Cari had to take a few minutes to process what Bob had told her. Two deaths in less than twenty-four hours on the same campus? Surely, there’s a connection. She decided it was time to track down Ms. Pryor and see what she knew.
How do I find you, Marjorie? Cari wondered. Usually, she would request interviews with student athletes through their coaches, but it didn’t seem like Marjorie was an athlete. Still, maybe the track coach could point her in the right direction. She looked through her contact information for all of the university coaches until she found his name. It was Saturday, so the coach wouldn’t be on campus unless there was some sort of training activity or practice that he was facilitating. While she would have liked to talk to him face to face, she figured her best chance of catching him was through his cell phone. She selected the number and waited for it to ring.
“This is Eric Buchanan.” He answered quickly.
“Hi, Mr. Buchanan. This is Cari Turnlyle with the newspaper. Thank you for answering.”
“No comment—”
“Wait, please. I’m looking for Mr. Ithaca’s girlfriend. I believe I sat next to her at the meet yesterday.”
“Girlfriend? Wait, Ithaca? You’re not calling about…?” He trailed off. “Oh, you mean Marjorie?”
“Yes, sir. Do you happen to have a way to reach her?”
“I’m afraid that I don’t, but we have practice today at 10, so you might be able to ask some of the other kids, uh, students if they know her.”
“Thank you, sir. I will be there.”
“I don’t want you distracting my athletes, though.”
“Of course not! I will get there early and try to catch them during their warmup stretches. While I have you on the line, I do have a few questions for you about Ithaca himself. Do you have a moment?”
“We’ve been instructed to direct you to our media specialist. I can give you her number.”
“I have her contact information, sir. I was hoping to get a sense of who Ithaca was as an athlete. He was off to an incredible start this year, posting fantastic times during the indoor season. I would love to include a quote from you in my article. Had you ever had an athlete improve so quickly this early in their college career?”
“I will not be party to an article that sullies this young man’s name in anyway. If you are insinuating that he was using performance enhancing drugs or steroids—”
“I’m not at all, sir.” Cari lied. “I can tell that Ithaca was a special member of your team. I never got to meet him or interview him. Are you the hurdle coach or could I speak with his hurdle coach at practice?”
“We’re not going around this track again. You have the media person’s number; you can call her. Push me on this, and I won’t allow you to speak with my athletes at practice today.”
“I understand, sir. My apologies. Thank you for your time.” She ended the call.
Cari checked her watch. It was already 9:30. She would have to hustle to get over to the track early. She typed a quick email to her boss, letting him know she was chasing down a story and would return soon. Then she grabbed her notebook and her bag and hurried out to the parking garage almost running into another reporter at the door. Lionel Cardian, she scowled. That man must be working the Delamont story. He was ruthless, but she could write circles around him if given the chance. She picked up her pace as she rushed to her car. He wouldn’t know about Ithaca, so she’d have the advantage.
* * * * * * * * * *
Genevieve couldn’t believe their luck. The messaging app that Anna Flarester had told them about was easily accessed on Delamont’s phone AND it had contact information for a group of students he had been working with in a more attentive fashion. There were nine names on the contact list. She had taken five and given Alex the remaining four to contact. They were headed back to the gym now to interview them.
“All nine are coming in?” Alex asked her. “I mean, the four I called said they would be there.”
“One of the numbers I called didn’t pick up. I double-checked the name though; it’s the kid from the track yesterday. It’s starting to feel like more of a coincidence. Did the ME make a ruling on his death?”
“I’m not sure. We can call over and ask.”
“We?” Genevieve joked. “I’ll give him a call. Just a sec.” She pulled out her phone and called the ME’s office.
“This is Detective Viacorte. Was there a cause of death in the Ithaca case?”
“Ithaca? Let me pull up the file.” Clicking sounds indicative of someone typing on a computer keyboard rang through the speaker. “Here it is. Natural causes.”
“You didn’t do an autopsy?”
“The parents didn’t want one and there was no sign of foul play. We did a tox screen. Came back clean.”
“Do me a favor and don’t release that body yet. We need to verify that his death isn’t related to the new one today.”
“You got it. I’ll put a hold on it now. When should I tell the parents it will be released?”
“I don’t know. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks.” She ended the call. “No autopsy, so no real cause of death. They’re just saying natural causes.”
