by Laina Turner
Whoa. Maybe there was more going on in the marriage than we thought.
“I’m assuming by your silence she didn’t tell you that part?”
“Well, no,” I faltered, thinking that if I believed him then there was a lot Candy hadn’t told me. “Are you sure?”
“Last time I talked to him, he was having her followed by a private detective to get the proof. Because if he could prove she was cheating, then according to the prenuptial agreement he wouldn’t have to pay for support if they divorced.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say about that. Was Candy trying to keep an affair hidden so she could get support?
“Listen, I have to run, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell people I was gossiping. I told the police all this, but ours is a small community and I don’t want people to think I’m talking out of turn.”
“Okay, one more question. Do you think Candy could have something to do with his disappearance?”
This made him laugh out loud. “No,” he said emphatically. “She’s pretty to look at and she might be a cheater, but I don’t think she has it in her to harm anyone.”
I thanked him and hung up and then made notes about our call because I didn’t want to forget nor get it mixed up with my next call. Chloe had unfortunately stepped out of the room while I was on the phone. I wanted to tell her about this conversation. I might as well call the other one while I waited for her to come back.
I dialed the third person on the list that Candy had circled, identifying the three as President Stoddard’s best friends. Alan Barclay. Maybe I would be lucky, and he would be as chatty as Daniel. Except finding out Candy was an alleged cheater didn’t get me any closer to finding President Stoddard.
“Hello. Barclay here.”
“Hi, President Barclay, my name is Olivia Little from Spencer University.” I went through the same spiel as I had given Daniel, hoping it would be just as successful this time.
“What do you want?”
Or maybe not. He didn’t seem at all friendly. His tone was more along the lines of what I’d expected. Suspicious of why I was calling.
“We are all very worried about President Stoddard and I was wondering if you have any idea where he might be.”
“I don’t know who you are or why you’re calling me, but I’ve already talked to the police so don’t bother me,” he said and hung up.
I sat there, dumbfounded, phone in my hand when Chloe made her way back to the office.
“Why are you sitting there with your hand in the air holding a phone?” She walked over to the table and set a Diet Coke in front of me.
“I just got hung up on so thanks for the Diet Coke. I need it.”
“No one wants to talk, huh?”
“I got one voicemail, one who is chatty, and one who hung up on me, so kind of a mixed bag.”
“Well, then it could be worse. At least one person was willing to talk to you. Fill me in on the chatty one. What did he say?”
I filled Chloe in, and she seemed as surprised as I was about his cheating comments.
“What do you think, Olivia? You obviously know them better than I do. Do you think she’s cheating?”
I had of course been trying to decide that since Daniel said it and honestly my gut told me she wasn’t. I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I do feel something is off, but I don’t think it’s her cheating.”
“There’s only one way to find out for sure. And actually, it’s not for sure but would give us a better indication.”
“Do you mean ask her? You’re killing me with all this in-person confrontation. First Candy, then Colleen, now Candy again.” I had to admit I wouldn’t be as bold as this without Chloe.
Chloe nodded. “She can still lie, but if we ask her maybe we can tell by her body language if she’s telling the truth or not. Plus, it might be a good time to talk to her about what Colleen said.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little harsh to ask her that? Because if she isn’t cheating, that seems mean.”
“Maybe, but if she truly wants us to get to the bottom of this, she will understand.”
I wasn’t so sure that Candy would see the bigger picture of our questions. However, I could see Chloe’s point.
“Alright. Not looking forward to it, but you’re right; we should ask.”
“Then let’s go,” Chloe said, standing up with her purse.
We made the short drive to her house quickly and again didn’t call first. That hadn’t made her very happy the last time, but neither one of us wanted to take the chance. She would ask us why we wanted to come over and then find an excuse why we couldn’t.
We pulled in the driveway as Candy was backing out in her Escalade. We stopped the car behind her and put it in park, getting out as she did the same.
“I didn’t expect you two today. Do you have news about Thaddeus?” she said, seeming excited that we might have news. She had a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Those looked sad.
I shook my head, again feeling sorry we didn’t have news. “No, it’s not that. We just have a few questions for you.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “But make it quick. I have an appointment at Très Chic in a few minutes and they will charge me if I’m late.”
Très Chic was the biggest salon and spa in our town, which made me wonder just how broken up she was. She was so confusing. Here I thought she seemed sad and yet she was heading out to the salon. If she was that worried about Thaddeus, why was she going to the salon?
“We talked to a few of his colleagues today and someone mentioned…” I trailed off now, nervous to come right out and say someone said she was cheating but her eyes narrowed, and she seemed to know what I was about to say wouldn’t be something she wanted to hear.
Chapter 18
“Mentioned what?” she said, her expression and body language veering more toward hostile. She was clearly braced for the fact that this might not be positive, making me wonder if she knew what I was going to say.
