The Criminologist Affair

A Book by Jack Dearborn   -  #2 in a series Featuring Stewart Grant

The characters and story contained herein are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to people living or dead or story development is purely accidental.

Stewart Grant just weeks away from successfully resolving a family misunderstanding case, is offered another type of case that really challenges his fledgling investigative wings. Two co-eds, at a college south of his office in Seattle, are raped and the President of the college, who knows his father, asks him to find the rapist and stop him from doing it again. As he gets into the case, after interviewing the two young women who suffered the rapes, he finds that everything about the rapist’s M.O. is identical. Using this as a base from which to build, he sets about looking for a man, who doesn’t exist. He finds later that he is up against something that seldom occurs…a female rapist.

Series #1 featuring Stewart Grant

The Surrogate Affair        05/23/2023

Miles Grant Story Collection

Miles Grant – Naturist P.I.       02/27/2023

The Case of the Washed up Wordsmith       10/29/2022

The Case of the Jealous Jackal       09/09/2022

The Case of the Quaker Quarry       07/31/2022

The Case of the Vindictive Vixen       01/13/2022

The Case of the Gay Getaway       09/07/2021

The Case of the Felonious Feminist       08/08/2021

The Case of the Teutonic Temptress       02/13/2021

The Case of the Ritual Rapist       06/08/2020

The Case of the Bawdy Bartender       03/10/2020

The Case of the Erotic Equestrian       01/12/2020

The Case of the Nudist Numismatist       09/14/2019

The Case of the Dixie Daughter       08/20/2019

The Case of the Carnal Co–Ed       07/09/2019

The Case of the Lascivious Lecturer       05/28/2019

The Case of the Nefarious Naturist       03/14/2019

The Case of the Artificial Artist       01/23/2019

The Case of the Purloined Parent       09/21/2018

The Case of the Hobbled Hero       08/01/2018

The Case of the Phantom Phaeton       04/02/2018

The Timothy File       09/27/2017

The Case of the Sullied Songstress       02/03/2016

The Case of the Murdered Mayor       04/09/2015

Miles Grant – Private Investigator       07/07/2014

Additional Books by Jack Dearborn

The Last Second Chance     05/19/2022

The Seventh Precinct     10/04/2020

Vengeance Trail     05/28/2019

Other People’s Stories     06/06/2017

Dirty Politics     04/06/2017

The Don Quixote Syndrome     01/21/2017

Like a Ten Foot Putt for Par     08/20/2016

The Finder     05/20/2016

The Gold Roundup of Cold Creek     05/05/2015

Vogel’s Journal     12/18/2012

The Kidnappers     09/14/2012

One Day in July     03/29/2012

Additional Books by Jack Dearborn

Markham                01/18/2012

Trouble in Riverview                10/15/2011

Two Days Warning  03/28/2011

Valentine’s Army                02/19/2011

Guns of Clearwater Valley                02/13/2011

Anderson’s Range  02/02/2011

Chapters

Page 1            Chapter 1        Not much to go on

Page 7            Chapter 2        Two for two

Page 18            Chapter 3        One small clue     

Page 25            Chapter 4         Two offers made

Page 33            Chapter 5         Stewart makes a date

Page 42            Chapter 6         A new path to follow

Page 52           Chapter 7         The case needs surveillance

Page 59             Chapter 8         His nights are committed now

Page 70           Chapter 9         A threat comes in the mail     

Page 80           Chapter 10      A surprise from Woods Haven

Page 90            Chapter 11       Miles had an answer or two

Page 100            Chapter 12       Carly and Stewart talk

Page 108            Chapter 13       Stewart captures a rapist

Page 119           Chapter 14        The family gets the news

Page 127           Chapter 15        Stewart and Carly get close

1

The Criminologist Affair

Chapter 1   Not much to go on

Stewart was almost asleep, when the jingling of the phone at his elbow shocked him fully awake. “Good morning. This is Grant investigations. How may I help you?”

“Good morning. This is Percival Bannister…” Stewart didn’t let him finish.

“I know who you are. You’re the Dean of Students at Fielding College.”

“I was the Dean of Students,” he said, his voice filled with authority. “I am now the President of Fielding College.”

“Congratulations Mister Bannister. What can I do for you?”

“Are you going to let me finish?”

“Um, I’m sorry. I thought you might like to know that I knew who you were. Please forgive me.”

“OK, are you free to come out to Fielding? I might have something for you to try out your talents on.”

“Have you been talking to my Dad?”

“I have and he seems to have a great deal of confidence in your abilities.”

“That’s nice to hear, uh, when would you like me to come out to Fielding?”

“Can you be here for a two PM meeting today?”

“I certainly can! Uh, can you tell me what the meeting will be about?”

“I could but I would prefer not to discuss it over the phone.”

“That’s quite alright with me. I’ll see you at two PM. Are you still located in Fielding’s Administration Building?”

“Yes, same building, better office,” he said, some of the stuffiness gone from his voice.

“Very nice. Good bye Mister Bannister.”

“Good bye Mister Stewart.”

Stewart left Seattle two hours early because he had never been out to Fielding College and only had a general idea where it was. Taking his father’s advice, when he didn’t know where he was going, leave early. It was easier to wait at the end of the line knowing where you are, than to be late and arrive

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flustered and sweaty. It was one fifteen PM when he found the college’s administration building. He found a place for visitors to park and put the Riviera into it with a heavy sigh. Whether this would turn out to be his second case was not a given, but it was not going to be lost because he showed up late!

At five minutes before two, he was standing in front of the administration’s information officer. “May I help you?” she asked, in an official tone.

“My name is Stewart Grant. I have an appointment with President Bannister at two PM.”

She gave him a look of distrust and picked up her phone. Four numbers punched later. “I have a Mister Stewart Grant here before me. Shall I send him up?” Her facial expression took on a look of amazement and then alarm. She blinked her eyes rapidly and hung up the phone. “You may go up. It’s office number 401.”

“Thank you Ma’am,” he said, not taking offense at her attitude before the call. The elevator swept him up to the fourth floor quickly and when he stepped off, the directions to office number 401 were right in front of him. He turned to the right and thirty steps later he was at office number 401. He checked his watch and at ten seconds before two PM, opened the door and stepped in. Sitting behind a very large mahogany desk was Bannister’s secretary, Mary Ann Farley. She looked up and spoke.

“Your father taught you well!”

“Yes Ma’am he did.”

“I’ll announce you,” she said, and clicked the switch on the intercom. “Your two o’clock is here Sir!” Stewart heard Bannister tell her to send him in. She looked up and nodded to him. He smiled and nodded back and turned to the door to the inner sanctum and opened it. The interior office was Spartan and pretty much as his father had described the man’s office when he was the Dean of Students. He walked across the medium sized room and Bannister came around his desk to greet him by sticking out his hand saying.

“You definitely are Miles Grant’s son alright. It’s nice meeting you.”

“Thank you Sir. Dad always spoke highly of you. I’m pleased to meet you.”

“I expect you learned from your father that the quickest way to find out why I’ve asked you here is to ask me what you can do for me. So I’ll save you the time. I want you to find out who raped two of our female students.”

“To save a lot of time, that’s a police matter Mister Bannister and well out of my field of expertise. I wish I could say I can help you but I can’t.”

“Hear me out Stewart. I know it’s officially a police matter but we took it to them initially and they’ve done very little to help us.”

“What has been done so far?” Stewart asked.

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“The father of the first young lady, who was raped, refused to let the police interview her. He said she was so distraught by the assault he was afraid she might not recover from it.”

“You said there were two rapes. What about the second one?”

“Her father co-operated willingly and his daughter told them everything she could remember.”

“What have the police done?”

“They have a patrol car prowl the area a couple times a night but it uses the same routes each time and although the rapes have stopped, they haven’t developed sufficient evidence to arrest anyone.”

“There isn’t a lot to go on based on your story. Why do you think I’ll have any better luck than the police?”

“Because I believe you are the product of a man named Miles Grant and he wouldn’t let a problem like this just fade away.”

“I’m flattered to be compared to him Mister Bannister, but if one of the girl’s fathers won’t let the police talk to her, why would he let me?”

“I believe the police see the first father’s reluctance as an excuse to let the case drop…or at least lie untouched. They depend on citizens to co-operate with them and if they don’t, they consider them unlikely to care if the crime is solved or not.”

“And you think I won’t let the first father just turn me down?”

“Your father wouldn’t and I believe you wouldn’t want to let your father down.”

“You just put me between a rock and a hard place. OK, I’ll take the case and that means I’ll need the names and addresses of the girls who were raped. Are you up enough on the case to answer a couple of questions for me?”

“I’ll try!”

“Fair enough. First, are the girls friends? Do they know each other?”

“As far as I’ve learned, they do not know one another.”

“Are they back in their classes yet and are they sorority types?

“No and no but they did live in dormitories.”

“What are their majors?”

“Victim one is a senior pursuing a degree in communications. Victim two is a junior pursuing business management.”

“Do they have or have they had any classes in common?”

4

“Missus Farley, my secretary, ran their records for me when the second girl’s rape was reported. They had a couple of the same classes as freshmen but since they are separated by a year, it’s not likely they were in them together.”

“Do you have the dates and times the rapes occurred? And were they committed in or around the same general area?”

“I know they were five days apart but Missus Farley has all the pertinent information for you…uh, in case you are wondering, I had her get it all for you because I believe it is what your father would have asked for.”

“I appreciate your efforts on his behalf but I hope you remember that I’m not him and occasionally I have different ideas than he does. There are a couple of things about his approach to investigating that I like a lot. I won’t tolerate second guessing of my approach and I don’t require payment until the case is resolved. Do you accept these so far?”

“They’re reasonable, so I do.”

“Do you want progress reports?”

“Nothing formal but a phone call once in a while might not hurt.”

“I can accept that. Now about my fee. I want two hundred dollars a day plus expenses. I know that my father’s case involved a member of your college staff and the victims were accosted on campus property. Is there anything you are willing to offer the rape victims to stifle the possibility of a lawsuit?”

“I have a meeting tomorrow with our legal department on this very subject so you’ll have to wait until that gets sorted out before I can tell you yea or nay.”

“Well, for what it’s worth…you’ve got me! I’ll give it one hundred percent of my attention when I’m working this case. If it requires weekends, I’ll do it and if it requires I go out of town, I’ll do that too. I won’t charge for time I have not spent on the case. My expenses will have receipts where possible and as soon as I get the information I need from Missus Farley, I’ll go to work.” He stood up and reached across Bannister’s desk to shake his hand. “I’ll be in touch in a few days and until then, good bye.”

In the Outer office, Missus Farley had a package for him. When she handed it to him, she spoke. "His Nibs has confidence in you because he respected your father so much. I think you’ll do a good job because I like your smile. It’s not very technical but it works for me. Good luck to you Stewart Grant!”

“Thank you Missus Farley. I won’t let you down,” he said, as he turned to leave. Standing out in the hall, he said to himself. “I hope I haven’t put my foot in my mouth on this one.”

Back in his car, he decided he was closer to his folk’s house than he was to his apartment, so he would stop off at his folks and discuss the case with his father. Most of an hour was gone, by the time he reached their place. He parked his car behind the second of the two spaces of the two car garage, since it was where his Gramma MJ parked and she rarely went anywhere. He disrobed in the mudroom and entered the main house. He heard voices in the living room and headed there. When he walked into the

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living room, his nude family, mother, father and grandmother were all sitting there looking at him. His mother, Shirley, jumped up from her chair and rushed to hug and kiss him. After the physical greeting, she spoke. “It’s so good seeing you Stewart and we’re so glad you decided to come here after your meeting down at Fielding.”

“Is there anything about the meeting that you guys don’t already know about?” he asked, jokingly.

“Only what was said,” replied his father, Miles. He stood up and hugged his son. Stewart next stepped over to hug and kiss his bosomy grandmother MJ. She had a word for him when they separated.

“Tell us all about the meeting.”

Stewart sat down next to her on the sofa. “You already know that there were two college girls raped down there and the father of the first one won’t let the police interview her.”

“Did he have a reason?” asked his mother.

“He said his daughter was so distraught that she might not recover from it, if she had to repeat the event for the police.”

“You aren’t going to let that stop you, are you?” asked his father.

“If I did, the case would be all but over before I got started. No Dad, I’m going to go back to my apartment later and read over all the stuff Mister Bannister’s secretary had for me and tomorrow I’m going to try to get an interview with the first victim.”

“Are you going to stay for dinner?” asked his mother.

“If you aren’t tired of feeding me, I’ll stay,” he replied, softly.

“As long as there is food in our cupboards, you will always be welcome to share it with us,” said his father, firmly. Stewart waited for a couple of minutes before he began the conversation he really wanted to have with his father. Finally, he opened up.

“Dad, the only thing about this case that bothers me is why the father of the first victim won’t let his daughter be interviewed. What is your take on it?”

Pausing for a few seconds before answering, he began. “I suspect his attitude is made up of a couple of things. His feelings for his daughter is, of course, one of them, but it is possible he is feeling embarrassment because of it. Some men have gigantic egos and anything that happens that will make him look less than on top of everything challenges that part of his ego. His reaction is to forbid anything that will allow others to see inside his domain.”

“What’s my approach then?” asked Stewart.

“Well first off, you’ll have to determine if it is an ego problem. If it is, you’ll have to convince him that going along with the program will benefit him and make folks look up to him for his selflessness.”

6

“That sounds easy to say but I’ll bet it’s a hell of a lot easier for him to say, get the hell out of my daughter’s life and stay out.”

“Dealing with people whose family is in some sort of trouble will always be the hardest part of your job. How well you work through those times will determine whether you become successful in the investigating business or not! I don’t want you to think it’s going to be easy but on the same token, if you know in advance it’s going to be difficult, you can prepare. Never, I repeat never, approach a case thinking it’s going to be easy. Something will jump up and bite you on the ass before you’ve begun to get a handle on it.”

“Thanks Dad, I think I’ll put some time into what I’m going to say. Usually I just wing it but in this case, it might not work, so I’ll have a fall back if I run into some resistance.”

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and soon it was time for dinner. MJ helped her daughter in the kitchen and Miles and Stewart stayed in the living room and went over some of Miles’ cases where he had tough challenges to overcome. It helped Stewart immensely to know his father had tough times to face when he was starting out.

The dinner finished and the kitchen squared away, Stewart announced it was time to leave. The family hugged and kissed him and followed him out to his parked car. He started the Riviera and backed away from the garage. He looked at them standing on the turnaround waving. He waved back and sped away to catch the ferry to Seattle.

That evening, Stewart sat in his naked state in the living room of his apartment reading over the data provided by Mister Bannister’s secretary. The data provided the names and ages of the two young women involved. Victim one was Cynthia (Cindy) Grainger, aged twenty-four. The second one was named Angela Thorson, aged twenty-one. He learned that the first rape victim came from Everett, where her father was a member of the Everett City Council. This in Stewart’s mind meant he might be protective of his reputation and not allowing his daughter to be questioned helped to secure that reputation. The second victim came from Olympia, where her father was a middle manager in the Department of Forestry for the State of Washington. This father’s job was, in Stewart’s eyes, just as important as the first father’s but he was far less concerned for himself or his reputation. In truth, Stewart did not know how either father truly felt about what happened to his daughter but on the surface, it appeared to him that the second father had the most concern for his daughter.

There was a small amount of information in the data that mentioned what the second young lady told the police. She said she didn’t know how long she was unconscious and it wasn’t until she woke up that she knew she had been raped. The report did not mention how she was made unconscious nor where she was when she woke up. He wondered if the same was true for the case of the first victim. He had no idea whether where the rapes occurred was important or not but without knowing certainly was an obstacle he had to overcome. He went to bed that night with the intention to seek permission to speak to the first victim of rape, the next day in Everett and find out some of those things.

7

Chapter 2   Two for two

With the help of a city map he got at a service station where he stopped for gas, he was able to find the residence of the Grainger family. He knew that the daughter Cynthia was reported raped twelve days before so he didn’t feel he was infringing on her recovery time too soon. He parked at the curb in front of the house, an older pre-war style with a large extended porch. He knocked on the door and stepped back to wait. After a two or three minute wait, the door opened slowly and a woman of middle years, dressed in fashion and pleasant to look on, answered. “Yes, may I help you?”

“Good morning Ma’am. My name is Stewart Grant and I represent Fielding College. I’d like to have a few minutes of Cynthia Grainger’s time, if I could.”

“I’m sorry but Cynthia isn’t in a condition to see anyone outside the family.”

“Are you her mother?” he asked, speaking softly.

She paused for several seconds before answering. “Yes, I’m her mother.”

“Are you interested in the perpetrator of the crime against her being brought to justice?”

“Of course I am. All of us are!”

“Then why isn’t she allowed to speak to those of us who wish to find the one who did it to her?”

“She’s not emotionally ready to be interrogated about it. She’s such a delicate soul, we’re afraid she’ll come apart completely if we approach her about it too soon.”

“What about the rest of the delicate souls who are at risk by the one who did this to her? Aren’t they entitled to go about their business without worrying?”

This caught her completely off guard. “Uh…we…uh, uh are very concerned for them but Cindy isn’t ready. That’s all there is to it.”

Before Stewart could say another word, a bare footed, disheveled young woman dressed in pink and white, lacy pajamas with short frilly bottoms appeared alongside her mother. “Who is this?” she asked, not at all delicate looking.

“He’s just leaving,” said her mother.

“But who is he? What does he want?” she insisted.

“I’m Stewart Grant. I represent Fielding College and I came to speak with you,” he replied, before her mother could answer.

“Well you’re not going to speak with her and that’s that,” said her mother, attempting to close the door on him.

8

“I’d like to talk to him Mother. He looks like a nice man,” said the delicate soul.

“Your father has made it very clear that no one is going to talk to you until he thinks you are ready,” insisted the mother.

“How does he know when I’ll be ready? I feel fine!” she rebutted.

“Don’t argue with me Cynthia. This is his decision and that’s all there is to it.”

Stewart joined the conversation. “How about five minutes of her time Missus Grainger. She says she feels fine and I’m not going to cause her any grief. Five minutes that’s all I ask!”

Caught between her husband’s edict and her daughter’s admission, Missus Grainger began to lose her resolve. “I don’t think I should go against her father.”

“She’s your daughter as well as his isn’t she? You carried her through those long months prior to her birth, didn’t you? Doesn’t that entitle you to have some say so about her welfare, especially since she says she’d like to speak with me?”

The woman was at the bottom of her resolve. She looked left and right and finally said. “Please come inside. We can’t stand out here on the porch for the neighbors to see,” she said, stepping aside for Stewart to enter. Once inside she motioned for him to follow her to the living room where she pointed to a comfortable looking, overstuffed chair. “Please have a seat.” She turned to her daughter who was standing in the middle of the room and said. “Go tidy yourself up Sweetie and hurry. I don’t know what will happen if your father should come home.”

“Thank you Missus Grainger. You are doing the right thing and no one can fault you for doing the right thing,” he said.

Ten minutes later, Cindy came back into the living room and she looked one hundred percent like she just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Her hair was combed, she had lipstick and eye shadow applied appropriately. She had slipped into a light weight robe of the same material as her PJ’s and she had pink fluffy slippers on her tiny feet. “How do I look Mother?” she asked.

“I don’t know what your father would say but I think you look like you’ve recovered. Please sit now so Mister Grant can speak with you.”

“I want you to stay here also Missus Grainger,” he said, while they both sought seats facing him. He looked from one to the other and settled on Cindy. “Tell me where you were coming from when the attack occurred.”

“I had been in the campus library and was on my way back to the dorm.”

“What time did you leave the library? And did you notice anyone paying a lot of attention to you while you were there?”

She thought for a moment. “About ten thirty and I can’t say I was being watched.”

9

“Did the attacker come up from behind you?”

“Uh, as I remember he did. I heard him but never saw him coming.”

“Were you rendered unconscious by him?”

“Yes.”

“How did he do it? Did he hit you or strangle you?”

“No, he put a rag over my face and I tried to struggle out of it but he held it in place until I no longer was conscious.”

“Did he say anything to you at any time that you recall?” asked Stewart.

“While I was struggling he whispered. Don’t fight it or I’ll have to cut you.”

“This is very important. Which shoulder did his hand come over that held the rag that rendered you unconscious?”

She thought for a moment. “It was my right shoulder.”

“How tall do you think he was? Was his right arm resting on your shoulder or was it above your shoulder?

“I felt like his arm was resting on my shoulder and I would say he might have been about as tall as me. I’m five foot five.”

“You said he mentioned cutting you. Did you see a knife?”

“No but I felt it against my neck, right about here,” she said, pointing to a spot on the left side of her neck. “Why is that important?” she asked.

“In my opinion, it is the hand he had the most confidence in his ability to control. With a dangerous weapon like a knife, he wouldn’t want to cut your throat accidently, if you were struggling to get free.”

“So you think he was left handed?” asked her mother.

“Yes I do…based on what Cindy described. One more thing. What did the rag smell like that he put over your nose and mouth?”

“It had a couple of smells but one was a little stronger than the other. The stronger one was like a baby’s wet diaper…” Stewart interrupted her.

“That’s ammonia. Was the other, lesser smell like sulfur…what you smell when you strike a match?”

“Yes, that was it. How did you know?”

10

“The combination of the two makes it ether and I knew because I used to teach general sciences to junior high school kids.”

“You are a teacher?” asked her mother.

“I was for two years when I got out of college but now I’m an investigator.”

“How long has Fielding had an investigator on staff?” Cindy asked.

“Off and on for ten or twelve years. OK, I have a couple more questions. Where were you when you regained consciousness?”

“I was in the front yard of a house on the street behind a very tall hedge, about two blocks from the library.”

“Did the attacker leave ejaculate in or on you?”

“Not that I felt or saw. I’m on the pill so that wasn’t of real concern to me”

“Do you consider the street you were on to be well lighted?”

She sort of chuckled. “In retrospect, I’d have to say not well enough.”

“I only have one more thing before I go and that is to say there was another young lady from Fielding who was also attacked but five days after you. With help from both of you, I’m sure I’m going to find the one who did this. I can’t tell you how brave this is of you and I know the time you gave up will be instrumental in finding him.” With that, he stood up, thanked them and left. After he had driven for a few minutes, he decided he’d find a place to eat before heading back to Seattle. He saw a small diner that didn’t look busy and pulled in. The food was cheap, plentiful and altogether satisfactory to him and he left feeling well fed. The drive back to Seattle didn’t seem as long.

When he was back in his office, he checked his note book for the number of President Bannister. He punched in the numbers and listened for the ring…one…two…and. “President Bannister’s Office. How may I help you?”

“Good morning Missus Farley. This is Stewart Grant. Is the President in?”

“He is but he’s on a long distance call. Do you want to hold for a few minutes?”

“Maybe you can tell me. Has he met with the legal department?”

“Yes he did! First thing this morning.”

“Is it something he’d talk about over the phone?”

“I doubt it. He doesn’t like discussing legal matters over the phone.”

“What does his schedule for this afternoon look like?”

“He has an opening at three o’clock. Is that too late?”

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“Would you pencil me in please?”

“Certainly, do you want to discuss the legal matter?”

“That’s the ticket!” he replied.

“I’ve got you down for three PM, then.”

“Thank you Missus Farley. I’ll see you at three,” he said and hung up after she said her good bye. It wasn’t yet lunch time and he figured he try to schedule a visit with the second victim Angela Thorson. He knew her number was in the packet of data that he received from the President’s secretary, so he pulled it out of his briefcase and removed the paper that had the particulars of the victims on it. He punched in the numbers and. “Hello,” said the soft feminine voice of an older woman.

“Good morning. My name is Stewart Grant. I represent Fielding College and I’d like to interview Angela Thorson.”

“She’s not feeling so well today, could you interview her tomorrow, if she’s feeling better?”

“Oh of course! That’s not a problem. Are you her mother?”

“Yes I am. My name is Florentine but everyone calls me Flo.”

“Thank you but you’ll always be Missus Thorson to me.”

“I’m sorry, uh Thorson was my first husband’s name. He died when Angela was nine years old. My name now is Harrington and my husband’s name is Paul.”

“That was my mistake Missus Harrington and I’m very glad you corrected me. Uh, what time tomorrow would be good for me to visit…providing she’s feeling better?”

“Is ten o’clock OK?”

“Ten o’clock will be fine. I’ll call before I come over, in case she’s not feeling better. Good bye for now.”

“Good bye Mister Grant.”

He scooted his chair around to face his portable typewriter and commenced to type up the notes he took from his interview with Cynthia Grainger, earlier that morning. He finished entering the data into the file he opened on the two rapes and sat back to edit his work. When he finished that, he checked the time and saw he had a little more than two hours before his appointment with President Bannister. He decided he’d head down for Fielding and stop for lunch on the way.