“Okay, well, let’s focus on this case for now. If we find a connection, we’ll dig into that some more.” Alex parked the car in the same place from earlier in the day. “We still need to check the doctor’s car too.”
“CSU has it. They brought it in already. He had a separate fob for it.” Genevieve told him.
“Did they find anything?”
“No, the only prints in it were the vic’s.”
Alex nodded and strode up the steps to the gym again. Officer Webb was waiting for them at the entrance. She pushed the door open when she saw them approaching.
“Detectives. I have the student athletes waiting in our media room for now. Cravits stayed in there with them.”
“Perfect. Is there a room where we can speak with each of them separately at some point?”
Before Officer Webb could answer, AD Whitham came stomping into the hallway.
“What’s this I hear about you interviewing our student athletes?”
“Coach Whitham, the detectives are investigating the death—”
He cut her off. “You can’t possibly think that one of our students is responsible? They’re practically children! Why was I not consulted on this?”
“AD Whitham, I don’t believe we need your permission to conduct our investigation. We need to gather all the information available, and that includes everyone that Dr. Delamont was working with, student or otherwise.” Genevieve interjected. “Please step aside.”
Whitham looked like he might explode, but a stern look from Alex seemed to stop him cold. “In the future, I would appreciate it if I was kept in the loop regarding any interviews with our athletes.”
“You know we can’t make any promises like that, sir. They are all adults. If we think you need to know something, we’ll make sure you know it.” Alex pushed past him and continued down the hallway with Genevieve and Officer Webb close behind.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize that Whitham, well, anyway, I’ll try to keep him out of your hair if I can. As I was saying, the athletes are with Officer Cravits in our media room. You had asked about rooms to interview people separately. Yes, there are some smaller rooms attached to the media room. Will that work?”
“I’ll take the women; you take the men,” Genevieve said to Alex, who nodded as they followed Officer Webb through the building.
They entered a large room with a podium on a stage and several rows of chairs on the floor. The school’s name and mascot were emblazoned on the wall behind the podium. Eight students were seated in the chairs while Officer Cravits sat in another chair up on the stage.
“Go Bobcats,” Genevieve said, smiling, earning some grins from the students. She spotted Anna right away but wasn’t sure who the others were.
“Excuse me? Is this going to take long? I’m supposed to be at track practice right now,” a slender young woman spoke up from near the back.
“We’ll make it as quick as possible,” Genevieve told her. “I’m Detective Viacorte, and this is Detective Runimoss. We found your names in a contact list belonging to Dr. John Delamont. As you probably know by now, Dr. Delamont was found murdered this morning in his office.” She watched the eight students for a response, but they all seemed to be aware of it already. “We would like to speak with you about your interactions with the doctor. Anything you might know could be helpful, so please don’t hold back.” Genevieve caught movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced through the glass doors to see another young woman in jeans and a sweater walking past the room quickly. She wondered who would be at the gym on a Saturday dressed that way but quickly returned her attention to the matter at hand.
“I’ll be interviewing the men in the room behind you on the left side and Detective Viacorte will interview the women in the other room. These will be done individually to protect your privacy.” He pointed to the back of the large room. “You can wait here with Officer Cravits until it’s your turn.” He motioned to Genevieve to lead the way to the smaller rooms.
Genevieve called out the first name on her list. “Emma Savol? You’ll be first.” The slender woman in the back rose. She was wearing a teal pullover hoodie and running shoes.
“Thank you. I really need to get over to practice.” She walked past Genevieve to the room on the right.
The smaller rooms consisted of a table with six chairs around them. Genevieve positioned herself to face the door and indicated that Emma should sit across from her.
“Ms. Savol—”
“Just call me Emma. Please.”
“Emma, what kind of help were you getting from Dr. Delamont?”
“Help? I guess you could call it help. He, uh, formulated a nutrition plan for me. It’s supposed to help me maximize my potential.”
“Did you find it effective?”
“Oh yes. I have been very pleased with his suggestions. My times have really improved with his guidance.”
“How often did you meet with Dr. Delamont?”
“About once a month, though he told me that his door was always open. He is a great doctor…was a great doctor.”
“You got along with him?”
“I think everyone did. I would see him occasionally at various sporting events. He was really engaged with all of our teams. He cared about how we were doing.”
“Can you think of any reason why someone would want to harm him?”
