Got Your Number (25 page)

He looked at his notes. "She lives in Baton Rouge?"

Roxann nodded.

"Why did she come back to South Bend?"

"I stopped in Baton Rouge for her wedding, then she decided to come with me. She didn't know about Cape following me."

"What happened to her groom?"

"He changed his mind at the altar."

Jaffey made an amused sound. "A jilted bride might just be mad enough to nail the first guy she meets."

"I wouldn't know." Although the same thought had crossed her mind last night.

"When did your cousin return from her evening with Dr. Seger?" Warner asked.

"I don't know. When I woke up this morning and went outside—"

"To clean your incriminating shoes," Jaffey cut in. "We saw the roll of paper towels."

"When I went out on the back porch to clean my running shoes," she continued, "Angora was asleep on the chaise."

"Did you notice the bruises on her neck?"

"Immediately."

"How did she say they got there?"

She took a drink of the coffee.

"Ms. Beadleman?"

"She said that Carl put them there."

"How?"

"She said they were getting ready to... have sex and he started choking her."

"Did she say why?"

"She said she'd told him something that made him angry, but she wouldn't tell me what."

"Can you make a guess?"

"No, I can't."

"What else?"

"Angora said she passed out, and when she came to, she was alone in his bed. Then she left."

"Did she walk back to the house you're staying in?"

"I assume so—her dress was a mess, and she was barefoot. I didn't see her shoes."

"We found them on the porch. Muddy, same as yours. And we found a tiara on the dresser in his bedroom. Someone told us you got a crown last night for some kind of award?"

"Yes, but the tiara is Angora's. Mine is—" She stopped. Where was that thing?

"In my truck," Capistrano supplied.

Good grief, she'd misplaced everything last night. Including her good sense. Why else would she have run over to Carl's like some lovestruck stalker? She froze. Years of working with obsessive people had rubbed off. Dear God.

Jaffey toyed with the pencil. "Here's what I think—I think you jogged over there for a peek and found Dr. Seger choking your cousin for whatever reason. You pulled your scarf out of your pocket and killed him. Maybe you didn't mean to, but it happened."

"That's absurd," she said, shaking her head. "I didn't kill Carl." She choked on the last word, then recovered. "I couldn't have."

"Will you take a lie detector test?"

"Absolutely."

"So if we believe your story," Warner said, "you didn't kill him, but your cousin certainly could have."

He had vocalized her own fears—especially considering what Nell had told her about the Tammy Paulen incident—but she tried to keep a poker face. "I have a difficult time believing that Angora could do something like that." But Capistrano was looking at her strangely.

"Do you know anyone else who could have killed him?" Jaffey asked.

"No, but I don't know much about Carl's life. Talk to Nell Oney and some of the other professors."

"We did. By the way, she had access to your scarf, didn't she?"

Roxann narrowed her eyes. "Since I don't know where I lost it, I couldn't say. But Nell Oney is one of the few truly good people I know. She and Carl were friends. She would never hurt anyone."

"The woman is ill," Capistrano said. "Barely strong enough to turn a deadbolt, let alone bring down a man the size of Seger."

"The same for Angora," she added.

A knock on the door interrupted them, and a female officer stuck her head in. "The Ryder woman's lawyer is here."

"I'll be right there," Jaffey said. When the door closed, he shook his finger at Roxann. "We'll need your clothes and your fingerprints. And
don't
leave town." He looked at Capistrano. "Can I trust you to keep an eye on her?"

"Sure thing."

The detective looked at her and she had the distinct feeling of a hen being handed over to a chicken hawk.

Chapter 21

Angora looked up and dubiously shook hands with the man who introduced himself as her lawyer. Mike Brown was a short chunky man with curly brown hair and glasses that wouldn't stay up on his nose. He looked all of nineteen and was dressed like a farmer—smelled like one, too.

"Please excuse my appearance," he said in a boyish voice as he sat down heavily. "I was working my compost pile when my phone rang."

She had no idea what compost was, but the man must have some means if he had a pile of it. At the moment, however, she had more pressing matters on her mind. Carl was dead. Dead.
Dead.
The more the word revolved in her head, the less it even seemed like a word, much less one that was so... final. Dead, just like Tammy Paulen. And these visions of her strangling Carl—were they real? Or had hearing the graphic details of his death put them there? Her head was too full to think.

Her lawyer pulled out a pad of paper and went through three pens from his briefcase before he found one with ink. "Here we go. Now Ms. Ryder, have you spoken with anyone about the murder?"

She shook her head and massaged the pain just beneath her breastbone. A foul-tasting blend of indigestion and grief and guilt. She'd already been sick twice, once before they left Dr. Oney's and once on the ride over in the police car. Good God Almighty, when Dee found out what had happened, she'd have her birth certificate changed. And if
everything
unraveled, then she might as well go to prison for all the life she'd have.

"Ms. Ryder?"

"Yes?"

"I asked if you'd like something—coffee, soda?"

What she wanted was to sit on the floor and cry like a baby. "N-no, thank you."

He cleared his throat. "Ms. Ryder, do you understand that you're a suspect in the murder of Carl Seger?"

She squinted. "How old are you?"

He blushed. "Thirty-five. I know I look young, and I did just pass the bar, but I got a late start."

Boy, did she know all about that. "How do you know Dr. Oney?"

"She's an old friend of the family, encouraged me to go to law school."

"Mr. Brown, I don't have a lot of money." She doubted if she could get a refund on the money she'd bid for Carl, and she couldn't go to her parents.

"That's okay," he said cheerfully. "I'm doing pro bono work on the side until I get my soybean crop harvested."