The meal stop completed, he had just the right amount of time left to get to his appointment. As he was walking to his car, feeling impressed with himself for his time management, it crossed his mind it wasn’t skill on his part thus far. He had been terribly lucky that time played out in his favor. He had told another client that his time was the only thing he could control. If he started getting careless with it, it

12

could get out of control. Checking his watch again, he noted he had just enough time to meet his three o’clock appointment. That was not how he was taught and it was not how he wished to conduct his business. From now on, he was not going to cut things this close…even if he had to go without lunch!

At three PM, he was standing in front of the desk of Missus Farley. She smiled at him and made a thumb and first finger OK sign for him as she flipped the switch on the intercom to connect him. “Mister Grant is here!” Stewart heard the President’s reply to send him in. Continuing to smile at him, she shook her head and he reached for the door and stepped in.

As soon as he entered the room, Bannister spoke. “Welcome young man. C’mon over and tell me what’s going on.” They shook hands and Stewart took a chair and began speaking.

“I interviewed the first rape victim this morning.”

“Oh, how did you convince the young lady’s father?”

“I didn’t have to convince him of anything. In fact, I didn’t even see him. I went to his house and spoke to her mother. She wasn’t going to let me see her daughter but the young lady showed up and said she’d like to talk to me. So I spent about twenty minutes with her.”

“What did you learn from the interview?” asked the older man.

“Where the rape took place and I must say the rapist doesn’t seem to worry about getting caught.”

“Oh, how so?”

“Because the rape took place just behind a large hedge, in the front yard of a house, on the main street.”

“How did he keep her quiet, for God’s sake?”

“He attacked her from the rear and drugged her with a rag soaked in ether. He also had a knife to her throat to threaten her with so she wouldn’t struggle so much until the drug took effect.”

“Do you know where the second rape took place,” the older man asked him.

“No but I’ll find out tomorrow, if the young lady is feeling better. I had time today to interview her today, so I called but her mother told me she wasn’t feeling well. I have an appointment for ten AM tomorrow…if she feels well enough.”

“Uh, you called about the outcome of my meeting with the lawyers. Do you want a summary on the meeting?”

“All I really want to know is if I can offer them some sort of compensation. It doesn’t have to be specific right now but when they begin to make plans for their future, I want to have something to offer them.”

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“Well the lawyers weren’t particularly specific about what we could offer them but they did make it clear the school could be held liable if it got to court, so they suggested we do our best to get them to settle outside of the courtroom.”

“I have a couple of ideas but I don’t want to open up until I’ve heard both of the young ladies’ stories.”

“Will you call me again tomorrow and let me know how it went with victim number two?”

“Sure thing President Bannister. Uh, thanks for the update on the law and I’ll be in touch as soon as I’ve interviewed Miss Thorson.” He left the President’s office and smiled to Missus Farley on his way out. It was his intention to drive back to Seattle and stop at his office, put his notes for the file on the case in order and close down for the day. He had a few moments when his tasks for the day were completed, when he wished he had a female companion he could share his day with. Speaking aloud, he said. “Maybe this is my fate to have a taste of love but never to have a full plate to settle down with.” With that, he closed up the office and drove home.

The next morning, he was out of the apartment and on the road with plenty of time to get to the region of Tacoma where the second victim Angela Thorson lived. He scouted the area, found the address he wanted and left to find a place to have breakfast. He found just such a place when he retraced his path out of Thorson’s neighborhood. It was called Jolene’s Fine Food. When he was seated with a menu, he picked his meal and began looking to see if there was a public phone, while he waited to have his order taken. He saw a phone on the wall in the rear of the restaurant near the rest rooms. Finally his order was taken and he sat back to sip his coffee. When the meal had been delivered and eaten and all his coffee was gone, he left a nice tip, paid his bill and headed for the phone.

He dialed the numbers and waited. After four rings, he heard. “Hello,” the voice of an older woman. The same voice he heard yesterday. It was Angela Thorson’s mother!

“Good morning Missus Harrington. This is Stewart Grant. We talked yesterday about my interviewing your daughter. How is she feeling today?”

“She’s much better thank you. Do you still want to speak with her?”

“Yes Ma’am, very much. Is ten o’clock still a good time for it?”

“I think ten o’clock is fine.”

“OK Missus Harrington, I’ll be seeing you shortly. Good bye.”

“Good bye,” said the lady, softly. When he heard the line go dead, he checked his watch. It was almost nine-thirty. He was ten minutes away from the victim’s house, so he thought he’d drive back to the neighborhood and park on her street and kill the time there. At five minutes to ten, he advanced down the street to park in from of her house. He waited another two minutes in the car, then got out and walked up to the house and knocked on the door. This house was post war but built to a pattern that was prevalent in many of the other houses on the block. All were well tended so the pattern did not

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detract from the quality the neighborhood presented as a whole. Stewart could hear movement on the other side of the door and when it opened, he was surprised to see a much younger woman than the one he believed he had spoken to twice. “Are you Mister Grant?” she asked.

“Yes I am! Are you Angela?”

“Uh huh, that’s me. Won’t you come in?”

“Thank you,” he said and stepped across the threshold as she stepped aside. She motioned for him to follow her into the living room. She pointed to a rocking chair that looked like one his Gramma MJ had in her room above the folk’s house. She took a chair that faced him and when she sat down, she dropped her hands into her lap and looked him in the eyes and spoke.

“I expect you want to know about what happened to me?” He nodded. She continued. “You know I’ve already talked to the police. Do you want to go all over that again?”

“If I don’t know, at least, what they know, I’m at a complete disadvantage. What have they done that you know about, so far?”

“I hate to say it but I don’t think they’ve done anything. They haven’t made any follow up calls or anything. My Dad said they have a prowl car drive through the campus a couple of times a night but they always use the same route. Don’t they want to solve this?” she asked, her voice pleading.

“I wish I had an answer for you but the best I can do is tell you what I think they are thinking. I don’t know if you know there is another young lady who was also raped five days before you? Her father didn’t want her to talk to the police. Since she was first, they possibly think she may have been partially responsible for her own problem and doesn’t want them to find out she may have caused it. I know different in her case and I know you haven’t caused your problem either. My purpose in interviewing you is to find out if the rapist used the same M.O. on both of you.”

“Can you tell me who the other girl is?”

“Do you to want her to know about you?” he asked.

She thought for a couple of minutes. “I guess not. Did you tell her about me?”

“No, she doesn’t know about you, only that there was one other case. If I’m successful and find the perpetrator of these evil deeds, no one’ll ever find out about you.”

“Do you mind if my mother is here while you interview me?”

“Not at all! I was a little surprised she wasn’t the one who met me at the door when I knocked.” The mother must have been close and listening because when he allowed as how he didn’t mind if she sat in on the interview, she popped in from another room with a big smile on her face.

“I’m sorry Mister Grant, I was eavesdropping.”

“No problem Missus Harrington. I prefer that you hear it all. Just out of curiosity, why didn’t you

15

answer the door? You knew I was coming.”

“I began to think my presence might embarrass you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment Missus H, but it would take a lot more than that to embarrass me. Maybe someday I’ll find out what does embarrass me and I’ll give you a call.” She chuckled and took a seat at his suggestion. Stewart took a deep breath and began. “Angela, I’m going to ask you a specific line of questions. I want you to think about each one and tell me as accurately as possible what you can about each one. OK?” She nodded. “Here goes. Where was the last place you were before the assault?”

Without hesitation, she replied. “I was at the campus library.”

“How long were you there and what time did you leave?”

“I was there maybe three hours and left between ten forty-five and eleven.”

“Where were you going…that is, where was your destination?”

“I was going to go back to my dorm room.”

“What route did you take to go back to the dorm?” She told him what street she went on. “Is that the shortest route back to your dorm?” Again she nodded. “Did you notice anyone paying an inordinate amount of attention to you?”

She didn’t answer quickly on this one. “Uh, I don’t think I noticed anyone even looking in my direction. Should I have been paying attention?"

“No, no, you had no reason to be suspicious. You didn’t know there had been another assault a few days before. Now I’m going to get into the conditions leading up to when you were assaulted. Do you know when the perpetrator approached you?”

“Do you mean did I hear him coming?” He nodded. “I heard the last steps just before he put the rag over my nose and mouth.”

“How tall are you?”

She looked at her mother. “How tall am I?”

“The last checkup you had from Doctor Lewis had you listed at five feet four inches and …” He jumped in.

“I don’t need any more than that. When the guy put the rag over your nose and mouth, which side of your head did his hand come from?”

She paused and he saw her replaying the action in her head. “It was my right side. Yeah, it came over my right shoulder.”

“Very good! His right hand came over your right shoulder. Did he rest his arm on your shoulder or did his arm clear your shoulder?”

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Once again, she took several seconds to decide. “His forearm was almost touching my neck and cheek but I could feel a lot of his arm resting on my shoulder.”

“Do you know what he was doing with his other hand and arm?”

“He had a knife in it and he put it up to my neck on the left side and he whispered in my right ear, if you don’t stop struggling, I’ll have to cut you.”

“It’s absolutely imperative that I establish this. It was his left hand that held the knife and his right hand that he put the rag over your nose and mouth with…correct?”

“Absolutely it was that way,” she replied.

“Was there anything on the rag he put over your face?”

“Yeah, it smelled like a baby’s wet diaper…oh and a kind of sickly sweet smell sort of sulfurish.”

“Were you conscious through all this?”

“No, I passed out after three or four minutes. At least I think I passed out. I don’t remember anything after a certain point.”

“That’s fine Angela. You’re doing just fine. Where were you when you became conscious again?”

“I was in the front yard of a house on that street I was walking on…oh and there was a large hedge I was behind.”

“Did the attacker leave his ejaculate in or on any part of you?”

She took her time on this one. “I think I checked when I got home but I wasn’t worried because my period had just finished so I couldn’t get pregnant.”

“I don’t have any more questions for you Angela. Do you have any for me? Looking at her mother, he said. Do you have any questions?”

Angela shook her head no but her mother made a statement. “The policeman who talked to Angela didn’t ask her anything like you did. Do those things matter?”

“They do to me because I don’t have a drawer full of files on suspected rapists like the police do. It may have been an oversight, I don’t know but It sure is important to me,” he said standing up. “I’m going to go now but I might want to talk to you again. Thank you both for your co-operation. You’ve been most helpful. I’ll find my way out thanks,” he said and left. He made his way to his car and drove out looking to find the nearest public phone booth. A couple of miles from the Harrington home, he found a phone booth. He put the quarter in the slot and dialed the number for President Bannister’s Office. “Good morning, President Bannister’s Office. May I help you?”

“Good morning Missus Farley. This is Stewart Grant. Is the President in?”

“He’s in but he has a number of the school’s board in with him. Can I have him call you back?”

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“I’m calling from a phone booth in Tacoma. Do you think he’ll be free after lunch?”

“He doesn’t have anything on his docket at one-thirty. Do you want me to pencil you in?”

“That’ll be great…thanks. I’ll see you at one-thirty,” he said and hung up. Free for a while, he decided to find a place and have a quick lunch closer to Fielding College.

At one-thirty, he pushed open the door to the President’s outer office and smiled as Missus Farley looked up over his head at the clock over the door. She commented. “He told me to have you go right in as soon as you got here.”

“Thank you Missus Farley,” he said, knocking on the door to the inner sanctum and pushing open the door at the same time. Inside, President Bannister was sitting with his feet up on his desk, looking as casual as Stewart had ever seen him. He swung his feet off the desk and stood up speaking.

“Stewart my boy, come over and sit down and tell me how things are going.”

Stewart flopped down and began speaking. “I was at the second victim’s house at ten this morning and she was ready to tell me everything. Rather than go into great detail with her story, I can say without fear of contradiction that her story was nearly a carbon copy of the first victim’s story.”

“Can you summarize for me what you’ve taken away from their stories?”

Stewart paused weighing the extent of info he planned to disclose. Finally. “I believe the perp doesn’t fear being caught. There’s two possible reasons I can think of for that. Number one is, he knows he isn’t being actively sought by the police and the co-eds on campus aren’t alarmed. Number two is, he’s a crazy man and doesn’t understand the possibilities his daring provides for someone to stumble on to him.”

“Which one do you put the most trust in?” asked the President.

“The former! Wherever I go on the campus, I don’t sense the young women are leery and watching their surroundings.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to start the hard part of the job. I’m going to investigate.”

“Have you investigated the crime scene yet?”

“No but it’s high up on my list of to do’s. If you don’t mind Sir, I’d like to get started. I assure you all my investigating is going to be detailed in my report when this case is closed.”

“Do you plan to keep quiet about what you’re doing?”

“If the perp isn’t aware that we know about what he’s done, he’s liable to make a mistake that’ll trip him up and I want to be there to catch him,” he said, standing up and walking to the door. He smiled at Missus Farley on his way out. His destination was the campus library.

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Chapter 3   One small clue

Stewart walked from the Admin Building to the campus library. It took him about ten minutes. When he entered, he stopped to look around, it amazed him that so many students were in the aisles looking for books or sitting at tables with books open making notes. He concentrated on the co-eds, trying to see them with a rapist’s eyes. He couldn’t push himself hard enough to see a single one without sympathy for their feelings if they had been assaulted like Cindy Grainger or Angela Thorson. He finally stepped forward to the librarian’s desk. She was standing, looking in the opposite direction of his approach. He did nothing to alert her that he was there. After several seconds, she must have sensed his presence, because she turned suddenly to see him standing there. She blurted out. “I didn’t know you were there. Can I help you?”

“My name is Stewart Grant and I’m a new member of the campus security staff. I’m just reviewing the various functions I’ll be responsible for. Tell me what your working hours are.”

“I open up at eight o’clock and go home at six PM.”

“I understand that the library is open until midnight. Who tends the store during that time?”

She smiled. “It’s only open till midnight Tuesday through Thursday. I have a student who’s pursuing a degree in library science that minds the store those extra hours.”

That was a piece of news that surprised him but also pleased him to know. “If the perp responsible for the rapes is picking his victims from the library, this cuts down my area of surveillance considerably,” Stewart thought. He said. “Is there another entrance or exit for this building?”

“There’s an emergency exit in the northwest quadrant of the building. It is not in general use and has an alarm attached that sounds if the door is opened without shutting off the alarm.”

“How long have you been the chief librarian here?”

“It’ll be ten years next June.”

“Do you like it?” he asked, not at all interested in the answer.

“Of course I do otherwise I would have chosen another field of study,” she replied, her tone of voice indicated she was somewhat offended by his question.

He sensed it and responded. “I didn’t mean to offend you Ma’am. Not everybody is in a field of endeavor that they prefer. I didn’t mean to put you to the test. Have you run a library anywhere else?”

She smiled at his response. “When I first got out of college, I was the assistant librarian in the main library in Bremerton.”

Stewart grinned this time. “It’s a small world after all. I was born and raised in Bremerton and probably borrowed a book or two from you.”

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“I know a family in Bremerton named Grant. Are you possibly related to Sarah Grant?”

“She’s my sister!”

“I don’t believe this,” she said. “She and I were in high school together. We both went to Evergreen College together. She chose accounting and I, of course, pursued library science. What is she doing these days?”

Stewart saw no reason to spill the beans on her and the family so he answered vaguely with. “She’s the property manager of some properties over on the peninsula.”

“You have an older brother too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, his name is James. We all call him Jimmie. He lives in Ames Iowa and together with our Uncle owns an automobile agency.”

“He went to Wazoo, didn’t he?” Stewart nodded. “Uh, did you go to college?” she asked.

“I also went to Wazoo. I have a bachelor’s in math and general science.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why are you working in security?”

“Pays better! I tried teaching young minds for a couple of years but it just didn’t work out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Too many teachers are leaving the profession,” she said, sadly.

“Teachers have to eat the same as doctors and lawyers. At least that’s how my stomach looked at it,” he said, as droll as he thought necessary. Apparently, it was sufficient because she laughed heartily. He changed the subject purposely. “Do you mind if I look at the emergency door?”

“Not at all. Do you want me to show you where it is?”

“That won’t be necessary. I want to wander around and see how your shop compares to the one over the mountains in Pullman. It’s been nice taking to you…Uh, what’s your name?”

“Barbara Winkler. Although Barbara has many nicknames associated with it, I’ve been called Bobbie all my life. The next time you see Sarah, tell her I said hi!”

“Will do! It’s nice meeting you Bobbie. I’ll be seeing you around,” he said as he started his trip around the library. He didn’t head for the northwest quadrant right away. He didn’t want to give anyone the impression he had a purpose in mind by studying the layout of the main library. He walked from one aisle of books to another, without paying close attention to anything, he gave the impression this was a general visit. Finally he found his way to the northwest quadrant. He discovered the emergency exit and also discovered the area of the exit door was practically invisible to the activity areas of the library. He took his time looking over the area, in case something might be amiss. The last thing he did was to give some time to studying the door itself. He almost laughed when he looked closely at the cable housing the wiring to the alarm system. It had been cut and was being held somewhat in place by a strip of black duct tape. It wasn’t a very professional job and even he knew he could do a better job than this. The

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question it begged, was this done for the reason of making a quiet escape or for the purpose of a quiet entry. If he knew that, it would give him the information he’d need as to how much emphasis he should  put on it? He felt his scalp prickle when he thought of how the discovery made him feel initially but he didn’t want to jump to a conclusion that had nothing to do with his case. He left the situation as he found it with the notion that it was not going to create a problem for anyone until he knew more about the case as a whole.

Eventually he wandered out of the library and onto the street that he believed both young ladies had walked on their way to their dorm rooms. Five minutes from the library door, he looked forward and saw a section of the street where a huge hedge abutted the sidewalk. He checked that spot with the nearest street light. The lights, the one approaching the hedge and the one past the hedge, were at least sixty or seventy feet from it. He calculated the arc of each light and it appeared each arc would fall short of shining on the sidewalk entry to the house with the huge hedge. In other words, that area would probably be dark enough to conceal a man who had rape on his mind!

He continued on and did not stop to study the area behind the hedge. He gave a quick look at the front of the house and it appeared to be shuttered up. He stalled his walk long enough to catch the address on the side of the house near the front door. He committed it to memory and would put it down on paper when he had a few minutes alone. He estimated it was another five or seven minutes to the first of the eight dormitories built for the college.

Unlike many of the large colleges and universities in the country, Fielding was a planned community. Except for the fraternities and sororities, which grew and expanded after the college was underway, the dormitories were built on the campus proper to a standard submitted by the architect with the original specifications. In this case, there were eight two story buildings erected in a rectangle, two to a side, all facing to the center. According to the data that was given him by Missus Farley, the two rape victims lived in the dorms but not the same dorm, so it was not likely they knew one another from their dwellings. It appeared the only thing they had in common was their use of the campus library.

Having attained the dorms as a goal for this afternoon, now he intended to return to Seattle and his office where he would enter the results of this day’s interviews. Back in his office, the radio playing quietly on the corner of his desk, he turned to the portable typewriter and began writing up the results of the day’s activities concerning his case. Once everything was logged in and checked for content, he put the file back in the large wooden file cabinet and sat back to rest for a while and cogitate. With his feet up on his desk and his fingers laced behind his head, he stared at the far wall. He saw a young lady walking a path that led to salvation and safety but had to pass through a danger zone occupied by villains wearing masks and wielding knives and waving drug soaked rags. The villains took turns accosting the young lady, then left to take up disguises as gentlemen who had nothing but concern for the young ladies who transited the danger zone. He couldn’t keep this scenario running in his head for long before he wanted to rise up and find a villain to beat down. Soon he stood and shook himself to rid his mind of its evil thoughts and readied himself to get back to investigating.

Two things occurred to him also while he was cogitating. He needed to find out who lived in the

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house behind the hedge where the young ladies woke up from their assaults. Was it possible that they were collaborating with the rapist and allowing him to have a safe haven after he performed his villainous deed? The other thing that occurred to him was a need to talk to the librarian who tended the library during the five hours from six to midnight Tuesday through Thursday’s of the week.

Practically speaking, it was probably too late today to seek out the county organization where the information on who owned the property in question could be obtained. It was, however, not too late to drive back to Fielding in time to interview the young lady librarian running the second shift. Before he left his office, he sat down and withdrew the packet of information given him by President Bannister’s secretary. He pulled the desk calendar over and checked the dates of the rapes for Cindy Grainger and Angela Thorson. Cindy was raped on the eighth of the month and Angela was raped on the thirteenth. The eighth was a Thursday and the thirteenth was a Tuesday. Both dates were when the campus library was open until midnight. Was this a co-incidence? He was beginning to feel it was not!

He parked near the last building on the main street leading to the Admin Building. It was a short walk from there to the campus library. He glanced at his watch. It was nearly seven PM. The second shift should be underway. He walked in casually, looking around as if he was unfamiliar with the layout. The young lady at the librarian’s desk was watching him closely. He finally sauntered over to stop in front of her. “Good evening. My name is Stewart Grant. I’m with the Campus Security Detail. It is going to be my responsibility to look after this complex. How are you this evening?"

“I’m fine. They didn’t tell me there was going to be someone checking up on me.”

“I’m not doing this officially, I’m on my own time. Uh are you guilty of something such that you feel you are being checked up on?”

“Heavens no! It’s just that I’ve been doing this for almost a year and a half and no one from Campus Security has ever come in to check on things.”

“Maybe they do it during daylight hours. Some people don’t like to work at night. Uh, the reason I’m here is to check whether you’ve ever had any problems you might have wanted to report to Security?”

“I can’t think of anything like that,” she said, selecting her words carefully.

“You don’t sound very convincing. Are you sure of it?”

“Well, it isn’t that he was causing trouble but there has been a guy who when he’s in here gives me the creeps. The first time I remember seeing him, I had to ask him if he was a student here at Fielding. He showed me his student body card but he still gave me the creeps.”

“Do you remember his name?” asked Stewart.

“His first name is Darius, but I can’t remember his last name.”

“Does he still come around?”

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“He used to come around twice a week pretty regularly but I haven’t seen him for almost two weeks, now that I think about it.”

“What did he do when he was here? Did he look up books or study…what?”

“He always brought a book with him but every time I looked at him, he seemed to be looking anywhere but at his book.”

“How long did he stay?”

“That’s the thing. After a couple of hours, I’d look around to see how things were with the other students and he’d be gone and I never saw him leave. I swear he just disappeared!”

“What does he look like?”

“Dark hair, dark eyes, kind of a creepy smile. He has nice teeth but I’d like it better if he didn’t smile."

“How tall is he? How much to do think he weighs?”

“You know, that’s funny. I never saw him standing. Whenever I became aware he was here, he was already seated and as I said, I never saw him leave.”

“Would it bother you if I did some checking up on him?”

“I don’t want to get him in trouble just because he doesn’t appeal to me. He hasn’t caused any trouble…but, if you can do it without telling him what I said, I guess I won’t mind.”

“Well, I’ll be on my way but before I go. Would you mind telling me your name?” he asked, with his brightest smile.

“Carly Carson. My brother Martin had trouble with ‘R’s and he called me Callie. The rest of the family went along with him, so everyone started calling me Callie and it stuck, till I grew up.”

“Do you mind one more question? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to answer it.”

“I won’t tell you how much I weigh. That’s kind of personal.”

“OK, I won’t ask that. How’s this? Do you get paid to do this?” He saw a big smile building on her pretty face. He saw a white row of perfect teeth and two cute dimples grow. One on each cheek. Finally she spoke.

“I earn credit hours towards my degree for doing this. I earn two credit hours for every four I work. This will help me earn my degree in three and a half years instead of four. Do you want to know anything else?”

“Sure! Will you have a cup of coffee with me sometime?”

Her hand flew up to her mouth and a flush grew across her entire pretty face. “Oh my heavens. I

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certainly didn’t expect that.”

“You don’t have to answer tonight. Think about it because I’ll be coming around a lot more now that I know there’s a creepy guy that sets you off. Good night Carly. I’ll be seeing you again soon.” With that, he left the library and headed back to his car. Now it was too late for any serious investigating, so he decided his apartment on Beacon Hill in Seattle was the place to go.

The next morning, bright and early, he was out and about. His breakfast out of the way, he headed south to Pierce County. He found a convenient phone booth, when he got with the county limits and looked up the number he sought in the County Government section of the phone book. When he had the one he wanted, he dialed it. It was answered on the third ring. “Pierce County Assessments. May I help you?”

“Yes Ma’am. If I give you a street and house number, can you tell me who owns the house and what its assessed value is?”

“I can but why are you calling here? Why don’t you go to a local realtor for your information?”

“I want to know what its true value is not what some eager beaver real estate salesman thinks it’s worth.”

“And why is this important to you?”

“I recently came into some money from a deceased relative and I want to buy close to Fielding College where I work.”

“OK, I understand. What are the particulars you said you had?” He read her the street and house address of the house behind the large hedge. It was quiet on her end of the line for several minutes, when he heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“I’m afraid so. This house is not for sale and probably won’t be for some time.”

“What’s the problem Ma’am?”

