Murder in the Dorm (4 page)

“You do know he was killed last week?”

“Omigod! No, I didn’t. I’ve had a lot to do and haven’t followed the news and no one mentioned it, but then I don’t know anyone who knew him.”

“When you did talk with him, did you learn anything about him, I mean about his interests or what he was up to outside of class?”

“He never said anything about himself. He’d just go on about places we might go. There was some café or bistro downtown that he liked. I don’t remember the name. I really didn’t pay much attention.”

“What about Kevin Kelsey?”

 
“He hung around with Lawrie but never said much. I found him even less interesting. I don’t think I ever saw Kevin with anyone but Lawrie.”

“Do you have any idea of anything that Kelsey and McDermott shared?”

“No, not really. They talked a lot but I always assumed it was about their course work.”

“Was there anything in particular that struck you about McDermott or Kelsey?”

“They really knew their stuff; especially Lawrie. I kept hearing that from others. One pretty savvy guy, I don’t remember his name, said Lawrie used Unix and Linux and Windows and Mac OS as if he’d written them all. He had a seventeen-inch screen laptop that looked like it weighed a ton but could probably do everything a mainframe could half a dozen years ago. He also had another laptop, a smaller one, and an iPad. He usually hauled a couple of them around. I’m pretty sure he was into hacking. Both he and Kevin seemed to drift through classes like they could teach them as well as the instructors.”

“I heard they were both average students.”

“Oh, yeah, in terms of grades. But that’s because they did the bare minimum in their courses. Everybody knew that. Half the time you could see they were doing something different on their laptops than everyone in class. I don’t know what it was, but they were seriously into whatever it was.”

After another few minutes it was clear to Charlie that he wasn’t going to get anything more from Kline. McDermott’s interest clearly had not been shared.

“Thank you for talking to me. Can I give you a lift somewhere?”

Kline thanked Charlie but she said she was going back to do some work. For his part, Charlie went back to his office. It was now four and he tried DeVries. She wasn’t in and Charlie left a voice-mail saying he’d spoken to Kline and learned only that Kelsey and McDermott seemed to be very computer savvy.

Hanging up, Charlie tried McLachlan’s number again, and again got voice-mail. He opted against leaving a message; he’d try later. Musing, Charlie wondered if McDermott’s computers and iPad had disappeared as Kelsey’s had. He’d bet they had.

After some ten minutes of staring at the wall Charlie packed his briefcase and stood to leave. On impulse he tried McLachlan’s number again. She answered after the first ring.

Charlie knew he had the right person when she asked who was calling in a pronounced Scottish accent. Charlie gave her a brief explanation of his interest in speaking with her and asked when it would be convenient to do so.

 
“We’re in for the evening, so if you like, you could stop by on your way home. I’m living with some friends of my family but they certainly wouldn’t mind.”

 
Charlie asked for her address and said he’d be there in ten minutes. The address McLachlan gave him was only a little out of the way on his route home and he had no trouble finding the house.

The woman who answered the door was much too old to be McLachlan. Charlie introduced himself and she invited him in, saying she was Margaret Swainson, a close friend of Siobhan’s mother. McLachlan was waiting in the living room. She was short and heavy set but had a winning smile. Swainson offered coffee. Charlie thanked her and said he’d only be a few minutes and not to bother. McLachlan looked expectant and Swainson left them alone. Charlie went into his little speech about helping the police and, partly to enforce the seriousness of the matter, told McLachlan McDermott had also been killed.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I barely knew Lawrie and Kevin not at all. Lawrie and I were on LinkedIn together only because we were both exchange students. I don’t think I spoke with him more than three or four times, and then it was about immigration, intern jobs, and work permits.”

“Are you aware of what connected Kelsey and McDermott.”

“Oh, I don’t think Lawrie was gay, if that’s what you mean, though I did wonder about Kevin.”

“No; that’s not what I had in mind. Kelsey and McDermott apparently had serious conversations about something, and the investigating officers very much want to know what they discussed. The only clue I have is that I’ve been told they were especially knowledgeable about computers.”

“Definitely, but I don’t know anything about what they talked about.”

“You said you didn’t know him, but do you recall ever talking to Kelsey?”

“No, not just to him; he was with Lawrie some of the times Lawrie and I talked, but he didn’t add anything. I guess I didn’t take to Kelsey. He seemed evasive and he’d never look you in the eye, you know, like he couldn’t be bothered to take you seriously or something.”

“Interesting. Someone else mentioned the eye thing. Did you know McDermott before you both came to Meredith?”

“No. Lawrie came to Meredith from St. Andrews when I came from Glasgow, but he was older and I think he lived in the States or Canada before going back to Scotland and to St. Andrews. He was very familiar with all sorts of things. When I asked him about work permits, in case I landed an internship, he had all the answers.”

Charlie thought McLachlan couldn’t provide anything more, and he’d taken enough of her time, so he thanked McLachlan and left.

 
On his way home Charlie thought he’d call DeVries in the morning and make a couple of points: McDermott living in the U.S. or Canada before going to St. Andrews and then coming to Meredith and that it was important to locate his laptops. With respect to Kelsey, he could only add another reference to furtiveness and that it was equally important to find his laptop.

Over dinner Charlie filled Kate in, hoping she might have some ideas.

“What about the other one, didn’t you say you had three names?”

“I planned to call him tonight because I only have his home number. I rather thought Kline and McLachlan would know more; I hope Garcia does.”

With dinner finished, Kate took her glass of wine to watch some television and Charlie dialed Garcia’s number.

“Miguel Garcia? This is Professor Douglas.¿Prefieres hablar español?”

“No, no; tengo que practicar mi Inglés. How may I help you, professor?”

