Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle

by Jeffrey Round

  “What the hell is going on?” Tadesco demanded. “How could this abomination happen again to one of our staff?” He angrily ran a hand through his hair. “Have you any idea who could be behind this?”

  “Nobody yet,” said Stonechild. “We’re hoping you might have some ideas.”

  Gundersund glanced at her. Had she also caught the false note in Tadesco’s anger? He didn’t know her well enough yet to tell the difference, but he’d swear there was irony behind her words. Tadesco plowed on, oblivious.

  “This is insanity. Leah and Gail were both wonderful girls. Bright, dedicated to helping others. I can’t imagine why anybody would want to hurt either one of them.”

  “So you knew them both well?” Gundersund turned his focus back on Tadesco and watched to see if he gave off any tells about his relationship with Leah Sampson.

  “Of course.” Tadesco waved him off and turned sideways to look at Mark, who’d stepped up next to him. “Mark, have you any idea about what is going on here?”

  Mark shook his tangled blond hair. “Gail was quirky but harmless enough.” He paled. “She wasn’t thumped, was she?”

  “We don’t have that information yet,” Gunder-sund said.

  “Christ,” Tadesco said. “Could this get any worse?”

  “She could die,” Gundersund said. He looked past Tadesco to the cop signalling to him on the top of the steps. “Come with me, Withers. Time to find out if anything is missing in your office.”

  Tadesco and Mark looked at each other. “We’ll meet up later,” Tadesco said. Mark nodded as if some message had passed between them. Gundersund exchanged a glance with Stonechild. She was watching both men intently.

  After they’d gone, Kala said to Tadesco. “We will get to the bottom of this with some cooperation. Have you any information that could help us?”

  “I wish I did. If this keeps going the way it is, the university will be pulling the plug on the help line. I can’t tell you the politics of keeping the place going, but let’s just say some will be more than happy to use the money elsewhere.”

  Kala looked across the street. Small groups of students were gathering on the sidewalk and along the roadway. A news truck had pulled up and a reporter was angling herself so that the cameraman had them in his shot. Tadesco followed the line of her eyes.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to be on the six o’clock news.”

  “Lead the way.”

  She followed him at a half-run down the street to the next block. They ducked into another limestone building crawling with red ivy and walked side by side down the wide concrete stairs into the basement. Two couches and four chairs were arranged to their left. Lamps on coffee tables served as muted lighting, giving the space a private, cozy feel. Tadesco made for the chairs near the pillar. Kala was happy to see the room was empty of eavesdroppers.

  “Coffee?” Tadesco asked, pointing to a vending machine in the corner of the lounge.

  “Sure. Black is fine.” She took a seat and waited while he fiddled with coins and buttons. He returned balancing two Styrofoam cups and handed one to her before sitting in the chair next to her. He sipped as he sat down. She smelled his musk scent, both expensive and inviting. It was the kind of scent that could make a woman want to bury her face in a man’s neck.

  “Terrible swill, but welcome this morning.” He stretched out his long legs, elegantly draped in expensive black slacks. “I found this little spot quite by accident last year and use it as my refuge now and then. It’s usually empty of students.” He smiled at her as if they were sharing a private moment. She could see the charm he used to make his way through life.

  “I thought your office would be your refuge.”

  “God no. I can barely get any work done there. Students and faculty are stopping by constantly.” His eyes were dark and his black lashes were long and thick. Bedroom eyes.

  “Leah Sampson took your class last year and this semester. Was she one of the students stopping by to see you after class?”

  “On occasion.” He sipped his coffee and eyed her over the brim of the cup.

  “Do you sleep with your students, Professor?” Kala asked.

  He slowly lowered the cup. “I’ve never had relations with any of the women who work at the help line, if that’s what you’re asking. If Leah or Gail was having an affair — and I doubt very much if Gail has emerged from the closet — they were not having one with me.”

  Kala listened for the lie in his voice. She detected something off, but he sounded sincere about Leah and Gail. She thought over how he’d worded his response. “You didn’t sleep with Leah or Gail. Have you slept with other students?”

  His eyes widened before he looked down into his coffee cup. “I don’t see the relevance or the need for me to answer.”

  She waited a bit to see if he’d fill the space with further explanation. He didn’t and she figured best to let it go for now. “Have there been threats to the help line centre staff before this?”

  She observed the lines in his face relax at the change in subject. “No. Nothing. We keep a low profile and don’t broadcast our staff names or whereabouts.”

  “But somebody could find the location if they set their mind to it?”

  “Sure. The location of the Queen’s Help Line is in the school directory, although we only advertise the phone number in pamphlets and such. We don’t hand out the address as a rule.”

  “Back to Leah Sampson. Do you know why she and Wolf Edwards broke up?”

  “I heard through the grapevine that she’d met someone else.”

  Kala nodded. “We heard the same thing. Do you know the name of the new love interest?” She watched conflicted emotions dart across his face. It seemed he had loyalties to someone he was reluctant to implicate.

