. She had some nerve, I’ll give her that.”
“And now you have this to contend with.”
“Yes. Hind sight is 20–20 and all of that,” Keller said, taking his glasses off again and rubbing his eyes. “I never considered this possibility. I mean, who could have? Just taking off like that and becoming a missing person.”
BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files Page 4