“Its last owner died intestate owing five years taxes and numerous other large sums charged to it. The process to straighten this all out could take years to settle. I’m sorry if this creates a problem for you but it is best you know before you make any effort to purchase it.”

“Thank you very kindly Ma’am. You have, indeed, saved me from diving into a snake pit. I appreciate it very much. Good bye.”

“Good bye to you Sir.” She said. Now he knew why the rapist felt safe drugging and having his way with the young ladies in the front yard of that house. It was vacant and not likely to be occupied in the near future. The next question was; was he using it as cover till a young lady he had chosen walked into his web? If that was so, how did he know she was going to be coming by his lair? Perhaps it was

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pure luck, but that didn’t seem to fit with all the other similarities between the two cases. He had to know someone was going to come by the place at some time and be heading for the dorms. This eliminated pure luck in Stewart’s book! He got back in his car and headed for the Fielding Campus. He wanted to see if he could get some help from President Bannister’s secretary with looking up a student’s particulars.

He walked carefully into the outer office and surprised Missus Farley when he appeared. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m wondering if you’d like to help me get some information on one of your students.”

“Does this have anything to do with your case?”

“I don’t know if it does or not,” he replied lamely.

“Then why do you need my help?”

“Let me try to explain. OK?” She nodded. “The one thing we know about both the rape cases was both young ladies were in the campus library before they were raped. I asked them both if they had seen anyone paying a lot of attention to them before they left the library. They both responded negatively. Last evening, I paid a visit to the library and talked to the student librarian. Her name is Carly Carson and she told me about a student who shows up in the library a couple of times a week. He doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary but that’s just it! He doesn’t do anything but sit and watch everything that’s going on. He brings a book with him but doesn’t read from it. He just sits and watches. It creeps her out.”

“Was he there on the nights of the rapes?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask her. As far as I know, the rapes are not common knowledge on the campus. So long as it isn’t, if the rapist is a student here, he probably feels a degree of safety. I’d just as soon not give the word I’m looking for him, even if I don’t know who he is. You see this don’t you?”

“Of course I do Stewart. I want you to be sure you know why you’re looking for info on this guy.”

“So far it’s the only thing I have that relates, in my mind, to the rapes. Both ladies were in the campus library before they were raped. This guy spends time in the library doing nothing. What if he has something to do with it and I don’t follow up on it. He might do it again!”  

“How can I help you?” she asked.

“The student librarian told me when he first started showing up, she asked him if he was a student at the college. He showed her a student body card. I asked her if she remembered his name and she only remembered his first name…Darius!”

“That’s enough to get started on. Give me a couple of days to see what I can find out. OK?” He nodded and thanked her and left. He had no reason to hang around the campus, so he headed home.

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Chapter 4   Two offers made  

On his way back toward Seattle, as he was approaching the turn off to Bremerton across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, he changed his mind about going to his apartment and took the turn off to Bremerton. It had been a week since he had seen his family and the desire to get nude was tempting him strongly. Thirty-five minutes after the turn off, he was on the street leading to his family’s house. When he pulled into the driveway, there was a car he didn’t recognize parked there. He pulled up next to it and got out and looked it over. It was a year old Lexus with Oregon plates and still shiny like it came out of the show room. Not knowing whose it was didn’t bother him. His folks had friends he didn’t know and they certainly had a right to come visit. He walked through the garage to the mud room and disrobed. The thought of seeing someone he didn’t know, dressed or undressed, wasn’t on his mind. He opened the door and stepped into the hallway and stopped listening for where the voices were coming from. It seemed the loudest voices were to his left…meaning the living room, so he went to where the majority may have been. As he walked into the living room, he saw his mother, father and grandmother MJ. Two others were sitting there, their backs to him but he recognized his Uncle Joe, his mother’s brother and Aunt Cassie, his wife. All of them were nude!

More often than not, it was his mother who saw him first and today was no exception. Her face lit up and she jumped up immediately and ran to hug and kiss him. Her sudden departure from her chair interrupted the group conversation and they all turned to see why she left the group. MJ was next to stand up and by this time all the rest were standing to say their hellos. Little intelligible conversation took place while the kissing and hugging was going on but soon it ended and everyone returned to their place. Stewart scooted in next to his grandmother to join the group speak. “We understand you have a new case,” said his Aunt Cassie. “Can you tell us about it?”

“I can give you the basics but I don’t have much more than that to relate, since I’ve only been on the case a few days.”

“Well, anything you have to say is welcome,” said his Grandmother MJ.

“Dad knows I’m back at Fielding College and once again a case involves two co-eds who attend Fielding. The hard truth of the matter is the two were both raped and I’ve been chosen by the college President to find out who did it. As I said, I don’t know a lot yet but I have a couple of clues and if they play out, I’ll be on his trail like a bulldog.”

“Have you talked to both victims yet?” asked his father.

“Yeah Dad. They both opened up to me.”

“Were they any help?” came the question from his mother.

“It’s due to them that I have a place to start looking. I’m sure I’ll find the perp and their stories will be of significant help.”

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“Do you have anything more?” asked Grandmother MJ.

“The details are what I find the hardest to gather and are possibly the easiest to distribute if I don’t watch it. I’d love to tell you everything I know….but, I think it is bad luck to put all my cards on the table this soon. You understand that don’t you Dad?”

“I do Son and I’m proud you’ve discovered it. Keep those cards close to your vest until the case is closed and you’ve been paid. Then is soon enough to spread the details.”

“Enough about me. What are you two guys doing up here?” he asked, looking at his aunt and uncle.

“We’ve been hearing so much from your folks and from Mama MJ about the nude cruise they went on, we’ve decided to reserve one if it’s possible,” answered Cassie.

“That sounds like a lot of fun. Sarah told me she had a ball on the one she went on.” He switched his attention to his father. “Can your friend who owns the travel agency in Seattle help them?”

“That’s what we’ve been talking about. I was just about to give them the phone number when you showed up.”

“Is there anyone you haven’t helped get travel arrangements?” he asked his father.

“Only family Son. If the family needs my help, that’s what I’m here for. Everyone else can fend for themselves.” He stood up and spoke to Joe and Cassie. “Why don’t you come with me to my office where I keep all that kind of information? You can listen in or talk, if you like.” The two stood up and followed his father to his office.

Left with his mother and grandmother, he asked. “Did they have anything to say about their kids? Has anything changed since we last talked about them?”

“I don’t think so,” said MJ. “Josie is still an administrator in a small hospital in Eastern Oregon. George is still selling sporting goods and Beth is still going to be a veterinarian.”

He spoke in a conspiratorial voice. “Aunt Cassie sure has got a great set of boobs hasn’t she?”

“You think they’re better than mine or your mother’s?” asked MJ, as if his comment offended her.

“Not at all Gram but I don’t think it’s polite to tell your grandmother or mother that they have great boobs…even if it’s true!”

“Just the same, girls like to be praised about their assets once in a while,” said his mother, smiling at his growing embarrassment.

“OK, OK, you and Gram sure do have nice tits. The best in town! How was that?”

“That was more like it,” said MJ, also smiling, not at all offended. “While we’re talking about

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girls,” she continued. “Have you met any new possibilities to steal your heart?”

“No but I haven’t given up. I’m just going to go slower and make sure the next one doesn’t have a condition I’d have to worry about.”

“Is there one you are considering?” asked his mother.

Looking at his Gram, he said. “There is one possibility and I asked her to have coffee with me some time.”

“What did she say?”

“I told her she didn’t have to say yes or no just now but to think about it. I’ll ask her again in a day or so.” As he finished speaking, the three who had gone to make the phone call returned. The one who Stewart said had a great set of boobs spoke.

“It looks like we’ve got us a booking for a nude cruise in the Caribbean. MJ, would you like to come with us?”

MJ looked flabbergasted. “Are you inviting me to go with you?”

“We named you as a possible, if you want to go. The only thing is, we’ve got to give them the word today if you’re going and we have to go over and get our passports. I think yours is still valid isn’t it?”

“I think mine is still good for another three years. Uh, Miles, are they serious? They’re not pulling my leg are they?”

Stew’s father replied. “No MJ, they’re not pulling your leg. I definitely heard them give the travel agent your name as a possible and will confirm before the agency closes today.”

“When are we going to go over and close the deal?” asked MJ.

“I asked Miles to go with us,” said Joe, MJ’s son. “He knows the travel lady and where to go to get passports. Do you want to go with us Shirley?”

She looked at Stew. “I’ll stay here with you, if you aren’t planning to leave any time soon.”

“You go with them Mom. I’ll fend for myself for a while and close up and lock the house when I leave. I’ve got some work to do on my files before I go to bed so I’m going to put together some notes before I leave.”

“OK Cassie, it looks like we’ll all be going with you.” In less than an hour, the five of them were dressed and left. Miles turned on the TV, stretched out naked on the sofa and watched a couple of programs before checking out the refrigerator and fixing himself a snack. When he was through eating, he cleaned up his mess, got dressed and left, heading for the drive to Seattle.

He checked into his office, read his mail…mostly bills and requests for money, and entered the

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day’s events in the case file. With that accomplished, he closed the office and headed for home.

The next day, he was in his office as the sun was coming up. He had planned this day to revisit each of the raped victims and discuss their futures at Fielding College, if they chose to return and finish their educations. His plan started out with a phone call to see if they would entertain another visit with him. When it seemed to be a respectable time to make a call to their home, he punched in the numbers for the home of Cindy Grainger. The call was answered on the second ring. “Hello,” said the gruff voice of a man, presumably her father.

“Good morning Sir. This is Stewart Grant. I represent Fielding College and I’d like to speak with your daughter about her future with our institute.”

“Cynthia is not speaking to anyone about anything until further notice. So please don’t call here again,” he yelled and was about to hang up when Stewart spoke sharply.

“I’ll alert the newspapers immediately then that you have made a false report that reflects un-favorably on Fielding College.”

“I made no such report. How can you say that?”

“The police are acting on a report that there has been a reported rape on the campus of Fielding College. Your daughter’s name is on the report. How do you respond to that?”

“I…um, I maybe acted a little hastily. Uh, just what do want to discuss with my daughter?”

“Listen Mister Grainger. I believe your daughter is old enough to speak for herself. I’d like to come to your house and speak directly to her and I’m asking you kindly for that permission.”

“Just when do you want to speak with her?”

“I’m presently in Seattle. I have another phone call to make and I’ll be on my way. I’d say I’ll be at your place in an hour and a half.”

“I won’t be here then so….” Stewart interrupted him.

“Mister Grainger, this does not require your presence to take place. Your daughter’s future is important to us at Fielding and I assume you are concerned about her further education, as well! Am I correct in my assumption?”

“Of course I’m concerned. It’s just…I’ve always been there to guide her and it doesn’t seem she should be left without guidance.”

“Her mother cares about her too, doesn’t she?”

“Well yes but…”

“I’m sure her mother can see that I’m not going to do anything but spell out some possibilities that we can offer her. She’ll have as much time as she needs to decide what she wants to do with our

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offer.”

“I guess, that will be alright then. I’ll tell her and her mother to expect you at what time?”

“Ten thirty, ten forty-five at the latest.”

“OK, good bye,” said Grainger.

“Good bye Sir,” said Stewart. He immediately punched in the number for the home of Angela Thorson. On the third ring.

“Hello,” the very pleasant voice of Missus Harrington responded.

“Good morning Missus Harrington. This is Stewart Grant. How are you today?”

“I’m fine thank you. What can I do for you?”

“How is Angela doing?”

“She’s feeling pretty good, all things considered.”

“I’m very glad to hear that. I’ve had a discussion with the President of Fielding College and I’d like to talk to Angela about her future with Fielding, if I can. Is she up and about?”

“Oh yes, she’s sitting right here. Would you like to speak to her?”

“I don’t need to Missus Harrington. All I need is your permission to come to your house around two o’clock this afternoon. I’ll chat with her then.”

“Two o’clock will be fine Mister Grant.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll see you soon. Good bye.”

“Good bye Mister Grant.” When the line went dead, he put the phone on its cradle and sat back and sighed heavily.

“I thought I was going to have a serious problem there, if Grainger called my bluff,” he said aloud. “I guess Dad was right. Some guys think of their own reputations first. Everyone else in the family comes next!” Checking that the office was secure, he set out to get his car and head for Everett and the Grainger household.

He arrived on the street where the Grainger’s lived a few minutes before ten thirty. He parked in front of the house and there was no car in their driveway. The man of the house must be gone, he thought. He got out, retrieved his briefcase and walked up to their door and rang the doorbell. Missus Grainger answered the door. “You are very prompt Mister Grant. Won’t you please come in?”

“Thank you Ma’am,” he said and entered when she stepped aside. She led him to the living room where he had spoken to Cindy the first time he was there. He sat in the same chair! Cindy was already seated and smiled warmly at him when he looked at her. “How are you doing Cindy?” he asked.

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“I’m fine, thank you for asking.”

“I don’t want to take up all of your time so I’ll get right to the heart of the matter. The reason I’m here. Tell me, what do you intend to do about completing your education?”

She paused, looked at the floor and then at him. “Well I want to get my degree but my father thinks I should transfer my credits to a school closer to home, like Western Washington in Bellingham.”

Stewart nodded and waited for a few seconds before replying. Finally. “Do you know anyone at Western?”

“No, but they do have a good communications program up there.”

“What do you suppose it will cost to get re-established up there?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t discussed that.”

“I don’t know either but that wasn’t why I asked. I’m prepared to offer you something that will be closer to free than if you had dropped out these many weeks and decided to go back. Are you interested?”

“Of course I’m interested.”

“I assume you have your tuition paid through next semester and had all your classes set to graduate in June of next year?” She nodded. “Suppose your tuition was rebated and all you had to pay for was books. Dorm and food was taken care of. Would that appeal to you?”

She looked at her mother, her eyes large with surprise. Her mother’s look back was equally as surprised. “I’d say that would be a very good reason to go back to Fielding.”

“Do you intend to go to grad school?”

“I’ve talked with my Dad about getting my Masters, at least, but not recently.”

“Would it interest him, if the first year of grad school was no charge to you?”

“Holy cow, Mister Grant! Is this for real? Are you honestly offering this to me?”

“As you know, Fielding is a private school. They are accredited the same as public universities but they have far fewer restrictions than public universities. They can offer these things no strings attached so long as you do not consider some other form of redress for your unfortunate run in with the rapist. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“You don’t want us to sue you!”

“Exactly!”

Again she looked at her mother. “Suppose my Dad uses the threat to get a better offer?”

“It will be taken off the table and all bets will be off. I feel terrible about what happened to you

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and so does every soul at Fielding, who knows about it but none of us want to go through a nasty court battle when this way you won’t have to face any recriminations and no one will know the slightest bit about your troubles with the rapist.”

“How do I know there won’t be talk?”

“I can’t promise you that no one will find out but if you hold your head up and don’t succumb to gossip, it will pass just as the day into night.”

“When do I have to give you my answer?”

“I would say it’s important that the college has your answer soon enough so the elements of the offer can be put in place when you want to get back to your program.”

“When do you suggest?”

“In essence, I’m just the messenger. I don’t have any of the details at my fingertips so I cannot begin to put together the things you’ll be getting. I suggest you compose a letter and send it to President Bannister at Fielding and tell him when you’d like to return and you’ll be advised about the things you’ll need to do to take part in the offer.” He sat and looked at her as she alternated between looking at him and her mother. Finally she spoke.

“I’ll see to it that Daddy won’t make a fuss and I’ll write the letter to President Bannister within the next two weeks. OK?”

“That’s just fine. Thank you Cindy and thank you Missus Grainger for your co-operation. I’ll see myself out,” he said and headed for the door. It wasn’t quite noon so he decided to drive down to Pierce County near Tacoma and find a place to have lunch. He didn’t want to be late for his two o’clock appointment with Angela Thorson.

He stopped at a small restaurant he had been in a few days earlier. It was called Jolene’s Fine Foods and it was only a few minutes away from the home of Angela Thorson. He enjoyed the lunch which was both plentiful and inexpensive. Another benefit was he didn’t have to hurry. He was only minutes away from his meeting. Finished with lunch, he left a nice tip, paid his bill and left. He drove to the end of the street the young lady, he was going to see, lived on and parked. He listened to the car radio for a few minutes until it was time to drive the rest of the way to their house. Parked in front of the house, he took his briefcase and marched up to the door and rang the doorbell. He soon heard movement and the door swung open. Missus Harrington answered his ring and spoke softly to him.

“Please come in Mister Grant,” she said and swung the door open even wider. He walked in and waited for her to close the door. “We’ll go into the living room again. Angie is waiting for us in there.”

He followed her and soon they were all seated and able to see one another in order to be able to speak normally. Stewart spoke to Angela. “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m fine thanks. What have you got for me?”

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“A couple of questions and a couple of offers. Let’s start with my questions. Do you intend to continue pursuing a degree in business management?”

“It is my goal, yes!”

“Do you intend to return to Fielding to do it?”

“There has been talk of transferring.”

“Serious talk?” he asked.

“Not yet.”

“OK, here is where I make an offer. Would you consider a rebate on this year’s tuition and dorm fees and get your entire senior year’s tuition and dorm fees and food paid for? You pay for your books.”

She looked at her mother for a second and back at Stewart. “Why are you making me this offer?”

“You’re a smart girl. Let’s suppose our positions were reversed. You were me and I was you. Why would you make such an offer?”

An impish smile crept up on her face. She looked at her mother again and back at Stewart. “I wouldn’t want you to sue Fielding,” she admitted.

“Bingo!” he exclaimed. “I knew you were a bright girl.” He looked at her mother. “Missus Harrington, this is now a matter for you and your husband to discuss.”

“Just out of curiosity,” said Angela. “What if we do decide to sue for a better deal?”

“The deal comes off the table and you’ll head for court. Remember, court battles are not held in seclusion. Every newspaper, TV and Radio Station will be there to hear the juicy details.”

The cutesy smile on her face disappeared and she began to frown. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“You’re an adult Angela. This is how adults are treated in the world of court battles,” he replied.

“And if I decide to accept your offer, what do I do?”

“I think you should make up your mind as soon as you can, then send a letter to President Bannister stating your acceptance. He’ll see that all the arrangements are made and the details are provided to you. Remember, Fielding has to work on the details so give them as much time as possible to do it. Get you letter off as soon as you can. Do you have any questions?”

“Are you going to be involved in any of the details?” asked Angela.

He smiled at her. “Sorry, I’m just the messenger in this. Anything else?” Neither one had a question. “Thank you both for your co-operation. I’ll be on my way. Don’t get up. I’ll find my way out,” he said, grabbing up his briefcase and leaving.

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Chapter 5   Stewart makes a date

Stewart drove a short distance to a phone booth he passed on the way in to see Angela. He dialed the number he had come to memorize. “This is President Bannister’s Office. May I help you?”

“Hello Missus Farley. This is Stewart Grant. Is the President in?”

“I’m sorry Stewart, he’s a little under the weather today. He called in and said he’ll try to make it in tomorrow. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“I interviewed both rape victims today and explained what to expect if they accept Fielding’s offer and what to expect if they choose to sue for a better deal. I told them they should write a letter to the President, if they accept Fielding’s offer and tell him when they want to come back to continue their educations. I’ll explain what I offered them when he’s back.”

“Oh, Stewart, I have something for you concerning that student named Darius you asked about. If you’re close by, you can stop in and I’ll give it to you.”

“I’ve got time this afternoon. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. Is that OK?”

“That’s fine. I’ll be here till five-thirty. Good bye Stewart.”

“Good bye Missus Farley.” He got back in his car and headed for the Interstate, the fastest way to get across Tacoma to where the college was located. It only took twenty-five minutes and he was able to find a parking place close to the Admin Building. He popped into the outer office of the President. Missus Farley’s smiling face welcomed him.

“You made good time,” she said, as he closed the office door behind him.

“I decided to get over here, pick up the thing you have for me and get out of your hair, in case you want to sneak out early. You know, when the boss is away, it’s time to play,” he said, in response to her look when he mentioned sneaking out early.

“I’d never think of it,” she responded to him.

“Well for what it’s worth, I’d never tell on you,” he said. “I’ll be on my way. I’ll call again tomorrow to see if he’s in. Until then, ciao.” He was going to return to his office in Seattle and put the day’s events in the file. An hour and twenty minutes later, he drove into the parking lot. He nodded to the attendant, who knew him, and the attendant gave him a thumbs up. He walked swiftly to his office and commenced to add the information to the file. With that finished, he decided to look over the paper he received from Missus Farley.

Leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk, he began to read the tight hand of the lady. The first thing it mentioned was the last name of Darius. It was Bennett! The entire sheet was a series of surprises. Darius Bennett was a senior majoring in criminology. He was a straight A student and

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twenty-one years old. He lived at home with his parents, two brothers and a sister…all younger. His father was a Sergeant with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. According to a note to him at the bottom, the material was prepared by his Counselor and the Criminology Department Head, Mariette Scofield, PHD. What the hell am I supposed to think about this? He asked himself. This doesn’t sound much like a guy who secretly goes around raping young ladies. I’m going to put some thought into this and figure out what my next steps should be. With that, he closed up the office, got in his car and drove to Beacon Hill.

The next morning in his office, he reviewed the data from the PHD at the Criminology Department. The one thing the data didn’t say was whether Darius Bennett was left handed. The thing about keeping his hottest clues to himself was; nobody helping him was going to accidently tell him what he wanted to know unless he asked them explicitly for it! How was he going to find out about the young man’s dexterity? He was going to go out to see President Bannister today. While he was there, he could ask Missus Farley if she could find out. He stuck the note in his pocket and waited another hour to be certain it was a reasonable hour and called. “President Bannister’s Office. May I help you?”

“This is Stewart Grant Missus Farley. Is the President in?”

“Yeah he’s here but he looks like death warmed over.”

“Why doesn’t he go home then? The college won’t close if he takes another sick day.”

“You can’t convince him of that. I’ve done the next best thing for him though. I’ve cancelled or re-scheduled most of his business for the day. You said yesterday that you’ve spoken to both the raped girls about coming back to Fielding. Can you condense a report for him?”

“I can make a report so condensed that Reader’s Digest would be jealous.”

“OK then. Any time you can get out here will be fine. I’ll hold his schedule open for you.”

“Thanks Missus F. I’ll be there by ten-thirty. See you then. Bye!” He left immediately and was on the Interstate in fifteen minutes. He wheeled in to the campus at ten-twenty. Soon he was standing in the office of Missus Farley. “I hate to do this but I need to have you find out one more thing for me,” he said to her.

“What do you need this time?”

“I need to know if that Darius Bennett is left handed.”

She looked at him strangely. “For heaven’s sake, why?”

Not fearing the President’s secretary would spread the word on him, he decided to tell her why. “Because each of the raped girls said the rapist held a knife to their neck on their left side. Since the attacks were originated from their rear, it had to be the rapist’s left hand that held the knife.” She still looked confused by his explanation so he added. “If you being right handed attacked someone from the rear, would you threaten them with a knife in your least dexterous hand?”

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“Oh, so now I see why you want to know if he’s left handed. That’s quite a clever thing to have deduced from their interviews.”

He nodded and smiled at her compliment but he wanted to get his information imparted to the President. “Uh, can I go in and see the man?”

“Let me announce you, OK?” Stewart nodded. She flipped the intercom switch on. “Perce, Stewart Grant is here. Are you ready for him?” Stewart heard him reply to send him in. She nodded and smiled and he pushed open the door and entered.

Even from across the room, Stewart could tell the older man was not feeling up to par. He looked like the last rose of summer and was only hanging on the vine by sheer will power. None-the-less, he smiled briefly and spoke. “Nice to see you Son. You have something for me?”

“Yes Sir. I talked to both the rape victims yesterday and I believe I convinced them both to come back to Fielding to complete their educations.”

“What did you offer them?”

“The first victim, Cindy Grainger, the balance of this her senior year and the first year of grad school on Fielding. She pays for her books. The second victim, Angela Thorson, a rebate on what she’s paid this year and her senior year, except for books, on Fielding.”

“Do you know how much that amounts to in dollars and cents,” asked the President.

“No Sir. I’m a math major but buying someone else’s education is out of my field of expertise.”

“I’ll tell you what it’s worth Son. It’s a hell of a lot less than a room full of Lawyers would charge and a judge might award. I think you did fine. When do they want to come back?”

“I asked each of them to send you a letter stating that and from that I expect you can negotiate the terms of their returns.”

“You did good Son. I feel a whole lot better than I did when I crawled out of bed this morning.”

“I’d better leave while I’m ahead then,” said Stewart. “I’ve still got a lot of investigating to do. I hope you get better real soon Sir,” he said as he walked out the door. Once he was outside the office of Missus Farley, he stopped to figure out what he should do now while he was down here. He really wanted to talk to Carly Carson, the second shift librarian on Tuesday through Thursday, but he didn’t want to hang around until six o’clock this evening. He wondered if the regular librarian might have some information on what she does at times she’s not tending the library. He thought he’d walk over and speak to her about it.

