Given the absence of security cameras in the Bede library and her own lack of psychic powers, Emily could not immediately think of a way to find out who had been in the library on Sunday before three o’clock. She went back to consult Miranda again.
She found the librarian in her office. Today she was wearing royal blue leggings and a white T-shirt topped by a knee-length, handkerchief-hemmed black vest adorned with huge, brightly colored appliquéd flowers. A black beret, blue bandanna neckerchief, and fuchsia flats completed the outfit.
When her eyes had adjusted to the blast of color, Emily said, ‘I need your help again, Miranda. Daniel was working here until closing time Saturday night, and he knows the statuette was there the whole time. So it must have been taken on Sunday before you did your walkabout. Can you think of any way to find out who was in the south stacks during that time?’
Miranda pouched her lips in thought. ‘Not the south stacks in particular, and not everyone who was in the library. But we could start by seeing who checked anything out that day. If none of them looks likely, you could ask them all who else they saw while they were here.’
Emily’s heart sank at the possible enormity of that task. Talking to random people she didn’t know was right up there on her list of dreaded activities along with attending crowded sports functions and killing spiders. But professional detectives had to do it all the time, so an amateur sleuth would have to accept the burden at least occasionally. ‘OK, if that’s what we’ve got, I’ll go with it.’
Miranda led her to the front desk, where she commandeered a computer and typed for a minute before producing a printed list. ‘This would normally be confidential information, but I haven’t listed what materials each patron checked out, and since it is a murder inquiry … well, hopefully they’ll understand.’
‘Thanks, Miranda. I owe you one.’
‘No, you don’t. I’m doing this for Daniel.’
Emily sat at a table and perused the list, which filled about half a page. Naturally neither Saul Goldstein nor Douglas Curzon was on it, since they were not affiliated with the college and did not have borrower’s privileges. She looked closely for any mention of Taylor Curzon, Richard McClintock, or any other staff member or student associated with the case. She came up blank on that, but she did see the name of one faculty member she was at least acquainted with – Teresa Rivera, the Spanish professor. She headed over to Vollum to see if she could find Teresa in her office.
Teresa’s door was open, and she sat at her desk facing the doorway. Teresa was a sociable sort who liked to be accessible for her students and keep up with what was going on. In fact, Emily was rather surprised she hadn’t made her presence felt in the whole to-do surrounding Taylor in the last couple of weeks.
She knocked on the open door, and Teresa raised her tousled gray head. ‘Emily! How lovely to see you! Come in.’ She piloted her electric wheelchair out from behind the desk and came to meet Emily, free hand outstretched. ‘It has been far too long. How are you?’
‘Well enough myself, thanks. But I’m kind of in the middle of this murder inquiry. In fact, that’s why I’m here.’
‘You? In the middle of a murder inquiry? But why? How?’
‘It’s a long story. I was working with some other people to get Taylor sanctioned for all her sexual misconduct, and the young man who’s been arrested was a kind of protégé of mine. I’m convinced he’s innocent, but the detective in charge doesn’t want to “waste” resources continuing to investigate when he already has the man he thinks is guilty.’
‘I see.’ Teresa clucked sympathetically. ‘I would not like to think any of our students – or professors – could be guilty of murder. But that which is important is the truth, no? What can I do to help?’
‘I’m trying to figure out who was in the south stacks on the main floor of the library on Sunday before three p.m. It’s probably best if I don’t say why.’
‘Of course. I did go to the library on Sunday, right after lunch. But I was not in those stacks, and I did not stay long.’
‘Did you happen to see Richard or Taylor there?’
‘Mmm … no, I do not think so.’
‘Any students you recognized?’
‘Only my thesis student, Anna Gomez. I stopped by her desk to check on her.’
‘Where is her desk?’
‘South stacks, lower level.’
‘What about a couple of men you wouldn’t recognize as belonging to Bede? Both middle-aged, probably wearing suits. One short, pudgy, balding, dyspeptic-looking, the other tall, suave, and handsome.’
‘Together?’
‘No, either one separately.’
Teresa screwed up her eyes in thought. ‘I think I may have seen the first one. The dyspeptic one. He pushed by me in a hurry, bumped into my chair and made me drop my books. He did not even apologize, let alone offer to help me pick them up.’
That sounded like Goldstein. Emily’s pulse raced. A lead at last. ‘Was he headed in or out at the time?’
‘Out, I think. I had just checked out my books and was heading for the exit, and he came up from behind me. But I stopped to pick up my things, so I did not see where he went from there.’
