by Andrew Hess
He burst into the station; flinging both doors aside. “Who the fuck is in charge here,” the man shouted with an intense anger. “I wanna talk to somebody about Christina Tyler’s case.”
One of the officers nearby kept his palms stretched out in front of him as he inched closer to the bald headed man. “Calm down sir and tells us what we can do for you.”
Kevin balled up his fist; raising it to level to his chest; ready to strike the officer if he came any closer. “I don’t wanna talk to you. I want someone with answers.”
The officer’s hands slowly moved back towards his baton. The tips of his fingers rested on the handle ready to take down their frantic intruder at a moment’s notice.
“Just calm down sir and we can talk.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” the man spat. “If you jackasses knew how to do your job, then Christina would still be alive.”
More officers crowded around the man reaching for their batons. “Sir if you don’t quiet down, we’ll have to restrain you.”
“So you’ll arrest an innocent man for speaking the truth, but you won’t admit there’s a killer on the loose in New Paltz? Maybe I need to go after this guy since you fat slobs won’t.”
“Cuff him,” I heard one of the officers shout. They closed in on the man with their batons drawn.
“Enough,” I shouted as I made my way into the circle of officers; pushing them back before they made a bad situation worse. I stepped in front of the bald man. “I’m Detective Ali Ryan. I’m in charge of the Christina Tyler investigation.”
“Great, a chick who thinks she’s a big shot. Look lady…”
“No, you listen,” I inched closer pointing my finger at his chest; pushing him back an inch. I wasn’t in the mood to take anyone’s crap and I wasn’t going to let some punk talk down to me. “I’m the one in charge. So unless you have some important information or a lead to give us, I suggest you keep your trap shut and get the hell outta my station before we throw you in a holding cell till tomorrow.”
The man was silent as I walked away and then his voice broke the tension in the room. “She was one of the few friends I had up here. I just wanna help you find her killer.”
I turned around. The angry look in the man’s eyes was replaced by a red glassy stare. He wiped his eyes with his fingers and stood with a circle of officers still surrounding him.
I walked back and parted the crowd. “Come with me,” I said sternly; waiving the man to follow me to an empty interrogation room.
Chapter 73
We entered the cold dreary room; sitting the bald man at the large wooden table on uncomfortable black cushioned metal chairs. I had him facing the mirror so the Lieutenant could hear and see everything this man had to say.
“Let’s start with your name,” I said in a nicer tone. Whatever this man knew, I wasn’t going to hear it by beating it out of him.
“Kevin, Kevin Graham,” he choked out.
“Okay Kevin, tell me how you knew Christina Tyler.”
“We were housemates for two years before she decided to move to campus. During that time we became really good friends.”
“How close were the two of you?”
“We talked every day and ate dinner together every night when we lived together. When she moved out, we grew apart because we rarely saw each other. But we recently started talking and hanging out again.”
“How often were you seeing each other?”
“A couple times a week I think.”
I eyed Kevin up as I took a seat across from him. “Earlier you insisted Christina Tyler was murdered. Why do you think that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Three girls have been found dead on campus. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”
I wanted to say try telling that to my Lieutenant considering it took weeks of begging and pleading my case to him until he changed his mind. But I knew that wasn’t going to help us.
“When was the last time you saw Christina?”
“I dropped her off in front of her dorm yesterday morning.” Kevin told me about how he and Christina spent the weekend together. First they went up to Mohonk Mountain with the Outdoors Club on Saturday. They’d spent the day there and camped out overnight before returning to New Paltz late Sunday morning.
“How was Christina during the trip?”
“She was happy; happier than I’ve seen her in quite some time. It was almost infectious.”
“How so?”
“Christina had a bubbly and friendly personality. She usually made friends quickly. In fact, she made friends with a few people on the camping trip and convinced me to invite them all to my Halloween party.”
I sighed heavily. “I’m assuming everyone was of age.” I watched his eyes shift from side to side as he decided how to answer that. “I’ll just take that as a yes for now.” I watched him squirm in his chair. It was the first time he seemed nervous during the entire interview. “So she apparently spent Sunday night at your house and you dropped her off at the dorm. So then where were you last night?”
His eyes narrowed at me as he slammed his fist against the table. “Are you insinuating I had something to do with her death?”
“I’m just trying to rule you out as a suspect.”
“Why would I show up here on my own if I had something to do with her death; with any of their deaths?”
“You tell me. Why would you or anyone wanna kill Christina Tyler?” I knew I was pushing him too far, but it was the only way to get him to let something slip.
“I’d never hurt Christina. I loved her.” He cupped a hand to his mouth as he blurted out those words. It was almost as if he never said he loved anyone before; maybe he didn’t. He ran his hands all over his face realizing he just said he loved the girl that had been his friend for years.
