Lieutenant Taylor Jackson Collection, Volume 1

by J. T. Ellison

  Lincoln’s heart beat a little faster. He motioned to Taylor and wrote on his blotter MM audited at Vandy last sem.

  Taylor knocked her knuckles against the desk. There it was. There was the link between the girls.

  Lincoln dragged his attention back to the old nun. He had missed some of what she was talking about, but a name caught his ear.

  “I’m sorry, Sister, can you say that again?”

  “You need to pay more attention, young man.” Lincoln immediately had a vision of a stooped old nun smacking his palm with a ruler and nearly laughed aloud. “I was saying that I don’t think there is anyone else here that she was very close to, but she spent a lot of time with the priest who was killed. Such a good man, such a loss to the church. We have a hard time bringing in the younger people these days. Boys just don’t want to be priests anymore. I’m getting off the subject. She was friends with him. With Father Xavier. They spent quite a bit of time together. I believe he was tutoring her in Latin. She wanted to attend the Latin Mass, you know. Such a good girl.”

  “Sister, thank you so much for your time. I have to let you go now.”

  “God bless you and keep you.” She hung up before he could answer.

  He turned to Taylor, who was impatiently tapping her fingers on top of the filing cabinet.

  “Got another tidbit for you.”

  “Yeah? Well, if it’s as good as your last one I’m going to kiss you.”

  “Ooh, baby. Then get over here and pucker up. Guess who Mary Margaret spent all her time with?”

  “Who?”

  “Father Xavier.”

  Taylor started grinning. “Damn good job, Lincoln. C’mere.” She grabbed him and laid one on him, then ran off down the hall, shouting for Baldwin.

  CHAPTER 64

  Armed with her team’s hours of work, Taylor and Baldwin went to the Vanderbilt campus. The storm damage was extensive, but the cleanup had gone very well, and all the roads through downtown were back open, as was the campus itself.

  It was a beautiful morning. The sun shone on the quad, the grass had been freshly mowed, probably for the last time before the bitter cold of winter hit. There was just a hint of the smell of burning leaves wafting through the air; most had been blown off the trees during the heavy storms. The scent reminded Taylor that the nights would soon turn frigid and warm fires would be needed to chase away the fingers of winter.

  Students milled about, happy to be back to school, enjoying the unseasonably warm morning. Two boys played with a football, showing off for three girls in bikini tops and cutoff shorts on a blanket nearby.

  There were two professors they needed to talk to from the classics department: Edward Lear and Barry James. Fitz and Marcus had gone through Shelby’s, Jordan’s, and Jill’s records since their arrival at Vanderbilt. By intersecting their schedules, they had come up with the names of two professors all three had taken classes from. After the conversation with the nun in administration at Aquinas College revealed that Mary Margaret de Rossi sometimes audited classes at Vanderbilt in the classics—a program not offered at her school—they found she’d audited several classes, including one each from each professor.

  The net was closing.

  Baldwin had found the girl who had put together the flyer campaign to help find Jill. Her name was Susan Davidson, and he thought it would be smart to speak with her first, before the professors. If they knew a little more about Jill, they might be able to piece the rest of the story together.

  Taylor and Baldwin made their way to the Student Center, and Susan met them at the door, escorted them inside, and found them a table.

  Taylor started the interview with a few niceties, asking about the girl’s study and major. Then she started in.

  “So, Susan, tell us how you know Jill Gates.”

  “We met at a sorority rush party in the first week of school. She wasn’t thrilled to be there, which surprised me. I mean, she had the looks, the body, the whole package the sororities look for. I also heard she was a Tri-Delt legacy, so I figured she’d be snapped up quickly. I really wouldn’t have paid a lot of attention, you know, except she took off in the middle of rush. Just left. I thought it was strange, but I had my own stuff to deal with, you know?”

  “But you met her again, right? You said on the phone that you two had a class together.”

