BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files

by Marshall Huffman

  “And she offer you sex?”

  “Absolutely. She just cut to the threat as soon as I told her she was going to get an F in my class. It was obvious to me that she knew what I was going to say and had already determined her course of action,” the professor said.

  “Why didn’t you tell this to the other detective when he was here?”

  “I was hoping this wouldn’t have to come out. This won’t go any further will it? This could cost me the Department Chair position.”

  “And Sharon Lewis? This may have cost her her life,” Logan said.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance. You think I want something to happen to her? It was better for me to just give her the grade and move on. She is just one student out of the thousands I have had over the years. I sure didn’t want something to happen to her,” Keller insisted.

  “People do strange things when put under enough pressure. You would be surprised.”

  “Well, not me. I had nothing to do with her disappearance,” Keller insisted.

  “All right professor. Thank you for your time. You should have mentioned this to the other detective. It would have looked much better. The police expect the guilty to lie but it grates on them when others cover up their actions. It makes us look harder at them. Will I find out anything else when I look harder?” Logan asked.

  “Absolutely not. I have nothing to hide,” the professor replied.

  “Other than what you have already covered up,” Logan said as he stood to leave.

  Dr. Keller didn’t answer. He just looked at the Detective as he departed.

  CHAPTER NINE

  It took Logan ten minutes to walk across the campus to the Business College where Dr. Terry Ryan was located. When he finally got there, no one was in the outer office. He walked back and stuck his head in the door to Ryan’s office.

  “Can I help you?” Ryan asked when the detective poked his head in the doorway.

  “I hope so. Are you Dr. Terry Ryan?”

  “Yes. Can I do something for you?”

  “Actually, you can. I’m detective John Logan. I need to talk to you about Sharon Lewis.”

  “Have they found her?”

  “No, sorry. Nothing yet. We are still doing our investigative work. I just want to follow up on a few things,” Logan said.

  “Sure. Anything I can do to help clear this up. I suppose you already know she was trying to blackmail me into giving her a better grade. She said she was going to tell our Department Chair that I had made sexual overtures at her,” Terry replied.

  “Sexual overtures. I like that line. Sexual overtures. As Dave Berry says, that sounds like a good name for a rock band. Yes, I like it. Anyway, that is all in the report. What I want to know was simple. Is there any truth to the allegation?”

  “None whatsoever. I don’t think I spoke to her over five or six times during the course of the semester. The first real discussion I had with her was she came to threaten me.”

  “She was a very good looking girl.”

  “I have a lot of good looking girls in my classes. She was just one of many.”

  “Why do you think she offered sex for the grade? Had she flirted with you before?”

  “No, she hadn’t made advances prior to this but she was definitely determined to get the A. I think there is a pattern of this behavior of hers. I did some checking and every male teacher she has had since High School has given her an A. That could just be coincidence, but it does seem strange.”

  “Yes it does,” Logan said, jotting a note in his well-worn black book, “What about women teachers?”

  “She doesn’t fair as well there. Mostly she was able to get C’s. Only one female teacher gave her an A in a class.”

  “Really? Who was that?” Logan asked.

  “Dr. Elaine Pratt. She teaches Women’s Studies.”

  “Well, that might make sense. Woman teacher, woman student and Women Studies. I could see that.”

  “I suppose, but it doesn’t explain the men all giving her A’s. No way is she an A student.”

  “That is interesting. Do you think this is her pattern?”

  “I don’t know but I think you need to look into it further. I just pulled up her past grades and that almost got me in trouble.”

  “How so? Aren’t you supposed to do that?”

  “Oh sure, but her address was on one of the screens and that means I could have found out where she lived. I honestly didn’t even notice it,” Terry said.

  “All right. What grade did you give her?”

  “An F. I decided I would hold my ground and take my chances. I’m a good teacher and once I cross that line, I would never be able to go back.”

  “Commendable, but dangerous. You could have lost your job if she was convincing, and it sounds like she was,” Logan said.

  “I was willing to take the risk,” Terry said flatly.

  “Humm. You have tenure?”

  “Well yes, but in a case like this, they could surely find a way to fire me. Especially if I had sex with a student in exchange for a grade. I would like to think no Professor is that stupid. Certainly not in today’s litigation crazy world,” Terry said.

  “But she approached you. Doesn’t that count for something?”

  “No not really. I am in a position of authority over her and since technically I hold the power by my position as Professor, it would be considered a case of sexual harassment. She could sue me and the University. I would be out on my ear,” Terry told him.

  “Okay Dr. Ryan. I have some other things to check out. You told the other detective you accounted for your time from the initial meeting with Sharon until the following Monday when you learned about her missing. I will need to get a copy of that.”

  “Let me ask you something. Am I a suspect in this disappearance?”

  “Two things. It is just a missing person report at this time so we are looking but not in the same way we go about a criminal investigation. Secondly, we have no suspects. All we are doing at this point is trying to eliminate people from our list,” Logan told him.

  “And? Am I eliminated?”

  “No. Not really.”

  “What do I have to do to be eliminated?”