As he entered the facility, he noticed the librarian’s desk was empty. He looked all around the room and didn’t see her. He decided to wait for a few minutes and see where she comes from. After five minutes, he was getting ready to leave, when a door against the wall to the left of the entry opened and Bobbie Winkler stepped out, carrying a cup in her right hand. She saw him sitting at her desk and smiled.

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“Do you want to check out a book?” she asked, jokingly.

“No, I want to check out a librarian,” he replied, in the same vein as she did.

“Anyone I know?” she asked.

“You probably do. She’s only here after you go home though.”

“What do you want with Carly?” she asked, her tone much more serious.

“I’ve received reports that some strange things are happening on campus at night and I want to know if she’s observed any strange goings on here in the library. Do you know how I can reach her during the day?”

She looked at her wrist at a small diamond-encrusted watch. “It’s quarter past noon. She might be at the cafeteria. Her last class in the morning ended at noon.”

“Thanks Bobbie, I’ll go give it a look-see,” he said, walking away from her desk. It took him almost ten minutes to reach the cafeteria but the line to get food was still active so she could just be starting to eat. He entered the cafeteria bypassing the line and a monitor confronted him.

“No jumping the line you!” he said.

Stewart whipped out the badge the President had made up for him. It identified him as a member of the Security Staff. “I’m looking for someone,” he said and continued past the monitor, who’s head bobbed but mouth failed to close. Stewart moved to a spot where he could study the people eating throughout the entire cafeteria. Finally, he saw the pixie like haircut of the second string librarian. It was bobbing up and down as she worked through the eating cycle. Down to fork it in, up to masticate and swallow. He noticed she was sitting at a table with two others but they were talking and eating, while Carly was just eating. He assumed she was not part of their conversation. With that in mind, he made his way around the room till he was at her table. “Uh, Carly. Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, speaking softly.

She munched a partial mouthful, swallowed and gulped. “Not at all! Please sit.”

He looked over at the two others at the table, a young man and a young lady and said. “I’m with the County Health Department and I’m here to check on the quality of the food you are being served. I’ve picked this young lady to interview. You can continue with what you were discussing.” He noticed that they stopped speaking and started to fork in the food at a significantly faster pace than before. In less than two minutes, they finished, picked up their trays and excused themselves and left. When they were out of earshot, he looked at Carly. “Do you suppose it was something I said?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” she replied, smiling warmly. “What do you really want?”

“Have you given my request any thought?”

“And just what was that request?”

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“Based on that, I’d say you haven’t given it any thought. No mind, I’m not surprised. What I’d like to know is what can you tell me about that young man who gives you the creeps when he comes into the library and you are on duty?”

“I thought I told you all I knew when you asked me a couple of days ago.”

“In that case, I’ll tell you what I know, and if you can, add anything supplemental to it. So here goes; his name is Darius Bennett. He’s a senior majoring in criminology. He’s a straight ‘A’ student and I’d assume he’s on the Dean’s list. He lives at home and has two brothers and a sister…all younger. He’s twenty-one years old and his father is a Sergeant with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. What do you think?”

“You found out all that in just two days? I’m impressed.”

“Does he seem that creepy now that you know what you know?”

“I guess I could put up with him sitting there doing nothing but looking.”

“Did you feel you were in danger at any time?”

“I honestly don’t know what I felt. You dumped a lot of thought provoking crap on me. Why should what or who he is matter anyway?”

“If I told you, I’d have to put you under protective care until my investigations are complete. Believe me, you don’t want to know why I was interested in him. Are you ready for another line of questioning?”

“Does it concern food?” she asked, her smile showing a lot of perfect white teeth.

Stewart chuckled. “It was a good ruse to get them to eat up and leave and it worked. No this line is for personal information only. Want to let me try?”

“Why not? I can always say none of your business.”

“You can. Question one; what do you do when you’re not here at Fielding…day or night?”

He saw her pose the question to herself. “I study. Most of my free time is used to prepare for the time I’m in classes.”

“Why? Are you having a tough time? You’re not on the verge of failing out, are you?”

“Oh heavens no. I want to be able to get into grad school without being questioned. Everybody wants to go to grad school but getting in is generally the result of having very good grades.”

“If you were asked to do something that took you away from the studies, would you consider it for a few hours?”

“It would depend on what I was asked to do.”

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“Well suppose you were asked to breakfast, lunch or dinner somewhere other than at the Fielding cafeteria?”

“Why would I give up the convenience of dining at the cafeteria?”

“The choice of food might be something you haven’t eaten recently or ever and it wouldn’t cost you anything but the time it takes to get there and partake.”

“Are you taking this someplace where I can say yes or no to it?”

“Hopefully! Would you consider going to dinner with me on some weekend evening?”

“Do I have to answer you before I leave this table?”

“No, you can take a while to consider whether I’m harmless enough to trust to treat you like a lady and do only what I say I will do.”

“How will I get an answer to you when I’m not here or in the library?”

“Well you could leave word with Bobbie Winkler, who by the way is a good friend of my sister. They were in high school together. You could tell me you wouldn’t mind if I came by the library on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday after six PM.” There is one more way…it’s risky but it’s foolproof.”

“What is the last one?” she asked, smiling.

“You can call President Bannister’s Office, uh I can give you the number, and tell his secretary Missus Farley, that you’ve decided I’m not such a bad guy and you’ll go out with me.”

“Now I know you’re putting me on. Even staff doesn’t have the privilege of calling the President on a whim.”

“Suppose I do have the right and can prove it. Would you go out with me if I can prove I got in touch with President Bannister’s secretary?”

“How will I know you’ve proved it?”

“Do you know whether the creepy guy Darius Bennett is left handed or right handed? I’ll call her and ask her to find out for me.”

“Oh boy are you full of it. You’re going to call the President of Fielding College’s Office and ask his secretary to find out if one of their student’s is left handed or right handed?”

“That’s it!”

“I don’t believe you’ll do it and if you say you have you won’t be able to prove it. I’d never go out with anyone who’d try to put one over on me like that.”

“Do you know the name of the President’s secretary?”

“No I don’t and I’ll bet you don’t either.”

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“You lose! Her name is Mary Ann Farley. She was married but now she’s a widow. She’s been Percival Bannister’s secretary for over twenty years. I just happen to have a note in my pocket that has the information on that Bennett guy. On the bottom of the information is a note to me from his secretary.”

“I’ve got to see that…if you’ve got anything like that!”

He reached into his left inside jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of memo paper and handed it to her. She looked smugly at him before unfolding and reading it. Finally she did and he saw her eyes get big and her eyebrows shoot up. “Is this real?”

“Look up who is the Head of the Criminology Department and I think you’ll find her name is Mariette Scofield, PHD. The note is signed MAF. Guess who that it?”

“I…I…can’t believe it. Who are you and how did you get the authority to call on the President of Fielding College?”

“I mentioned something about it not too long ago. What I’m doing is not for wide distribution and although I want to get to know you, I don’t know you well enough now to trust you implicitly. So for now you’ll just have to trust that I am what I say I am and that I’m sincere in wanting to know you better.”

“Why me?” she finally asked.

“As they say in nautical terms, I like the cut of your jib!”

“What does that mean in English?”

“I think you’re pretty and I like the way you move. In other words, you appeal to me!” He saw her flush red and look down at her tray.

“Uh, are you going to be around the campus when I’m tending the library this evening?”

“I can be if you want me to.”

“I’ll answer your question for me, if you show up around seven. That gives me time to get organized and answer all the questions that the freshmen and sophomores have.”

“OK Carly, I’ll be there at seven. Regardless of a yes or no, I’m going to hang around a while. I won’t attempt to engage you in conversation if you say you don’t want me to.” With that, he stood up. “I’ll take your tray and dump it for you,” he said, bending down and picking up her tray and leaving her seated. With nearly six hours to kill until he was committed to see her, he decided to head back to Seattle and get his file on the case up to date.

At five-thirty, he closed up the office and headed to his car. In short order he was on the Interstate heading south. He arrived at the Fielding campus at fifteen minutes to seven. Due to the

40

heavy commute traffic, it took him almost a half hour longer than he planned. He wasn’t late but he really didn’t like cutting it so close. Since most of the staff had gone home, parking was not a problem for him. He found a spot that was only three or four minutes away from the library. He sat in the car listening to his favorite radio station, KIXI, 880 on the AM dial. At five minutes till seven, he left the car and sauntered over to the library. He entered and saw Carly looking at him, with a funny expression her face. He upped his pace to her desk. “Is something wrong?” he asked, softly.

“He’s here,” she whispered, after a quick look over her shoulder.

“Who’s here?”

“That Darius guy. Look over my left shoulder to the middle of the room. He’s in the second row down from the aisle that juts out, looking into the middle.”

Stewart peered casually over her left shoulder and saw a short, stocky, young man with dark brown hair, a little on the long side. He wore wire rimmed glasses with round lenses. His shirt and trousers were stylish. He had a rather thick book open in front of him but during the whole time Stewart watched him, he never looked at it. “How long has he been here?” he asked.

“I don’t know for sure. I left my desk for a few minutes about quarter to and when I came back, he was sitting there just like he is.”

“Would you like it if I went and talked to him?”

“Yes but not right now. He might leave on his own.”

“Does he often just up and leave after staying for just a few minutes?”

“No but I’ve never had anyone sit here with me at my desk.”

“Do you think he’s got the hots for you, and seeing someone capture your attention might squelch his ardor?”

“It’s all I can think of for the moment.”

“In that case, holding hands and kissing might just do the trick,” he said, quietly but tongue in cheek.

“Don’t get carried away. I’m not that eager to have him leave…just yet.”

“What shall we do until you want him to leave then?”

“Sit down please. I’ll think of something.” He sat down and leaned an elbow on her desk, making himself comfortable…at least he looked comfortable doing it. The edge of her desk was jabbing him in his left ribcage!

“Has the appearance of your nemesis changed your mind about giving me an answer to my

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question?”

“No, I intend to answer you but first I have to know a few things about you.”

“Shoot! I’m an open book.”

“OK, are you doing this because you need a job or are you truly interested in security issues?”

“It’s the latter. I eat, drink and sleep security matters.”

She looked at him as if she wasn’t sure she could believe him. She finally continued. “Have you ever been in college?”

“Only one.”

“Are you saying you’ve only been in one college? Is that one Fielding?”

“What I should have said was, I’ve only been to one college. I graduated from Wazoo in ’78. I have a degree in math and one in general science. I taught school for two years but had to give it up.”

She sat staring at him. She shook herself as if trying to rid herself of some strange thoughts. “Where did you teach?”

“At an Indian school down in New Mexico.”

“Would you care to elaborate on that?”

“I assure you I’m not dodging you. If you do go out with me, I’ll tell you what makes me tick…within limits.”

She sat looking everywhere but at him. She shifted slightly in her chair and leaned toward him. “I think anyone who can dial up the President of Fielding College and chat with his secretary can be trusted enough to take me to a nice restaurant and feed me. So I’ll say yes to your offer.”

“Do you take time off on weekend days?” he asked.

“I have to! I don’t live on campus. I live with my mother in Tacoma.”

“Are you free for next Saturday the seventh?”

She smiled. “I thought you’d want to get a date sooner than that.”

“I do have patience and I’m doing my best to show it.”

“So what are you going to do until the seventh?”

“Sit home and bite my fingernails hoping you don’t change your mind.”

“Drop around next week. If I change my mind you won’t have to wait until the seventh to find out.”

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Chapter 6   A new path to follow

Satisfied that the personal business he wanted to conclude with Carly was settled, he excused himself and walked around the room and approached Darius Bennett from behind. He leaned down and whispered in the man’s left ear. “Would you please give me a few minutes of your time?”

Bennett jumped as if prodded when Stewart spoke to him. Such was the level of his concentration. Swiveling around in his chair, he replied. “Who are you and what do you want with me?”

“I’m with campus security. The name is Stewart Grant. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“What about?”

“Do you want to continue this here or would you rather go someplace a little more private?”

“Uh, er..I…” he broke off and looked back over his shoulder. Stewart saw a young lady, dark hair tied in a ponytail, wearing wire rimmed glasses just like Bennett’s looking this way very concerned.

“A friend of yours?”

“Yes…she’s, uh, can I go tell her I’m going to go with you for a few minutes?”

“Sure! Just don’t run off.” Bennett stood up and walked quickly over to the young lady, bent down and whispered to her. She nodded and he stood upright. Stewart judged him to stand about five feet, five inches tall. He then turned and came back to where he had been sitting.

“Where do you want to go?” Bennett asked.

“We can step outside, there’s a bench near the entry,” offered Stewart. Together, they walked out the door and stopped at the bench. The light from inside shone through a large window over the door and illuminated the bench. Seated, Stewart spoke. “What is that young lady to you?”

“She’s my girlfriend. She’s a year behind me but she wants to be a criminologist too!”

“The librarian says you pop up in there and she never sees you when you enter. What’s with that?”

“I don’t do it intentionally. It just seems the times I come in, she’s somewhere else.”

“Is it the same for when you leave?”

“I guess so.”

“The librarian also says you have a book in front of you but you never seem to be looking at it. What’s with that?”

“It’s a library. I thought I should look like I’m reading.”

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“Just why do you come to the library at night if you’re not going to be using it for your studies?” asked Stewart.

Bennett leaned close. “Do you know there have been two rapes near here recently?”

“Yes I do! How do you know?”

“My Dad told me. He’s a Deputy Sheriff. That’s the reason I come here to the library. When my girlfriend, her name is Penny Potter, says she’s coming to the library to study, I come to watch over her and I walk her back to her dorm. I don’t want her walking by herself at night with a rapist on the loose.”

“Tell me Darius, are you left handed or right handed?”

“I’m right handed. Statistics show that few men who are right handed are very dexterous with their left hands.”

“Are you an exception?”

“Uh no. There isn’t much I can do with my left hand.”

Knowing full well the answer to his next question, he proceeded anyway. “Do you live in the dorms too?”

“No, I live at home. In fact our house is only two miles from where we sit right now.”

“Do you walk home every day?”

“No, I ride my bike. When I graduate, my Dad is going to give me a car for a graduation present.”

“Where is your bike now?”

“I park it over near Penny’s dorm. I walk her over here and wait inside for her to study and when she’s ready to leave, I walk her to her dorm, jump on my bike and ride home.”

“Do your folks pay for your education?”

“No, I’m actually on a scholarship granted by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. Eight years ago the department got some money left to them by an anonymous donor. They held raffles, bake sales and anything you could think of to increase the gift to make it available for a scholarship for the son or daughter of an active duty deputy. I got mine four years ago. Since I live at home and pay for my meals, I can turn back the portion it would otherwise take for that.”

“What do you plan to do with your education Darius?”

“I’d like to use it to find out why certain people are constantly doing the wrong thing and can’t stay out of trouble. Uh, Mister Grant, I don’t believe you are really part of the campus security department. Are you involved in looking for the campus rapist?”

“You are a very bright young man Darius. I’m not going to tell you yes or no on that question but

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I’d like you to tell me how you knew I wasn’t with campus security.”

“I know who all the real security people are. Most of them are retired cops or security guards from other functions. You don’t fit it, you’re too young and you’re too polite.”

“And you are very perceptive. Thank you for the compliments.”

“Would you mind Mister Grant if I told you what I think about why you’re here?”

“Not at all. I’m always glad to hear from people who might be close to the problem.”

“I would guess that you started out thinking the rapist is a guy, didn’t you?” Stewart nodded. “Have you ever considered it might be a female?”

“No I haven’t. Why should I? Statistically there are very few women rapists and they aren’t much good at it.”

“I know why you are questioning me,” Bennett said. “And I’m pretty sure where you got the notion from. I hope this talk has helped to take me off the list and I’d like to offer you an option to replace me. Will you listen?”

“Of course I’ll listen. I’d be a fool not to.”

“Last year, there was another scholarship winner like me from the department. It was a female and she had been doing quite well in the program for the first two years, according to her grades. Early on, in her junior year, she started to slough off. She skipped classes, didn’t study, and messed around with drugs, almost anything you could think of to make herself look bad. Well, when her GPA fell below the warning line, the scholarship committee gave her a month’s warning. She did nothing to improve it, so they took her off the scholarship and she dropped out. My girlfriend was in a couple of her classes and she told me she said she was only in the program till she learned how to commit a perfect crime. Now this is all circumstantial evidence, I know, but it sure sounds like someone you might want to look into, don’t you think?”

“What is her name?”

“I think her name…the first name was Bethany or Britany. I never heard Penny say her last name and I never talked to her myself and I know everything I told you is from secondhand. I did see her a few times and she was built very sturdily. She was about five-five, maybe one sixty. Dark hair cut short like a man’s. I wasn’t close enough to get the eye color.”

“Was she left handed?”

“I don’t know…uh, wait. I saw her eating in the cafeteria once. She was forking it in pretty good with her left hand.”

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“For what it’s worth, I’m not the one you’re looking for but I do hope you catch her,” he said.

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“You can go back inside Darius but I’d prefer you don’t tell your girlfriend what transpired out here.”

“She doesn’t know about the rapes but she’ll want to know why we had to go out here to talk.”

“Tell her it concerned security matters. You’re clever enough to make up something she’ll believe. About the rapes, has there been any talk among the students that you’ve heard?”

“Well not in so many words. A few know something happened but not exactly what.”

“I suggest you don’t get involved even in a few words on the subject. It isn’t going to benefit any of us if it becomes common knowledge. For the record, until I find someone else who has a lot more evidence piled up against him or her, you’re still on the list.” He stood up and walked back to his car.

The next day was Friday and he wanted to get everything that transpired the day before into his case file. When he had copied everything into the file, he checked the time. In a few minutes it would be OK to call President Bannister’s Office. His wait over, he punched in the magic numbers and listened for the rings. “President Bannister’s Office. May I help you?”

“Good morning Missus Farley. This is Stewart Grant. How is the Prez feeling today?”

“I don’t know how he feels but he sure looks better. What do you need today?”

“I got a new lead late yesterday and it’s going to require someone on the inside to dig up some information for me. Does Doctor Scofield seem like the kind of person who you can ask for help a second time?”

“In this case, I don’t think she has much choice. Uh, I’m going to tell you something I shouldn’t but I think you are trustworthy. Doctor Scofield is pressing for tenure but in order to attain it at this palace of higher learning, she has to publish a worthy tome. She’s on the clock and so far she hasn’t even submitted a rough draft of anything. President Bannister hasn’t pushed her but he isn’t going to let it slide either, so if a message from his office says do this or that…she has no choice but comply.”

“Does she actually do the leg work on a request like the one for Darius?”

“It doesn’t matter whether she does or doesn’t. It’s standard procedure for the Department Head to get a request for information on someone or something in their purview. She has to comply! Now tell me what you need?”

“I need every bit of information on a former student in the criminology program who was dropped from her scholarship last year. She was on the ride due to backing of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department like Darius Bennett. She underperformed and they pulled the plug on her. All I know about her is her first name is either Bethany or Britney.”

“Can you tell me why you’re looking at her?” asked Missus F.

“Reason one; she fits the description…that is my description, size, weight and dexterity. Reason

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two is it was reported she said she was only in the program to learn how to commit the perfect crime.”

“Do you have any statistics on females committing rapes?” she asked.

“No but I’ll bet they’re pretty scarce. Look Missus F, this is all I’ve got right now and I don’t want to let go of it until I know I gave it my best look see. Besides, if by chance it is a female and I ignore it, she could do it again and the sky will fall in on us. I don’t want that to happen.”

“I understand Stewart. I’ll write up a request for Perce to sign and get it off as soon as I can. First, let me be sure I get this right. You want everything in the records on a woman named Bethany or Britney who was in the criminology program and lost her scholarship due to poor grades. It that it?”

“On the nose Missus F. Thank you so much. Tell the Prez I said hello. Bye for now,” he said and hung up. He made a note concerning the phone call and sat back to relax for a few minutes. He thought about turning his radio on and spending some time doing nothing but he really wanted to talk to someone about women rapists. His thoughts immediately turned to his father. He knew if anyone would have information on the subject, it would be Miles Grant, investigator extraordinaire. Thus, his task was clear, he must call his father and make sure he would be home, if he decided to make the trip across the sound to Bremerton.

He picked up his phone and punched in the numbers. “Hello.” He heard the soft, sweet tones of his mother.

“Hi Mom, how is everything?”

“Oh Stewart, it’s so good to hear from you. I was thinking earlier it would be nice to hear from you. Uh, did you have some reason to call?”

“I called to make sure you and Dad will be home if I come over.”

“We aren’t going anywhere, so if you want to come over, we’ll be here.”

“Well then as soon as I close down my office, I’ll be on my way.”

“Good enough. I’ll have lunch ready for us when you get here.”

“Don’t go to any trouble on my account Mom.”

“Fixing lunch for my family is never trouble. See you soon sweetheart. Drive carefully.”

“Bye Mom, I love you.”

“I love you too!” He hung up the phone, closed up and locked his office. In his car, he headed for the ferry terminal. Two hours later, he pulled into the driveway of his folk’s house. He walked into the garage from the side door and into the mud room from there. He slipped out of his clothes and hung them up on the hangers his mother provided for him or visitors who practiced the naturist lifestyle. Nude and comfortable, he left the mud room and entered the house proper. His mother was waiting for him and rushed forward to hug and kiss him. After she released him, she stepped back and looked him

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up and down. “I swear Stewart, you are growing.”

“I don’t think so Mom but I know you are prettier than ever.”

“Well thank you Son. You do know how to make a girl feel good.”

“Uh, where’s Dad?”

“He’s in the living room. He’s got a new book and he hasn’t put it down since he found it at the book store. Why don’t you go join him and I’ll finish getting lunch ready.”

Stewart moved on up the hallway to the living room and walked across the room and stopped by the chair of his father, who was absorbed in his paperback book. “Hi Dad,” he said and waited. His father looked up and smiled. He picked up a book mark provided by the book store and wedged it in place and laid the book down. He stood up and grabbed Stewart in a bear hug. When he was finished hugging him, he released his hold and stepped back.

“I think you are growing.”

“That’s what Mom said. I thought guys stopped growing at twenty-one.”

“I didn’t! I grew a half inch when I was twenty-two.”

“It could be. I’ll have to get measured to find out.”

“Have your mother do it. She loves measuring things on men.”

Stewart noted the lewd smile on his father’s face and changed the subject. “Is Gramma MJ with Joe and Cassie on their cruise?”

“Yeah, they’ve been gone about a week. They’ll be gone another week.”

“Have you and Mom thought about going on another nude cruise?”

“We’ve talked some about it but I doubt we’ll do it.”

“Why not?”

“Well for one thing, what would be new or exciting about it? If you’ve been with seven hundred naked people once, what would be new or exciting about it the second time?”

“Is it true that a nude cruise is just an excuse for one big orgy where no one on the outside would be able to see it or know about it?”

“Not hardly Son. It’s no different than being at EVSC only on a moveable platform. The morals and actions are the same.”

“Did Sarah tell you about her nude cruise?”

“In a limited way. Don’t forget, your Gram and Gramps Grant were here and she does know how

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to keep her conversations tamed down, once in a while.”

Before either of them could begin another conversation, Shirley called out from the kitchen. “Soup’s on! Come and get it before I throw it out!”

The three ate and chatted warmly. They are a close, loving family that never have to work hard at finding conversation to keep them interested. Their nude status is always an opener for them and anything to do with nudity or naturism is fair game for table talk. The eating part of the lunch was finished and it is now the tea sipping and chatting part of the family lunch. Shirley began. “Do you get an opportunity to get comfortable enough Stewart?”

He knew comfortable meant nude in this family and he replied. “Not as much as I’d like Mom. I don’t spend as much time at home as I’d like and that’s the only legitimate place I have to do it.”

“Are you looking to find some way to change that?” asked his father.

“Well not exactly. Other than wanting to come see the both of you and enjoy being comfortable here, I wanted to talk to you Dad about something that came up that I have no experience with at all. Do you want to discuss it here?”

“Do you want to sit in on this Dear?” he asked his wife.

“Listening to my men talk isn’t boring to me. Who knows, maybe I can contribute something to your discussion.”

“OK, here goes.” said Stewart. “Last evening I had the opportunity to interview a guy I originally thought might be a candidate for the rapist at Fielding. Earlier in the day, I got a report on him from the head of his department...” His father cut in here.

“What is his department?”

“He’s a senior majoring in criminology. The department head responded to a request by the college President to provide everything they had on the guy. What I read about him kind of set me back on my heels.”

“For bad or for good?”

“He’s a straight A student. Lives at home and is on a scholarship provided by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, where his father is a Sergeant. When I talked to him, he answered straight forward and didn’t attempt to snow me. He’s only twenty-one but he’s very mature.”

“Is this what you wanted to discuss?” asked his father.

“No but it’s something he pointed out to me that is what I’m hung up over. He asked me if I ever considered it could be a female who committed the rapes,” he said, looking from his father to his mother and back to his father.