  “Look, I thought it was Mark Withers at first to tell you the truth. He assured me, however, that he would not sleep with the staff. I believe him.”

  “Was Wolf angry with Leah when they broke up?”

  “Initially they weren’t speaking to each other. They were friends again a few weeks afterwards. Wolf isn’t the type of man to hold a grudge.”

  “What kind of man is he?”

  “Poetic, deep. He’s a man whom people gravitate towards because he cares about them. I would no more believe him a killer than I would you, Inspector Stonechild.”

  “A strong vote of confidence.”

  “Well placed, I assure you.”

  Kala tried one more avenue through Tadesco’s carefully constructed answers. “Did you know that Gail was keeping notes on her co-workers?”

  Tadesco’s laugh was loud and spontaneous. “Who would believe she’s as good a counsellor as she is? I think it has something to do with all the pain in her own life. Being overweight, socially inept, and gay do not many friends make. Gail put up an eccentric front, but she was just getting by the best she could. If she was keeping notes, they were harmless observations.”

  Kala finished her coffee and stood. “I hope you’re right, Professor, but somebody was desperate to find something in your help line offices. If you think of what it could be, here’s my card. Call me anytime.”

  Tadesco stood as well and flicked the card against his wrist. He leaned in toward her and said, “I will most certainly be in touch if I remember anything that could help. You can count on it.”

  They walked up the stairs together and he shook her hand before he headed on foot toward his office. He pulled out his cell and held it to his ear as he strode away from her, his trench coat flapping around his long legs. Kala stood without moving and watched until he disappeared from view. She started back to the help line centre, his musky smell stubbornly filling her nostrils as she climbed the steps to find Gundersund and Rouleau.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Rouleau looked up from his desk to find Stonechild hovering in the doorway, one hand lifted to knock. Her eyes were bright and excitement shone
from her face.

  “Have you got a moment, sir?”

  He raised a hand and motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him. “You look like you’ve made a discovery,” he said, leaning back in his chair, “or maybe I’m just being hopeful after Woodhouse called in that Gail’s roommate reported that her laptop wasn’t in their apartment.”

  Stonechild flashed a quick smile. “I believe I have. It might be nothing, but then again, you never know what will be important at this stage.”

  “What have you got?” He straightened and reached for the papers she passed across the desk.

  “Professor Tadesco told me he hadn’t slept with any women at the help line, but he was evasive when I asked if he’d slept with any other students. It got me wondering. I called the university and had them send me over his class lists for the past few years. Interestingly, Della Munroe was in Tadesco’s class last year and again this semester. She might just like his teaching style or she could have something going on with him.”

  Rouleau studied the sheets, a tingling starting at the back of his neck, the sensation he got when facts started to realign. “It could be a coincidence.”

  “I know it’s a bit of a long shot, but interesting nonetheless. The thing that I find odd is that Tadesco never mentioned her when we discussed Leah’s murder and Gail’s attack. If I had a student whose husband was also killed the same week, I’d probably mention it in passing.”

  “Yeah, that would seem like an obvious observation to make. If he’s having a relationship with Della, do you think that he would admit to it if confronted?”

  “I doubt it. He has too much to lose. I’m not even sure where an affair between the two of them would fit into our case.” Stonechild looked less certain than when she’d entered his office. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence that Della keeps taking his classes, like you said. An odd coincidence, but possible.” She shrugged and took back the papers. “Any word yet on Gail Pankhurst’s condition?”

  “I checked ten minutes ago. She’s still unconscious but stable. I have an officer on the door to her room.”

  “Gundersund and I are heading over to interview the people in the offices next to the help line centre.”

  “Good idea. Check in later.”

  “Will do.” She hesitated at the door. “Do you think this person was after her laptop all along?”

  “No idea, but it’s the only thing that appears to be missing. It’s not that valuable an item to fence.”

  “It’s getting harder to separate what’s important and what’s collateral damage.”

  “We’ll keep our minds open. You never know when something will pull all the pieces together.”

  Rouleau sat looking out the window and thinking about what Stonechild had told him. It was odd that the people in the Munroe and Sampson cases crossed paths, but perhaps not impossible with the university campus connections. The possibility that Della Munroe was having an affair with Tadesco would put a new spin on the story she’d given earlier. However, her involvement in a tryst really was nothing other than a hunch on Stonechild’s part. It wasn’t even strong enough to question her about. A hypothetical affair wouldn’t hold much water in court. Yet, Stonechild had a sixth sense that he’d learned the hard way not to question.

  He checked his watch. Going on three. He reached for the phone. His father picked up after two rings. He was just back from a few hours at his office on campus and settling in for a nap. This bought Rouleau some time. He offered to pick up some fish and chips on his way home if his father didn’t mind waiting to eat for a few more hours. His dad said no problem.

  Rouleau hung up and made an effort to reread the morning reports. The words blurred after ten minutes. He removed his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. He could use a nap himself. He’d been on the move since he got the Pankhurst call at five fifteen.