Her attorney was a soybean farmer? What
were
soybeans, exactly? Her doubt must have been apparent because he smiled.

"I'm not a trial lawyer, Ms. Ryder. I'll only advise you through the police interviews." Then he frowned. "How did you get those bruises on your neck?"

"Carl Seger choked me."

His face darkened. "Do you need medical attention?"

She shook her head. "I just want to get this over with and go back to Baton Rouge."

"Is that where you live?"

"Yes."

He wrote it down. "Are you married?"

A lump formed in her throat, forcing her to swallow. "No."

He took down a few more vitals, then withdrew a limp blue bandana and wiped his shiny forehead. "Ms. Ryder, I read the police report, and I have to tell you it doesn't look good."

"But I didn't murder Carl."

He nodded as if he didn't believe her. "It isn't murder if you killed him in self-defense."

A rap on the door preceded the entry of two plainclothes cops. Mike told them his name, and they identified themselves as Detectives Jaffey and Warner.

Jaffey looked at her as if she were a snack. "Are you ready to talk, Ms. Ryder?"

She looked at Mike, who remained quiet, as if he wanted her to make the decision. Hm. She nodded.

"No tape recorder," Mike said. "And I'll stop Ms. Ryder if I think the questioning is going against her best interests."

The detectives shrugged. Jaffey leaned over and planted his hands on the table. "Ms. Ryder, did you kill Carl Seger?"

"Stop," Mike said, placing his hand on her arm. His big fingers looked a bit grubby. "Let's start again, gentlemen."

Jaffey sighed and pulled up a chair. "All right. Ms. Ryder, how do you know Carl Seger?"

Mike removed his hand and nodded for her to answer.

"He was a theology professor when I attended college at Notre Dame." Jaffey asked for the years and she told him.

"Were you a student of his?"

"Yes, for a few classes."

"Were you ever involved with him sexually?"

She shifted on the uncomfortable plastic seat. "Not involved, no."

"Was there ever an encounter?"

She glanced to Mike, but he only pushed his glasses higher. "Once," she murmured.

"What happened?"

"He invited me back to his office. I... gave him oral sex."

"And that was it?"

She nodded, hot from shame. "He barely acknowledged me after that."

"Did that make you feel worthless? Angry?"

Angora bit her tongue. "No one likes to be rejected, Officer."

"Did Dr. Seger invite a lot of female students back to his office?"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you report Dr. Seger to the school authorities?"

She concentrated on the ugly fingerprint ink around her nails. "I don't know."

"Is it because you were in love with Dr. Seger and were a willing participant?"

Angora looked up. "I was young and stupid. Afterward I was so humiliated, I never told anyone what happened." She'd simply pretended it hadn't happened.

"Were you in contact with Dr. Seger after you graduated?"

"No."

"But you never forgot him."

"I sometimes read about him in the alumni newsletter."

"Your cousin told us you were recently jilted at the altar."

Tears stung her eyes. "So?"

"So that would make a woman mighty angry. Angry enough to get even with the next man in her life that crossed her."

Why had she told Roxann about her nasty urges? A feeling of betrayal flooded her chest, magnifying the odd pain radiating there. "Did Roxann tell you I said that?"

"Did
you say that?" Jaffey asked.

"Don't answer," Mike warned her. "Next question."

"When did you become reacquainted with Dr. Seger?"

"When my cousin and I arrived in South Bend yesterday."

"And you bid on a date with him at the bachelor auction last night?"

"You know I did."

Jaffey whistled. "Two thousand dollars is hefty sum for a little food and conversation. Did you have something else in mind?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Maybe a little revenge for the way he treated you all those years ago."

"Is that a question?" Mike asked.

Jaffey frowned. "What happened after you and Dr. Seger left the auction?"

"We went to Utopia for dinner, then dancing at a place called DeSoto's."

Warner held up his hand and checked written notes he'd brought in. "Utopia? That's where your cousin and Dr. Oney had dinner last night."

"I didn't see them there. We were in a private dining room."

"Ms. Beadleman says she lost her scarf sometime during the evening. You didn't by chance find it at the restaurant, and decide to return it to her later?"

"No. And it was a cheap scarf."

Jaffey's eyebrow went up. "Cheap scarf—I'll make a note of that. What time did you leave the restaurant?"

"Eleven o'clock, maybe? I'm not sure."

"What about the dance place—DeSoto's?"

"Closing time—maybe one in the morning?"

"Then what happened?"

"We went back to his place."

"To have sex?"

She squirmed. "That was the idea, I suppose."

"And did you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"We... were going to, but then Carl started choking me." Her voice broke and she touched the tender skin on her neck. "I thought he was trying to kill me."

"So you killed him?"

"Don't answer that," Mike warned.

She ignored him. "I passed out. When I woke up, I was alone. I left the house and ran all the way back to Dr. Oney's."

Warner made a noise in his throat. "Ms. Ryder, why do you think Dr. Seger was choking you?"

"I... said something that made him angry."

"What was that?"

She glanced at Mike, who nodded. "When I was going to school here, there was a girl named Tammy Paulen who was killed on campus in a hit-and-run."

Neither man seemed surprised. "Go on," Warner urged.

"I was driving back to my dorm room that night, and I had my window down. I heard a scream, and when I turned the corner, she was lying in the road and a black Volvo was speeding away."

"Dr. Seger's car?"

"Yes."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't know what to do—I was in shock. I kept driving, then pulled over and parked my car. When I walked back, a car had stopped and two guys were bending over her. I knew they would help her, so I went back to my room." She swallowed. "I didn't know she was dead."

"Why didn't you tell the police what you saw?"