“Do you think it was a means to deflect attention away from himself that he asked you that?”

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asked his mother.

“It crossed my mind until he added the story of a female he knew about that was for two years on a scholarship just like his from Pierce County. She let her grades go to hell and the Sheriff’s Department pulled her scholarship.”

“Is that it?”

“No! I worked up a description of the rapist based on the height and weight and dexterity of him or her. She fits that! And further it was reported she told a classmate that she only wanted to stay in the program until she learned how to commit the perfect crime.”

“That’s kind of thin Son. Are you going after anything more?”

“I’ve asked the President, through his secretary, to have the department head provide all they have on her. I should be able to get it in the next day or so.”

“So you’re not following any other leads?” asked his mother.

“I don’t have any other leads. Both rapes had the same starting point and ending point and everything that happened in between was exactly the same. Besides, there hasn’t been another rape since the 13th.”

“What’s the climate on the campus?” asked his father.

“It is not public knowledge that there have been two rapes, so most students are going about their business without any trepidations.”

“Is this done purposely?” asked his mother.

“I don’t know Mom. When I went out there initially, I was told the police had been called in and interviewed the second victim and her mother confirmed that to me when I interviewed her. I don’t know if the police are slow walking this or just aren’t doing much better than I am.”

“So what is it you want me to help you with?” asked his father.

“What do you know about women rapists?”

“I’m sorry to say that I’ve never heard of a case of a female being convicted of rape, per se. There have been cases of females abusing children of both sexes and females being convicted of carnal knowledge with teenage boys but I’d say it would be pretty hard for one to force a male to have sex with them.”

“What does this do to your theory of a female rapist then Son?” asked his mother.

“Without knowing more about her, it kinds of shoots my case all to pieces but I’m not going to give up until I’ve chased down every last thing I can about her.”

“Regardless of how it breaks down, I’m proud you don’t want to give up,” said his father. “It’s a

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good sign you have an investigator’s ethic.”

“Thanks Dad. That means a lot to me.”

“Is there anything you’re going to do, on your case, this weekend?” asked his mother.

“No Mom, I have no place to start. I have to wait until I get the data from the woman’s Department Head sometime next week.”

“Why don’t you stay here for the weekend Hon? We can do something or if you wish we can do nothing.”

“Do you have anything planned?”

“Not a thing! Why not just lounge around and let your brain rest?”

“OK Mom, I’ll stay.”

“Uh, do you still play cribbage?”

“I haven’t played since I broke up with Kim, but I still know how.”

“We can play some three handed later, if you like.”

“I’m game. Uh, Gram told me you guys had some kinky rules for winners when the three of you played.”

“I don’t think we’ll bring those in if we decide to play.”

“Too raunchy Dad?”

“Did MJ tell you specifically what the winners asked for?”

“Yeah, she told me.”

“Then you must have some idea why I don’t think it’s prudent for us to do it.”

A few seconds passed and Shirley spoke to Stewart. “Has anyone in the family told you about the poker game we played up at the Sun Club, when we went up there after we came back from Texas?”

“No but what’s the big deal about a poker game?”

“The name of the game is Kiss Poker,” she said. “Your Gramma Grant taught us how to play it.”

He looked at his father. “Your mother is a purveyor of a game of chance? Does this game have a questionable set of rules?”

Miles looked at his wife. “Why don’t you tell your son how the game is played, since you brought it up?”

Smiling lewdly, she replied. “My pleasure. The game is simple and it’s a poker game because

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one’s dealt five cards like draw poker but there’s no further dealing with cards. You play the ones you are dealt. The dealer calls the game, low hand wins or high hand wins. This is based on the total value of the cards in your hand. All cards are counted at face value, except the ace. In low hand it’s worth one and in high hand it’s worth eleven. Face cards and the ten are worth ten. Now for example, the lowest possible hand one could have is six…all four aces plus a deuce. Then the highest hand one could have is fifty-four…all four aces plus a ten or a face card. Any questions?”

“How many people can play?” asked Stewart.

“Ten! Five cards are dealt to each person and if ten people are playing, fifty of the fifty-two cards are dealt out.”

“So what happens when the one with the low or high hand wins?”

“He has all the other players kiss him or her on some part of his or her body.”

“That’s what Gramma MJ said the winner of the cribbage game did.”

“To the winner it’s the same but in kiss poker, you don’t have to wait so long to get the reward,” said Shirley.

Stewart looked from his father to his mother. “Would you rather play that game than cribbage?”

“It goes faster than cribbage,” she offered, looking at her husband.

“OK, I’ll play if that’s what both of you want…but let’s play it later. I’ve got a book I want to read some more.”

Shirley and Stewart agreed and she went about driving Stewart and her husband out of the kitchen so she could clean up. Miles went to his book. Stewart went to the TV and settled down to enjoy an afternoon of mindless entertainment.

Later after a light snack, the three sat at the kitchen table and played several hours’ worth of kiss poker. The winners never pushed the envelope for kissable locations but the threat was always there and close to the danger zone was chosen several times…by Shirley. Stewart learned a great deal about his mother over the course of the weekend. Although nothing startling or unexpected happened during the whole weekend, it was probably one of the most satisfying Stewart enjoyed in a long, long time.

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Chapter 7   The case needs surveillance

Monday morning Stewart caught the earliest sailing ferry from Bremerton that was available. He wanted to be in Seattle to start the day before general commerce took hold. He had rested and did little to tax his brain for most of the weekend and felt refreshed to the point of getting a new lease on the case. The first thing he did when he got to his office was take out his notes on the file and reread them. “It never hurts to be fully aware of what has transpired weeks before by reacquainting yourself with the case from the start,” he said aloud, when he took the file out of the drawer.

With all the cases’ details fresh in his mind, he felt confident now he could rationally pursue anything that was otherwise unlikely in a rape case, such as a female rapist. Checking the time, he realized his enthusiasm for an early start didn’t take into account that some of the other aspects of his case, i.e. the information suppliers at Fielding College might not be as anxious to get the day underway as early as he did. So he sat back in his chair, turned on the radio and listened to some music to while away the time. The song that first came up was, “The Winner Takes it All” by ABBA. Stewart liked it and wondered if it was some sort of omen and that he should take it to heart. He discarded that notion and decided to just enjoy the music and not look for signs or omens.

Soon enough the time came where he could make a call and find his target at work. He punched the numbers for President Bannister. The call was answered by Missus Farley, as usual. She ended with. “May I help you?”

“Good morning Missus Farley. Stewart Grant here. Did you have a nice weekend?”

“Yes I did, thank you kindly. How about you?”

“I spent it with my folks for the first time in a long time.”

“What is your father doing with his time now that he’s retired?”

“He’s discovered books. He has a new favorite author whose name is Robert Ludlum.”

“I’ve heard that name but I haven’t read any of his books,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“I called on the off chance that you may have heard from Mariette Scofield.”

“I don’t have anything yet but it’s still too early for the inner office mail to be delivered. Are you going to be where I could call you if I get anything?”

“Do you have a time it’s generally delivered?” he asked.

“It’s usually here by ten.”

“I tell you what. I need to spend some time out in your neck of the woods and I’ll just drop by and see if you’ve got anything. Is that OK with you?”

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“I’m good with that,” she replied.

“OK, I’ll see you sometime after ten. Bye Missus F.”

“Good bye Stewart.” He listened to the line go dead and thought to himself. “That was a first. She never called me by my first name before. Does that mean I’m becoming part of the in-crowd? If it does, I’d better watch my step. I don’t want to get too familiar with them and over step my bounds. It’s dangerous to get too close to one’s clients.” He closed up and locked his office and headed to the parking lot for his car.

Ninety minutes later he was in the region of Fielding College. A couple of turns and he was driving on the street where the two rapes took place. He parked across the street from the large hedged house where the young ladies found themselves after the assault. On the side of the street where he was parked, he was in front of the college’s fenced, baseball diamond and football practice field. He was aware of it from when he walked to the dorms from the library, but in the dark the openness was deceptive. He judged the chain linked fence was ten feet high and ringed an area possibly eight or ten acres. He didn’t see a single gate or opening accessible to the field from this place where he was standing. He dismissed the idea that developed, when he parked here, that the rapist might have accessed the hedged property from this side of the street.

He walked across the street and stopped in front of the opening between the hedges. The property had not been occupied for some time according to the woman he talked to at the assessor’s office. He could see the lawn was overgrown and the walk up to the porch steps was crumbling from lack of attention. He stepped into the opening and saw the growth of the lawn was nearly up to his waist. He made his way through the jungle first to his right as he entered, looking for anything that might have been left behind by the rapist. He didn’t know for certain if the police had searched the area but he wasn’t going to assume they did. It occurred to him just now that when he interviewed each of the raped young ladies, he did not ascertain which side of the sidewalk they found themselves when they gained consciousness from the rape. “I better look carefully on both sides of the sidewalk,” he said to himself. He walked carefully through the overgrowth and pawed the grasses down when he saw anything that looked discarded. Fortunately for him, the lawn area of the front yard was not that large and either side of the house was guarded by a picket fence from the house to the hedge, with a small gate leading to the back yard. Peering over the fence, the back yard was not any better tended than the front yard.

Stewart, in his search on the right side of the house to the back yard, found several items of detritus but they were obviously long in place and well weathered. He crossed the back yard carefully and worked his way back around the left side of the house to the front yard. Just after he stepped into the major part of the front yard, something yellow caught his eye. He pawed the grass apart and found a juicy fruit gum wrapper. It was not nearly as weathered as the other detritus he had discovered. He couldn’t know if it was left by investigators with the police or anybody scrounging the property for something to steal, but it was going into his pocket as evidence and be held onto as long as necessary until it could be discarded as of no use. Completing the search of that portion of the front yard, he

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stepped back out onto the sidewalk in front of the hedge. He brushed off the residue of the grass jungle and crossed the street to his car and drove to the area of the Admin Building and looked for a place to park. Finding a space, he parked and headed up to the President’s Office. When he opened the door to the outer office, he was surprised to find President Bannister in Missus Farley’s Office. The President was the first to react. “Well hello young man. What brings you here today?”

Missus Farley answered for him. “He’s here to see if that note you signed that I sent to Doctor Scofield bore any fruit.”

Bannister looked at her. “What was in that note?” he asked.

“Stewart wanted all the information she had on a former student in the criminology program.”

This time he looked at Stewart. “And why do you need this information?”

“There’s a possibility she can offer up something that will help me find the rapist.”

“Oh, yeah, the rapes. I’m doing my best to keep that from overriding everything else I try to do.”

“Don’t worry Sir. I’ll solve this eventually and you can forget it properly,” said Stewart, in his most confident voice. Each of the two others looked at him with questions in their eyes but gratefully to Stewart, they did not ask him how or when it would be solved. Bannister wished Stewart well and stepped back into his office. When the door closed behind him, Missus Farley spoke.

“I have something for you,” she said and handed him a folded sheet of paper.

“Have you read it?” he asked. She nodded. “Should I get my hopes up?”

“It depends on what you can do with it. There’s quite a bit of information in there. Whether it’s helpful or not, I cannot say,” she replied.

“If you don’t mind,” he began. “I’ll read it someplace else. I don’t want you to see me cry, if I’m disappointed,” he managed. She smiled at him but said nothing further. “I’m going now. Thanks for this,” he said, holding up the folded sheet of paper.

“You’re welcome. Good bye for now Stewart,” she replied. He opened her door and left. Outside the office, he checked his watch again. It was fifteen minutes before noon. He remembered that Bobbie Winkler told him that Carly Carson’s last class of the morning, ended at noon. He decided to go to the cafeteria and see if she showed up. It was a five minute walk to the cafeteria from the Admin Building, so he didn’t have to hurry. When he got there, a line was already building so he bypassed it and took up a spot where he could see new arrivals to the food line.

At twelve minutes after noon, he saw the dark-haired pixie cut hairdo of Carly Carson, who was chatting with the young lady in line ahead of her. Soon she was through the line and had a tray loaded with fruit and salad, cottage cheese and skim milk and heading for an empty table near the spot he had intercepted her once before. She chose to sit on the side of the table where, luckily, she could not see him approach. He arrived at her table at the same time as another young man was about to put his

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tray down. Stewart scowled at him and he changed his mind about joining Carly and moved to look for another place to sit. Stewart slid into the spot and spoke to her. “Fancy meeting you Miss Carson. Mind if I join you?”

Startled by him speaking, she nearly choked on a mouthful of salad. “Oh, it’s you,” she finally got out. “Are you by chance following me?”

“No but it’s a delightful idea. Are you done for the day or do you have more classes this afternoon?”

“I have a Books of the Last Millennia class at two o’clock. Then I’m done for the day. Why?”

“Of all the things I don’t know about you, one thing near the top is how do you get to and from the campus every day?”

She laughed and it tickled him to see her try to keep her mouth full of food shut while she was laughing. Finally she managed to stop laughing and proceeded to chew and swallow the food. When her mouth was empty, she replied. “There’s a metro bus stop two blocks from my house. Its route goes by the college three blocks from Harmony Hall where my first class and last class of the day are.”

“What about going home?” he asked.

“On days I don’t tend the library, a metro bus has the reverse of the morning route. I catch it at four o’clock.”

“And on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday?”

“My brother Martin works the swing shift at Nalley Valley. It’s a twenty minute drive from there to here at eleven thirty when he gets off shift. He picks me up at midnight right outside the north corner of the library.”

“So, if I’m waiting outside of Harmony Hall at three o’clock or thereabouts, would you accept a ride home with me?”

“Why go to the trouble?” she asked, speaking slowly to keep from spitting out any food.

“I want to get used to seeing you sitting in the seat beside me,” he said simply.

Caught by surprise, she didn’t know what to say. Finally she found some words. “You think this is going to lead to more between us?”

“Hope springs eternal,” he said without further explanation.

She continued to eat for several minutes without saying anything or looking up at him. He sat patiently, watching her eat. Eventually, she looked up. “It usually takes me about ten minutes after class is over before I’m ready to leave.”

“No problem. I’m not in any hurry either. Uh, what do you do after lunch before your two

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o’clock?” he asked, casually.

“Sometimes I read, sometimes I write, sometimes I do both.”

“Where do you do ‘em?”

“The cafeteria is open until two so I can sit right here and do ‘em until I have to leave for class.”

“Do you mind if I watch?”

“Why?”

“It beats sitting in my car wearing out the battery listening to the hit parade.”

“I’m really not that interesting you know.”

“There’s an expression going around that I happen to believe covers my interest. It goes like this; a thing of beauty is a joy forever.” He saw her look down at her half eaten lunch and his eye caught the flush that covered her face down to the opening left by the top button on her blue blouse unbuttoned.

She looked up slowly. “Do you plan these embarrassing moments or am I just too slow to catch on?”

“I’m sorry if my being truthful embarrasses you. It isn’t intentional. I’ve always been told that if you tell the truth you never have to make up anything to back it up. I’ll go now and let you finish your lunch. If you choose to ride home with me, I’ll be outside Harmony Hall in my maroon Buick Riviera. If you choose not to, just walk on by and I’ll get the message.” With that, he stood up and left. He didn’t look back or he would have seen her eyes following him until he left the cafeteria.

Sitting in his car, he was studying the campus map that Missus Farley gave him on his first day on the case. Harmony Hall wasn’t that far away but he’d have to move the car and find a better spot to park while he waited for her. He located a good spot based on the map which indicated there were two entrances and exits from the building. One of the exits would point the students back toward the center of the campus. The one Stewart suspected Carley would come out of dumped students onto the street Carley would most likely use to walk toward where the bus route traveled. Stewart found a place she couldn’t miss his parked maroon Riviera, when she left the building. He decided to look over the data sheet he had on the young lady Darius Bennett fingered as a possible suspect for the rapist. The first piece of information it gave him was her name…Britney Teague. She lives or lived in Puyallup and the address was given. Her scholarship was granted as she was the daughter of Romara Teague, a dispatcher for the Northeast Precinct of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. There was a Xerox of her student body card, with picture. There was a separate notation from one of the professors who had conducted criminal investigations as an assignment that required height, weight, hair and eye colors of all the class members. It further noted students would be selected randomly to be perpetrators or investigators in the curricula, thus their statistics must be on file.

Stewart studied the sheet for several minutes attempting to commit her data to memory. He

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smiled to himself at the notion that the very thing that tripped her up, if she was the rapist, was the information she willing allowed them to have. Another thing he knew he was going to have to do was a surveillance of the address given for her on the sheet of paper in his possession. She had not been a student for nearly a year now. Did she have a job? What did she do with her time off, if she had a job? Was she social and have a boyfriend or a husband? Maybe some of these things weren’t important but what she did at night certainly was high on his list of things he wanted to know about her and a few days of following her would provide him with answers. He checked his watch and regarded the time, studying the sheet, as well spent. It not only passed the time usefully but shortened the wait for Carly to appear. Would she accept a ride home with him or would she pass him by for the walk to the bus…he’d soon know! 

It was twelve minutes after three when he checked his watch and as he raised his eyes, a shadow darkened the passenger window of his car. He could see a blue blouse, the top two buttons un-buttoned and a dark blue skirt with the blouse tucked in. He couldn’t see her face but he knew it was Carly because it was what she was wearing at lunch. He pressed the master control for the windows on his armrest and the window in front of her slid down. “Going my way?” he asked.

She leaned down smiling and replied. “Depends on where you’re going.”

“I’ve got a notion that there’s a house in Tacoma that’s beckoning me. Do you want to take a chance and see if you know anyone there?”

“Are you going straight there…no side tracks?”

“To show you I will, I’ll let you tell me how to get there, if you were driving. How’s that?”

“That sounds fair.”

“Hop in then,” he said, leaning across the seat and opening the door for her. She slid in gracefully, without using her hands, her arms held her purse and a couple of books. When she was comfortably seated, he asked. “Where to now?”

“I’d go straight ahead to the first cross street and go left one block and turn right. I’ll tell you where to go after you’ve done that.” He followed her instructions carefully and she led him to the main thoroughfare heading back north. They had time to chat and they did but nothing of consequence was revealed. Thirty minutes passed and she spoke and pointed. “Turn left there!” He did and she spoke again. “Go two blocks to a white house with green trim on your left.” He saw the white house with green trim from a block away and spoke.

“Can I pull into the driveway there?”

“You can.”

He pulled into the driveway which did not have a garage at the end of it. It meant the style was prewar when very few houses had attached garages because not a lot of people owned cars. Public transportation was the main means of getting around and people thought nothing of it. Homes built

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before the war were built before the depression, because home building was not a major industry during the depression. Construction companies did not build homes when nobody was buying. It was that simple! When he stopped, he turned to her. “This is a very lovely house. Do you know when it was built?”

“Mom told me one time she thought it was built in 1925. Originally there was no driveway. My Dad had it put in for a place to park his first new car, a 1950 Packard. He didn’t want to park it on the street.”

“Can I assume this is where you live?” he asked.

“Yeah, I live here. I can’t invite you in because…uh, well I just can’t. Someday maybe if and when I know you better, I’ll tell you why. Uh, are you going to come around the library tomorrow evening?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I won’t tell you to go away, if you do.”

“In that case, I’ll make every effort to show up.”

“Around seven?” she asked softly.

“If my job responsibilities don’t keep me from it, I’ll be there around seven.”

“Good!” she said. “I’ll see you around seven.”

“Will your brother be mad, if I bring you home some night after you close the library?”

“You’d do that for me?”

“If your brother doesn’t object.”

“I’ll talk to him and let you know tomorrow. OK?”

“Tell him I drive carefully.”

She chuckled. “I’ll tell him. Thanks for the ride Stewart. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye,” she said, climbing out of the car. He watched until she walked up the steps to the porch. The door opened and he could have sworn he saw a naked body for a millisecond before it closed. “I’m imagining things, I guess,” he said to himself as he backed out onto the street.

As he was driving away, he wondered if the planned surveillance of Britney Teague would entail having a less conspicuous automobile. The Riviera was pretty noticeable and he didn’t want to be noticed following her. He’d have to give it some more thought. He dropped the thoughts of the surveillance and drew up more pleasant thoughts of Carly Carson. Sitting alone with her in the library would give him plenty of time to discover her likes and dislikes. He would have to prepare himself, as well, because he didn’t think she’d just want to talk about herself. The drive away from Tacoma, usually a chore, was this afternoon most pleasant. The soft features of Carly Carson lingered in his memory.

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Chapter 8   His nights are committed now

Stewart decided he had time to make a drive through the community of Puyallup and look up the address given for Britney Teague. He wasn’t familiar with the city so he stopped at the first gas station he came to and filled up and bought a local map. Once he was ready to go again, he drove to a small strip mall and parked and looked up the street he sought. He found it without too much difficulty. Noting where he was, he took a pen and traced the route to the street in question. On the way again, he began taking note of the landmarks so he could find his way around at all hours of the day.

Once he was on the street where she was supposed to live, he knew the house number was even and the even numbers were on the right hand side of the street to him. He drove at a reasonable speed only needing to look to his right. Two blocks from where he entered, he saw the house number he was looking for. He slowed a bit to look the place over and much to his surprise it was not in the best of care. The lawn needed mowing and there were signs the porch steps and the porch itself, could use some help from a carpenter. Now that he knew where she might live, he started looking for a place to surveil her from. At the end of the next block, on the opposite side of the street was a two block stretch of woods. At one time a home was commissioned, in the middle of the first block of woods, but only the foundation was completed. There was a turn in of sorts and it appeared to be large enough to pull in entirely off the street. Tonight was out of the question but the next few days were available for surveillance. He felt a degree of satisfaction having located Britney Teague’s residence, if in fact she lived here!

He left the neighborhood and drove back to the business section of the city. He was looking for a phone booth. He found one on the corner lot of gas station a mile or so from the Teague house. He popped in enough change for a call to Bremerton. He heard the ring and “Hello, the gruff voice of his father.

“Hi Dad, it’s Stewart. Have you got a minute?”

“I’ve got all the time you need Son. You know that. What can I do to help you?”

“I’ve got some surveilling to do and the Riviera is hard to keep out of sight. Do you think Gramma MJ would mind if I left the Riviera for her and borrowed the Oldsmobile?”

“You know I still own the ’55 Chevy, don’t you?”

“I forgot all about the Chevy. Does it still run?”

“I pay Charlie Clark the owner of the Chevrolet Dealership to keep it stored but shipshape in case I need it in a hurry. How soon do you need it?”

“In the next day or so. I’ve got a bit of day time surveillance to assure myself my suspect lives where I have an address for her but I’m really going to need it for the nighttime.”

“Is this the young woman you suspect might be the rapist?”

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“Yeah, she’s the one!”

“I’ll call Charlie and have him deliver the ’55. Will you need it before Wednesday?”

“No Wednesday would be perfect. How about I come over tomorrow night and spend the night and start out Wednesday with the ’55?”

“Your mother will love that. I’ll see you tomorrow…uh, about what time?”

“Is nine o’clock too late?”

“It’s never too late to have you come by.”

“OK, I’ll see you tomorrow around nine. I love you Dad and tell Mom I love her too!”

“Will do! I love you Son. Bye for now.”

“Bye Dad.” With things working reasonably well for him, he began to feel a rumble or two in his stomach. Not having eaten since the light breakfast he had on the ferry to Seattle, he felt he owed it to himself to grab a bite. He began looking for a likely prospect to fill that chore. Before long he saw the large neon sign with an arrow pointing downward and blinking. It said Woody’s Diner. There were a significant number of cars in the parking lot, so that meant there must be some people who judged the place worthwhile. He drove in and found a place to park.

Inside there was a hustle and bustle that made Stewart feel comfortable. He counted four waitresses scurrying around tending their flocks. A fifth female with a tag pinned on to her blouse which said Hostess Marie stepped up with a menu in her hand. “Are you meeting someone?” she asked politely.

“I am but later after I eat. Right now I’m alone.” She smiled but it looked more like a grimace.

“This way please,” she ordered.  He followed her to a table for two almost as far away from the front door as one could go in the place. Most of the tables around him were doubles but could be easily joined to accommodate four or more. Dumping the menu on his table she said. “Helene will be your server,” and left.

He studied the menu for several minutes until he felt a presence beside his table. He looked up and a dark haired young lady stood there, her hair in a bun and a pen sticking out of the bun, like a thermometer in a meatloaf. “Are you ready to order?” she asked sweetly.

“Are you Helene?”

“Yes I am,” she replied, sticking out her chest where the ID tag read Helene.

“I just had to make sure,” he said. “I didn’t want to give my order to just anyone.” She smiled showing a row of even white teeth.

“What will you have?”

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“I’ll have the number nine dinner meal,” he answered, which was an open faced hot, roast beef sandwich, with mashed potatoes and beef gravy with peas and carrots and a dinner roll.

“What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll have coffee while I’m waiting and a tall glass of milk with my meal…please.”