  “Yeah, last semester. I added it in the second week. I didn’t like my psychology class, so I transferred into this classics class, you know, mythology and all that? One of the girls in my dorm told me the prof was totally cool, and he was. Went off all the time on these weird tangents, but he was so into the gods and their roles shaping our lives that we couldn’t help but get interested. And he has the grooviest eyes, you know. Sort of this sea green, like yours, Agent Baldwin, though yours are much prettier.”

  Taylor smiled and shot Baldwin a look, but interrupted the girl’s daydream. “Susan, let’s get back to Jill Gates. You and she were in the class together?”

  Susan snapped back to reality. “Yeah, we sat next to each other. She knew so much about this stuff already, you know? She sat glued to his every word, and I always saw her go talk to him after class. It was weird, though. She’d ask him questions she already knew the answers to, ’cause I’d see her write them down before she went up to him. But whatever, you know? Everyone thought he was hot. She seemed really into him.”

  “Did you ever talk to her about it?”

  “She blew me off as soon as I brought it up. Said she wanted to go on and get her doctorate in the classics, and it would be really helpful if she had such an influential teacher to back her up. Yeah, whatever, like I bought that.”

  “Did you know Shelby and Jordan?”

  “Well, sure. They were in the same class with me and Jill that first semester.”

  Taylor felt a bump of adrenaline. “Who was the professor, Susan?”

  “You didn’t already know? Dr. Lucas, of course.”

  “Dr. Lucas?”

  “Yeah, Gabriel. Gabriel Lucas. He’s not a prof here anymore, though. I don’t know where he went.”

  Gabriel Lucas wasn’t one of the two professors they had come to speak with. She’d never even seen the name. Taylor made a mental note to call Fitz the second they finished and ask about him.

  “So you thought they may have been involved? Romantically?”

  Susan shook her head, staring over Taylor’s shoulder. A little frown started in her forehead. “I don’t know if she was sleeping with him, if that’s what you mean. It was almost like they had this strange link, like they had a secret that no one else knew. I always assumed there was something going on, but I never saw them together outside of his office, where there were always people around. They’d be in these deep conversations about Plato and stuff. We studied the Allegory of the Cave for two weeks, and she really got into it. That’s really all I know. I need to get to class, so is there anything else?”

  Baldwin finally spoke up. “Susan, we’ll handle your absence from class. I want to know more about Jill. What was she like?”

  Susan shrugged. “Well, she was totally gorgeous, but it was like she didn’t really know it. Never got dolled up for class and stuff. She was really natural. Not a granola, but pretty laid-back about her looks. I guess that’s what I noticed in the first place. It’s not like I’m some kind of beauty queen. Then when she gained some weight this year, I guess I felt even more at ease with her, you know? Some of us just aren’t meant to be perfect.”

  Susan wasn’t exaggerating. She was plain, with unfashionably large, pink-rimmed glasses and a slight overbite, making her look like an overeager chipmunk. When she smiled, her cheeks puffed out as if she were holding a large store of nuts in her mouth. Baldwin smiled gently, catching Taylor’s eye. The weight gain. That must have been the pregnancy.

  “So she was nice to you?”

  “Yeah, most of the time. I’d hang around some, asking her to get coffee and stuff. Most of the time she’d come,
but sometimes she just blew me off with this look in her eye, like she found me disgusting. But then she’d smile and be really nice, bring me a muffin from Starbucks or something. Anyway, whatever. I liked her.”

  Both Baldwin and Taylor were starting to get the idea that Susan may have felt more than “like” for Jill Gates, but neither of them pushed the issue.

  Baldwin continued trying to draw a mental picture of Jill. “So what did you guys talk about when you hung out? Class? Professors? Anything you can think of would be helpful.”

  Susan teared up. “I don’t know anything else. Do you think Jill is dead? All of us were in class together with Dr. Lucas. And Shelby and Jordan are dead. Am I next?”

  CHAPTER 65

  Taylor’s heart was galloping in her chest. They needed to wrap this up and go investigate who the hell Gabriel Lucas was.

