Andrew sat down at his kitchen table to catch his breath. His arms were still peppered with goosebumps from what he’d just seen. He knew that he should have been more suspicious about the text he received last night. It seemed innocent at first. They wanted him to meet with Dr. D. and get him to change his mind about pausing the program. Andrew wanted him to keep the program going too, so he was happy to step up and speak for the group. After learning that the pick-up had been canceled yesterday, he’d put in a meeting request for this morning and Dr. D. had accepted it almost immediately. Andrew’s heart lurched. He needed to cancel the request. He pulled out his phone and shakily entered his passcode. He let out his breath once he’d deleted the meeting request. He double checked that the meeting had been deleted from Dr. D’s availability calendar before closing the app. That was a close one.
Andrew had never been intimidated by the person who had instructed him to go see Dr. D. After what he saw this morning, he would tread more cautiously around the man. Andrew had never been in any real trouble before, but he had panicked in Dr. D’s office. He tried to quickly find the powder and get out of there but failed. He’d probably left his fingerprints everywhere too.
* * * * * * * * * *
Marjorie looked in the mirror. Her eyes were still bloodshot from crying all morning. Her freckled face was red and splotchy too. She had met Stephen’s parents at the airport last night and taken them to their hotel downtown. Her own parents weren’t coming. They wanted her to come home and take a break for a few days. She couldn’t leave, though. It felt like abandoning Stephen in some ways. She still couldn’t believe he was really gone. He was so healthy and strong. He had his whole life ahead of him! She felt her eyes starting to fill again and shook her head in an effort to make the tears stop. How could this have happened?
Stephen’s parents didn’t want an autopsy, and since there were no signs of foul play, the ME wasn’t going to do one. Marjorie wondered if she should tell someone about the powder that Stephen had been taking. Maybe it caused this. Stephen had been running hurdles for almost a decade and he had never had an issue. They had done a physical to make sure everything was fine; this certainly couldn’t have been totally natural causes. She didn’t know who to ask or what good it would do. Stephen was dead and nothing was going to change that.
Marjorie sighed and grabbed her hair brush. For once, she wished that she wore makeup regularly so she could cover up some of the splotchiness on her face. Maybe it wouldn’t be weird to wear sunglasses all day so no one could see her eyes. She gently brushed her hair and tried to make herself look presentable. She had promised to join Stephen’s parents for lunch after they met with the track coach and cleaned out his locker at the gym. Marjorie would have preferred to just lay in bed all day and do nothing. At least it was the weekend, so she didn’t have to try to go to class.
Marjorie’s roommate, Tiffany, had been so kind last night. She hadn’t gone to the track meet, but Marjorie had been coherent enough to ask the person who saw her struggling to get to Stephen to call Tiff to pick her up. Tiff had left her job at the local ice cream joint to get Marjorie and bring her back to their on-campus apartment. She’d filled up the bathtub with hot water and bubbles and ordered Marjorie into it. Tiff had listened to Marjorie share endless stories about Stephen. They had stayed up well past three o’clock eating ice cream that Tiff had brought home from work. Tiff had to work again today, but she’d checked in with Marjorie multiple times to make sure she was okay. She felt really blessed to have such a compassionate roommate.
* * * * * * * * * *
Genevieve Viacorte grabbed her notepad and her recorder. She had just been promoted to detective last year and still felt like a rookie. Her partner, Alex Runimoss was a fifteen-year veteran with their squad. Genevieve appreciated his knowledge and experience as well as his willingness to let her take the lead on their cases more recently. They were headed over to Onore University to investigate a suspicious death. Alex said that campus security had been vague about the details when they had called over to the precinct.
“You ready, G?” Alex broke into her thoughts.
“As ready as ever. Is this about the kid who collapsed on the track?” She asked as she followed Alex out to their vehicle. His tall, broad frame blocked her vision. Alex was every bit as tall as she was short. He held the door open for her.