‘Did you notice whether he was carrying anything?’
‘Ahh … yes, I think he was carrying a briefcase. In fact, that is probably what he bumped me with.’ She shook her head. ‘What a boor.’
Emily tried to picture Saul Goldstein’s briefcase and Daniel’s statuette. Would the statue fit inside the briefcase? The height would probably fit, but she couldn’t be sure about the width of the base. But still, it was a lead. She’d pass it on to Colin and let him take it from there.
‘Thanks, Teresa. You’ve been a great help.’
‘Any time. But you know, that is not what I expected you to ask about.’
‘No?’
‘I keep thinking someone is going to ask me about what I might have seen here in Vollum on the night of the murder.’
Emily started. ‘The police didn’t ask you that?’
Teresa shrugged. ‘I was out that morning, when you discovered the body. That is when they went around and talked to everyone. I thought they would come back to question me later on, but they never did.’
Emily set her lips. She’d have a word or two to say to Colin when she talked to him next. Although it was probably Wharton’s fault more than his. ‘Did you see anything interesting?’
‘Most certainly, yes. I saw a man go into Taylor’s office. In fact, it may have been that other man you mentioned – the suave one. I expected him to go to Marguerite’s office – he looked like her type. A great deal too old for Taylor.’ She gave a wry smile.
An embarras de richesse. Surely Goldstein and Douglas couldn’t have been in on it together? As far as Emily knew, they hadn’t even met. ‘What time was this?’
‘Oh, dear. Almost never do I look at the clock. But I was just getting ready to leave, so maybe … eleven?’
That sounded very incriminating indeed. No wonder Douglas had lied about his alibi if he was here within the exact time window determined for the murder.
‘Did you see the man come out again?’
‘No. I left within five minutes. But I heard raised voices as I passed the door.’
‘This is incredibly important, Teresa. You’re going to have to report that directly to the police. I’ll be talking to one of the junior detectives – should I tell him to call on you?’
‘Certainly. I can check “being interviewed by the police” off my bucket list.’ She laughed, then sobered. ‘Seriously, though, I am so happy you came by. I never realized I had such important information.’
Emily thanked her again and left, marveling at how Teresa could have failed to come forward by this time with her knowledge about Douglas. But then, not everyone had been close to a murder before, as Emily had. Maybe Teresa didn’t even watch detective shows.
Emily found a quiet corner in the faculty lounge and called Colin. ‘I found a witness for you.’
‘What sort of witness?’
‘One you should have found for yourself, actually. She was in Vollum the night of the murder. And she was also in the library on Sunday afternoon.’
‘Holy cow. I thought we’d interviewed everyone in Vollum.’
‘She wasn’t there on Tuesday morning when your people went door to door. And apparently no one ever thought to get back to her.’
Colin groaned. ‘I wanted to check back to see if we’d missed anyone, but Wharton said it was a waste of time since we had Daniel. Who is this witness? What did she see?’
‘Teresa Rivera, the Spanish professor. She saw two things that don’t necessarily fit together. On Sunday after lunch, she saw a man who looked like Saul Goldstein leaving the library in a hurry carrying a briefcase.’
‘He could have just been looking for his daughter.’
‘Svetlana said they were together all weekend. Obviously not every minute, since she wasn’t with him right then, but it didn’t sound like he’d have had to go looking for her in the middle of the day.’
‘OK, I’ll follow up on that. And Monday night?’
‘This is the really interesting part. Teresa is not big on keeping track of time, but just as she was getting ready to leave for the night – which she thinks was around eleven – she saw a man matching Douglas Curzon’s description go into Taylor’s office. She left a few minutes later, and she could hear raised voices as she passed the door.’
‘Well, well, well. That is very interesting. So our Douglas did not go to bed early like a good little boy. I will definitely be looking into this.’
‘And you will talk to Teresa yourself, won’t you? She’s looking forward to it. Says it’s on her bucket list to be interviewed by the police.’ Emily rolled her eyes, which of course Colin couldn’t see.
He snorted. ‘Right. I’ll go see her right away. What are you going to do now?’
‘I feel like I’m kind of at a dead end with regard to the murder, unless you can think of anything else I should do.’
‘Not really.’
‘Then maybe I’ll tackle a matter of internal college business I’ve put on hold. That plagiarism accusation against Richard McClintock.’
‘If you’re going to talk to McClintock, I should be there. In case it turns out to be related.’
‘No, I’m going to talk to Marguerite, see if we can verify Taylor’s claim. I’ll let you know what we find out.’