by Andrew Hess
The girls backed themselves away; wiping the tears from their faces. I could tell this was not a good time, but there never is in these situations.
“As I understand it, you three ladies were all friends of Rachel Walker.” The girls nodded their confirmation. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” They looked back at me with tear filled eyes. “I’m sorry, but I need to ask you some questions. How long have you known Rachel?”
Marci, a short dark haired girl with pale blue eyes looked at the others and nodded her head. “We met her at a party during freshman year. Her roommate was pissing her off and ditched her to get a drink.”
“Which roommate; her first or second,” I interrupted.
Jodi, the taller girl of the group, stood up and grabbed tissues for the group. “This was a few weeks into the semester; before she met Nicole.”
“Okay, then what happened,” I asked intently.
“She sat down at a table where I was playing king’s cup,” Jodi replied. She noticed the tilt of my head as I tried to remember what king’s cup was. “It’s a card game where every card has a drinking rule.”
Lucy was the smallest of the girls. She was thin like Rachel with light brown hair that was braided. She looked up and smiled; remembering the party.
“Wasn’t that the night Rachel did her first keg stand?”
Jodi laughed. “Yeah those dumbass guys thought they were funny and made that stupid rule that every face card drawn was a minute doing the keg stand.”
Marci’s eyes lit up continuing their story. “Yeah and Rachel had two of them and drank most of the guys under the table that night.”
“So Rachel had a history of drinking a lot,” I interrupted. It was almost as if the girls forgot I was there.
Their eyes lowered and grew distant as Jodi approached. “She was not like other girls. She might have been small, but Rachel could hold her own in a drinking contest and wake up the next day ready to take on whatever came her way.”
“So she’s never gotten sick from drinking before?”
“Not that we ever saw. Rachel knew her limit.”
“Was she with you three last night?”
“Yeah, she stopped by our place last night and we stayed together until we came back around one; one thirty.”
“And it was just you four?”
“Yeah. We walked back and tried to get her to stay with us, but she wanted to go back to her room and told us to meet her in the morning for brunch; only she never showed.”
I was puzzled. No one came home with the girls, and no one helped Rachel to her room. My cop instinct told me to keep looking, but all the evidence pointed to Rodney being right.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about last night?”
“I’m sorry no. A lot of it is a blur.”
“If you remember anything else; give me a call.” I handed Jodi and the other girls my card; knowing I was about to get the “I told you so” speech from Rodney.
I exited Capers Hall and called the Lieutenant. “Hey Lieu, just got done questioning Rachel’s friends.”
“And?”
“Her friends don’t remember much, but said Rachel walked them to their hall before going back to hers.”
“So then there’s nothing contradicting our initial report?”
“No sir, but I…”
“But nothing Detective,” I could hear the bass in the Lieutenant’s voice. “This case is closed.”
“We’re still waiting on the toxicology report.”
He gave a long pause. For a moment I thought he was about to demote me down to crossing guard for speaking out against his decision.
He sighed heavily. “You have until the report comes in to prove me wrong; otherwise the case is closed.”
Chapter 16
The campus remained in a state of mourning throughout the week. Rumors had spread like wild fire with students speculating over Rachel’s death; spreading gossip that this was more than an accident.
Other students took her death as an excuse to get out of tests and homework; excusing themselves from class saying they were close to Rachel and couldn’t deal with their loss. The professors didn’t know how to handle everything. They were distraught. They knew about the typical New Paltz student lifestyles and the constant partying, but they never imagined a student would die on campus from it.
But it was Rachel’s roommate, Nicole, who took it the hardest. She was a bit of a perfectionist; studying to the brink of insanity just to get an A on her tests. She made sure every scrap of homework was complete the day her professors assigned it, and kept her side of the room clean with everything in its place. But after Rachel’s death, everything changed.
Nicole stayed away from her classes all week. The only time she left her room was to hit the cafeteria, and only when she knew everyone was in class. She ignored phone calls from her friends; emails from her professors and secluded herself in the same room where her best friend died. The only person she would take a call from was her mother; crying that it was her fault for not checking on Rachel.
Nicole spent most of her time that week facing the wall crying into a big fluffy pink pillow. She couldn’t look at the other half of the room. It was bare. The bed was stripped down to the mattress, the closet was filled with nothing but the scent of Rachel’s perfume while the desk sat emptied; the contents split between police evidence bags and boxes that Rachel’s parents took. Everything that belonged to Rachel had been removed as if she never existed.
Nicole looked up and saw pictures of herself with Rachel at various events on campus and parties around town. She smiled for a second; remembering all the fun times they had together. They were like sisters; virtually inseparable.
“Miss you sista,” she gave a halfhearted smile as tears filled her eyelids. She picked up the phone and dialed the number of the guy she went out with the night Rachel died. “Hey Ryan, it’s Nicole. I know we haven’t talked since Friday, but I wanted to see if you’d like to get some dinner with me tonight. I guess you’re probably in class now. Give me a call back when you can.”