“I don’t think so. They made it sound like it was a teacher or coach or something. Hopefully, no one has touched anything.” His dark eyes narrowed. “Those campus police officers have no idea how to handle this.”
“Are you driving, or am I?” Genevieve tried to keep him from getting too worked up over things out of their control.
Alex grinned and held up the keys. He had straight black hair that he kept fairly short.
“You think I can fit behind the wheel of this thing after you drove it last? I might get a cramp if I don’t adjust the seat before I try to squeeze in.” He laughed.
“Very funny. I’ve never heard that one before.” She rolled her eyes and got into the passenger seat. She had taken the car to get gas after their shift ended yesterday, then returned it to the station. She flipped down the visor to shield her eyes from the sun. Even with sunglasses on, her light, hazel eyes would squint to keep the brightness out as much as possible. “What building are we headed to? You mentioned a coach, so the gym?”
“Yeah, the athletic building. Hopefully, we can find a place to park close to the entrance.” Alex put the car in gear and pulled away from the station.
“Did they say what made the death suspicious? Is it related to the track kid?”
“They sounded like they were in shock. I heard someone crying in the background too. It sounds like a mess. I have no idea; I’m pretty sure I heard someone at the station say that the track kid died of natural causes even though it was unexpected.” He steered along the road that went through the campus. Several students with backpacks were walking along the sidewalk towards the library, which was in the center of campus. A few blocks later, he parked alongside the curb near the gym.
Genevieve had to almost jog to keep up with Alex’s long strides. It was windy today and she was thankful that she’d pulled all her hair into a low bun for the day. When she brushed it out, her dark hair fell well past her shoulders. The wind would have tied it into knots today. She scampered up the steps next to Alex and they entered the building. A campus police officer was waiting in the hallway for them.
“Officers Runimoss and Viacorte?” Genevieve stifled a laugh at the way he said their names. She was certain Alex had not mispronounced them over the phone.
“It’s a long o, Roo-nee-mohs. And she’s just Vee-uh-cort. Nothing fancy, but we are detectives.” Alex told the younger man. “And you are?”
“Officer Cravits. This is my first murder. I mean, we don’t know it’s a murder yet, right? Sorry. Right this way.”
Genevieve caught Alex rolling his eyes after Cravits turned to walk down the hallway. They passed the gymnasium and then made a left into the next hallway. Another campus police officer was waiting outside an office at the end of the hall.
“This is Officer Belinda Webb. She can show you the scene. This is Detective Runimoss and Detective Viacorte.” He gestured towards Alex and Genevieve.
The tall, thin woman nodded and pulled out a large ring of keys. She had blonde hair with streaks of grey in it. Officer Webb flipped through them before settling on one and sticking it into the lock. Surprisingly, it worked.
“We kept the office locked after we discovered the body. I knew that we shouldn’t touch anything. It’s quite obvious that he is dead.” She grimaced as she led them into the sizeable office.
Genevieve glanced at the nameplate outside the office as they walked in. Dr. John Delamont-Sports Medicine Chair. He didn’t sound familiar to her, but she hadn’t been on the campus much. She made a note of his name and title.
Genevieve could tell right away that some sort of struggle had occurred in the office. There were papers scattered on the floor, a filing cabinet had all of its drawers hanging open, and of course, there were the man’s shoes sticking out from behind the desk. She stepped around to the other side and saw that Officer Webb was correct. There was no doubt that the man was dead. The side of his head had a large contusion and there was a large pool of blood under his head. She looked over at Alex and saw that he was looking expectantly at her.
“Who reported the body? And at what time?”
“It was one of our student athletes, an Anna Flarester. She’s on the softball team, she said. She used the phone in the hallway to call us. All the phones have specific extensions so we know where someone is calling from before they mention it. She was pretty shaken up.”
“And what time was that again?”
“Oh right, sorry. It was just after seven this morning.”
“Where is Ms. Flarester now?”