  Vera poked her head around the door. She was slightly winded, her blond hair in disarray. “I just came to warn you. I overheard that lawyer Suzie Chen talking on her cell outside the ladies washroom. She told somebody that she was on her way to rattle your cage about the Munroe case.”

  “I’ve got nothing new to tell her.”

  “I thought you might want to head home and miss another confrontation.”

  “Has anyone ever told you what a treasure you are?”

  She smiled. “All the time. By the way, Heath is due back tomorrow.”

  “He’s fished out the lake?”

  “Oh, I don’t think he ever catches anything.” Her smile shifted sideways, turning up one side of her mouth. “But I’m sure you do.” She was gone before he could formulate a reply. He shook his head and grabbed his jacket. Vera was turning into his Moneypenny. He was a far cry from James Bond, however.

  He checked the hallway for Chen and hurried across to the fire escape. The best way to beat fatigue and to avoid an angry lawyer was to get out and do some investigating; leave his desk and get into the field. He felt his spirits rise before his foot hit the first step. The heaviness in his head had lifted by the time he reached the parking lot.

  Della was moving around the living room, talking into her cellphone and pacing back and forth in front of the window. Once she stopped and looked out, her hand raised to the curtain. Her long black hair was tied up on top of her head but a piece had escaped and hung lankly across one eye. Her free hand pushed the hair away every so often but it always fell back. She wore a silky green dress that Rouleau imagined rustled when she moved. He could detect no grief in her face as she looked out onto the street, her mouth opening in laughter. She turned her back to the window and disappeared from sight.

  Before opening the car door, Rouleau checked the side mirror. A car was racing up the street toward him and he hesitated. The red Explorer pulled into the driveway in front of Della Munroe’s house and he slumped lower in the seat.

  A short Mexican woman in a rainbow-coloured skirt got out of the driver’s side and opened the back door. A small boy got out. He was a mixed-race child dressed in shorts and a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. He looked across the street toward Rouleau’s car, and even from that distance, Rouleau could see that he had his mother’s large blue eyes, although the black hair that surrounded his face was a mass of kinky curls inherited from his father. He was a startlingly handsome boy, a miniature model with a face that was going to break hearts. The woman took his hand and they walked to the front door. They waited nearly a minute for Della to answer, the boy hopping from one foot to the other while the woman kept hold of his hand. Finally, the door opened and the two stepped inside. Rouleau saw the flash of Della’s green skirt before the door closed.

  Rouleau debated watching the house a while longer or heading to the fish restaurant for takeout. It was going on five and if he left now his dad could eat his supper in front of the early news. He sat for a while longer, going over in his mind everything he knew about the Munroes and their marriage. While he reviewed the information, he kept an eye on the front door, but nobody came outside. The living room window remained empty. Twenty minutes later, he started up the car. He took one last look at the house. Something niggled in his memory but he couldn’t pin it down.

  He was turning onto Brock when it struck him. There hadn’t been any mention of a nanny or domestic help in the reports. Had Della hired someone this week? He’d have thought the Munroes couldn’t afford one from what he recalled of their finances. He made a note to himself to check the next morning when he got into work.

  It was nearly five when he pulled into the fish restaurant downtown, a street over from Princess. The entire time he waited at the counter for his order, he pictured Della Munroe in her silky green dress standing in the window, laughing at whatever somebody had said over the phone. Head tossed back and red lips parted. The eyes that had looked out across the yard had been excited, happy even. Her recovery a week after killing her husband was nothing short of miraculous. It was enough to give a seasoned detective pause.

  Chapter T
wenty-Eight

  The whole family gathered around the dinner table to eat the meal Dalal had cooked after school. As instructed by her mother, she’d made a simple chicken korma simmered for an hour with ginger, garlic, and cashews, served over basmati rice. Her mother had shown a generosity of spirit by preparing a big bowl of phirni, Dalal’s favourite dessert, a rice pudding made with cardamom and pistachios. Dalal worried that the delicious pudding was to soften whatever her mother was planning to do next. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d prepared a treat and done something horrible soon afterward.

  Her father was silent during supper. He only roused himself after dessert was served to ask Ghazi about his latest soccer game. Dalal tried to decipher the looks that passed between her mother and Ghazi during the meal, but she was at a loss. Meeza was quieter than usual, her eyes downcast and her head bowed, but she ate everything on her plate and asked for a second helping of phirni. For once, their mother placed another scoop into Meeza’s bowl without chiding her for being a glutton.

  Dalal became more and more agitated as the meal progressed. She practised a question in her mind but couldn’t make the words come out of her mouth. Fear kept her from asking what she most wanted to know. Her father pushed his bowl away and placed his spoon on the table, and she knew it was now or never. She took a deep breath before speaking.

  “Mother?” she began in a small, questioning voice.

  “Yes, Dalal?” Her mother, father, and Ghazi fixed on her with their eyes. Even Meeza’s spoonful of pudding stopped half-way to her mouth as she lifted her head. Her black eyes widened and she looked across at Dalal. Dalal wanted to crawl into a safe, dark hole, but the thought of Meghan’s phone call kept her speaking.