Nicole thought about Ryan every day since freshman year, but always thought he was too cool for her. In fact, she wondered if he ever knew her name. But a few days before the party, he cornered her in the library and asked her out; telling her he didn’t think a beautiful, smart and funny girl like her would be interested in him. But before he could finish, Nicole had a smile on her face and told him yes.
The more Nicole thought about her date, the sadder she got. It was the one and only time she stayed out late without any of her friends and it ended up costing Rachel, her best friend, her life.
Chapter 17
Mark sat on a stone bench outside the long rectangular brick building known as the Lecture Hall. He hunched over an abnormal psych text book; blending in with nearby students.
“The perfect cover,” he whispered as a warm gentle breeze washed over him. His eyes stared intently at the heavy black doors. He was hoping; praying that his next victim would walk through the doors. He had already sat in the same spot all week watching and waiting for her to leave the Lecture Hall, but she never showed. He knew the girl hid herself from everyone on campus; staying locked up in her dorm room; the same room her friend died in.
Mark kept up his rouse; pretending to read from his textbook while he glanced up at the building; taking note of everyone around him. His eyes darted to a group of students walking towards him and feared they might’ve recognized him. He inched further away from them. The students barely made eye contact with Mark as they took a seat on the adjacent stone bench.
The Lecture Hall’s doors opened. Mark’s eyes skimmed through the handful of students as they exited finding a familiar face, but not the one he was looking for. It was a forty year old woman. Her short black hair curved just under her chin with her thick black glasses rested on the edge of her nose. Mark recognized her instantly as his psych professor from the previous spring semester.
/> His former professor looked at the students on the benches. Mark didn’t want to chance her noticing him and dipped his head lower; submerging his face into his textbook. He could hear her footsteps carry her away as her platform heels scraped the concrete heading towards her office.
“I guess she decided to no show again.” Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper. His finger traced the lines until he found the Tuesday/Thursday classes and found the listing for the Women in Literature class; noting the location of the room. He shook his wrist; catching beams of sunlight off of his silver watch; blinding him momentarily. Five more minutes; he thought. I’ll wait five more minutes before I’m out of here.
The hands on the clock ticked away; growing closer to eleven thirty. Mark’s leg bounced as his foot tapped the hot pavement until the heavy black doors opened. Another crowd of students spewed from the Lecture Hall. They were smiling; no doubt thinking their classes were half over and their party filled weekend was rapidly approaching.
His eyes picked apart the group person by person. “Where is she,” he whispered with an angry tone. His impatience reached a boiling point as Mark flung his book into a dark green backpack that sat idly at his feet. He slung the bag over his shoulder and stood up; almost as if he were a child being forced to go somewhere he didn’t want to go.
As he passed the last door, a chubby dark haired girl emerged clutching her books to her chest with her head tilted down and her big ravioli eyes pointed at the ground. Mark smiled and slowed his brisk walk down to a crawl; falling behind Nicole Sherman.
Nicole hurried up the concrete steps; keeping her head low; expecting to see other students watching her; waiting for her to burst into tears. Mark closed in on her; keeping a few feet from her but close enough to smell the flowery scent of her perfume. His eyes studied her body; her movements; visualizing the ways he could violently dispose of her.
Mark knew where she was going. Nicole was on her way to the cafeteria; no doubt stopping for quick bite to eat before scurrying off to her next class. Mark needed to make sure Nicole stuck to her schedule instead of running back to her dorm room which would ruin his plans.
Mark let himself get too close to Nicole. She could feel someone behind her and stopped abruptly. Mark couldn’t put the brakes on in time and walked right into her.
“Watch where you’re going,” Nicole snapped as her books toppled to the pavement.
Mark placed his hands on Nicole’s arms; steadying her as he kept his face pointed to the ground staring at her books. “I’m sorry. Let me help you.” He reached down and picked up the thick heavy textbooks and notebooks.
Nicole’s eyes fixed on Mark’s face. “Were you following me?” Her words were more accusatory than questioning.
“No, why would I be following you?” Mark lied through his teeth and was defensive as he tried to turn on his charm. He hoped Nicole didn’t see through his act and prayed she wouldn’t recognize him.
Her eyes scanned his face further as Mark handed her the books from the ground. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”
The question sent an icy chill down his body. He was moments from blowing his cover and knew Nicole had his name on the tip of her tongue.
“Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before.”
“Are you sure?” Nicole took one last long look at him. “I swear; I know you from somewhere. What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t,” Mark replied rather coldly. He extended his hand to Nicole; plastering a slick smile on his face. “The name is Mark; Mark Thompson.”
She accepted his gesture; juggling her books in her arms as she placed her hand in his. “Nice to meet you; I’m Nicole.”
Mark felt repulsed that he had to charm a woman he despised, but knew this was the first time Nicole felt normal since Rachel’s death; something he wanted to use to his advantage.
“I’m sorry for bumping into you but I gotta run. I’m about to get off the waiting list for one of my classes.”
“Congrats; I guess,” Nicole replied.