The officer cringed. “She was really upset. I know that you probably want to talk to her, but she wouldn’t calm down. I had her call her roommate to come get her. Don’t worry, though! I got the roommate’s information. We can call her now and she’ll bring her back.”
Genevieve spoke up before Alex could berate the poor woman. “In the future, and let’s hope this isn’t something we ever have to experience again, please keep any potential witnesses at the scene. It’s pretty important.” She looked over at Alex, who was scowling. “Please call and have her return ASAP.”
Officer Webb nodded and excused herself. Alex crouched next to the body. He had on gloves and checked around the body to see if anything might have fallen under him when he landed. Genevieve pulled out her phone to call the ME. They had notified him before they left the station but said they were unsure if it would be necessary for his team to make the trip over.
“The ME is on his way along with a crime scene unit. It looks like this trophy was the murder weapon.” She pointed at a good-sized trophy on the man’s desk. The trophy consisted of a ring of gold stars around an athletic looking man with his arms raised over head. It had a large, white marble base. Several of the stars were outlined in blood and there was more blood smeared on the base. A small plaque at the bottom read, ‘John Delamont, state diving champion 1998’.
Alex stood up and looked at the trophy. “It looks like someone tried to wipe it clean. We probably won’t get any usable prints off of it, but let’s tell them to dust it anyway. Is our witness on her way back yet?”
Genevieve glanced out towards the hallway and saw that Webb was still on the phone. “Maybe. Looks like she’s still talking to them.”
“I didn’t realize that I needed to tell them to keep her at the scene. Good grief. What incompetence!”
Genevieve motioned to Alex to stop as she saw Webb walking back towards the office. The officer stepped inside.
“Um, Ms. Flarester is on her way back.” She grinned sheepishly.
“What else can you tell us about her? How did she look? How did she act?” Alex reeled off question after question.
“Um, she was really upset—”
“You mentioned that. What else?”
“Right, sorry. She was crying and her hair was kind of a mess, I guess.”
“Was there any blood on her clothing or her hands? Did she have a rag or a cloth? Someone wiped what appears to be the murder weapon clean.” Alex said firmly.
“She apologized, Alex. We can’t change the circumstances.” Genevieve interjected.
“No, no, nothing like that. She looked like she had just gotten out of bed to come over to meet Dr. D.”
“Dr. D?”
“Dr. D. That’s what all the kids call him. He’s the head sports medicine doctor here. He’s very well liked.”
Genevieve made a mental note of the nickname. It sounded like the man had been friendly with his students. She wondered if any others would be coming by to meet with him that morning.
“Who did he work with most frequently? Who is his boss?”
“That would be Coach Whitham. AD Whitham. Would you like to talk to him too? I can call his secretary and make you an appointment.”
“Just get us the numbers and the location of his office,” Alex growled. Genevieve cringed. Yes, the officer had really broken a standard procedure by allowing the student to leave, but there was no need to continue to be rude. Webb exited the office again. They could hear someone wheeling something down the hallway and decided that the ME and his team must have arrived.
Genevieve poked her head out to check. Sure enough, a group of people with a gurney were heading their way. Alex indicated to Genevieve that he’d show them the doctor’s office. Behind them, she saw a short, stocky young woman drift into the hallway. She was accompanied by a taller, muscular woman. The taller woman had her straight blonde hair pulled back into a tight pony tail, while the other woman’s hair was the stereotype of bedhead. Her dark curls were in a cloud around her head. She was wearing a t-shirt and flannel pajama pants. She was grasping her hands at chest level and seemed to be wringing them in an odd way. The woman who must be her roommate was looking at her friend nervously. It was clear that they were both upset. Officer Webb intercepted them before Genevieve could speak.
“Thank you so much for coming right back. This is Detective Viacorte; her partner, Detective Runimoss is in Dr. Delamont’s office right now. They have some questions for you.” Officer Webb thanked the roommate and instructed her to wait elsewhere.