Charlie went into his explanation about helping the police and asked Garcia if they could meet the next day, preferring to speak to him face to face.

“I have no classes in the morning tomorrow. I will come to your office. Would ten o’clock be acceptable?”

Charlie gave Garcia his office number and thanked him. Maybe he’d get lucky. New to North America, Garcia would have a different perception of McDermott and Kelsey than Kline or even McLachlan, and might have spotted something they’d missed.

Chapter 6

The First Tuesday

Charlie’s class on Tuesday morning was his favored epistemology one and began at eight-thirty. It ran to ten, but Charlie would end things a few minutes early this morning. Class absorbed him as it usually did and he almost forgot about quitting early. He apologized for not sticking around for questions and hurried to his office. Garcia was waiting by his door.

Garcia looked very Latin but clearly had adopted the dress of his fellow students. He was a bit shorter than Charlie and gave the impression of being athletic. Charlie invited him into his office and offered coffee, assuring Garcia that the department coffee was much better than he might expect. Garcia politely accepted and Charlie went for two cups. Once back at his desk, he explained again to Garcia what he was trying to do.

“If you’re sure you want to proceed in English, let me ask you, did you know Kevin Kelsey and Lawrie McDermott well enough to form an idea of what connected them to one another, aside from both being in Computing?”

“It was about computers, but not their course work. They were doing something else, but they, ah, kept to themselves, is that the correct phrase?”

“Yes; yes it is, but did you form an impression of what they were doing?”

“While I did not hear them speaking, they would often examine each other’s screens. Whatever they were doing, they could not both be on the same site. Kevin was not quite as adopt, no, as adept as Lawrie, but they were doing something together; of that I’m sure. Unfortunately, I do not know what it was.”

“Did you ever speak with Kelsey?”

“No; we nodded ‘hello’ when we saw each other, but did not speak.”

“What about McDermott?”

“That was different. Lawrie seemed to think it significant that we were both exchange students, which was strange because he seemed uninterested in Siobhan. He showed me how to get on LinkedIn and ‘endorsed’ me regarding my major. Before you ask, though, I will say that I never learned anything personal about Lawrie. He did not speak about himself. The only personal thing he ever said to me was how much he liked Barbara Kline. I thought that too bad because it was evident she had no interest in him.”

“Did you ever ask McDermott for help with your computer?”

“Yes. He always had an answer, as if he knew just what the problem was.”

“Okay, I’m not going to keep you longer. Just one last question: was there anything about McDermott or Kelsey, that struck you as odd, un poco raro?”

“I thought Lawrie was older than most of the other students and wondered what he might have done earlier, such as perhaps being in the army. I do not like to say anything bad about someone who is now dead, but I also felt he was false somehow. When he talked to me and to others it was as if he was, ah, what is the word, pretending? No, that’s not right. In Spanish the word is ‘disimulando.’”

“In English you would say that he was dissembling or being disingenuous.”

“That is right; I have read that and that is what I mean. I always felt that what Lawrie said was calculated for some reason I did not understand.”

“What about Kelsey?”

“I can say nothing about Kevin. He was very quiet and if there were several of us together I would forget he was there. More than once I wondered why Lawrie spent so much time with him. Some students thought they might be lovers. I had no sense of that.”

Charlie and Garcia finished their coffees. Charlie asked if he needed a ride somewhere, but Garcia said he was going to the cafeteria to meet someone. He left and Charlie mused about what Garcia had said.

He’d confirmed McDermott’s computer expertise; he’d also confirmed McDermott’s interest in Kline. And McDermott’s being older had also been more or less confirmed. What was new was what Garcia said about McDermott’s disingenuousness. As Charlie had thought, Garcia would be more sensitive to that sort of thing than the others because of working to assimilate himself into a new culture. Was there enough to call DeVries? Perhaps not. What about Andrew Ford? It was a little before noon; it would be a bit before nine on the West Coast, so Ford might still be home, assuming the number wasn’t his work phone. Charlie dialed and got an answer after three rings.

“Andrew Ford, this is Professor Douglas at Meredith University.”

Charlie went into his well-practiced speech and hoped for the best.

“Yes; two of my old classmates emailed me about what happened. I don’t think I can help, though. I barely knew McDermott. We were both on LinkedIn mainly because one of our profs advised us to get on it for intern jobs. I don’t think I ever spoke Kelsey.”

“Was anything in particular about McDermott or Kelsey that struck you.”

“Well, Kevin was just sort of there whenever I ran into Lawrie. As for Lawrie, I can tell you he was a real tech freak. He knew stuff I didn’t even understand. He also seemed older than the rest of us; I’d say he had four or five years on the other students. Oh, there was one thing. I envied his clothes. He always wore really expensive stuff. But he didn’t, you know, stand out. You had to know your stuff to see how special his clothes were. I worked in an upscale men’s shop a couple of summers, so I could tell. Lawrie was a real contrast with Kevin, who seemed to have been sewn into the same tee and jeans.”

“It seems Kelsey and McDermott were involved in some sort of project. Do you know anything about that?”

“No; some hacking job, no doubt, but I haven’t a clue what it was.”

Charlie asked a few more questions but realized he’d gotten all he was going to get. He thanked Ford and hung up. He went over the conversation. He’d gotten confirmation of what Garcia and others had said with the added tidbit that McDermott spent a lot on what he wore, though apparently not ostentatiously.

It was now after twelve and Charlie made his way to the Club. There were several people at the table, but to his disappointment there was no one there that might provide some new information on Kelsey or McDermott. The talk focused on department politics and Charlie was losing interest. At that point he was tapped on the shoulder by Sommers.