Mark waived to Nicole and hurried down the paved path towards another flight of stairs; racing in the direction of the administration building. He hid behind the brick siding of a nearby building; peering around the corner; keeping his eyes locked onto Nicole until she passed and was sure she couldn’t see him.
Mark pulled a New Paltz ID from his pocket and stared at the picture of a thin pale woman; smoothing his thumb over the image and tracing the name Rachel Walker underneath it. A sinister smile crept over his face.
“Let’s hope this still works.”
Chapter 18
I entered the precinct Thursday afternoon; finding Rodney hunched over a small stack of papers with folders piling up in his inbox.
I dropped into my chair across from Rodney. “Is that actual police work you’re doing?” I clapped a hand to my heart for the extra dramatic effect.
“Yeah well, someone has to; not everyone can make detective and come in whenever they want.” Rodney raised his eyebrow giving a bitter impression before the corners of his mouth turned up into a smile. His eyes scanned my face; noticing the smile I tried to hide and the light shade of pink in my cheeks. “What’s got you in such a good mood today?”
“Nothing; can’t I come to work and be happy?”
Rodney placed his hands on my desk and towered over me. “I know you too well Ali. You’re never in a good mood. What gives?”
I tried to hide my flushed cheeks with a file that was left on my desk, but Rodney’s large hand kept it from lifting more than an inch.
“Fine,” I sighed. “I’m going out after work tonight.”
“Oh really?” Rodney batted his eyes placing a higher pitch in his voice as if he was a high school girl.
I placed my hands on the desk; going nose to nose with Rodney. “Yeah, you know I do have a life outside of this place; unlike some people I know.” I glanced at the paperwork on his desk. “What were you working on?”
“The Lieutenant has me doing some follow ups on that girl that died last week on campus.”
“Her name was Rachel,” I snapped.
Rodney paused; giving me his why do you have to be a pain in my ass stare. He shook his head and retrieved the files from his desk.
“It’s been a week and the preliminary findings came in.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing,” he replied.
“Don’t give me that shit. What does the file say?”
He handed me the file, but summarized it for me. “There’s nothing out of the ordinary; nothing contradicting our initial report of Rachel having alcohol poisoning and choking on her vomit.” He handed me another file with a list of everything they took into evidence. “We cataloged everything in her room and took anything that could be evidence. It doesn’t seem like anything’s missing.”
Maybe I wanted something to pop out; something to keep the case open; find a way to give Rachel’s parents a reason why their daughter was dead. But it was no use. Every report; every person interviewed told us Rachel died from drinking too much.
I combed through the paperwork; looking over every item one by one until I reached the end of the list. They cataloged everything from Rachel’s bedding to her clothes; even the garbage and desk drawers. There were text books and course outlines that were barely touched, and notebooks with only notes on the first two pages.
“Did we get the toxicology report yet?”
“No,” Rodney looked up at the curious look on my face. “Let me guess; you wanna take a field trip to the M.E.’s office.”
A smile spread across my face. “You read my mind.”
Chapter 19
Rodney and I drove out to Kingston and pulled up to a large white building on Flatbush Avenue. In all the years I’ve been a cop, I never had to visit the Medical Examiner’s office. It was bigger than I expected.
We badged our way through the building and found a small thin wom
an sitting behind a large circular desk with a nice cherry wood finish. I eyed her up; guessing she was five foot three at best. Her soft golden brown curls fell just to the side of her young childlike face.
The girl leaned on the desk and craned her neck. “Can I help you,” she asked in a soft high pitched voice. Her youthful face resembled that of a fifteen year old girl trapped in a twenty-three year olds body.
I held out my badge. “I’m Detective Ali Ryan. This is my partner Officer Rodney Johnson. We’re here to see Dr. Wu.”
She didn’t flinch at the sight of my badge or ask why we were there. It was as if she was used to seeing the police show up at the office on a daily basis.
“Sure thing; I’ll let him know you’re here.” The young girl stood up from and strutted down the hall; letting her thick hips and round bottom sway from side to side; drawing Rodney’s attention.
I snapped my fingers in front of his face as the girl disappeared through a door. “Hey, you’re married; remember?”
“What? I didn’t do anything.”
“No but I know that look. You were practically undressing her with your eyes.”
“No I wasn’t.”
I gave him a look that insinuated he was lying and turned my head away from him as the girl returned.
“You can go in.” The girl held the door open for us; allowing us to enter the cold dark room.
We entered and found Dr. Wu working feverishly under the bright blinding spot light that hung over a large man lying on a cold metal slab.
“Dr. Wu,” I shouted while shielding my eyes from the light. We moved closer to the table. “I was wondering if we could have a moment of your time.”
Dr. Wu clicked off the blinding light and flipped a switch on the wall; turning on the overhead lights. He was a thin Asian man dressed in a green surgical gown, blue paper hat and white gloves that were covered in blood.
Dr. Wu stripped off the gloves and hat before putting his thick black glasses on. He leaned forward and extended his hand. “Hello officers; what can I help you with?”