“Very good Sir,” she said. “I’ll bring your coffee right away.” She left and he settled back to look around the room. There seemed to be a lot of couples dining at this time of day. He didn’t know why but also he didn’t care enough, to want to find out. His coffee came and he enjoyed sipping it knowing he’d soon be filling his body with energy for the rest of the day.

When his meal was gone and the second cup of coffee was a memory, he signaled for the check. He left a nice tip for Helene and paid the cashier and left the diner. Although it was nowhere near bed time, he felt the urge to take a nap. He determined it must be the fact he’d already been up over fourteen hours and a heavy meal had begun to rob his brain of the blood to calculate beyond the notion of counting sheep. I’d better get home while I still have the ability to make those decisions, he said to himself. He was soon on his way to Beacon Hill and an early night.

Early Tuesday morning dawned gloomy and rain-soaked. It had rained for the last few minutes of his drive from Puyallup the night before and it appeared to have rained throughout the night as well. It didn’t affect his attitude, however, because he actually liked the rain. He couldn’t articulate his true feelings about it only that it didn’t bother him, so it must be he liked it! He sat on the edge of his bed and recounted his actions of the day before. He’d received the details that Fielding College had on a former female student he suspected could be a rapist. When that thought had escaped his subconscious into his conscious brain, he asked himself. “Am I wasting valuable time pursuing an impossible myth? Even my father, the most successful investigator in our business, has his doubts about the possibility. Why then do I continue?” Facing the truth, he had to admit…”I have nothing else to go on. If I give this up, I might as well quit the business and get a job flipping hamburgers.” The next thought that made its way past his negative set up was he would be seeing Carly Carson again this evening. The negativity of his previous thoughts must have clung to his thought processes because he had to ask himself again. “Is she causing me to lose concentration? Why do I spend so much time thinking about her, when I should be thinking about rapists?” He answered that positively. She’s a hell of a lot better looking than a left handed chick who flunked out of college and goes around raping other young chicks who haven’t! He urged himself to get up and get out to Puyallup and see if he could find out what the left handed chick did in the day time before she did it and he missed it.

The drive to Puyallup put him in the woods a block down the street from Britney Teague’s house at exactly seven AM, if she still lived there. He had the foresight to fill a thermos with hot coffee the night before crawling into bed. He had it setting on the seat beside him along with his binoculars and zoom lens camera, gifts from his Dad. He had been thinking about excuses he’d have to have, if someone was to query him as to why he was parked there without an obvious reason. He decided he’d be a city transportation department worker who was monitoring automobile traffic on side streets during day time hours. It sounded to him like the kind of thing a city government might do.

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He’d been in place close to an hour. He knew from the evening before that the house did not have a driveway from the street up to the house. So if the young lady had a car, it would have to be parked on the street. With that in mind, he studied all the cars close around the house he suspected she lived in. None of them were new and none were beaters. Any one of them could be hers or her father’s, mother’s, sister’s or brother’s. He had to pay attention to whoever came out of that house.

He picked up the binoculars and did a sweep of the street up to and just beyond the Teague house. He was about to put them back on the seat beside him, when he saw movement off the front porch of the house. He quickly put the binoculars on the person doing the moving and to his satisfaction, it looked like a female wearing dark blue trousers with a matching shirt. There was a patch of sorts over the right breast of the shirt. It could be a logo or name badge, he thought. She walked to her right towards him to a car that was an all white, ’77 Ford LTD. She came around from the rear onto the road side of the car and got in. She started it up and drove away from the curb towards him. He ducked down before she got to him so she wouldn’t see him and couldn’t recognize him if he happened to cross paths with her later.

He put the Riviera in motion to follow her but stayed a reasonable distance behind. The direction of her travel was north and even though she made a number of left turns, her ultimate direction remained north. Twenty minutes after leaving her house she was heading west and he assumed she would arrive at Interstate 5 soon. When he saw her take the on ramp to I-5 North, he knew he had assumed correctly. Before long traffic began to slow down and he had to concentrate to keep her in sight. He was glad when he saw her signaling to exit at the Grand Mall of Tacoma. Three minutes later, he made the exit and from a five block distance saw her pull into the Mall’s four acre parking lot. He made the same turn off and entered the lot. He didn’t know where she parked but he slowed so he might be able to catch her as she left her car. His approach worked and he saw which line she had parked in. He found a spot that was being vacated two lines closer and was in it and out of the car in time to enter the main entrance only yards behind her.

Her pace was purposeful but not hurried, so he didn’t have any trouble following her on foot. Inside the giant building, three hundred stores were housed on a single level and it seemed she was heading to one as far from where they entered as was possible to go. Eventually she turned into one called Waylon’s Custom Tool Shed. He was able to stop and look at their window display and see into the interior of the store. He saw her grab up an apron and head for one of the two cashier stations. Shelf after shelf of tools ringed the walls and tables at least twenty feet in length five feet wide shoved end to end provided aisles to walk between while you studied your tool needs. He checked his watch and saw it was exactly nine AM and the sign hanging in the entry door said they were open till nine PM. Did she work a twelve hour day? He doubted it but he was going to have to find out for sure.

He was pretty certain that now that she was at work, she wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon. He promised himself some food if he felt it was safe to leave her occupied in one place. He was reasonably certain this was where she would be spending a few hours and his stomach was reminding him of his promise. They passed the food court on the way here, so he turned to follow his tracks back to the variety of smells he had to ignore while he followed her.

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Having taken nourishment in the food court, he felt he could now concentrate on how he was going to determine what to do about Britney Teague and when she might be leaving. He found a place where he could sit and watch the entrance of the Tool Shed, while he went over the prospects open to him. His chief concern in all this was the prevention of another rape…if Britney Teague was the rapist. In order to prevent her from raping another young lady, he had to be aware of her comings and goings, especially at night. The night being the part of the day when the only two had been committed. If her days were dedicated to a legitimate job, it lessened the likelihood of her committing a rape during daylight hours. Winnowing down the possibilities was the best way for him to formulate an approach to keeping track of her. He knew that both Cindy Grainger and Angela Thorson had been raped between the hours of ten and eleven at night on a Tuesday and a Thursday. The chances of a rape on a Monday or a Friday were drastically reduced because the library was not open late on those days. The same for weekend days. That left a Wednesday. Could that day be eliminated, the library was open late on that day? Why were Tuesday and Thursday chosen? Certainly some young ladies had transited the street between the library and the dorms on a Wednesday. Did Britney Teague wait for a specific young lady to come along or was it a random event in both cases? How long did she wait for her victim? He had no way of knowing any of that!

He checked his watch and discovered he’d been sitting and running the investigation in his mind for over ninety minutes. How could he keep himself occupied for the unknown hours she might be at her job? He had to draw a conclusion to his mind game. He reached into his pocket and took out a quarter. He flipped it in the air and caught it and slapped it on the back of his left hand saying. “Heads I continue attempting to watch her part of the day and in the evening as well. Tails I drop the days and concentrate on evenings only.” He peeked at the coin as he raised his right hand off of the back of his left. “Aha,” he said. “I should make more of my decisions this way. Tails it is!”   

He stood up, looked around and casually walked back through the Mall to the front entrance, out the door to his car. With the hundreds of cars in the parking lot and the propensity of thieves to rifle them, he was glad he had stuffed the binoculars and zoom lens camera under the front seat before leaving to follow Britney. The thermos fit nicely in the convenient covered tray between the two front seats. Convinced that he made a wise decision to leave the Mall, he headed out to the on ramp for I-5 North once again. This time he was going to his office in Seattle to bring his case file up to date.

Time passed quickly and before he knew it, it was time to leave for his rendezvous with Carly at the Fielding College library. Even though the society accepted rush hour was over, there were still plenty of cars jockeying for positions on the Interstate. Stewart steered into a spot that gave him the speed he wanted but kept him out of the rat race many of the others had joined. Soon, he was approaching the off ramp he needed to wend his way over to the college. He checked his watch and saw he was ten minutes early for the seven PM meeting with Carly. He shut the engine off but left the radio on and sat for a few minutes listening to Kenny Rogers singing “Lady.” When it finished, he left the car and walked to the library.

As he entered the library, Carly was looking in his direction but slightly over his head. The clock that could be seen from almost any spot in the place was over the entrance and that was what she was

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checking out when he appeared. “Do you wait out there so you can pop in here on the dot?” she asked, grinning.

“Would you rather I wander in here forty-five minutes from now?”

“Of course not but I don’t know anyone else who is as prompt as you.”

“It’s just another thing my father taught me. He said if you make a commitment or a promise, keep it. You’ll be respected if you do! But fool around once with time or responsibility and you’ll lose everything you worked hard to build up. So I only make promises I know I can keep and commit to a time I know I’ll be there!”

“Do you want to sit here and talk? We’ll probably be interrupted once in a while by somebody wanting something they’re too lazy to look up.”

“I don’t mind but I have to tell you I can only stay for an hour or so.”

“Does it have anything to do with your job?” she asked.

“Yes, it does.”

“Nobody who works for the college has work hours like yours. Are you sure you aren’t stringing me along by saying you work for the college?”

“Do you know what a consultant is?” he asked.

“Of course!”

“Well I’m a consultant of sorts. I’ve been hired by the President of Fielding to consult on a certain matter…” she interrupted him.

“So that’s how you know his secretary?”

“That’s it exactly.”

“Can you tell me what it is you are consulting on?”

“In general terms only.”

“Well?”

He took a deep breath and leaned his elbow on her desk. “The matter concerns a couple of students who have become involved in something they couldn’t control and the staff doesn’t want any more students getting involved. I’ve been asked to look into it and stop it. So that’s how I came to be working for the college.”

“Is that all you can tell me?”

“That’s all I’m going to tell you…for now. Sometime later I’ll be able to explain in more depth but for now, that’s it! What I can explain now is I’d like to know more about you.”

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“What for instance do you want to know?”

“Do you have any hobbies?”

“I’m interested in photography. I have an inexpensive camera given to me for my fifteenth birthday that I carry with me any time I leave the house.”

“Where is it now?” he asked.

“In my purse in the office.”

“Besides the brother who picks you up on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, do you have any more siblings?”

“I have an older brother Mark. He is the Manager of a super market in Yakima…” Stewart interrupted her.

“Why Yakima?”

“His wife’s from there and their son was born there and he likes living there.”

“Any other sibs?”

“I have an older sister…” She hesitated at this point.

“Something happen to her?”

“No, her name is Colleen. She and her husband are hippies and live in a commune in Eastern Oregon.”

“I hope you’re not ashamed of them. I think people should be happy and if living in a commune makes them happy…good for them!”

“You’re not just saying that are you? I don’t want you to think poorly of them. I love them.”

“I never say things I don’t mean. That’s another thing my Dad taught me. Be honest and tell the truth. You can’t go wrong. OK, so much for how many siblings you have. Have you been down there to visit them?”

“Two years ago in the summer, Mom and I drove over to see Mark and his wife and son and from there, on down to Oregon to see them. We spent a week there.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“I think that’s something I want to hold onto until I know you better.”

“OK, no problem. You live with your mother and father?”

“Just my mother. My father died three years ago. He had pancreatic cancer and didn’t know about it. By the time he found out, it was too late. He only lived for three months after we found out.”

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“I’m sorry about that…I really am! I’ve been lucky in that respect. Both my parents are still alive as are my grandparents on my father’s side. My grandfather on my mother’s side died about twelve years ago but my grandmother is still alive and lives in an apartment on the floor above my folks’ house.”

“Do you have brothers and sisters?” she asked.

“I have an older half-brother James, who we call Jimmie and a half-sister Sarah, also older. As a matter of fact I told you she and Barbara Winkler are friends.”

“You talk a lot about things your father taught you. I don’t know anyone who has that kind of a relationship with his or her father. What is it about this with you?”

“Generally speaking, when you know someone you genuinely love and respect, you tend to listen to them and follow their advice. I happen to have parents…both of them, who I love dearly and respect implicitly. The same goes for my grandmother. If I can’t resolve a problem in my life, I turn to someone I know won’t steer me wrong. Therefore, when it comes to my work ethic, everything I know, I learned from my father.”

“Do you mind if I change the subject?” she asked.

“Not at all. I don’t think anything is off the table so to speak.”

“Where do you plan to take me for dinner Saturday?”

“That is a different subject. Well, since you’re from Tacoma and I’m not, I thought I’d let you tell me where you’d like to have dinner.”

“Are you saying you’d be happy going anywhere I suggest?”

“I guess that’s what I meant when I said you could pick the place.”

“Well I might have a big surprise for you. I can’t tell you now but if you come by tomorrow night, I’ll tell you.”

“It’s a deal. Now I have to be on my way. I have some business over in Bremerton. I’ll see you tomorrow at seven. Good night Carly. I enjoyed out little chat,” he said, standing up.

“Good night Stewart. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He left the college area and worked his way west to the Interstate going north. He exited at the sign for State Route 16. Forty minutes later he was stopped in the driveway of his parent’s house. He saw the pale blue ’55 Chevy parked there and he smiled, knowing he’d be driving it away from here in the morning. He took the key for the Riviera off his key ring and held onto it because he would be leaving it here when he left the next day. He entered the garage through the side door and disrobed in the mud room. He entered the main house nude and feeling free and comfortable. He was greeted by his mother in the hallway as soon as he left the mud room. She hugged and kissed him and grabbed his arm, saying.

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“It’s so good to see you. Let’s go up to the living room where your father and I can talk to you.” She waltzed along beside him bumping his hip with hers every once in a while. She felt him easing away a bit and said. “Does that bother you?”

“Uh huh but not for the reason you might think.”

“What is the reason I should think?” she said sassily. They were in the living room now and his father was standing by his chair waiting for them. His father grabbed him in a bear hug and held him for several seconds. When he released him, his mother spoke again. “I think I know how I can turn our son on Dear,” she said to her husband.

“Oh how is that?”

“Coming up the hallway just now, I bumped hips with him a couple of times and I think he started to get aroused.”

“Is that true Stewart?” his father asked, smiling broadly.

He was flushed as red as he could possibly be. “It’s not fair Mom! The last thing I want to do is show you I’m horny and you’re the one who caused it and add to that, you Dad are going to see it.”

“You should know by now that a woman appreciates it when a man shows her she’s sexy.”

“But that man shouldn’t be her son,” he demurred.

“Do you think I’d be offended, if you thought my wife was sexy?” asked his father, not in the least disturbed.

“I can see I’m not going to win this one, so if we can find something else to talk about, I’ll be able to relax and forget my libido.”

“Have you forgot our family table discussions when you were a boy?” asked his father.

“I haven’t forgotten we had talks regularly but I can’t remember what we talked about in every case,” he replied.

“Well a lot of the time our purpose was to get you accustomed to hearing sexual talk and your sister was good at that so we let her do her thing.”

“So you knew she was teasing me with sexual innuendos on purpose?” he asked, unable to believe it. The two of them nodding and smiling at him confirmed what his father said.

To change the subject, are you hungry?” she asked him.

“I ate quite late this afternoon but if you have pie or cake, I would eat that.”

“I just happen to have some chocolate chip cookies. Will they do?”

“Tea and cookies…you bet!” he replied.

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“I’ll go get the kitchen ready for us. You stay here and talk to your father,” she said, leaning down and kissing him on his forehead. After she left, Miles, his father, spoke.

“How is your case going?”

“I got the info on the female in question. Her name is Britney Teague and she lives in Puyallup. I surveilled her place and know she lives there. I staked out the place early this morning and followed her when she left. She works in the Grand Mall of Tacoma at a place call Waylon’s Custom Tool Shed.”

“What does she do at night?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll start my night surveillance tomorrow night.” Just then, a call from the kitchen sounded.

“Come and get it!”

After they had eaten some cookies and were now sipping their tea, Stewart spoke to his father. “When is Gramma MJ coming home?”

“Her flight from L.A. is due in on Friday about noon. Do you think you’ll be able to go to the airport when she comes in?”

“I don’t know right now but I’m sure going to do my best to make myself available for it.”

“What does your program look like?” asked his father.

“I’ve kind of planned it like this: Monday and Friday of the week will be low activity as will weekend days…” His father broke in.

“Why those days?”

“Well, both of the rapes were committed in the period Tuesday through Thursday. I think the rapist is only active on those days.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Those are the days that the Fielding College library is open until midnight. That was the last place both girls were and they were raped on their way from there to the dorms.”

“Is there any possibility that it is a co-incidence?” asked his father.

“I’ve heard you say a dozen times that there is no such thing as a co-incidence, except to lawyers.” Miles laughed, long and hard. When he settled down, he spoke.

“It’s funny how when I hear my own words read back to me, how rewarding it is to know someone was listening, especially you, my Son.”

“Thank you Dad. I’ve saved a lot of my arguments by repeating things you’ve said that I overheard. I’m sorry to say I don’t always give you credit for it though!”

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“No problem. I didn’t always give credit to the writers of them either, when I used them.”

“Can I ask you a question?” asked his mother.

“Sure Mom. I didn’t mean to leave you out of the conversation.”

“Are you making time to have a personal life? Your father told me many times that the only way he could concentrate on his cases was to get away from them once in a while and come home.”

“That’s right Son. When I came through that door and saw your gorgeous mother waiting with her arms open, I forgot all about everyone else’s problems until the next day.”

“It’s pretty obvious I don’t have a relief valve to come home to when I can get turned on by my mother,” he said. “I am working on building a relationship with a young lady from Fielding College, though.”

“One like you thought you had with the waitress?” she asked.

“Well I’m not going to try to coax this one into a life of naturism. If I can enjoy being a friend…uh, a friend with benefits, I’ll be happy.”

“What’s her name?”

“She told me when I first inquired, she was called Callie. Her brother couldn’t say her real name which is Carly. She was called Callie until she grew up.”

“Does she have a last name?” asked his father.

“Oh yeah. It’s Carson. Carly Carson.”

“Do you know where she lives?”

“She lives with her mother in a real nice house in Tacoma.” He noticed that his parents looked at one another but their expressions didn’t tell him it meant anything.

Shirley, his mother said. “Well if you do become friends and the occasion arises, bring her around and introduce us. We’re always interested in the people you know.”

The hour was getting late and Stewart wanted to get an early start the next morning. “Do you mind if I turn in. I had a very early start this morning?”

“Not at all Son, we understand,” he said, hugging the taller man his son had become. His mother hugged him too and pulled his head down and kissed him on the mouth. When she stepped back, she said.

“Close your bedroom door, just in case you want some privacy. You know we’re just across the hall from you and our bedroom door is never closed.” He knew what she was inferring and he blushed to the nape of his neck.

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Chapter 9   A threat comes in the mail

Wednesday morning Stewart was up early but not earlier than his mother and father. He slipped into the kitchen thinking he’d make a pot of coffee to brew while he was getting ready. Much to his surprise both his parents were sitting at the table sipping coffee. “Good morning sleepy-head. Want some coffee?” asked his father.

“I thought I’d be the one sitting here when you got up,” he replied.

“You know what they say about the early bird,” said his mother.

“I’ll take a cup of Dad’s offering but I’ll pass on the worm, if you don’t mind,” he said. Both parents laughed.

“What would you like for breakfast then, if you don’t want worms?” she asked.

“I don’t want you to go to any trouble Mom. I’ll just fix a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter with my coffee. I’ll eat a bigger meal when I get over to Seattle later.”

“Nonsense, I can fix you some bacon and eggs in no time at all.”

Stewart started to respond. “I…”

“Don’t argue with your mother Son when it comes to fixing food. She’s the master of this kitchen and you won’t be allowed to leave until she thinks you’re full!”

“OK Mom, I give,” he conceded.

While she bustled around putting the breakfast together, she was talking over her shoulder. “We saw your bedroom door was closed when we got up. Did you close it for privacy or to keep from hearing us?”

“Jeez Mom, give me a break,” he said, not seriously. “Just when I think I’ll be able to think of something other than sex.”

“Is it too much to believe that your father and I are sexual beings?”

“It isn’t that at all! It’s…well, it’s like being at a party and everyone there, except you, is eating cake but there isn’t enough for you. I don’t mind not having any cake but I don’t want to keep being reminded that there wasn’t any for me!”

“Stewart,” his father began. “I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t like us talking about sex and you don’t want it to be a subject discussed while you’re here.”

Stewart didn’t respond for several seconds. Finally he looked into his father’s eyes and replied. “I don’t want anything of the kind. What I want is to be part of the conversation without being afraid I’ll embarrass myself by showing how the sex talk is affecting me. That’s all!”

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“Which one of us do you think is going to be offended by it, if you do?” asked his father.

Stewart sighed heavily and his shoulders slumped. “I don’t know Dad. How would you react?”

“I’m certainly not going to be offended. Look at the three of us sitting here naked. We’re naturists living our lives in the nude. Do you think it’s not going to be obvious if you or I get aroused?” said his father. “Textiles have the possibility of hiding it but we’re totally exposed all the time. I for one wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Maybe you think it’ll bother me,” said his mother. “I’ve got news for you Son. It won’t! I happen to like seeing a virile man. Here at home, at the beach or at the Sun Club, it doesn’t make any difference to me where it is, and an erection is a sure sign of virility.”

“What about the rest of the family?” he said. “It’s one thing for just the three of us but we’re not always just the three of us.”

“Who do you think will be the one to complain?” asked his mother.

“That’s just it! I don’t know.”

“Well you know it won’t be my mother,” she said. “MJ is more than likely to do anything she can to see how it affects you. She feels about it the same way I do.”

“You know Sarah won’t be bothered, don’t you?” said his father.

Nodding his head, he replied. “Yeah, I’ve already talked to her about it. But what about Gramma Grant?”

“You haven’t been around her near as much as you have Gramma MJ but she’s every bit as horny as MJ. Take my word for it,” he said.

“Is there anything we can say that will prove to you we love you just the way you are and nothing, can ever change that?” said his mother, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead.

“No Mom, I believe you mean it. It’s hard to come to the realization that I’m not physically what I thought I was mentally.”

“You’re human Son and have all the frailties of the rest of us and that’s all that we ask of you.”

“I’d better eat my breakfast so I can get on my way. I’ve got a bunch of things to take care of.” Soon he had eaten and was dressed and ready to leave. His mother hugged him and pulled his head down and kissed him full on the mouth. She whispered to him. “Hugging and kissing you feels as good to me as it does to you. Remember that!”

His father hugged him. Standing back he said. “We love you Son and want you to feel everything that love can engender. Don’t be ashamed if you show it. It’s the only way we’ll know you care. Bye Son,” he said stepping forward and hugging him again. As he drove away in the ’55 Chevy, he was thinking maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea that he had had that session with his parents. He felt less

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conflicted about the feelings that engrossed him, when his mother embraced and kissed him. I used to think that, as a man, I was not supposed to feel aroused by intimate moments with my mother and sister, like I did when I was just a boy. Further to that, he remembered how he used to feel when his Gramma MJ used to cuddle him to her enormous breasts. He knows now that they were not embarrassed by his reaction to their deeds. Familial love was supposed to make one feel good, both as a giver and a receiver. He had let the thoughts previously filling his mind slip away but later sitting in the car on the ferry, he saw a young couple, in a car a little ahead and to the side of him, kissing. It immediately brought back the thoughts he had dismissed. Doing his best to transfer those thoughts to another was difficult because all his mind could imagine was family members. Finally, he was able to push the image of a cute, dark-haired young lady from the college library, into his conscious mind. What would she think if she had been there listening to his mother and father talking to him. Would she run away screaming “I can’t take it! Let me out of here?” Or would she smile and say. “Listen to them Stewart, they know what they’re talking about.” He smiled to himself and said. ”How stupid can you get? It’s one thing to attempt to figure out what someone you’ve known all your life might say but it’s ridiculous to think you could guess a stranger’s reaction to anything.”

Before another thought had time to gestate and blossom, the claxon horn sounded for folks to return to their cars. He drove off the ferry and headed for his place in the parking lot nearby his office. When he drove in, the attendant, a young man named Danny, stopped him. He rolled down his window. “It’s me Danny, Stewart Grant. My Riviera threw a rod and will be laid up for a few days. They gave me this to drive while the Riviera is out of commission. OK?”

“Oh yeah, no problem. Just as long as it’s you,” he said, saluting. Stewart hoofed it to his building lobby and stopped at the mail boxes. It had been several days since he had picked up his mail and his small letter box was crammed to its limit. He took it all out and chose to wait till he was in his office before looking through it. He hung his suit jacket on the coat tree and flopped down in his ancient office chair. He looked at each item of mail and as was his habit, put them in piles according to what they might contain. One pile for requests for money (actually owed them), another pile for requests for money (not owed them) and another pile that might be personal. This pile seldom had anything in it. Today there was one! He chose that one to be first to be read. He slit it open with his pocket knife. It turned out to be a five by seven memo sheet. Its heading was from the desk of: but there was no name to go along with it. It read simply: stay away from Britney or else your license will be in jeopardy.