I leaned in closer; dropping my voice to a whisper. “Just tell me where you were last night so we can get on with the investigation.”
“I was home getting ready to pick Christina up for our date?”
“Date? You said you two were just friends.”
“All of that changed this weekend.” His eyes glazed over as he recounted his time with Christina. “I’ve never been camping before and was the worst idea in the world to me. But Christina convinced me to go; said it’d be fun.” I could see the smile slowly return as Kevin continued to tell me about his weekend. “It was hard enough for me to setup one tent; let alone two. So we decided to share one.” His pale white skin turned pink.
“Was this the first time you two spent the night together?”
He nodded shyly. “It was the first time we toyed with being anything more than friends. I held her in my arms that night and decided to take a chance. We kissed for the first time and convinced her to stay at my place Sunday.”
I could see Kevin was genuine. His eyes were alive and filled with love as he talked about Christina Tyler. Then his expression quickly changed. Pain and sadness filled his pale skin as he thought about his friend/possible girlfriend lying on a slab at the morgue.
“Tell me about the people that came to this party of yours.”
“I don’t remember everyone that was there. I don’t remember much of the night at all; not until everyone left.”
“Okay, who did you invite to the party?”
“The Outdoors Club and a few friends from back home.”
“Do you remember any of their names?”
“Just Marty and Marie; they ran the club.”
I jotted down their names and circled the Outdoors Club on my notepad. I racked my brain trying to think of more questions but couldn’t think of any more.
I placed my card on the table and pushed it towards Kevin Graham. “Here’s my card. If you can think of anything else that could help us, don’t hesitate to call.”
Kevin stood up and pushed his chair in. “That’s it? I’m free to go; just like that?”
“Unless you have something else to share.” I waited for Kevin to re
spond but just shook his head. “Then I suggest going about your day and leave the investigation to the police.” Kevin walked towards the door. “And Kevin, I plan on taking this son of a bitch down.”
Chapter 74
The Lieutenant pulled me aside after interviewing Kevin Graham and told me to track down Marty and Marie to get the names of everyone associated with the trip to Mohonk Mountain. It was almost as if he was convinced someone on that trip was responsible.
I took Rodney with me; figuring I could use him as the muscle. He was big enough to intimidate information out of anyone and planned on using that to our advantage. As we strolled around campus, I felt someone watching me. I spun around quickly; hoping to catch the person off guard, but no one was there.
“You okay Ali? You seem a little on edge today.”
“I’m fine,” I lied and continued walking towards the administrative building.
The nine story dark gray building towered over us as we walked up the main steps and into the lobby. I didn’t even know where to begin; where to go or even who to talk to.
Rodney traced his finger along the black board of the office directory. “Registration Office is downstairs.”
We took the steps to the left and traveled a short flight down to the basement. We stumbled around looking for the registry office for a few minutes before finding it down the hall from the bookstore.
I entered the room holding out my badge; placing it on the desk so the secretary could see. “I’m Detective Ali Ryan and this is my partner Officer Rodney Johnson. We’re investigating the recent murders on campus and could use your help.”
The secretary was an older woman with thick glasses and white hair. “How can I help?”
“I need to know the names of anyone associated with the Outdoors Club including the students who run it.”
“I’m sorry; I can’t help you with that.” The old woman looked back down at her paperwork and continued as if we weren’t there.
“We know their first names are Marty and Marie. We just need their last names and where we can find them.”
The old woman rolled her eyes at me. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. Even if I could, those records are confidential and would need a warrant.”
Damn, our first substantial lead in the investigation and we were being held back by a cranky sixty year old secretary.
Rodney stepped forward. His massive frame made the old woman look like a toddler compared to him. “I know you’re just doing your job ma’am, but I would think the school would want to cooperate with the police since there have been three deaths on their campus.”
The woman bit the top of her lip nervously as Rodney moved closer. “I-I’ll see if my boss can help you.”
“You do that,” Rodney mumbled under his breath as the old woman skirted away from him and hurried to the other end of the office.
She returned a moment later with a tall thin blond in a knee high pencil skirt and a low cut leopard printed blouse. She was in her late thirties, but looked like a model. She was a knockout that even made me want to say damn.
“Close your mouth partner,” I whispered while nudging Rodney. He quickly brought a hand to his face; faking a yawn while the woman strutted towards us.
She extended her perfectly manicured hand. “Hi I’m Anna Rutowska.” She shook our hands with a firm grip. “Betty says you need access to our student records.”
“We don’t need to see them,” I corrected her. We just need to know who’s in charge of the Outdoors club here on campus and where we can find them. We’d like to ask them a few questions regarding their outing this past weekend.”
“Don’t you usually have a warrant for something like this?”
