Think Murder (7 page)

I popped by to see Matt when I got back to the office. He was relieved to see I was safe, and he was eager to hear how my reconnaissance mission had gone. I told him what Glen had said about Hilary, the study, and the bad vibes he had sensed at work.

“Sounds like he has an overactive imagination.” Matt grinned. “Still, it might be a good idea to discuss it with that nice detective.” We joked around a bit more before I went back to my desk.

Detective Saks’ card wasn’t in my wallet so I googled the 2
nd
District police station and dialed the non-emergency number. I wasn’t able to reach Jonathan, so I left a message asking that he call me.

My browser was already open so it was as good a time as any to see what I could learn about the zoning practices in West Virginia. On closer examination of the data Hilary had collected, I noticed that most of the spike was rooted in the state’s Morningstone District. A quick search took me to the web page for their zoning board. A seven-member committee met on a bi-monthly basis to discuss petitions. Committee members were appointed by state and local government, and included a civil engineer, representatives of local government, a prominent environmentalist, and Mitchell Redmond, the U.S. Congressman hailing from that district. Pretty straightforward to me.

I had almost run out of steam when my phone rang. It was Jonathan returning my call.

“Adina Donati?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Detective Saks. I received a message that you needed to speak with me. What can I do for you?”

“I was calling in regard to Hilary’s murder. Have you caught her murderer yet? Do you know why she was killed?”

“No, regrettably, we haven’t caught the killer. We are checking out a few theories, however there is nothing that I can share with you right now.”

“I understand.” I paused. “You told me to contact you if I thought of anything. It’s probably nothing, but I had a very strange conversation with someone today.”

“I’m listening.”

“Well, I’ve been helping out on a project that Hilary had been working on. In her files, she noted that she planned to talk to this guy, Glen Gardner, regarding problems with the data. I called him and he acted awfully strange. First he brushed me off, then he called me back. I met him in the park for lunch and he implied that Hilary’s death might be tied to the project.”

“Slow down. Did they give you Hilary’s job?”

“Not at all. I’m only helping out with some graphs and charts that Dr. Stickler needed completed.”

“That’s good.”

Good for whom, I wondered. Not that I’d want to work for Dr. Stickler full time, still a promotion would be welcome under different circumstances.

He continued, “Now tell me more about this Glen person.”

I told Jonathan what little I knew about Glen Gardner and the Tristate Land Preservation Coalition. Then I reiterated what Glen had told me – Hilary’s questions and his boss’ reaction when he had raised questions at work.

“He might be imagining things. Some people thrive on drama. At any rate, I’ll be sure to check into this guy and any possible connections to the case. Adina, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Feel free to call me if you think of anything else.”

It was reassuring to know that the police would check into things and, hopefully, rule out any connection to the Land Use Survey. After talking to Jonathan, I debated if and when I should tell Dr. Stickler about Glen and his theories. Glen hadn’t provided any insights into the data – nothing that we could use in the reports. At any rate, it would have to wait because Dr. Stickler was out of the office.

I poked around the internet for another hour, hoping to glean a better understanding of zoning issues and the decision-making process. Confusing stuff. When 5 o’clock came, I was happy to shut down the computer and call it a day.

By the time I got home, I was in a lousy mood. It had been a week since Hilary and I had gone to McSweeney’s for happy hour. Just one week since her murder. I was reminded of all the things that would not be – no more girls’ night out together on Wednesdays, no more shared photography outings, no more Hilary.

My thoughts returned to Glen and his theories. I tried not to freak out, but what if he was right? What if Hilary’s death was related to her job? Did that mean I was in danger? Maybe I shouldn’t be helping Dr. Stickler after all.

I jumped when my phone chirped. Caller ID indicated a message from Julie asking if I wanted to talk. Perfect timing. I powered on my laptop, eager to catch up with her.

“Hi, Julie. Your timing is perfect.”

“Adina, how are you?”

