Sounds of Murder (26 page)

"Of course," she replied, suddenly
intrigued.

"First, let me say, I had no love for
Charlotte. She aggravated me as I know she did many faculty here.
But, Lord, I’d never contemplate hurting her or anything like that.
Even so, Jane Marie apparently was worried about me and
Charlotte--or my relationship with Charlotte. Evidently, she was
concerned about an argument we’d had the day before the murder. I
told her, and I’ll tell you, the subject of that argument was the
Tenure Committee. It's not really a secret. The Dean’s demanding
that we restrict tenure to two candidates rather than three.”

Mitchell pulled his chair closer to his desk
and bent in towards Pamela. “Look, I don't like this any better
than anyone else, but there's not much I can do about it, and I
told Charlotte that. She was furious with me--and the Dean--and
just about everyone. She is—was--determined to have her own way and
get Laura tenured. I told her Laura might be better off postponing
applying for tenure until next year, and that Rex and Phin were, in
my opinion, the two obvious candidates--although I don't vote on
the committee. This made her even madder. We just both lost it. I’m
so sorry now in retrospect. Anyway, I had no idea how far she’d go
to seek vengeance, but evidently, she not only attempted to ruin
Rex to prevent him from getting tenure--and he, as we know, took
direct steps to do something about it, but--she also attempted to
blackmail me."

"Blackmail?"

"Yes, Jane Marie told me that she--and
you--know about the photograph of the woman Charlotte left in my
mailbox. This is the private part. Oh, God, I’m so sorry. That
photo is of a lovely young woman--Evelyn Carrier--a former student.
I ran into her a few years ago at a convention and we got to
talking--and, this is embarrassing, Pamela--things were not going
well between Velma and me at the time--and Evelyn and I became
involved.” Mitchell bent his head and ran his fingers through his
blonde hair.

“Worse yet, it continued,” he said.
“Charlotte found out about it--I don't know how, but obviously she
must have assumed that by showing me Evelyn's photo that I’d be
frightened of exposure and side with her in support of Laura over
Rex. She was wrong. All her actions did were to make me realize how
dastardly my behavior had been. I confessed to Velma. Thank the
Lord, she believed me when I said I was sorry, and that I wanted to
work things out with her.” He bit his lower lip and took a deep
breath.

“I called Evelyn into my office and told her
what had happened. I told her we’d no longer be able to see each
other. She was sad, as Jane Marie saw when she witnessed Evelyn
leaving my office, but it had to be done. Never once, did it occur
to me to do anything to Charlotte. That’s the whole story, Pamela.
I hope hearing this doesn't forever demean me in your eyes."

"Actually, Mitchell," Pamela smiled warmly,
"It just makes you seem human." He smiled back at her, his
shoulders dropping noticeably.

"After this all calms down and things get
back to normal," he mused, "I'll have to make adjustments to
compensate for the loss of Charlotte and Rex in the department.
Obviously, we'll have to hire replacements, but right now, I’ll
need to find a way to restructure our schedule to cover their
classes in the mean time."

"If I may make a suggestion," she said.

"Pamela, given your involvement in all of
this—and a positive one, if I may say so, I would truly value your
input on how best to handle the void caused by Charlotte's and
Rex's—um--absence."

"Mitchell," she began, "I know your first
instinct is to replace Charlotte, but, really, when you think about
it, you can't replace her. Students took her courses because she
was who she was. Her subject area is so narrow, that to find
someone of her caliber in the same field would be cost prohibitive.
In Rex’s case--well, Phin is a Rex clone. Not as good a teacher,
but I think he's getting better. I would, for the rest of the
semester anyway, to test the waters, have Phin take over Rex's
upper division courses."

"And his two mass lecture classes?" he
asked.

"Hmm," she smiled, "Seems to me we have an
ideal person in our department, someone noted for their ability to
handle general introductory courses--especially for
undergrads--someone who even has published extensively. Now, it
might be difficult to entice this person to pull himself away from
administrative duties for the two hours on Mondays that he’d have
to...."

"You are devious," mused Mitchell, "I do miss
teaching. It’s even possible that such an arrangement could be
permanent. However, if we don't replace Rex or Charlotte, we'll
have funding for two additional faculty lines. What would we do
with that?"

"Mitchell," she teased, "You’ve been
promising Bob Goodman increased funding for animal psychology for
years and so has the Dean. You know that the animal lab is
disintegrating and if it doesn't get a fresh influx of funds soon,
you might just as well cancel animal psychology classes together.
It seems to me that this is a golden opportunity to salvage our
animal psych program--sort of an endowment from Charlotte--and Rex,
if you will."

"Funny," he laughed, "Charlotte hated animal
psych."

"Well," said Pamela, "She doesn't need to
know."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like my job?" he
asked.

"Never in a million years," she responded.
They both laughed and she felt a new understanding of her typically
inscrutable boss. He would never be her friend, but she could
communicate with him, she realized. She bid him farewell and headed
home.

Chapter 25

Rocky was, as usual, waiting for her at the
kitchen door, a look of annoyance on his face. Jane Marie had
phoned and informed him of the occurrences that took place in
Pamela's office this afternoon. It would not be pretty, she knew.
She had done everything he warned her not too. She was not an
obedient spouse. She’d probably get latrine duty.

"Babe," he cried, embracing her tightly. She
remained in his arms as long as she could. She knew there would be
a scolding.

When she finally pulled away, she asked,
"Well, aren't you going to make me do forty push-ups?"