Rodney cleared his throat and turned his sexy charming voice on. “We were hoping you could help us get around that.” He leaned in and placed a finger on the desk next to Anna’s hand. “I’d be very appreciative if you could help us; maybe save us a little time so we can hunt down this killer.”
Anna’s eyes devoured Rodney as he firmly planted his hand on the desk. Anna stoked his hand gently. “I think something can be arranged.” Anna strutted towards her office but turned her head back to Rodney. “You coming?” She raised an eyebrow at him. I moved around the desk but she held up a hand. “No, not you; only him.”
Rodney gulped down a breath of air. His eyes were wide as he baby stepped his way towards Anna.
“Just remember you’re a married man,” I whispered while patting him on the back.”
He entered the office and closed the door.
Chapter 75
I took a seat next to Betty’s desk while waiting for Rodney to return. I had no clue what was going on in there, but felt that Rodney was about to cross a line he couldn’t come back from.
Moments after the door closed, I could hear loud noises that sounded like something hard hitting into filing cabinets. The noises continued for a few minutes; ending with Anna’s screeching shouts of joy; shouting yes, yes that’s it; right there.
I turned to Betty. “You don’t happen to have ear plugs in that desk do you?” She gave a lighthearted chuckle and went back to typing away.
Finally the door opened. Rodney’s uniform was a wrinkled mess with his shirt un-tucked and the top was unbuttoned. I shook my head disapprovingly.
“What I got the information,” he said with a sly smile as he held a small piece of paper in his hands.
“At the cost of your marriage,” I replied as we exited the registration office.
Rodney walked ahead of me and stopped in front; putting his massive hand on my shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the wild sex you just had with that woman. We could hear you ya know.”
“I didn’t…we didn’t…that’s what you think went on in there?” Rodney wiped a bead of sweat from his face. “She wanted help moving the filing cabinet out of the way to hang a painting on the wall.”
“Then what was she shouting about? I mean the only time I’ve heard a woman make those kinds of noises were on pornos.”
“She was happy to have the painting finally put up in her office. It was a picture of where she grew up as a child in Poland.” He took a step to storm off but thought better of it. “What are you doing watching pornos?”
My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. I didn’t want to respond to something so personal. Instead I ripped the paper from Rodney’s hands and ran towards the stairs.
I was out the door and several feet from the building before Rodney made it outside.
“What’s the matter old man; can’t keep up?”
“You got a head start,” he gasped.
“Oh please, I made it up the stairs and out here faster than you and I did it in heels.”
“And you run every day for the fun of it. Can we just go check out the names on the paper before I’m the next dead person found on this campus?”
“Don’t even joke like that.” I waited until Rodney caught his breath before walking towards the south end of campus. It was a decent walk; not something I’d usually do in a pair of three inch heels.
As we walked past the Student Union Building, I heard a voice calling my name. Amanda saw us and ran out the door as she waited outside the cafeteria.
“Ali, what are you doing here?”
“We’re here on official duty.”
Amanda looked around nervously. “Please tell me there wasn’t another body found.”
“No, just need to ask a couple of people some questions. Where are you heading off to?”
“I need to check out a book from the library before class.”
Rodney tapped me on the shoulder and nodded. “Amanda, can you tell us anything about the girl from last night?”
“I’ve hung out a few times in Lennox Hall and knew Christina; not much but enough to know she was well liked.”
“What else do you know,” I asked.
“I know she used to live off campus for
a while and moved into Lennox Hall recently.”
“Do you know where?”
“Beats me; all I knew is she told us it was hard living with three guys and needed some time to live life on campus.”
I remembered Kevin saying she used to be his housemate, but it never occurred to me they had other people living there.
“Would one of those guys be Kevin Graham?”
“I don’t know; maybe. Was he a dorky looking guy?”
“No, he kinda looks more like he belongs to the Goth scene. Did she get along with all of her housemates?”
“I heard her talking about one of them; said when he moved out the house it was so much better. Apparently no one liked this kid.”
“Did you happen to get a name,” Rodney questioned.
Amanda shrugged her shoulders. “It was just something I overheard in the computer room.”
It was then I felt the presence again; like someone was watching us. I stopped and felt someone slam into my back. A man in his early twenties toppled over me. He scrambled to his feet and apologized to me saying he was in a hurry to get to class.
I waited until the boy was a good distance away before turning back to Amanda. “I need you to keep your eyes open for me. No matter how bad a situation gets; people hate talking to the police which makes it harder for us to catch the bad guys.”
Gee I wonder why,” Amanda laughed. “I’m your sister and I always feel like you’re interrogating me.”
Chapter 76
Mark saw the tall curly haired detective walking around campus with her oversized security guard wearing a police uniform.
What the hell is she doing here on campus; Mark thought as his feet carried him towards the detective. He knew it was foolish; hell he was tempting fate. After all, he’d killed twice without anyone thinking twice about either victim being murdered.