“Ms. Flarester—”
“Please, just call me Anna,” the shorter woman said softly.
“Okay, Anna. I’m Detective Viacorte, and as Officer Webb mentioned, my partner, Detective Runimoss is in the adjacent office. What brought you to Dr. Delamont’s office this morning? Seven o’clock seems rather early for a meeting.”
“Dr. D always invited us to come chat with him at any time. He is, was really easy going.”
“Okay, so what did you need from him today?” Genevieve rephrased the question.
“Well, he has been helping me with, um, my nutrition lately, and I, uh, wanted to check with him about some supplements I take and make sure they wouldn’t, um, interfere with the plan he had me on.” Anna stumbled through her words a bit.
“Was it common for him to provide athletes with nutrition plans? Wouldn’t your coach normally do something like that?”
“Yes, well, yes. Our coach has some recommended dietary and nutrition advice, but Dr. D, well, he’s a doctor. He was a doctor. How did this happen? I just got a message from him last night.”
“You texted with the doctor? That seems rather familiar.”
“Oh, not really a text. He had a messaging system that we could use to make appointments. We would request a meeting at a certain time and he would confirm the time, and we’d get a message.”
“I see.” Genevieve made a note to find the doctor’s phone; maybe they could see who else he had planned to meet with in the last twenty-four hours. “How often did you meet with him?”
“Oh, about once a month.”
“Were there others that met with him too or how did that work?”
“I mean, I’m sure there are, uh, were, but he was always really good about making sure none of our appointments overlapped in any way. He said that he didn’t want our meetings to be public knowledge, like doctor-patient confidentiality, you know.”
Genevieve found this a little odd. She noticed that Alex had rejoined her in the hallway. She could tell that he found the young woman’s statement a little off-putting too.
“Did you see anyone leaving the building or in the hallway when you got here?”
“Um, I don’t know. I might have. I didn’t really think about it at the time. I was just trying to keep my appointment with Dr. D.”
Genevieve sighed mentally. She didn’t think Anna was a viable suspect, but they would have to find out from the ME when he was placing the time of death before they could rule her out completely.
“Okay, thank you for answering our questions. We’ll need a way to contact you if we come up with more questions. For the meantime, here’s my card if you think of anything else.” After writing her contact information onto a form that Officer Webb handed her, the young woman turned and walked down the hallway to where her roommate was waiting.
“Officer Webb, how long was Ms. Flarester gone from here? Would she have had time to change clothes?”
“Oh no. The roommate told me that they hadn’t even made it back to their dorm room yet. They live on-campus, just a few blocks from here and were on foot. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes and she is wearing the same, um, outfit that she was earlier.”
“Okay, thanks.”
They turned back to the office to see how the ME was doing. The crime scene unit had dusted much of the room with print powder. Genevieve could see that the filing cabinet had several usable prints, as did the handles to the drawers. Whoever had been here had been looking for something, but what?
“I’d place the time of death between 6:00 and 6:30 this morning.”
Alex turned back to Officer Webb. “Does this building have cameras outside or inside?”
“Unfortunately, no. We have been meaning to install them, but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. It’s a fairly old campus, so a lot of things need to be updated, but it isn’t really in the budget. The building across the way has some, but I don’t know if they pick up the entrance to the gym.”
“We’d like to see them, just in case. You never know what we might catch.”
Webb nodded and took out her phone again to make another call. “I’ll have them sent over to you later this morning.” She took the card that Genevieve offered with her contact information.
“We need to speak with Whitham, and what about the victim’s phone? Has that been recovered?”
The ME held up an evidence bag. “It’s right here. I’m taking it over to the lab. Check back with us later to see what they can find. We took his laptop too.”
“Good. We need to know what he did in the last day or so.” She turned back to Officer Webb. “When can we meet with Whitham?”
“Coach Whitham is on his way here now. He said that he would meet you in his office in about fifteen minutes. Is there anyone else we can track down for you?”
