7:45 P.M.
The sun had begun to set. Small clutches of student stood huddled together, talking in hushed tones. Some softly sobbed. Violence had touched them, some for the very first time in their young lives.
One group sat in a circle around votive candles arranged in the shape of a heart. Another group had brought books and were taking turns reading passages. Miranda moved her gaze around that circle and beyond, pausing on each face. Was Stark’s killer here? Secretly gloating. Proud of herself. Probably. Unless she was long gone.
They ran into Ashley, who pointed out Belinda. The dark-haired girl sat at the center fountain handing out candles. A guy with bleached blond, short, spiky hair sat with her.
“Hi, Belinda,” Miranda said, and held up her shield. “I’m Detective Rader and this is Detective Billings. Could we have a few moments of your time?”
Her expression became immediately guarded. “What for?”
“We’re trying to find Professor Stark’s killer. We hope you might be able to help us.”
She nodded and glanced at her friend. “I’ll be right back.”
They found a place away from others and Miranda wasted no time. “What did you think of Professor Stark?”
“He was a great guy. A good teacher. I respected him.” She moved her gaze between them. “What else am I supposed to say?”
“I don’t know. What else do you want to say?”
“He was demanding to work for. But I respected him for that, too.”
“You’re a research assistant.”
“Now I am.” She stopped, a strange look coming over her face. “Actually, I guess now I’m out of work. That sucks.”
“What did you mean by ‘now’ you’re a research assistant?”
“That was Jess’s job. I was his teaching assistant. Then she up and dropped out of the program about a month ago. Left me to do it all until the fall. It really messed up my schedule.”
“Why’d she drop out?” Jake asked.
“She said some family emergency, but I think it was because he rebuffed her.”
Bingo. “Rebuffed her?” Miranda repeated. “As in rejected her advances?”
“Oh, yeah. She had a huge crush on him. Huge. Everybody knew it.”
“Did Professor Stark know it?”
“Sure. But he always kept it super-professional.”
“He always keep it super-professional with you?”
She looked surprised. “Yeah. That’s who he was.”
“Anybody else have a crush on him?”
She snorted. “I’m not sure you’ve got enough paper in that notebook. Even some of the guys had a crush on him. He had it all—looks, smarts, and heart.”
“How about you? You have a thing for him?”
“Nope. See the dark-haired woman over there? Red shirt?” She pointed. “That’s my girlfriend.”
“Gotcha.” Miranda glanced at her notes. “By any chance, do you know where Jessie lives or have her number?”
“Yeah, sure. I tried calling her a couple times today, but she didn’t pick up. Sent a text. Got no response.” She frowned. “Wondered if she’d heard. I was sort of worried about how she’d take it.”
“You haven’t seen her tonight?”
She said she hadn’t and moments later Miranda and Jake walked away with Jessie’s contact information.
“What do you think?” Jake asked. “Pay this Jessie a visit?”
“Absolutely.
“Randi? Is that you?”
She stopped and looked back. A woman she recognized from high school had separated from a group of faculty and started for her. They hadn’t been friends—totally different sides of the track—but she was smiling as if she’d found her long-lost BFF.
“Randi,” she said again, smile widening, “that is you.”
“Miranda now,” she corrected, meeting her. “How are you, Paula?”
“Good, until this happened. It’s so awful.”
Miranda agreed. “You’re on the faculty here?”
“Started in January. Mathematics.”
“Props to you. But then I seem to remember you being good at math.”
“And I remember you being not so good at it.”
“Thanks for that description of my skill with numbers. It was generous.”
She laughed. “You work here at the university?”
Miranda shook her head. “I’m a cop.”
“You’re a cop?”
At her incredulous expression, Miranda laughed. “Hard to believe, isn’t it? This is my partner, Jake Billings. Jake, this is an old schoolmate, Paula Gleason.”
Paula shook his hand. “So, you two are here in an official capacity?”
“We are,” Jake said. “Did you know Richard Stark?”
She looked away, shook her head. “Not really. I’m just getting to know the people in my own department.” She returned her gaze to his. “I came to show my support.”
“You never even met him?” Miranda asked.
She shifted, looking uncomfortable. “I didn’t say that. I met him but I didn’t really know him.”
Miranda handed her a card. “If you think of anything else or hear any rumors about Stark, call me.”
Paula looked at the card, eyebrows drawn together in thought. “What do you mean, rumors?”
“Relationships he was in, hearts he may have broken, someone who had an ax to grind. That kind of stuff.”
“Oh. Okay.” She looked at Jake. “Good to meet you.”
Miranda watched her hurry back to the group of faculty, frowning in thought. That’d been weird. Definitely. But had it been so because of their own history? Or because she hadn’t been honest about her familiarity with Stark?
“What the hell, Miranda?”
She looked back at Jake, surprised. “What?”
“Rumors? Hearts he may have broken?”
“What’s wrong with asking that?”
“It’s leading, that what’s wrong with it.”
Her cheeks heated. “I’m looking for a motive.”
“More like trying to create one. And at the expense of Stark’s reputation.”
“That’s bullshit. Stark was brutally murdered by a sexual partner. And I don’t think it happened because he was such a ‘great guy.’” She made quotation marks with her fingers.
“You’re case lead, but I’d be careful if I were you.”
“Why’s that?”
“You ask the wrong person things like that, you might find yourself in a world of hurt.”