  “Susan,” she said soothingly, setting a hand on the girl’s pudgy arm. “I’m sure you’re fine. But we need to get an idea of what Jill was like, to see if there’s anything we need to look into. Did she ever go off like this before, without telling anyone where she was headed?”

  “Well, sure, every weekend. She said she had a boyfriend down at Sewanee, and they met there every Friday afternoon, and she stayed until late Sunday night.”

  “Did anyone else know about this?”

  “No, she swore me to secrecy. She really didn’t talk to anyone else about her personal life, you know?” Susan’s chest had puffed with a small sense of pride, and Taylor felt for the girl. The secret keeper always was made to feel like the most important person in a woman’s world, especially if the person was a shade too nerdy and harboring some more-than-friendly feelings toward her friend. Women could be used that way, and it was starting to look like Jill Gates had been taking advantage of Susan’s affections from the beginning. Taylor realized Susan was still talking.

  “…Jill was kind of intense, you know? Like when you’re talking to her, she like leans into you, like she really cares about what you’re saying. There was this time…” Susan reddened, and both of them could understand completely her embarrassment.

  “It’s okay, Susan. I think I’m starting to understand how you felt about Jill.” Taylor handed the girl a tissue. She accepted it gratefully and hid behind it for a moment.

  “Yeah, well, she wasn’t into me like that, but I didn’t mind. I think she knew, but she was good enough never to mention it, you know. Like she didn’t hold it against me or anything.” Susan’s voice had gotten bitter, but she smiled and went back to her story.

  “I don’t really know how to explain it. She was so intense, so interested, that sometimes it was a little creepy, you know? Like she wanted to turn my mind inside out. She just looks right into you. And I told her things I’d never admit to anyone. Dreams, feelings. Not about how I felt for her, but about dealing with life feeling different. And she understood so much. I know she’d never felt like she didn’t fit in, but she made me feel like she understood it completely. So I poured out my deepest darkest secrets, my biggest fears, like about my parents finding out I’m not their perfect little girl. And she understood, you know, she really understood. I know she really cared about me in her own way.”

  Baldwin was starting to get the picture. “Susan, think carefully. Was she like that with anyone else?”

  “Well, she was like that with a lot of people. I guess I’d like to think that she was special friends with me alone, but she was, you know, kinda intense with a lot of people.”

  “Was she intense with Shelby Kincaid or Jordan Blake?”

  “No, not Shelby. That girl was a little mouse. But she did hang out with Jordan, partied with her some. They went their own way after a while. Jordan got picked up by Tri-Delt, and Jill just wasn’t into the sorority scene. Me neither.”

  Taylor gave the girl’s hand a quick squeeze. “Susan, you’ve been a huge help. Thank you so much for your time and for being so honest with us.” They stood to leave. Susan looked back.

  “Will you let me know if you find Jill? I just want to make sure she’s okay, you know?”

  Baldwin gave her a long look. “We’ll do our best.”

  She smiled sadly and hoisted her backpack on her shoulder, half waved goodbye, and wandered off toward the food court.

  Taylor and Baldwin sat back down.

  Taylor spoke first. “What do you think?”

  Baldwin was running his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. There’s definitely a link with all the girls through this Gabriel Lucas character. Mary Margaret audited the same classics class Susan was talking about. But Lucas isn’t on our list, right?”

  Taylor was already dialing Fitz’s cell. He picked up quickly.

  “Hey, it’s me. I need you to check a name for me. Gabriel Lucas.” She was quiet for a moment, listening. “Okay. Find him. We’ll check it out.”

  She hung up and pulled out a cigarette. Baldwin gave her a look that she waved off. She lit it and stared off into space, coughing a little.

  Baldwin was getting impatient. “Well?”

  “Gabriel Lucas wasn’t on their list because he’s taking a sabbatical this semester. He’s taken some time off to write a book of his experiences with the Greco-Roman culture.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  Taylor took another drag, then squashed the butt under her shoe. She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “An expertise in Greco-Roman culture fits our profile about a person intimately familiar with the ancient customs,” he said.