“Did Delamont have a secretary or administrative assistant? Who was in charge of his schedule? He’s the head of the department, right? Where can we get a list of the other people on his team?”
“Coach Whitham can give you those names, or his secretary can. Each sports team has their own team of trainers and medical personnel. Some have more than others, of course.” At that moment her phone rang and she paused to answer it.
Genevieve turned to Alex. “When we meet with Whitham, let’s see if he’ll give us a list of names of student athletes that were under Delamont’s care. Whoever did this had access to the building. They must have an ID card or something that lets them get in—
“Officer Webb—” Genevieve interrupted herself, but Webb was still finishing her phone call. She paused while Webb lowered her phone and looked at her. “Does the building log the IDs of people who enter it? Do you have a system for that?”
“That we do. I can look it up and send it over with the video when I get back to our office.”
“Thank you. I guess that’s all we need for now. You have my card; let me know if anything else comes up.”
“Which way to Whitham’s office?” Alex asked.
“He’s in room 138. You’ll turn back to the right and it’s in that first hallway near the front office.” She went back to her phone call.
Alex and Genevieve walked back down the hallway toward Whitham’s office. The man should be arriving in the next ten minutes. At the very least, Whitham could get them in touch with Delamont’s parents. Genevieve hoped someone knew who the man’s friends were too.
* * * * * * * * * *
Whitham sat in his car trying to collect his thoughts. The news of John’s death had rattled him. He wondered if it had to do with the death of the track kid, what was his name again? If John was dead, what did this mean for their program? Had he left the rest of the powder in his office? Did he take it home? Questions swirled in Whitham’s mind. He couldn’t mention the powder to the police, but what if it was still in John’s office and they figured out what it was? Maybe he could find out from them if they’d discovered it. He pulled the keys from the ignition and opened the car door. It was time to do a little investigating of his own.
He entered the building and saw a small woman with dark brown hair and pale, freckled skin standing next to a man who couldn’t be an inch under six-foot-six. Whitham prided himself on his own height but felt dwarfed near this giant. The man had light brown skin and dark, brooding eyes. He looked back at the woman but quickly glanced away. She had a knowing look in her eyes that told him despite her size, she was not to be trifled with.
“You must be the detectives that Officer Webb mentioned. Um, Viacorte and Runimoss? I see you’ve found my office. Let me just get the door unlocked for you.” He fumbled a bit with his keys but eventually got the door unlocked. He had to pull a folding chair out from behind the filing cabinet so that everyone could have a seat.
“Don’t worry about it; I can stand.” The man said. “I’m Detective Runimoss and this is my partner, Detective Viacorte. We just have a few questions for you today.” He glanced at his partner, who cleared her throat.
“Mr. Whitham, we are very sorry for your loss. We know losing a colleague can come as a shock.”
“Thank you. I still can’t believe it. I just saw him yesterday afternoon and now…” he trailed off.
The woman nodded. “You said that you saw him yesterday afternoon? Did you meet with him often?”
“We usually only met once a month unless something came up.”
“Did something come up or was this your regular meeting?”
“Oh, um, yes, just a regular meeting.” Whitham inwardly cringed. Would they know that he’d lied?
“Okay, where were you this morning between 6:00 and 6:30?”
“I’m sorry, am I a suspect? Do I need a lawyer?”
“We just need to rule people out,” the woman said gently, tilting her head as if to say, answer the question, fool!
“Right. Okay. I was at home, asleep. I usually don’t come in until almost 9:00 unless I have a meeting.”
“Can anyone verify that?” Detective Runimoss broke in.
“Um, I mean, my alarm system at my house can. I set it before I went to bed and didn’t turn it off until I left to come here fifteen minutes ago. I can get you a report from the security company.”
The woman handed him a card. “Please send it here. Now, how well did you know Dr. Delamont? Did you consider him a friend?”