“Someone mentioned you were cheating on your husband and he was going to divorce you.” Chloe blurted out and it took all my willpower not to look at her and stay focused on Candy without changing my facial expression.
There was a minor look of shock that crossed Candy’s face, but not as much as I expected. This news didn’t seem like it was a complete surprise to her but what did that mean? Was it true or had she just heard it before?
“Let me guess, you talked to Daniel Story.” She grimaced. This time Chloe and I did look at each other before looking back at her. Our shock at her comment was evident as she continued. “Did he also mention we dated for a while before I dumped him for Thaddeus?”
I slowly shook my head.
“Well, I did, and he wasn’t happy about it. I admit I have a thing for older men. My therapist says it’s because I grew up without a father. In any case, I dated Daniel for about nine months before we broke up and I started dating Thaddeus. So, if it’s Daniel who is saying this about me, and he’s the only one who would, you might want to consider your source. He would love nothing more than to split us up. He’s never stopped trying to win me back. Why Thaddeus stayed friends with him is beyond me.” She was visibly annoyed at this point, tapping her foot with her arms crossed.
“Well, that does make sense now that you gave us the full story, but it also might explain why the police consider you a suspect. Daniel also told them this information or at least that’s what he told me.” Now I didn’t know who to believe.
She shrugged. “What am I supposed to do? I didn’t cheat on my husband. If anything, he cheated on me. He easily could have. Women are always throwing themselves at him. I’m sure you noticed how shameless some are at those faculty mixers he insists on putting on. You’re not one of them, thank goodness. Though you’re not his type. No offense.”
“None taken,” I said, wondering what parties she’d been to. I’d never seen anyone throw themselves at President Stodd
ard but then maybe I just hadn’t noticed. Thank goodness I’d never noticed, I thought, wanting to shudder.
“Was he having an affair?” Chloe asked.
“No. I was just using that as an example. I trust him implicitly.”
“Maybe someone who came on to him and who he rejected kidnapped him?” I asked, even though seem very far-fetched.
She seemed to think for a minute. “No. I don’t think any of them were ever that serious. It was annoying, but I didn’t get mad over it. It was harmless flirting.”
“Do you have any names? Maybe it would be worth talking to them,” I said.
She opened her car door and rummaged around in the console pulling out a pad of paper and a pen. She thought for a minute and then proceeded to jot down a few names. Ripping off the sheet of paper, she shoved it at me. I took it but before I could look at the names she started speaking again.
“Anything else? I really need to get going. I’m already late.”
“Nope.”
She started to get back into her vehicle and looked over her shoulder at us. “Let me know if you find anything out even though I’m sure none of those bimbos have what it takes to kidnap someone.”
Chloe and I got back in Chloe’s car and backed out of the driveway, pulling out on the road and heading back toward town. Candy followed us for a few seconds and then sped around us going over the speed limit.
“Très Chic must really enforce their late policy if she’s in that much of a hurry,” Chloe said with a chuckle.
“I know you’re being sarcastic, but they do. We’re a small town and they are a very good salon. People come here from Columbus to get their hair done. The owner use to work in LA and was a stylist to the stars or some such thing. That salon is way above my pay grade, so I’ve never been there. I hope to someday, just to say I’ve been.”
“Oh. Then maybe it’s not so odd that she seemed more concerned about her appointment then she did about finding her husband.”
I started laughing. “Yeah, it does kind of seem like her priorities were mixed up today. I guess it’s just how the other half lives. Here, read the names to me.” I handed her the paper still in my hand that Candy had thrust at me.
“Abagail Humphrey, Tracy Sheppard, and Amy Westfield.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” My jaw dropped.
“What?”
“Those are students,” I said forcefully. “I expected her to mention teachers, not students.”
“Are there students at the faculty parties? She mentioned those specifically.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Honor roll students or students working on special projects or on certain committees. It’s a privilege to be invited to the president’s house. I’ve always thought it a cool thing that he did.”
“Then it’s not that far-fetched considering she met Thaddeus when she was a student and he was a teacher.”
“I guess you’re right. What are these young girls thinking?” I said.
“They’re not. They’re just young and stupid.”
“I do know two out of those three girls though. I’ve had them in class and they really don’t seem the type. They’re seniors this year. I’m not sure about the other one, but we can easily find out.”
“You want to talk to them?”
“Absolutely!” Now I was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this. “Let’s head back to campus and see where they’re at right now. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll still be on campus at class.”
It didn’t take long to get back, but it was toward the end of the day, so I hoped they weren’t already gone. Since they were seniors, they probably didn’t live on campus. Even though their home information would be in our student database, I wanted to use it as a last resort. To look up student information for personal reasons was wrong for many reasons. It could get us in serious trouble if we were found out. Getting fired kind of trouble.