"No," he said, softly, "It's a waste of time.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I have a daredevil for a
wife. Tracking down and confronting cold-blooded killers unarmed.
No, not going to even mention the foolishness of such actions,
because it's obvious that my wife pays absolutely no attention to
any of my warnings."

"The police were there all the time," she
gulped bravely. “It was a set-up.”

“And you were the bait.”

A soft-spoken Rocky was scarier than a
furious Rocky. At least, she was used to his being macho and
wanting to protect her. Maybe they truly were in a new era where
men and women, husbands and wives, were each responsible for
themselves--and each other.

"It's just that I--I--had evidence of the
crime and I knew how to make use of it to find who killed
Charlotte. I just couldn't ignore it."

"I know."

Candide appeared from around the corner. He
had heard his mistress's voice and came prancing in, wanting a
scratch. Pamela obliged.

"Did Angie get home yet?" she asked her
husband.

"Yup," he responded, "She dropped off her
books, introduced me to that macabre Kent fellow who looks like
something out of a horror movie, told me her mother had almost been
killed by a maniac, then they took off in his car."

"Rocky," she smiled, "I told you Kent is
perfectly harmless."

"Isn't that what you used to think about that
Rex fellow who attacked you this afternoon in your office?" he
responded, teeth clenched.

"Please, honey," she pleaded, "I'll explain
everything." She pulled on his arm. "Maybe, you could give me
another one of your relaxing foot massages," she hinted.

"Don't you want dinner?" he asked.

"Yes," she responded, hopefully.

"I didn't make anything," he announced,
looking glum.

"What? You didn't cook anything?" Had Hell
frozen over?

"When your secretary called about you, I
couldn't even think straight. Cooking was the last thing on my
mind. I don’t believe I’ll be able to think about cooking ever
again unless you promise me you’ll give up sleuthing" he said,
peering deep into her eyes.

"Sleuthing?" she questioned, stunned. "Well,
of course, I can promise that. My sleuthing days are over.”

“Wonderful,” he replied, “Then, you’ve got
your cook back.”

She hugged him. She meant every word of her
promise. She did. What was the likelihood that someone else would
be murdered in their little town? What was the likelihood that even
if that happened she would be the only one with the expertise to
solve it? Virtually nil. Yes, it was an easy promise to make.

“Let’s eat,” said Rocky. As he led her into
the dining room, she realized his threat had been a ruse. He’d
prepared all her favorite dishes and the dining room table was
gleaming with candles.

“You devil,” she pouted, “You tricked
me.”

“How does it feel?” he said, smiling

She breathed in the heavenly aroma and
proceeded to nibble on his ear. “It feels wonderful,” she
whispered.

“Maybe an appetizer in the bedroom?”

“Sounds good.”

“No,” he said, putting his finger over her
lips, “Absolutely no talk about sound tonight. And no talk about
murder.” With that, he scooped her up in his arms and they
disappeared into the bedroom.

Rocky’s Recipes

Comfort Cocoa

2 TB. Sugar

4 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 C. milk

¼ tsp. vanilla

½ C. skim milk (for topping)

Rocky mixes the sugar and cocoa powder with a
bit of the milk and the vanilla, forming a paste in a saucepan.
Then he slowly adds the rest of the milk and heats it on the stove
until almost (but not quite) boiling. After putting the finished
cocoa in the serving cup, he prepares a foam topping of ½ cup skim
milk (which works best for foam) in a small saucepan. He heats the
milk while foaming it with a handheld latte foamer until the milk
is light and frothy. He tops the finished cup of cocoa with the
foam and a sprinkling of shaved chocolate or cinnamon.

Sergeant’s Stew

1 lb. beef stew meat

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 potato

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

1 small can of peas

1 medium can of diced tomatoes

1 cup of red wine

1 16-oz container of chicken stock

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 TB.steak sauce

2 TB olive oil

Rocky sautés the stew meat in a TB of olive
oil in a large frying pan until browned on all sides. Then he adds
the red wine and simmers for 20 minutes. While waiting, Rocky next
chops the onion and garlic clove and sautés them together in a TB
of olive oil in a separate pan over medium heat until soft and
brown. Then, he peels the potato and carrot. He chops the potato,
carrot, and celery stalk into small chunks. Finally, he places all
remaining ingredients in a large stew pot, and adds water if
necessary to cover the raw vegetables. He lets the stew simmer on
the stove for three or four hours, stirring occasionally.

Italian Sausage Soup

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 cup white wine

1 16-oz. container chicken stock

1 large potato

1 cup fresh spinach

fresh grated parmesan cheese

Rocky first removes the sausage from the
casings and sautés it in a frying pan. He chops the onion and
garlic finely and sautés them in a separate pan until golden brown.
He peels and chops the potato into small chunks. Eventually, he
puts all ingredients except the cheese into a large pot and lets
them simmer on the stovetop for several hours. He sprinkles the
cheese over each bowl just before serving.

Patricia Rockwell
has spent most of
her life teaching. From small liberal arts colleges to large
regional research universities—and even a brief stint in a high
school, her background in education is extensive. She was on the
faculty at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for thirteen
years, retiring in 2007. Her publications are extensive, with over
20 peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals, several textbooks,
and a research book on sarcasm, published by Edwin Mellen Press. In
addition to publications, she served for eight years as Editor of
the
Louisiana Communication Journal
. Dr. Rockwell is
presently living in Aurora, Illinois, with her husband Milt, also a
retired educator. The couple has two adult children, Alex and
Cecilia. She maintains two blogs:
Communication Exchange
(http://communicationexchange.blogspot.com) and
Subjective
Soup
(http://subjectivesoup.blogspot.com).