“A friend? No, he was more of a colleague. I mean, technically, I was his boss, so I wouldn’t really call us colleagues either. It was strictly a professional relationship. I recruited him to join our athletic department a little over two years ago, so I didn’t know him very well.”
She nodded and scribbled something in her notebook. “Did he have a secretary? Is there someone else we can talk to that might know who his friends were?”
“Well, the whole department shares one administrative assistant. I can set up a time for you to meet with her. I’m sure she’s in the office right now.”
“We also need to know which athletes he was working with most closely. The student who found his body mentioned that he was helping her with her nutritional plan? Were there others getting this sort of help?”
Whitham hoped he didn’t give away the momentary panic that shot up his spine. Did this student mention the powder?! Surely not, or we’d all be hosed. “I’m not sure if I’m at liberty to release those names. Doctor-patient privilege and all.” The two detectives stared at him blankly. What were they thinking?!
“What else can you tell us about him? Was he well-liked? Was he a reliable employee?”
“Definitely. I heard about John from one of our alumni. He had an injury that required some rehab with a sports medicine doctor. The alum was impressed and so I contacted him about possibly joining our staff. He had a good outlook for our student athletes. He encouraged all of our coaches and medical trainers to be proactive with their teams, you know? They didn’t overwork the kids, made sure they knew how to eat healthy, warm up and cool down properly, all of it. Our teams have had a much lower injury incidence since John joined our department. He has been fantastic. Everyone liked John, ahem, Dr. Delamont. Do you have any idea who could have done this? Was there anything in his office…?” Whitham’s eyes dropped as he realized what John’s death meant for his future, especially if he couldn’t find the powder before the police did. He absentmindedly stroked his mustache with his left hand.
“We can’t really discuss the investigation with you, sir. What about next of kin?”
“Excuse me?”
“Who does he have listed as his emergency contact? Usually that’s a spouse or—”
“John wasn’t married. I don’t think he was dating anyone either.”
“Okaaaay, but he still had to have an emergency contact. Can you look that information up for us?”
“You’ll have to get that from the office. Beverly might be able to tell you, but you might have to go through HR.”
“Thank you. Again, we’re very sorry for your loss. If you think of anything else, you have my card.” Detective Viacorte got up from the chair as Detective Runimoss nodded. Whitham wondered what they were thinking when the woman turned back.
“I’m sorry, you mentioned a secretary? Where can we find her?”
“She’s in the main office at the opposite end of this hallway.” He stood up and pointed them in the right direction. As the two detectives filed out of the office, Whitham wiped at the sweat that had started to form on his forehead. He tugged his polo shirt away from his chest a few times to try to cool off. He hoped the detectives hadn’t noticed him sweating. At least the shirt was black, so you couldn’t see it getting damp under his arms.
* * * * * * * * * *
Genevieve followed Alex down the hallway. The athletic director had been hiding something. Maybe multiple things. Alibi or not, he was suspicious. She glanced up and saw Alex was holding the office door open for her. Always the gentleman. She nodded her thanks as she looked inside the spacious office. She wondered why Whitham’s office wasn’t part of this main office. It seemed like it would be easier to communicate that way. A middle-aged woman was seated behind a large desk with a phone to her ear. She held up a finger to indicate that she would be right with them. She looked like she could cry at any minute. Her short, curly, grey hair was meticulously styled and held in place with what Genevieve could only assume was whatever replaced AquaNet from the 90s. As her head bobbed up and down, her gaudy turquoise earrings followed suit. Genevieve wondered if it hurt to have something so heavy pounding into your head like that. Finally, the woman placed the telephone receiver back in the cradle and looked up at them.
“You must be Detectives Runimoss and Viacorte. Coach Whitham just called to tell me that you would be on your way over. Is it true what he said? Dr. Delamont is dead? Murdered?” Her eyes were wide.
“I’m afraid so, yes.” Genevieve looked at the name plate on her desk. Beverly Simpson. “Ms. Simpson, how well did you know Dr. Delamont?”