We went to my office to use the computer and it just took me a few seconds to log into the student database and look up Abagail and Tracy, the two students I’d had in class.
“We’re in luck. Abagail has a class that’s letting out in fifteen minutes. Tracy’s gone for the day, but she has a nine a.m. class here in my building. She’s a psychology major.” I couldn’t help but be proud of that.
“Then she should have sense to stay away from older men who are married,” Chloe joked
“Ha! Good point. You would think.”
“Go ahead and look up the girl you don’t know. Amy Sheppard.”
“Okay, she’s also in class right now over in the engineering building. She’s a junior and not a psych major.”
“Well, let’s check out Tracy and then maybe head over to the engineering building and see if we can figure out who Amy might be and talk to her.”
The last place I wanted to go was the engineering building, but I did want to talk to this Amy person.
“You don’t want to try and figure out who Amy is?” Chloe asked. She must have noticed my expression when I thought about that building.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just my ex-boyfriend is a professor in the engineering department, and I try to stay away from that building at all costs. It was really annoying last year when our building was closed for a couple weeks and I had classes there. Normally this campus is big enough that we don’t run into each other.”
“I can go by myself,” Chloe offered.
“No, that’s okay. It’s been long enough it shouldn’t be a big deal. I’m probably just making it one. I’m sure he’s moved on, but let’s get going. Abagail’s class gets out in five minutes so we need to get over there so we don’t miss her.”
My office was one floor up from the classroom Abagail was in, so we still made it in time to stand outside the door as the students trickled out. Luckily the professor she had right now wasn’t known for letting his students out early or we would have missed her. We had the leeway to let class out fifteen or twenty minutes early and most faculty used that leeway.
As students filed past us, I scanned their faces for Abagail, who was a very attractive, petite brunette. I could definitely see why a man would be attracted to her; it was just hard for me to understand why she would be attracted to Thaddeus if Candy was even right about her accusations. She could be making it up or maybe it was all in her head.” Just as I began to think Abagail may have skipped class today, I spotted her.
“Hey, Abagail!” I called out and her head turned in my direction, a smile breaking out on her face as she walked over.
“Professor Little,” she said and seemed somewhat excited to see me, which made me feel good. I prided myself on building relationships with students.
“Abagail, do you have a minute?”
She had a confused look on her face, which didn’t surprise me. I hadn’t had her in class for two years, so wanting to talk to her now would be a little odd to her.
“Of course,” she said politely, and I felt a twinge of apprehension. Talking to her could be seen as an abuse of power. I didn’t think she would complain to the school, but we needed to be careful as to how we approached this.
“Let’s walk down here to the student lounge.”
Each floor had a small sitting area for students to hang out at between classes with vending machines and charging stations for their devices. I was hoping since it was the end of the day it would be empty. I didn’t want to be overheard.
When we reached it, my hopes were fulfilled because it was. Chloe and I sat down on a small loveseat and Abagail sat down across from us wearing a look of confusion.
“Abagail, this is Professor Parsons,” I said introducing her. “We just wanted to talk to for a second.”
The expression on her face grew more confused by every word I said, and she started to look worried. “Am I in trouble for something?” she asked.
“No, no, no,” I assured her. “This has nothing to do with school. And honestly, I hate to even ask you what I�
��m about to ask.” Which had to be the worst thing you could say to someone already worried about what you might be going to say as I watched her face grow pale. What on earth did she think I was going to ask?
“Can you tell me about any dealings you’ve had with President Stoddard?” I asked, trying to be matter-of-fact, but coming across more stilted and uncomfortable. As I said it, I was pretty sure nothing that may be whirling around in her brain had prepared her for this question.
“Listen,” I said, leaning forward a little to get closer to her, “This conversation will go no farther than the three of us. But I’m sure you know that President Stoddard is missing and we’re just trying to help figure out where he might be.”
“He’s missing?” she asked, clearly shocked and having no idea, which in hindsight made sense. It wasn’t something the school had publicly announced at this point and President Stoddard, while he attended bigger events, didn’t just roam the hallways and mingle with the student population, so why would she know he was missing?
“Yes.” I nodded. “Please don’t say anything, things are being kept quiet right now, but he’s been missing for a little over a week.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “I don’t understand, why are you asking me?”
I fidgeted a little, not wanting to tell her his wife told me that she had thrown herself at him at a party. I need to frame it a little softer if I expected her to help.
“I heard, what we heard, that maybe you had an interest in him?” I held my breath, bracing myself for her reaction. And I wasn’t disappointed.
She jumped up, indignant and then furious and then what looked to be almost a look of disgust crossed her face. “Who told you that? I never had a thing for the president. Ew. He’s like a hundred years old.”
I tried to let that comment slide and not be offended because he wasn’t that much older than I was. But to a twenty-something, I knew we seemed ancient.