He studied it almost not believing its contents. Who could have possibly put this on paper and sent it to me? Who knows I have any interest in Britney? Who knows I have a license? Where do I start to get answers to these questions? He sat back and stared at the wall across the room. Attempting to formulate valid thoughts, his first legitimate investigative thought was, where and when was this sent? He grabbed up the envelope the note came in and looked to see if there was a return address in the left hand corner. There was none and he hadn’t expected to see one but there was a postmark. It was CSTacoma and dated Oct23’81.

What in hell did CSTacoma denote? Was this a regular postmark? Suddenly a thought caused him to smile. He knew someone who could tell him what it meant. He picked up his little black notebook

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and thumbed through it. He finally found what he sought and grabbed his phone and punched in the numbers. “Good morning Seattle Post Office. How may I help you?”

“I’d like to speak to Laverne Cutler please.”

“May I tell her who is calling?”

“My name is Todd Pennington.”

“One moment and I’ll connect you.” He listen to some elevator music for a minute and then.

“This is Laverne Cutler.”

“Good morning Miss Cutler. I was given your name by Dennis Price as someone who could help me when I had a very urgent need for information that could help the department. Are you still willing to give it a try?”

“Are you the Todd Pennington with the SPD?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“I think I can be of service to you. What do you need?”

“We received an anonymous letter that came to us in response to a request for some citizen’s help. It was postmarked from CSTacoma. No one in the department knows exactly what that means. Can you help me with it?”

He thought he heard a chuckle from her end, then she said. “I can tell you it is nothing sinister. It’s a technique that was put in place a number of years ago to facilitate the movement of a large number of letters and packages from an organization that has a large daily outpouring of mail. In this case, the CS stands for college station and the college is Fielding.”

“If it’s no trouble and doesn’t take a lot of your time, can you give me an idea briefly how it works?”

“I imagine Fielding has a significant number of letters and documents outgoing every day and as a result it would take someone familiar with postal systems to handle them. Instead, they just pour them all into a large canvas postal bag and deposit it in a receptacle provided by the post office. Once a day, in the evening, a post office vehicle comes by and picks it up and takes it back to the issuing facility for handling. The next day, in the morning, a post office truck brings all the mail for Fielding in a large canvas bag and deposits it in its place. They in turn sort their mail and the bag becomes the receptacle to go back to the post office that evening with the day’s outgoing mail.” 

“So the CSTacoma is only used for mail outgoing from Fielding College?”

“That’s correct.”

“Thank you so much for your help Miss Cutler.”

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“It’s Missus Cutler, just so you’ll know the next time you call,” she corrected.

“I’m sorry Missus Cutler. Dennis didn’t tell me you were married.”

“I’m a widow but I’m still married in my heart.”

“Good for you. Thank you again and until next time, take care. Good bye.”

“Good bye to you Sir,” she said, hanging up. Now he knew where the note came from, his next task would be to find out who sent it. He couldn’t stop racking his mind trying to think of who would benefit from his essentially dropping the case. His first thought was Britney would be the most likely but she couldn’t know he was investigating her. Besides, she didn’t have access to their mail system unless she knew someone on the inside who would post a letter from her and who might that be? He was going to continue his investigation the same as if he had not received the threat but he was going to keep his eyes and ears open to who was around him and were they surveilling him? After he finished taking care of his bills and the requests for donations, he set about to bring his file up to date. With all that taken care of, he saw he had time, if he hurried to make it out to Fielding in time intercept Carly in the cafeteria.

At ten minutes after noon, he found a parking spot near the cafeteria and walked in, in time to see Carly carrying her tray to an empty table. Coming around the large room from the other direction, they both achieved the table at the same time. “Well what do you know? We meet again,” he said.

“You’re always in here but I never see you eat. Tell me why?” she said, placing her tray on the table and sitting.

“Well it’s like this. I was a busy kid and always on the go. As a result, I didn’t have time to learn table manners. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized there were rules called etiquette which I hadn’t learned. So until I’ve learned them, I’m usually asked politely to leave the scene until I know how to eat properly.”

“You are kidding aren’t you?” she asked.

“Mostly!”

“How then do you plan to have a date with me which is going to involve eating dinner?”

“I’m pretty good at faking it, if I put my mind to it. Which reminds me, you told me you had a surprise place you wanted to go for dinner and you would tell me today. Has my confession changed your mind any?”

“Not really but I’m still going to wait for a while. I want to ask you a few more questions. Are you going to come to the library this evening?”

“I can for a little while.”

“Do you mind if I eat now?” she asked.

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“Not at all.” He sat back and watched the ebb and flow of the young people in the cafeteria. There seemed to be a casualness to their eating. Many of them had table mates and they carried on conversations between bites. By the looks on their faces, there were multiple topics involved in the various conversations. One side of the table had the talkers and the other side had the listeners. You could tell which was which by the head bobbing and chewing, the listeners, as opposed to the ones not bobbing, not chewing, and just talking.

“Do you see something interesting?” she asked, bringing him back to her presence.

“Observation is key to consulting. One has to know how to look and listen to be a good consultant.”

“Where did you go last night after you left the library?”

“I told you I had to go over to Bremerton.”

“Were you consulting?”

“As a matter of fact, I was.”

“Did it have to do with why you are here at Fielding?” He nodded. “Why can’t you tell me what you are doing here?”

“Let me ask you something. Can I?” She nodded. “OK, are you good at keeping secrets?”

“Yes, I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

“Fine, we have something in common. I’m very good at keeping secrets too!”

“Oh, you are so frustrating,” she said, forking another mouthful of salad into her mouth.

“I will tell you this Carly. My secrets are not forever secrets…” she jumped in.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not required to hold on to them forever. I can tell you some day.”

“When will you be able to tell me?”

“It will be more than a day but less than a year.”

“That doesn’t tell me much,” she muttered.

“There is a limit, ultimately. You haven’t told me when you’ll release your secret.”

“When did I tell you I had a secret?”

“When I took you home Monday and you said you couldn’t invite me in but someday you’d tell me why. that’s a secret.”

“It’s not a big one and with very little effort on my part, I can nullify it completely.”

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“Well, I could probably do the same thing but the ramifications would not be beneficial to any of us. Let’s don’t talk about secrets anymore, for a while anyway. Let’s talk about other things like you, for instance. What were you like as a child?”

“Do you mind if I finish my lunch before we get into ancient history?”

“By all means…manga, manga!”

“That means eat, eat, doesn’t it?”

“I sure hope so. I’ve said it several times in mixed company and no one offered to wash my mouth out.” She couldn’t help herself and started to laugh. When she finished laughing, she continued to eat. Finally when she had eaten it all, she pushed her tray to the center of the table and said.

“What do you want to know about me as a child?”

“What was fun? What did you like to do most of all? Finally, did you enjoy being a kid?”

She paused for several seconds, as if recalling her childhood. “My earliest memories involved my brother Martin. He’s only a year older than me but he always seemed to be there and I did whatever he wanted to do.”

“What was it that he liked to do then?” asked Stewart.

“Most of what I remember is running through the sprinkler. Two of us naked little kids running through the sprinkler.”

“You mentioned that you had an older brother and sister. Were they part of your childhood memories?”

“What I remember of them mostly had to do with when we went…” she paused here and looked to him as if she was afraid to go on.

“What’s the matter Carly, bad memories?”

“No quite the opposite.”

“OK, if you don’t want to go on, I understand. I guess it’s time for me to head out anyway. Sorry if I opened up something you don’t want to talk about,” he said as he stood up. She quickly spoke.

“You’re coming by the library tonight aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there around seven but I’ll only be able to stay for an hour or so.” She nodded, a look of sorrow on her face. He didn’t understand what could have changed in her but he wasn’t going to blame himself despite his urging her to recall whatever was bothering her. He started to leave and turned back. “Would you rather I didn’t come by tonight?”

“Oh no, I want you to come by. I was just remembering some very happy times that will never come again.”

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“We all have those but I can’t think of any of mine that I’d hesitate to talk about,” he said. With that, he turned and walked away, already thinking he shouldn’t have said what he last said.

Ninety minutes later, sitting in his office, he reread the note threatening his license. He pulled out the file on the case and reread that. Who in hell knew about him and his connection to Britney Teague? He took a clean sheet of paper out of his desk and started to write down names. Names of people who he had talked to since he joined the case. President Bannister: not likely! Missus Farley: not likely! Barbara Winkler: not likely! Carly Carson: not likely! Darius Bennett: a possible. He knows about Britney. Maybe he told someone he told me about her. Penny Potter: also a possible. Darius could have told her he told me about Britney. Girlfriends have ways of making boyfriends cough it up! Could anyone have overheard any conversations he had with Missus F or President Bannister? Possible but not likely!

He scratched his head over the issue. Someone at Fielding wrote this note and put it in the Fielding mail system last Friday, October 23rd. Would it be worth a try to find out if the mail handler at Fielding remembered someone dropping off a letter addressed to him? If what Laverne Cutler said was reasonably accurate and the amount of mail picked up from Fielding daily was large enough to require a canvas postal sack to hold it, it wasn’t likely the mail handler even saw the individual letters or documents!

Going back to the ones at Fielding who he spoke the name Britney to or who spoke the name to him, there was only Darius Bennett and Missus Farley. Of the two, which one was most likely to be the one to spill the beans? He had to put his money on Darius!

Except for a quick trip to a burger joint, he sometimes frequented, he spent the entire afternoon in his office in his chair wishing he was in another world without a need for investigators. Finally, he saw that it was time for him to close and lock up the office and leave for the trip to Fielding and his visit with Carly. As he was driving down I-5, his mind took up the topic of Britney Teague. Like a flash bulb going off in his brain, he thought…Holy Shit! I asked Missus Farley to ask Mariette Scofield about Britney Teague. Could it be possible a PHD and Department Head at Fielding, could be involved in some twisted way with a desire to protect Britney Teague? This requires I look into this matter.

A few minutes early, he stood outside the door to the library. He knew she wouldn’t care whether he was two minutes early or two minutes late but he wanted to keep his on the dot record intact, as long as he could. So when the seventh hour arrived, so did Stewart. He walked in and saw Carly watching the clock. She didn’t say anything to him about it, but he knew she was thinking. “Good evening Miss Carson,” he said, casually walking over to her desk. “Am I on time?”

“You know you are so why rub it in?”

“Who’s rubbing anything? I’m just making small talk. Can’t a guy make small talk?”

“Small talk is not your style Stewart Grant. You are always looking for something when you start a conversation.”

“You got me pegged alright. Right now I’m looking to see if you care enough to go out to dinner

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with me.”

“That’s kind of silly,” she said. “You know I’ve already agreed to that. Why ask again?”

“There’s a little matter of you having a surprise concerning that dinner. If I’m supposed to be surprised, don’t I have to know about it too?”

She hung her head for a couple of seconds. “Well I suppose it would be better if you knew what I wanted for us for dinner. Why don’t you pull up a chair and we can talk about it. OK?”

He pulled a chair from the corner of the desk to the center of the desk where he could sit and look straight at her. “How’s this?” he asked, grinning.

She smiled back and they sat looking at one another for several seconds, then she broke the spell. “I spoke to my mother about you. We had a nice long talk and she surprised me by asking if I’d invite you to have dinner at our house…Well?”

“I’m waiting to be invited.”

“You silly goose. What do you think I just did?”

“You told me your mother asked you to invite me. You didn’t ask her if you could invite me.”

She just sat and looked at him. Finally. “Surprise! Would you like to have dinner at my house?”

“You know Saturday is Halloween. Would I have to wear a costume?”

“Stewart Grant, you are getting under my skin. Why can’t you just say yes or no, once in a while? I don’t care if you come….” She stopped short of saying what she wanted to say.

“Uh, how’s that? If I come…how?”

“Dressed like the Easter Bunny.”

“I think it’s a little late to get a bunny suit in my size. How about if I come in a suit and tie. I don’t have a hat for the occasion but if you insist, I think I can find one.”

She finally slumped down in her chair and chuckled. “Will you promise me one thing?” He nodded. “Don’t try to impress my mother with your patter. She thinks you might be boyfriend material. With an act like yours, she’ll be sure to change her mind.”

“Did you listen to what you just said?” he asked sincerely.

“Did I say something that insulted you?”

“No, you opened up and told me you’ve talked to her more than just a little. I want you to know that I know when and where to play the goof and at your mother’s first meeting isn’t the place. I talk in circles to keep the conversation going so I can see you longer. I’d love to come here at six oh one and stay till eleven fifty-nine but I have a commitment to my job and I just can’t do both. So if you’re tired of

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my attempt at humor, I’m sorry. I’ve got lots of yeses and noes I haven’t used but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to.”

“Oh Stewart, I’m really sorry if you thought I was warning you off my mother. She’s the sweetest woman I’ve ever know and she wouldn’t care how you talked. I was thinking more about how I would look to her, if you acted that way. I’m so sorry!”

“So you’d be ashamed of how I acted, not her. Is that it?”

“I said I was sorry.”

“Well maybe I’ve tried too hard to impress you. That I can change but I still have a basic nature that finds the humor in most things. I can be as serious as you want and when I’m somewhere else I’ll be stupid and let my funny side do its thing. How’s that?”

“Can we start over?” she asked, her voice soft and pleading.

“At what point? I can’t remember all the things we discussed and I blew off trying to be funny. I don’t know about you but I will always remember how you looked every time I saw you after being out of sight for some time. I don’t know if I can be something I’m not.”

“Can we start at the point where I was supposed to surprise you by asking you to dinner at my house?”

“Yes.”

“Stewart, instead of going out to an expensive restaurant Saturday evening. How would you like to come to my house for dinner? I’d like to introduce you to my mother.”

“I would like that very much. What time shall I arrive? Should I bring candy, it’s Halloween?”

“Seven PM is a good time and be casual. We don’t get trick or treaters anymore.”

“Gee, that was absolutely painless. Did I do it right?”

She laughed. “Yes Stewart, you did it right. Uh, about my mother. I might have said something I was imagining she was saying when we talked earlier. I hope it doesn’t color your feelings about her.”

“I’ll tell you something about me that you don’t know. I do not listen to what other people say when they are talking about someone I don’t know. I kind of like to form my own opinions about people.”

“That’s a genuinely fine trait and admirable in the bargain,” she said, smiling.

“On that note,” he said. “I have to go and employ my consulting skills. I’ll see you tomorrow evening. OK?”

She nodded. “Good night Stewart. Good consulting!”

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Chapter 10   A surprise from Woods Haven

Stewart was parked in the spot in the woods down the street from the house of Britney Teague. At this time of the year it was dark early and as he drove by her house he had only the parking lights on. He was able to see that the ’77 LTD was parked at the curb in front of her house and unless she had another car at her disposal, he would know, if she left. Very few cars came or went on this street and as a result, he nearly succumbed to sleep. He uncorked the thermos he was given by his father for use when he was on a stake out. The hot brew did the job and he was once again alert to his task.

The dial on his Timex watch was illuminated and he saw it was approaching midnight. He knew from his tailing her two days before, she had a job and its start time was nine AM. So unless she didn’t require much sleep, she was probably tucked in for the night at this very moment. Looking both ways, he pulled out of the spot in the woods onto the street northbound and drove for a block before turning on his headlights. He was going home to his apartment on Beacon Hill for a well-earned night’s sleep.

Thursday morning, when he opened his eyes, he smiled knowing he had no commitments until tonight at seven. He rolled over and stretched. He thought about going back to sleep but with his eyes fully open, his brain came alive and thoughts began to run around in his head. Swinging his feet out of the bed onto the floor, he jumped up and headed for the shower. Ten minutes later, naked but dry, he was in the small kitchen putting the ingredients in the pot for his getting started first cup of coffee. He took the first cup of coffee into the small living room and sat down and put his bare feet up on the coffee table. The portable transistor radio on the end table at his right elbow was tuned to his favorite station and softly playing tunes from the top one hundred. The present one was “I Love a Rainy Night,” by Eddie Rabbitt.

Unfortunately the music did not crowd out the thoughts engendered by his concern for the case. He would love to have a quiet period to cleanse his mind but it wasn’t to be. Foremost in his mind was the mystery that came in the mail the day before. Who at Fielding sent him the threat?” He gave a thought to calling Missus Farley and telling her about the threat. He almost got up to get dressed when it occurred to him, Mariette Scofield was one of her flock. What if she felt a stronger connection to her flock than she did to justice for the raped co-eds? He had to find another way to discover who could have sent the letter.

The hardest thing for Stewart to do was waste time. He decided he’d rather be sitting in his office in case something came up, than be here without a means to contact someone in the outer world, or they him. So he did get up, got dressed and drove into Seattle, with a stop for breakfast in a small restaurant exactly one mile from his apartment. The day crawled snail-like until five PM. He had done everything he could think of that needed to be done in the office. Finally he could get in the car and pretend he was back on the case, even though it was more personal than business. His thoughts on the subject were mixed. He felt someone could come by and say. “Hey, I saw a letter for you. Did you get it?” Then again, probably nothing would occur that gave him anything he could consider help.

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He had a half hour to dump before he was going to drop in on Carly, so he left the car radio on and listened to some music. Eventually it was time and he left the car and entered the library. Carly was standing by the door and as soon as his foot was on the inside of the building, she spoke. “Good evening Stewart. Have you had a good day?”

“Marvelous day thank you kindly. How about you?”

“I had a good one also. Now what should we talk about?” she said.

A very strange thought popped into his head. He thought long and hard about bringing it up but thought…what the hell? So he asked. “Do you know a young lady by the name of Cindy Grainger?”

She thought about it for a few seconds. “No, I’ve never heard that name before.”

“How about Angela Thorson?”

This time he saw a light come on over her head. “Yeah I know that name. It’s on the list of delinquent borrowers. How do you know it?” she asked, looking squarely at him.

“I came across it in my consulting business. When did she borrow the book?”

“Just a moment. I’ll look it up,” she said and swiveled in her chair to a ledger on the other side of her desk. “She borrowed in on the thirteenth and was supposed to return it Tuesday.”

“How much does she owe?”

“Ten cents a day for the first month and twenty cents a day after that. Why is it important to you?”

“I happen to know she’s been on the sick list since the twenty second. Does the system care who pays the overdue fine?”

“I don’t think so.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a money clip and peeled off a twenty. “Here, this should cover it for a while. If she brings it back before the money is used up, give her what’s left.”

“Why are you doing this? Do you know her?”

“No, I just know about her. What happened to her was no fault of hers and I don’t think it’s fair that she should be penalized for it.”

“Is this one of the young ladies you told me about when you first explained about being a consultant?” He nodded. “But you can’t tell me what happened to her?” Again, he nodded. “Are you actually going to tell me what you’re doing here someday?”

“Patience is a virtue and you’ve been virtuous since the beginning. I promise I will tell you.”

“I told my mother about our discussion last night and she’s very anxious to meet you.”

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“Why?” he asked simply.

“I asked her that too and she said anyone who could get under my skin was someone she wanted to meet.”

“If it’s any consolation, my mother said she’d like to meet you too!”

“Did you ask her why?”

“No but I know she’s interested in my welfare. She knows I function better when I have someone to banter with. One of these days, I’ll invite you to come to my folks’ house to meet my family…that is the ones who live in Bremerton.” He checked the time quickly and she noticed it.

“Have you got someplace else you have to be?”

“Yes. I can tell you I’d rather stay here but my job has to come first. Sorry, but that’s the way it has to be until things get resolved.” He stood up and looked down at her. “I really meant that. I have a feeling that things are coming to a head and I’ll be free to spend all the time I want with you. Believe me that’s what I want,” he said and turned to leave. She spoke to him.

“Take care Stewart. Will I see you at lunch?”

“No but I’ll be outside Harmony Hall at four o’clock, if you’d like?”

“That will be fine. Until tomorrow at four.” He walked away casually but hurried once he got outside.

He followed the routine that he had the night before. Parking lights on passed the Teague house and once parked, all lights off. Her car was at the curb, so he believed she was home. He was settling down, when all of a sudden, headlights blossomed down the street in her vicinity and a car pulled away from the curb. As it passed in front of him, he could tell it was the LTD but he couldn’t tell if she was driving. A few moments indecision could cost him a loss. The loss of his subject. He immediately restarted the ’55 and pulled out to follow the LTD. It angled always left and north until it attained the on ramp to I-5 North. Was she going to work tonight? If she was, by the time she got there it would be too late to conduct any business. Perhaps they were going to do inventory?

He had to hold it down so he didn’t overtake the car he was following. If it turned off at the Grand Mall of Tacoma, he’d know he was following Britney Teague. The LTD passed the turn off and the prickling on the back of his neck became prominent. He wasn’t sure who was in the car ahead of him. A couple of minutes longer and the right turn blinker in the LTD began to blink. The driver was going to make a right turn. What was ahead? He knew that State Route 16 was a possibility and ten seconds later, the LTD was in the left lane of SR 16! He relaxed but the concern was still present. A quarter of a mile behind he was doing his best to keep from zooming ahead. Instead he let off the gas and dropped back a little farther. He saw the LTD cross the lanes to the right and signal for a right turn at the off ramp to Woods Haven a posh and gated community. He waited until the LTD was committed to the turn off and at the last possible moment swung over and shot onto the off ramp. The LTD had made a left turn at

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the base of the off ramp and could not have seen his desperate manoeuver. He turned left also and saw the LTD stopped at a red light about six blocks ahead of him. He slowed so he wouldn’t catch up and when the light changed he sped up and barely made it through. It wasn’t long and he saw the LTD signal for a turn into Woods Haven. When he passed the car, it was there at the guard shack and in the light, he could see the driver was Britney Teague. He had to look over his right shoulder to see her car pass through the checkpoint into Woods Haven proper.

He drove around several blocks until he found a place he could park and watch the gate out of the gated community. He checked his watch and saw it was nine o’clock. Who could she be visiting this time of night? He decided it didn’t matter. If she was here, she couldn’t be back at Fielding raping young ladies. He uncorked the thermos and settled down to watch for a white ’77 Ford LTD, to show up out- bound from Woods Haven. The time passed slowly because there wasn’t a lot activity either in or out of the gated community. It occurred to him there might be another way out of there but if that was the case, why use the prominent and most observable entrance to go in. To get back on SR 16, the closest on ramp was back through this gate and back down the street she came up to get here. He felt safe sitting here waiting.

He checked his watch periodically and as the hands began to approach the witching hour he thought to himself, what if she is going to spend the night? What should I do? The problem in his mind resolved itself because he saw the white LTD exiting the gate. He started the car and waited for her to get five or six blocks down the street before he pulled out to follow. As he was plotting her turns he decided if she appeared to be returning to her home, he was not going to continue to follow her. Reason one being that she couldn’t be planning a rape at this hour. The library is closed and the dorms are on shutdown for the night. When she exited I-5 South at 512, where she got on, he knew she was going home, so he found the next exit and got back on I-5 North and headed for Beacon Hill.

Friday morning dawned gray and gloomy. No rain but the threat of it was there. He felt he had achieved a breakthrough on the case last night. He didn’t know who Britney Teague had visited in Woods Haven, but by following her there, he sensed it was an important step he had taken to solving this case. He went through his morning ablutions and stepped out to his car and drove to the small restaurant for breakfast. He drove into Seattle and put the ’55 in the parking lot. He picked up his mail and in his office he checked through it quickly to see if there had been any more letters to him from Fielding. There weren’t any! He had slept in long enough this morning such that by the time he reached his office, he could make a call to President Bannister’s Office and not feel he was encroaching on their settling in time. He punched the numbers for the President’s Office that by now he knew by heart.

“Good morning Doctor Bannister’s Office. May I help you?” asked the voice of Mary Ann Farley.

“You kind of threw me by calling it Doctor Bannister’s Office Missus Farley. This Stewart Grant. How are you today?”

“I’m fine young Mister Grant. It’s been a while since you called. Doctor Bannister was asking about you yesterday. Do you have anything to report?”

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“I think I’ve made several steps toward getting this thing settled but I’ve got a question I think you might be able to answer.”

“If it helps solve this mess, I’ll answer anything I can for you.”

“OK Ma’am. Here goes. Do you know of any of Fielding’s staff that lives in Woods Haven?” He heard a little chuckle from her end.

“That’s easy. Doctor Bannister himself lives there!”

“Anyone else?” he asked, hoping against hope.

“Let me check.” She was away from the phone for about three minutes. Back on the line. “There’s two others. The new football coach, Darryl Blackstone and Doctor Scofield. Can I help you with anything else?”

“Don’t get upset if I ask you something strange but does Doctor Bannister know Britney Teague?”

“Are you being foolish? Of course he doesn’t know her. Why should he?”

“Because I followed her from her home to Woods Haven and she was in there for almost three hours.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Do you think I’m stupid enough to make an accusation like that unless I had seen it with my own eyes?”

“No I don’t Stewart. That just caught me by surprise is all. I can’t wait to tell Percy about this.”

“Uh, do you think it’s wise to tell him about this? I trust him implicitly but I don’t want him to think he might be helping me if he calls out the others on staff who live there. Let’s suppose that she went to see someone not involved at Fielding. What would that do to their loyalty?”