I sighed, “Thinking too much. I’m in a crappy mood.”

“Thinking about Hilary?”

“Yup. I can’t believe it’s been a week already. At the same time, it feels much longer.”

“Adina, you need a distraction. Preferably a man.” That was Julie’s standard solution to any problem. “How are things going with that nice homicide detective?”

“They’re not. Strictly professional. I haven’t seen him recently. I called him today about this guy Hilary knew, nothing more.”

“You called him?” I could hear the surprise in Julie’s voice. “You must really like him.”

I laughed, “That’s not why I called him. It had to do with Hilary.”

“Excuses, excuses.”

“I wish. Nice or not, he doesn’t seem interested in anything beyond the case.” I told Julie about my meeting with Glen Gardner and his suspicions. The more we talked, the more the situation was freaking me out.

“OK, I get it. You had to call the detective. Anyway, talking is good. You never know where it might lead.”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“Who? Me?”

Time to change the subject. “I’ll probably regret telling you this… there’s a new volunteer at Cutie Pie. He’s gorgeous. Tall, dark wavy hair, dreamy green eyes, and a fantastic build. Late 20s or early 30s.”

“If he’s such an Adonis, why’s he volunteering at a pet rescue center in his spare time?”

“Not sure. Wondering that myself. I met him on Saturday when I was walking a couple of Beagle puppies. They knocked me down and he helped me up.”

Julie burst out laughing. “You do know how to nail a first impression. Tell me more.”

“We’ve spoken a few times since then, but mostly about the dogs. Bruce, that’s his name, seems to be the strong silent type. Not that he’s silent, he just isn’t overly talkative either. He doesn’t have the stereotypical Washington vibe, probably not a lawyer or politician.”

“That could be a good thing. Besides, anyone who likes dogs can’t be all bad.”

“Enough about me. What’s happening in Ohio these days?”

“This law school routine is harder than I expected.” She described her heavy class load and the vast amounts of required reading. Lots of pressure and no time for a love life. Poor Julie. I reminded her that it would all be worth it when she became a successful lawyer one day.

Thursday morning, I woke up exhausted and with a headache to boot. I don’t know if it was the gray weather or a belated reaction to Hilary’s death – I just didn’t feel like going to work. I considered calling in sick, then decided against it. Instead, I dragged myself out of bed, ate a couple cookies, and took an ibuprofen.

By the time I got to the office, my headache had subsided into a mild dull ache. Before planning my workday I needed a cup of tea. Thankfully, my colleagues’ conversations in the kitchen had gone back to focusing on the mundane. No stares and no awkward silences.

Matt still hadn’t gotten the green light for our next project, meaning that I could spend most of the day on the Land Use Survey. But that would require more focus than I could muster so early in the day.

Feeling only a little guilty, I went on Facebook for some game therapy before attacking any real work. It’s a good thing I ran out of lives in my favorite game or I might have played for hours. I had no sooner closed the browser and turned my attention to Hilary’s notes when my phone chirped.

I was pleased to see a message from Duncan. He was back at work and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him. I agreed, and we made plans to meet at the entrance at 12:30.

At last I turned my attention to work. Hilary had written lots of notes to herself – and lists of tasks that she had yet to complete. Always organized, she had crossed off items as she worked. In one such list, I found an entry, “WV data – accuracy? Double-check online data?” It had been checked off with a question mark in the margin. Not sure of the status of the item, I decided to recheck.

Checking the data online was pretty easy. The West Virginia Bureau of Statistics was cited in Hilary’s notes as the source of her data. Its website showed the same data as in Hilary’s preliminary spreadsheet. I printed out the webpage and checked the data line by line. Perfect match.

The West Virginia state website provided links to their policies governing land use, and a basic summary of data. At a glance, the summary data appeared to be in line with what I had seen before. Even the environmental protection sites’ meager statistics jibed nicely. I’d have to double-check the data in the official records.