“No. He was the best. I still can’t believe he’s gone. First Stephen and now Dr. D.” She sighed.
“You knew Stephen Ithaca?”
“We were both on the track team. It’s not that large.”
“Did Dr. Delamont help Stephen with nutrition too?”
“You know, I’m not sure. Dr. D didn’t exactly advertise or whatever.”
“What do you mean, advertise?”
“That was probably the wrong word. Coach Whitham, the AD?” She waited for Genevieve to nod in recognition. “He referred me to Dr. D right after I got to campus. He said that he’d seen my results in high school and thought that Dr. D could help me get to the next level. I assume he had programs for lots of student athletes.”
“The only ones he contacted personally were the eight of you. Well, nine if you count Mr. Ithaca.”
Emma winced at the name. “Interesting. Did you have any other questions or can I go?”
“Was it common for the AD to interact with individual athletes?”
“He does a lot of the recruiting, so I think he takes some pride in getting to sit down with each of us that have scholarships.”
“You have a scholarship?”
“Yes, several of the track team members are on scholarship. I have a full ride though. It’s partly academic and partly athletic. Now can I go?” Emma was tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.
Genevieve thought for a moment. “I think that’s all for now. Please take my card and give me a call if you think of anything else.”
Emma grabbed the card and stood up. “Who should I ask to follow me?”
Genevieve looked at her list. “Jess Loster. I’m not sure I’m saying that right, but she’s the only Jess on the list.” Emma exited the room and called out the name. A tall female with straight, dark hair stood up. She had angular facial features that complimented her dark complexion and eyes. Genevieve could see that the young woman was muscular even though she had on sweats.
“Hi there. How do you pronounce your last name?”
“Loh-ster. I’m not lost.” She grinned.
“Okay, then, Ms. Loster. I just have a few questions…”
And on it went for the next half hour. None of the athletes that Genevieve interviewed knew anything helpful. Each had a scholarship, including one other who had a full ride like Emma did. They all loved “Dr. D” and couldn’t believe that someone would hurt him, let alone kill him. She wondered if Alex was having any more luck.
She hoped that she only had to wait a few minutes for him to finish with his last interview. She looked out the room’s windows into the corridor and saw the same young woman pass by again. She jumped up to try to get a better look, but the woman quickened her pace and disappeared around the corner. Just then, the door to the other interview room opened and a tall, muscular young man with short blonde hair and brown eyes looked her way as he stepped out of the interview room but quickly diverted his gaze. Alex gathered up his notebook and stepped out of the interview room.
“How did it go for you?” He asked.
“I basically conducted the same interview four times. Everyone loved Delamont, he was helping with their nutrition plans, he was a great person, etcetera. It felt like they were all holding something back, but I don’t have a clue as to what that would be.”
“I got the same vibe from the men. They were all quick to sing his praises and couldn’t believe this could happen. Were all of your athletes on scholarship?”
“Yes, all four of them, with half of them having a full ride, though one of those was combined with academic scholarships too.”
“They all mentioned that he helped them with their nutrition. I asked one of them if this was code for steroids and he was pretty offended that I would suggest it. He was adamant that it was just healthy, balanced eating."
"So, where does this leave us? Do we even have a suspect?”
“Honestly, everyone I’ve talked to, save for Beverly the secretary, has been suspicious. They’re all holding something back, but what?”
* * * * * * * * * *
Whitham stormed out of the building to the staff parking lot. How dare they? This was his building, his department. He oversaw the athletes and they went behind his back. He and John had worked so hard to keep these kids apart. It seemed like the hits would just keep coming for their program. He needed to get ahead of this quickly.
He pulled out his phone and sent a text. Maybe he could work this meeting to his advantage after all. It was time to call in another favor. He was still too angry to go back to his office, so he started his car. He’d bought the Jag new off the lot a few weeks ago. It was the nicest thing he’d ever owned and even though it was a bit of an impulse buy, he was still glad that he had done it. It made him feel like he fit in more in his new neighborhood up on the hill. The homes up there were part of a gated community with large lots and big mortgages. He had just barely qualified for the loan necessary to get that house. Part of him still wished that he’d listened to the financial planner and gotten something smaller in one of the older parts of town. He was barely scraping by right now, but he knew that the university would give him another raise as long as the athletic department continued to thrive. Until then, he still had some space on his credit cards.