  “It sure does. The way Susan talked about him, and the connection he had with Jill…we need to find this guy and have a nice long talk with him. Fitz is tracking him down. Also, Sam called in to tell us there was aconite in the teacups found at the church. Definitely the same killer, Baldwin.”

  Baldwin’s mind was spinning. Shelby, date-raped. Jordan, pregnant with another man’s child. Jill, at least seven months gone and having a secret affair. So where did Mary Margaret, the priest, and Tammy/Mona Lisa fit into all of this? He didn’t know the answer, only knew they had to find Jill.

  CHAPTER 66

  Their interviews with Professor Lear and Professor James yielded nothing. Professor Lear was physically incapable of committing the crimes. A paraplegic since birth, his wheelchair would have made it difficult to manage the stairs at the Parthenon, at the very least. Though he did remember all of the students, he couldn’t say he knew anything about them outside of his classes.

  Their interview with Professor James hadn’t gone any better. Though young and physically fit, he was openly gay. Much to Taylor’s amusement, he had flirted his way through the entire interview, going so far as to ask Baldwin for his phone number, which Baldwin genially declined.

  They asked both men about Gabriel Lucas. Lear had nothing but kind words for the man. James, on the other hand, made his dislike clear, but couldn’t give any solid reasons for it. Taylor couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been turned down and was harboring a grudge.

  Taylor and Baldwin sat on the grass under a huge oak tree and talked it through. Either man could have hired a killer, but that scenario didn’t make sense. Baldwin was sure their suspect was on a personal quest; the murders were too intricately woven, too symbolic to have been committed on contract. Between Professor Lear’s infirmities and Professor James’s sexual orientation, neither man fit what Baldwin was looking for in their suspects.

  Taylor’s cell rang. It was Fitz, eager to share their latest discovery.

  “Taylor, we just ran back through Mary Margaret’s records. Two of the classes she audited were taught by…ready for it? One Professor Gabriel Lucas.”

  Her heart was pounding. “Excellent. This has to be our guy. But where the hell is he?”

  “I’m looking. Got one more little morsel for you. Our priest, Father Xavier? The rector at St. Catherine’s called. Didn’t know if it would help the investigation at all, but since it was related to Vanderbilt, he thought we should know that Father X
conducted the community breakfast there last month.”

  “There’s our last link. We’re on it. Thanks, Fitz!”

  She gave Baldwin a huge smile, her teeth flashing in the sunlight. “Check this out…”

  *

  Taylor and Baldwin barged into the office of Vanderbilt’s dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. His secretary hedged when they walked in the door, telling them that the dean was out of the office on business, but she didn’t know exactly where he was. She was trying to talk them into an appointment much later in the afternoon when the dean walked through the door. He had two men with him, both dressed elegantly and wearing grimaces on their faces. Taylor could tell they were simply being polite while he jovially tried to amuse them. He stopped short when he saw Taylor and Baldwin.

  Taylor stuck out her hand. “Dean Royce? Lieutenant Taylor Jackson and Dr. John Baldwin. We need to speak to you about—”

  He cut her off. “Oh yes, my dear, I know all about it. If you would give me a minute here.” He addressed his secretary. “Janet, please see Ms. Jackson and Mr. Baldwin into my office and get them something to drink. I won’t be a moment.”

  He turned and put his arms around the shoulders of his reluctant companions. “Gentlemen, I can’t tell you how much we appreciate all you’ve done for Vanderbilt. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. If there’s…”

  Taylor lost the conversation as she entered the dean’s office.

  He came through the door a moment later, mopping his brow with a handkerchief. Taylor had taken an instant dislike to the man. He was all smiles and handshakes. He politely offered to pour the tea, prattling about the overwhelming support the college was receiving from their donors, segueing into his distress over the fate of his students. But Taylor read the look in his eyes as he got himself settled behind his desk. He was not happy to see them. Homicide detectives and FBI agents combing his campus for murder suspects was not good publicity for the school.