I emailed Dr. Stickler to report the online data match and offer to visit the Library of Congress after lunch. He responded with his approval, indicating that he, too, would like to go over any information I was able to gather.

Duncan was in the reception area talking to Kaye when I got there. As usual, he was wearing a well-designed suit and tie. He wrapped up his conversation with Kaye and walked toward me. Although the bags around his eyes remained visible, he wasn’t as pale as when I had last seen him.

He surprised me with a quick embrace, “Good to see you, Adina. So where should we go for lunch?”

On the way downstairs, we decided to have burgers at a restaurant a couple of blocks from the DIPPeR. After we had ordered, I asked him about his trip to Wyoming.

“It was difficult… Hilary’s family was incredibly supportive. Otherwise, I don’t think I’d have survived her funeral. Her brother, Brad, stuck by my side the whole time. Almost as if Hilary had asked him to take care of me.” Duncan stared off into space. “Hilary was close to her family. She talked to them all the time. Meeting them, it was easy to see where she got her warmth, her sweet kind heart.”

“That’s the impression I got, too. I know she adored her brother. She told me how protective he was. I’d have liked to meet him.”

“You’d like him. He asked about you. Hilary had talked about her friends a lot.”

“I felt bad that I didn’t go to the funeral. I couldn’t afford the trip.”

“I understand, and I think her family understood as well.” Duncan sighed. “I wish the police would find her killer. I know it won’t bring her back, but I need to know what happened.”

“As far as I know, they still don’t have any suspects.”

Our conversation paused as the waiter brought us our food.

“Duncan, did Hilary ever discuss the Land Use Survey with you?”

“Sometimes she did. Why are you asking?”

“Well, I’m helping Dr. Stickler with the charts and tables that Hilary didn’t have time to finish.”

“Ahh. Good luck coping with Dr. Stickler. He was not her favorite part of the job.”

In between bites of my hamburger, I laughed. “That’s common knowledge.”

“Duncan, did Hilary ever mention problems in the data or someone named Glen Gardner?”

“Negative on both points, at least not that I recall. Why?”

“Something is off. Hilary had flagged data that she wanted to double-check. Glen’s name appeared in her notes as someone she planned to discuss the data with.”

I swallowed another bite before continuing. “So I called him. Glen is an environmental activist that Hilary met at a conference earlier this year. He acted very oddly. When I first called, he brushed me off. Then he called me back and met with me outside his office to discuss the project. Paranoid doesn’t begin to describe this guy. He suggested that Hilary’s death was tied to her research.”

Duncan’s eyebrows shot upward. “What? Why?”

“He said that Hilary had asked him some questions. Then, when he asked similar questions at work, his boss shut him down. This was right before Hilary was murdered.”

“Has he contacted the police?”

“Nope. He didn’t want to get involved. After I met with Glen, I called Detective Saks. He sounded skeptical, but he promised to check into it.”

“I certainly hope so. I called the detective yesterday when I got back to D.C. I couldn’t get any information out the guy about their progress on the case.

“They aren’t telling anyone much, at least not that I know of.”

Duncan shook his head. “Makes me wonder how serious an investigation they’re running.”

Duncan had finished his burger and fries and was eying the fries that remained on my plate. I was already full, so I pushed the plate in his direction. There was a familiar twinkle in his blue eyes as he set to finishing my lunch.

We moved on to discuss the atmosphere at work since Hilary’s death. “Adina, it feels like most people are walking on eggs around me. I see the pity in their eyes, they’re afraid to talk to me. That is, except for Holly. She keeps volunteering to bring me coffee and asking me how I’m doing. It’s almost as if she’s trying to flirt with me.”

“She probably is. After all, as she sees it, the DIPPeR’s most eligible bachelor is back on the market,” I joked. “You must know she’s got a crush on you.”

“Never gave it any thought. Good to know. I don’t want to mislead her.”

We chatted a bit more about work and our colleagues before returning to the office.