“Please, call me Beverly. I didn’t know him too well. I usually saw him on his way in and out of the building, but he didn’t need a lot from me. He preferred to make his own appointments and he didn’t travel with the teams usually, so I didn’t need to do travel arrangements for him either.”
“What time do you usually arrive at work, Beverly?” Genevieve asked.
“I get here at seven on the dot to unlock the building. All of the coaches and trainers have their own keys if they need to get in during off hours, of course. But I like to get the place open and ready for all of our athletes right away, even on Saturdays.”
“We’ve heard that they can use their ID badges to buzz themselves in? Is that not the case?” Alex asked.
“Oh, yes and no. You see, some students have clearance to enter to use the weight room during our off hours, you know before class or morning practices, but they have to get special permission for that.”
Genevieve’s hazel eyes sparkled. “Could we get a list of the students with special clearance?”
“Oh, of course! Let me print that out for you. Surely you don’t think that…” She put a hand up to her mouth.
“We just need to know who was here and when. Thank you, Beverly. Could you be sure to include their contact information with the list too?” Genevieve smiled at her.
“We also need Dr. Delamont’s home address as well as his emergency contact information,” Alex added.
“I can print that out too. Just a moment.” She typed away at her computer.
“Did Dr. Delamont have any friends in the athletic department? We’re trying to get a sense of who he was.”
“Friends? I can’t say that I knew. Like I said, I usually just saw him coming or going. He didn’t really stop by to chat.” She handed them the printouts. “Is there anything else that I can get for you?”
“I don’t think so, ma’am. Here’s my card if you think of anything else.” Alex placed his card on the desk and then turned back to the office doors.
Once they were back in the hallway, he turned to Genevieve. “We need to see if he had his house keys on him. He just lives a few blocks from here, though I doubt he shared that with the athletes.”
Genevieve nodded in agreement. “The crime scene guys are probably still here. Maybe they found his keys.”
They walked quickly over to Delamont’s office and found the crime scene unit putting up yellow tape across the office door. Genevieve got their attention by whistling. All their heads turned her way immediately. She hurried over to them.
“Did you find a set of keys in his pockets?”
“We sure did. Let me find them for you.” The evidence tech searched through the manilla envelope and retrieved the keys. “Here you go.”
“What about prints? Did you find anything useful?”
“We got a lot of prints. Some on the scattered papers, the desktop, all over the place. Not the trophy though. I’m sure that you saw that someone had attempted to wipe it clean.”
“We did. Could you use your digital scanner on those prints? Did you get a name for us?”
“Nah. I mean, we scanned them, but other than your vic, no one’s name came up in association with any of them. Whoever they belong to, they touched a lot of things.”
Genevieve thanked him and turned back to Alex. “I think we should go to his house next. We can look through the list of students Beverly gave us on our way there.” She glanced at the list. It had over 150 names on it; she hoped there was a way to easily whittle it down.
“Did Officer Webb get you the list of ID badges that entered the building in the last 24 hours?” Alex asked her as they walked back to the car.
She pulled out her phone and opened her email app. There were two emails from Belinda Webb. She opened the first one; it had a video file from the camera across the street. The second one had a list of ID badges and what times they had entered the building for the past 24 hours, but there were no names. Genevieve frowned.
“What is it?” Alex asked as he unlocked the car.
“She sent the list of badge numbers, but there aren’t any names. Ugh. Oh wait. In the email, she says that we can get the names of which badge is whose from the registrar.”
“You know she has access to that herself.” He rolled his eyes and got in the car. “I guess we’ll add the registrar to our list of people to call, but first, let’s go meet his emergency contact. It doesn’t sound like the person is a family member to me. Maybe we’ll get some real information from them.”
“You’re right. His emergency contact is a Dr. Bryan Hartfeld. Do you think that’s his primary care physician or something?”
“Who knows? Let’s give him a call.”