  “Have her turn up or someone tell us where she is. Sorry, that’s the best I can do for now.” Logan replied.

  Terry handed over the business card Markham had given him. Logan wrote down the information, thanked Terry for his time and headed to the attorney’s offices. The offices were downtown in the Equity Building on the 72nd floor. Like most overpaid lawyers, they have to put on a show for the clients.

  “May I help you,” a very attractive secretary said when he entered the gold lettered front doors.

  “Yes. I’m detective Logan. I called a few minutes ago to see a Wesley Markham or Al Blazer,” Logan said.

  “Oh yes. Mr. Blazer will be right with you. Please have a seat and I’ll buzz him.”

  The reception area overlooked the city and the chairs were so overstuffed you could sit on one and become a missing person yourself. Logan sank down into one of the chairs and looked at the magazines on the table. They were current. Doctors could take a few lessons, he thought to himself. He picked up the newest issue of Time and just started reading an article when a man in an expensive suit come over and extended his hand.

  “Al Blazer. You’re Detective Logan. I’ve seen your picture in the papers on several occasions. You were Detective of the year a couple of years ago, weren’t you?”

  “Yeah. A couple of years ago. Nice to meet you Mr. Blazer. Look, I don’t want to take up much of your time. I just have a few questions to ask.”

  “Sure, come on into my office,” Al said leading him down a long corridor with plush carpet.

  Legal assistants scurried from office to office and the place was a beehive of activity.

  Once they were seated in Blazer’s office he said, “Go ahead, shoot. What can we do for you?”

  “It
’s about the timeline for Dr. Ryan. He said you had taken down a detailed accounting for his time.”

  “We did indeed. We haven’t followed up on everything yet but so far so good.”

  “I would like to have a copy of that if you don’t mind,” Logan said.

  “I think we can do that. Do you want the one for Dr. Keller as well? His is less complete. It has far more gaps,” Blazer said.

  “You talked to Keller as well?”

  “Why yes. We talk to every instructor when the University might be involved. We certainly doubt it in this instance but we always cover our bases. The University insists,” Blazer told him.

  “Strange. Dr. Keller never even mentioned it. I wonder why?” Logan said.

  “He is a very strange bird. It’s our understanding that he may become the next Department Chair so he is trying to make sure nothing upsets the apple cart,” Blazer said.

  “Well, he didn’t do himself any favors by giving in to her demands or by not telling me he had talked to your firm as well.”

  “Giving in? What does that mean?”

  “He said he was being blackmailed by Sharon Lewis and rather than stand up to her, he gave her the A,” Logan told him.

  He could see that this was news to the attorney.

  “He failed to mention that to us. I doubt he meant any harm. He is just odd.”

  “Sort of eccentric, huh?” Logan said.

  “No. Actually, he is just a fruitcake. He gave me the creeps,” Blazer replied, smiling.

  “Give me your honest evaluation. Do you feel either could be involved?”

  “Well, I can’t really say can I? I mean, it would fall on us to protect the University and since they are employees, the University would have a certain amount of liability.”

  “Would you protect the two doctors as well?”

  “Heavens no. They would have to retain their own council. We would be working strictly for the University. Representing them would be a conflict of interest,” Blazer said.

  “Do they know that?”

  “I don’t know honestly. I don’t think it came up. After all, they are doctors, they should have enough on the ball to figure that part out,” Blazer said.

  Blazer had his secretary run several copies of the statements given by both men and the timeline for both. He was right; Ryan’s was much more complete. Almost too complete. Keller’s was very general and left a lot of open time slots to be checked out. No mention of Lewis trying to blackmail him was in the notes.

  Logan thanked him and said, “It’s nice to meet you. I usually don’t enjoy doing business with attorneys but you seem like a nice guy,” Logan said.

  “And I usually don’t enjoy doing business with the police but you seem like an honest police officer. I’m sure we will cross paths again.”

  Logan drove back to the station house and waited for the others to arrive for the debriefing. It was nearly an hour before they came straggling in. That was fine with him; he was able to get some more of the paperwork caught up.

  Only another few feet and he would be able to see his desktop again. Where did all this stuff go when he was finished with it? He couldn’t imagine the storage facilities it took to keep all this paperwork in and the evidence.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “You ready to join us?” It was Bull from Missing Persons, sent to fetch Logan.

  “You bet,” Logan said and accompanied Bull downstairs.

  “Where do you want to start?” Randy asked.

  “You’re the head honcho. You say where,” Jonas said.

  “Logan, why don’t you bring us up to speed?”

  Logan passed out the information he had received from the attorney. They were impressed that he was able to obtain the information without a court order. He then went on to fill them in on his conversations and his feelings about the two different personalities.

  “So what do you think? Do you have a feel for either one? Can we eliminate one or both of them?” Randy asked.

  “I need to dig deeper. I simply didn’t like Keller so that may be clouding my opinion of him. His omission of the Lewis blackmail attempt doesn’t sit too well with me either. Ryan seems honest enough but did you ever see a timeline like that before?” he asked. They all glanced at the pages again.

  “He has everything down except when he went to pee,” Jonas replied.

  “Maybe that’s how he functions. One of those, everything in its place, type guys,” Bull said.

  “Whatever. It’s damned detailed,” Randy admitted.

  Bull and Jonas gave their reports, which amounted to very little. They were able to eliminate four people for the time being. It was a start. Randy went last.

  “Mike Weaver, the boyfriend, is a total jerk. He seems dumber than a box of rocks. I doubt he would be smart enough to hide something if he was involved,” Randy said.

  “Or acting that way?” Logan asked.

  “Yeah. Or acting that way. I definitely want to work on this guy. I’m going to have him come down to the station tomorrow so I can get him alone. If he is acting, I’ll find out by the end of the day. I’m doing a background check on him now,” Randy assured them.

  “And the girlfriend of Lewis?” Bull asked.

  “What a dike! A total loser. Tattoos all over her arms, back and legs. She was a freak. She's mean too. Said it served Sharon right if she got bumped off. Seems she didn’t like the fact that Lewis was a switch hitter. She wanted her all to herself apparently.”

  “What about her whereabouts?”

  “Said she was with her new girlfriend the whole time.”

  “The whole time?” Logan said, raising his eyebrows.

  “Oh yes. She was sure of it. We can ask her new friend to verify it,” Randy said.

  “Yes, and I’m sure she would,” Jonas added.

  “Undoubtedly,” Randy replied.

  “So, what’s next?”

  “Jonas and Bull, keep working on the list. Logan, you start tracking down the timeline and gaps. I want to plug up as many holes as we can. Especially your nut case, Dr. Keller. I’ll have a go at Weaver tomorrow and check out the dike's girlfriend. We will meet back here about the same time,” Randy said.

  Logan went back upstairs and reported in to the captain. He wasn’t ecstatic over the day’s progress but realized it would take time. He would just have to take the heat for now.

  It was dark by the time Logan decided to head for home. He realized how hungry he was so he decided to stop at a quick service restaurant and load up on carbs. The hell with all that low carb stuff. It was nothing more than a fad and would soon be gone. Americans can never really stick with anything. They just like to pretend and join the sheep patrol. Baaahh. Whatever television says to do, they do it. What could you expect from a country where people would watch someone like Donald Trump on the idiot box?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Terry, Bob Richards here, I was wondering if you had a few minutes to chat.”

  “Certainly. When would you like to get together?”

  “Now is good for me.”

  “I’ll just finish up and be right over. Say ten minutes?”

  “I’ll be waiting. We can have lunch. I’ll have Libby order us some sandwiches. Is corn beef all right with you?”

  “Sure. That would be great,” Terry replied.

  He didn’t interact with Dr. Richards very often. It was even rarer for it to be a one-on-one meeting. It was obviously about the Sharon Lewis situation. He quickly finished his work and hustled across the Quad to the Dean of the Business School’s office.

  “Come in. Come in, please, have a seat,” Richards said when Terry arrived. Terry settled into an overstuffed chair. The office was covered with rich tones of dark wood and Persian rugs covered the floor. It was huge in comparison to Terry’s office. Bookshelves lined one entire wall and pictures and degrees covered the major part of another. Richards came around from his desk and sat in a chair next to him. Richards was like a snake oil
salesman, smooth and slick. Always looking for an angle.

  “How are things going? Are you about to wrap things up?”

  “Yes I am. Sophie and I are going to take a little trip to the Outer Banks. She has never been there and I think she would enjoy it,” Terry said.

  “It is beautiful. It will be nice to get away for a while I’m sure. Listen, Terry, I wanted to ask you about the visit with the police. How did that go?”

  Before Terry could answer, Libby, his secretary, entered with a tray of sandwiches.

  “Ahh. Excellent. You got the brown mustard?” Richards ask the secretary.

  “Of course. And the extra Kosher dill pickles you like,” she replied.

  “Thanks Libby,” he said and selected one of the sandwiches and a large pickle, “Now this is a meal.”

  Terry took one of the sandwiches and bit into it. It was quite good. The corned beef wasn’t dry like so much of it you find now days. He sat back, enjoying his sandwich. Richards seemed quite content to have no further discussion for now.

  When they had finished their sandwiches, Richards said, “I was asking about the police. Oh, and you have mustard on your chin.”

  Terry wiped his chin and replied, “It seemed to go fine. They just asked me to go over what I told our attorneys. It was relatively painless.”

  “Yes. You said she was going to blackmail you for a better grade?”

  “Yes.”

  “You know she had made an appointment to see me on Monday at 2:00 p.m.?”

  “Yes, she told me that. If I didn’t give her the A she was going to tell you I had propositioned her.”

  “And of course that was a lie.”

  “Definitely. I would never do such a thing.”

  “And what grade were you going to give her?”

  “Just what she earned. An F,” Terry said.

  “That seems rather bold.”

  “Maybe so, but I have to think about the other students. They come by their grades honestly. Even the bad ones. I am not about to change my standards because someone threatens me.”

  “I wonder if I could be as brave. And of course, now she is missing so I guess we will never know if she would have gone through with it.”