“Oh, I see what you mean. I think I’ll keep that piece of news for later. OK?”

“Thank you Missus F. I appreciate your candor. I’ll do my best to keep you apprised. Till next time, bye!”

“Good bye Stewart.”

He sat back in his chair and looked at the far wall. Was the call a smart thing to do? Suppose, as I had already written down, he said to himself, she is connected to her staff more than to the raped young women. One of the two staffers who lives in Woods Haven will be sure to get the word that I might be on to them. Doing the smart thing his father taught him, he analyzed each member of the staff who lived in Woods Haven. He thought about dismissing Doctor Bannister immediately but changed his mind with this thought. Suppose Mary Ann Farley, his faithful secretary, was running interference for

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him. Who knows more about him than anyone else on the planet? She could easily pretend he was a saint when in reality he was a devil. Harsh words but just suppose! What about the new football coach Blackstone? He could be dismissed without a great deal of worry, he thought. How long has he been the head coach at Fielding? Not too long if he was still referred to as the new coach. Besides, Britney was not in Fielding since last year at this time. Blackstone was not a local, if what he read in the Tacoma paper was accurate. That left Doctor Mariette Scofield. She had so many check marks beside her name, she had to be the number one candidate for the one Britney visited last night.

Being aware of the time, was on his agenda this morning. He had to make sure he left the office in time to meet his folks at SeaTac to greet his Gramma MJ, coming in from Los Angeles. He figured it would take forty-five minutes to drive to the airport and another fifteen minutes to get parked and into the terminal. So he’d better leave by ten thirty.

He was on the road to the airport at ten thirty and achieved the parking area in forty minutes. He was in, parked and out in ten minutes so he had plenty of time to rendezvous with his Mom and Dad. They told him she was arriving via Western Airlines and they utilized the North Terminal for their arrivals and departures. He passed through the main terminal and down to the underground rail system. It zipped him to the North Terminal in five minutes and when he came back above ground, he saw his folks standing by a small kiosk, sipping coffee. He walked up to them. “Hi Mom, Dad. I’m not late am I?”

Shirley, his mother hugged and kissed him like she would at home only now they were both dressed and his libido remained under control. His father Miles also hugged him and when he let him go, he said. “You must have made good time. I expected you wouldn’t get here for another half hour or so.”

“I guess the good traffic fairy saw it was me and opened up the roads so I wouldn’t be late.”

“Any way it happened, I’m so glad you’re here,” said Shirley. “MJ will be glad too. Uh, don’t tell her I said this but you’re her favorite grandchild.”

“Oh Mom, I find that hard to believe. Uncle Joe’s kids are all great kids. Why wouldn’t one of them be her favorite?”

“Because she told me, so don’t you dare tell her I told you. Be nice like you always are and she won’t be sorry she told me.”

“Uh, Mom, Dad, I won’t be able to go home with you. I have an appointment at Fielding and I can’t afford to miss it. But I will be able to stay here for a while, if you can convince Gramma to hang around for a while.”

“Let’s go find a place to sit,” said Miles. “We’ve still got some time to kill even if the flight is on time.” They trooped over to the arrival gate and found a place where they could talk without having an audience. Miles spoke once they were seated. “You said you had something last night. Did it turn out for you?”

“I think it might be a turning point. I followed my chief suspect to a place where I believe an accomplice lives and I made a phone call this morning and got an assurance for my belief.” 

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“Can you tell us about it?” asked Shirley.

“I think I’d like to wait until I have it firm. There’s still a possibility it could go another way, so I just want to be able to tell for sure I got it down cold.”

“I understand Hon,” she said, patting his knee.

At ten minutes after noon, the gate agent for Western spoke into the mike at the desk. “Flight 738 will be at the gate in about six minutes. Please wait up on this level for deplaning passengers to come to you.” They could look out the windows at the runway and Miles pointed out the Boeing 737 that just landed and was taxing in was probably the flight MJ was on. When it pulled into the jet way they could look down, they knew it was MJ’s flight.

The three moved over to look down the jet way. Before long, passengers were streaming up the jet way towards them. MJ was in the first rush out of the plane and she saw the three of them and waved. They waved back and she picked up her pace. They walked over to where the jet way spilled out into the gate area and when she reached them they pulled her aside and took turns hugging and kissing her. She stepped close to Shirley and said. “I hope you hurry out of here. Today has been the longest day I can remember when I had to wear clothes.”

“Miles was standing close enough to hear her and said. “Stewart has a case and is committed to getting on before long so he won’t be going home with us. So if you want to see and talk to him for a while, we’ll have to stay here to do it.”

“That’s fine by me. I’ll stay as long as I have to.”

“Thanks Gram. I wish I could go home and get you out of your clothes but business is business and I want to give my clients their money’s worth.”

They found a place to sit away from the gate area and clustered in a circle to talk. Shirley was first to speak. “Did you have a nice cruise?”

“Yeah and boy am I glad it was a nude cruise or I would have sweltered. It wasn’t too bad at sea but every port we stopped at you could fry an egg on the sidewalks.”

“How did it compare to the cruise we had in the South Pacific?” asked Miles.

“The ship was bigger and there were a lot more people but the people were all the same. Everyone wanted to know how we got to be naturists and a good many of them wanted to play.”

“Did you oblige?” asked Miles.

“What do you think?” she replied.

“What was your accommodations like?” asked Shirley.

“I had a cabin on deck six…uh, that’s six decks down. It was still above the water line but I still had to go up to find the fun.”

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“Where were Joe and Cassie in relation to you,” asked Stewart.

“Oh, they were on deck two. That’s where the fun began.”

“What kind of fun are you talking about?” he asked.

“That’s right! You’ve never been on one of these. OK, imagine you’re at EVSC and it’s out at sea with a tier three reputation to maintain. Only there are no kids and everybody wants to play like their kids are at home with a babysitter. Do you get the idea?”

“I think so Gram but maybe the next time I’m home, you can draw me a picture. OK?”

“Oh you are a naughty boy like your father.” Stewart looked at his watch and spoke.

“I’ve got to leave Gram.” They stood up together and hugged and kissed. “I’ll come over the next chance I get. I love you Gram.” He hugged and kissed both his parents and left. When he was out of sight, MJ spoke to Shirley.

“He knows what goes on, on a nude cruise doesn’t he?”

“Of course he does Mom. He just wanted to be part of the conversation.”

Stewart drove into the Fielding area nearly a half hour before Carly would be getting out of class. Since none of the streets within the college’s zone were marked no parking, he didn’t worry about parking almost directly in front of the exit from Harmony Hall. He kept his eyes on the exit and at ten after four, he saw Carly emerge from the building with three other co-eds. They said their good byes and she began looking for a maroon Riviera. He had forgotten to tell her of the auto swap so he stepped out of the car and walked around front and called to her. She saw him and walked swiftly in his direction. “Where’s the Riviera?” she asked.

Rather than try to explain the real reason, he gave her the little lie he told the parking lot attendant where he parked near his office. “The engine threw a rod and she’s in the garage getting fixed. She’ll be ready again in a few days.” He opened the door for her and waited for her to get settled then ran around and climbed in the driver’s seat. “Where to Madam?”

“Home James!”

“Very good,” he said. He drove for a couple of blocks in silence before speaking again. “Did you have a good day today?”

“Yeah, I missed you at lunch though.”

“I’m sorry about that. My Grandmother has been out of town and she flew in today at noon. I met with my Mom and Dad at the airport to greet her.”

“You’re a very close family aren’t you?” she said.

“I think so. My father’s mother and father live fairly close to us but Gramma MJ has lived in our

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house almost as long as I can remember. She was my number one babysitter when I was young.”

“My sister Colleen was the one I remember who babysat me and Martin the most.”

“What did your folks do? Did they both work?”

“My Dad owned a furniture and appliance store in downtown Tacoma and Mom was a school teacher for a while then she went to work for the Tacoma School District.”

“What did your mother teach?”

“She taught fourth grade for five years.”

“Does she still work for the School District?”

“No, she retired when my father died. You see, just before he died, he sold his business and with his life insurance and the proceeds from his business, he set up Mom for life.”

“I’m sorry about his death but I’m happy it worked out for your mother.”

“What about your folks?” she asked.

“Well Mom has always been a stay at home mother to me but Dad was a consultant like me. He had several successful ones and that set him up so he could retire early.”

“What do your brother and sister do?”

“Jimmie and my grandfather’s brother are in business back in Ames Iowa. They own a Buick dealership. Sarah is the Property Manager of some land over on the Olympic Peninsula.”

A short quiet spell ensued and Stewart reopened the conversation by asking. “Are you going to introduce me to your mother today?”

“I forgot to tell her you would be bringing me home, so she might not be ready to accept company.”

“Is she unwell?” he asked.

“No, it’s just…well hard to describe. She’ll be ready to meet you tomorrow for dinner.”

“Are you sure you really want me to come to dinner? I wouldn’t want to cause your mother any hardship.”

“It isn’t that at all Stewart. One day soon I’ll tell you all about it.”

“I can wait,” he said, concentrating on his driving. Soon they were at her house, in her driveway stopped behind a three year old dark blue Cadillac Eldorado. “Is that your mother’s car?” he asked.

“It was the last car my father bought before he died. Mom likes it because it’s big and comfortable.”

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“It wasn’t in the driveway the last time I brought you home.”

“Mom lent it to my brother while his car was being worked on. Sort of like your case.”

He changed the subject a bit. “My folks have a Cadillac from that year but it’s black. It was a gift to my mother from one of Dad’s clients.”

“Your father didn’t mind your mother getting an expensive gift from a stranger?”

“Maybe someday I’ll tell you who the gift came from and you’ll understand,” he countered.

“There seems to be a lot of mystery in your family. Should I be concerned?”

“You don’t do so bad yourself, you know.”

“Touché,” she said with a smile. “Well I better go in. See you tomorrow evening at seven. OK?”

“I’ll be here with bells on,” he said as she left the car and scooted up towards the front door which swung open. Just as she reached the porch steps, she stopped and turned to wave at him. Stewart was concentrated on watching her and the glimpse of a naked body inside the door wasn’t lost on him. He waved as the body disappeared behind the open door. Carly turned and stepped inside and the door closed behind her. Stewart backed out into the street and drove away smiling to himself. He pointed the car in a northerly direction and headed for Seattle and his office.

Making himself comfortable, he picked up his phone and punched in a series of numbers that he knew well. He heard the ring and. “Hello,” the soft voice of his mother.

“Hi Mom. Everybody get home alright?”

“Are you asking if your Gram disrobed in the car on the way home?”

“That wasn’t why I called but I never get tired of listening to Gram’s peccadillos.”

“Well she and I both did for your information. Your father had all the same complaints that he usually does but secretly he loves it. OK, with that out of the way, why did you call?”

“I need to speak to Dad. Is he handy?”

“He’s in his office. I can call him.”

“Don’t bother Mom. I’ll call his office number. It’s nice talking to you. I love you to pieces and tell Gram I love her to pieces too!”

“We love you too Son. Please be careful and come see us soon.”

“I will, bye Mom,” he said and hung up.

The phone call to his father lasted nearly a half hour and answered a couple questions that he didn’t have to wait for answers from Carly.

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Chapter 11   Miles had an answer or two

He left the office and made a quick trip to Beacon Hill and his apartment. He fixed a quick meal and brewed some coffee for his thermos. It was dark by the time he left but to him it was camouflage. He drove to Puyallup and the neighborhood of Britney Teague. As he drove past her house, he saw the white LTD at the curb and smiled. “If she stays home, that’s great but if she leaves, that’s good too. I’ll be ready,” he said to himself.

He had been at his place in the woods for an hour when the headlights lit up the street. He looked down toward Britney’s and saw the LTD pull away from the curb. When it passed in from of him, he could tell it was Britney who was driving. He was almost positive she was alone in the car so it meant she could be going anywhere. He let her get a few blocks head start and pulled out to follow. As usual, she angled west and north till she achieved the on ramp to I-5 North. He stayed at least a quarter to half mile behind her and had plenty of time to change lanes when she signaled to exit at SR 16. He was certain by this time she was heading for Woods Haven and he anticipated it by moving immediately to the far right lane for the exit to Woods Haven came upon them fairly suddenly. He wasn’t at all concerned now that he might lose her. There wasn’t any place else to go besides Woods Haven from here.

As he slowed some past the guard shack protecting the entrance to the gated community, the white LTD was easing through the open obstacle controlled by the guard. He did as he had the last time and circled until he found the place to watch for her to exit. He settled down and poured himself a cup of coffee from the thermos. Little did he know that he would be finishing the coffee in the thermos and have to make a decision about going or staying. Despite the lack of urgency in his surveillance, he couldn’t help checking his watch all too often. He checked for the hundredth time and found it was approaching two AM. Now it was decision time. Usually when someone comes to visit, if they’re still there at two AM, they’re probably not going to leave. This brought into question…who was Britney in Woods Haven visiting? Was there a male companion that was not brought into the picture as a result of the data supplied by Doctor Scofield’s note to Missus Farley? The situation he was confronted with still did not exclude Scofield herself. Stranger things than this had passed through his life. He finally decided the best way to solve his stay or go dilemma was in his pocket. He pulled out the quarter and flipped it saying. “Heads I stay, tails I go!” When he smacked the coin on the back of his left hand he said to himself. “You treated me right last time Ben, are you going to do it again?” He rolled his right hand off the back of his left hand and peeked at the coin in the dim light coming in from the street light down the street. “Eureka! You did it again,” he said to Ben Franklin’s likeness on the quarter. It was tails! He started the ’55 and headed for Beacon Hill and his bed.

Saturday came to town and brought rain. It was the serious kind of rain that heralded the approach of winter, still two months away. He fixed a light breakfast and sat at the small kitchenette table for his cup of coffee. The memory of his night waiting for Britney to leave Woods Haven wouldn’t leave his conscious. He had all day to fritter away until he was committed to go to Carly’s for dinner.

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He decided he would answer something, if he could, that would ease his mind about Britney and did she spend the night in Woods Haven. The first thing he was going to do was drive out to the Grand Mall of Tacoma and check at Waylon’s Custom Tool Shed. If she was there, it was possible she left after he did and went home or she left from where she spent the night in Woods Haven to go to work. He found a place as close as he could to the entrance so he wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time in the rain getting to the entrance. Inside the mall, he walked purposefully across to the Tool Shed and stopped to look at the window display. He could see a great deal of the display room and its dual checkout counters. Britney Teague was not attending either. He watched for several minutes and she did not appear. Assuming she wasn’t at work, he left to go to his car and drive to Puyallup and her house. He suspected she left Woods Haven sometime after he did and went home. He expected to see the white LTD parked at the curb in front of her house, which badly needed some repairs.

Twenty minutes later he was on the street of her neighborhood and there was no white LTD at the curb. In fact, there were no white cars of any make or model on the street. I guess she spent the night and hasn’t come home yet. Another thing the data on Britney didn’t expose was who she lived with in the house that needed repairs. As long as he was here, he thought he’d spend some time surveilling the house to see if she showed up. This turned out to be a waste of time. He was fixed in place until three PM and she didn’t return. There were dozens, possibly hundreds of places she could have gone to by now but his investigator’s sense told him to put his money on her still being in Woods Haven! Without a worry that she was going to show up currently, he left the spot and drove back to Beacon Hill. The first thing he did when he got inside his apartment was to shed his clothes. His naturist instincts took over whenever it was possible and it was always possible when he was here. He metered his time and at five o’clock, he headed for the shower. Laved and shaved, he laid out the clothes he was going to wear. He still had some time to spare so he flopped down on the shabby sofa his housing budget allowed. He turned on his radio and began a short period of listening. The one that was playing when he turned on the radio was. “Love on the Rocks,” by Neil Diamond.

He allowed himself fifty minutes to get to Tacoma where Carly and her mother lived. The streets and roads were usually busy with weekend traffic and fifty minutes should take that into account. He arrived at the end of her street with six minutes to spare. He pulled over to the curb and waited. With two minutes left, he coasted down the street into her driveway. He walked up to the porch. He could tell the drapes were open but the shears between prevented a good clear look inside. He pressed the doorbell and stood back to wait. It opened shortly and Carly was there after opening it. “How long did you have to wait out on the street before you came up to ring the doorbell?”

“Most of the afternoon,” he replied nonchalantly.

“You’re kidding me aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said casually.

“Please come in,” she said, stepping aside to let him pass her. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“Don’t worry about that. Whatever it is I smell, is going to suit me to a tee.” She led him by the

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hand into the living room. As they got into the center of the room, an attractive middle-aged woman, entered from another room, most likely the kitchen. She was dressed in a simple, flowery, colored frock. She had sandals on her shapely bare feet and her toenails were painted the same pink as her slim fingernails. She was somewhat older but easily the mold from which Carly came. She spoke softly.

“Hello Stewart. I’m so happy we finally get to meet,” she said holding out her hand. He shook with her and replied.

“I’m very happy for it too. I’ve tried hard to imagine what you might look like but I missed it by a long ways. You are far more beautiful than I could have imagined.” He saw a flush grow on her pretty face down to her ample décolletage.

She looked at her daughter. “This cannot be the man you described to me recently.” She looked back at Stewart. “With praise like that in your repertoire, how could you possibly get under her skin?”

“Sometimes I just open my mouth and things come out I didn’t know I knew. Usually I’m much more of a clown and that’s how I get under young women’s skin.” Both Stewart and Carly’s mother looked at her to see how she reacted.

She smiled, blushing sweetly. She spoke directing her words to Stewart. “I asked her not to mention the under the skin part. I think it’s a mother’s challenge to see if she can embarrass her kids.”

“Do you mind if we sit for a few minutes before we eat?” asked her mother.

“It’s alright by me,” said Stewart. “The longer I smell that delightful aroma coming out of the kitchen, the hungrier I’ll be.”

“Good,” said Missus Carson. “I enjoy seeing a hungry man eat.” She pointed to a large overstuffed chair behind him. “Won’t you have a seat?”

He looked behind him. “After you please,” he said.

“Why does a man always wait until the women are seated?” she asked, seemingly for no reason.

“Depending on the seriousness of the situation, it gives him a few steps head start, should he decide to run,” he mused, tongue in cheek. Both of the women laughed heartily.

Carly waited till her mother finished laughing and spoke. “How long have you been waiting to use that line?”

“Until someone as lovely as your mother posed the question, I guess.”

“Carly says you are a consultant of sorts. I know another man named Grant who used to say he was a consultant. Is there any chance you might know him? His name is Miles.”

“I know him. He’s my father. Is your first name by chance Evelyn?”

“Yes it is. I know both your parents. I met them seventeen years ago right here in this room. You

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favor your father a great deal. Except for coloration, which you took after your mother, you could be your father’s twin.”

“If I had seen you anywhere other than here first, I would have approached you and asked if you were Carly’s big sister.”

“That was a lovely thing to say. I could never get tired of hearing things like that.”             

Carly’s mouth hung open and she looked from her mother to Stewart and back to her mother. “How long have you known about him?”

“Ever since you told me his name. I knew Miles and Shirley had a son about his age but I didn’t know his first name.” She looked at Stewart. “Now for the personal stuff. Are your parents still into the naturist lifestyle?”

“More than ever. I know that at one time you and your family used to be members at the EVSC. Are you still a member?”

“Yes. Carly and I went up there weekend before last. I understand that your father is the one who came up with the tier system they have employed up there. Is that true?”

“Yeah, he came up with the idea at a symposium down in Texas last year. He brought it home and promoted it to the membership. Once it was accepted, he gave it to my sister Sarah to implement. She’s the Property Manager there. Were you there for his offering?”

“No but I went up the next week and got a briefing from a gal I know who was there. I see your sister Sarah once in a while when I’m up there. She is a very beautiful woman.”

“How come I’m the last one to find out about all this?” asked Carly.

“I’ll tell you why,” said Stewart. “You were embarrassed to tell me why you couldn’t invite me in your house because you knew she was going to be nude. Am I right?”

Evelyn answered. “That’s right. I would have let her invite you in, if I had known you were still naturists.” A great big lewd smile grew on her face. “How would you feel about having dinner with us…in the nude?”

“That would be just like having dinner at home. Our house is a naturist haven and with very few exceptions, everyone who comes there, behaves like one.” He looked at Carly. “How do you feel about getting nude with a stranger?”

She looked from Stewart to her mother. “Mom and I always eat in the nude and sometimes Martin eats with us but….” Stewart spoke up.

“Look Carly, if you don’t want to do it, that it’s too soon, I’ll understand.”

“You’re bigger than this Callie. You’ve been a nudie all your life. Do you think he’s going to be critical of you? You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” chided her mother.

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“Maybe it is too soon Missus Carson. It’s a big decision to make. We both knew about the other but she got a big piece of news dumped on her. Hey, what about this? You and I can be nude and after a while she can join in, if she feels comfortable.”

“How would that be Honey?” asked her mother.

She sat silently for several seconds. Finally. “I think I’m ready to do it when you are.”

“How shall we do it?” asked Missus Carson. “Do you want to undress in another room?” she asked Stewart.

“I have no concerns about doing it right here,” he said, looking at the living room window. “I would close your drapes, however.”

“Yeah, that’s probably is a good idea,” she said, taking care of the chore. She turned back to look at her daughter. “Are you sure Callie that you want to go through with it? Stewart said he was willing to put it off for another time.”

“I really want to Mom, it’d just seem so staged to stand here and watch everybody undressing.”

“I know what she means Missus Carson. My Dad is as much a naturist as anybody’s ever been but Mom says he gets aroused if he watches my Gramma MJ undress in front of him.”

“Then maybe we should all go to a separate place to undress and at the count of fifty just walk casually into the room here,” said Missus Carson.

“That sounds good to me,” said Stewart.

“I think that’s a better idea Mom,” said Carly.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Show him where Martin stays when he’s here. You go to your room and I’ll got to mine.” Carly grabbed Stewart’s hand and led him across the living room to a small hallway. As they walked a few steps into the hallway, she pointed down the hall.

“This is my room here and that’s where Martin stays when he sleeps over.” She let go of his hand and stepped into her room. Stewart continued down the hall to the next bedroom. He didn’t pay much attention to the room itself. He was only concerned with getting out of his clothes. He laid everything on the bed and left his socks in his shoes on the floor. Surprised at how comfortable he felt, he knew this was not going to a catastrophic mess for him. He began counting in his head and soon reached fifty. Having reached the number Missus Carson announced, he left the bedroom and strolled back into the living room. It surprised him some that both females were already there. He saw Missus Carson first and she was more beautiful nude than she was clothed and she had a lovely all over tan. His gaze turned to Carly. She was not as tall as her mother nor as bosomy but for her size, everything was exactly right. He was so pleased that she was as beautiful as he thought she would be. She also had an all over tan. Both mother and daughter were clean shaven in their pubic regions. Missus Carson spoke. “What do you think Stewart? Was it worth the wait?”

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Without hesitation, he replied. “You are both so very lovely. It would sound crass if I tried to explain it in any other terms. Except when I’m home or with the family at EVSC, I’m not usually this lucky to be sharing close quarters with two beautiful women. Call me out if you find me staring!”

Missus Carson spoke to her daughter. “When was the last time you heard anyone say anything like that to you? I’m impressed that you hung onto him long enough to get him here.”

“Don’t worry Missus C, she didn’t have to work hard to get me to bite on her line. I was hooked the first time I saw her.”

Carly hadn’t as yet said a word. She looked at her mother with an expression Stewart was unable to read. Her mother was obviously attuned to her daughter’s expressions, because she spoke to her immediately. “I suggest we take a few minutes to just look one another over. I know as naturists we tell the non-naturist world that nudity is nothing special to us but that only applies to when we are in a social environment. Indoors and with our loved ones, the rules are expanded to allow us to enjoy the ones we share our nudity with.” Being used to seeing one another, mother and daughter did not spend any time looking each over but both concentrated their attentions on Stewart. It did not make him uncomfortable because he was doing the same to each of them. He almost became aroused enough to show it, when Missus Carson spoke. “Perhaps we can eat now and afterwards spend some time getting to know each other.”

This killed the spell and he was glad to join her in the notion of food. Either by signal or telepathy from her mother, Carly grabbed his hand and led him to the kitchen. The table in the kitchen was large and could easily sit ten or more but tonight it was set for three, all on one side of the table. Missus C had them on the side of the table closest to the stove. She had Stewart in the middle and she was where she could take the food out of the warming oven and serve it conveniently. There was a large variety of food which ended up on his plate but the only thing Stewart was certain of was pot roast and mashed potatoes. Everything else was secondary but delicious just the same. When he thought he could eat no more, Missus C spoke. “I hope you saved some room for a piece of cherry pie with ice cream.”

“I’ll make room if I have to put some of it in my pocket,” he announced.

Carly looked over into his lap. “Your pants seem to be lacking pockets. They do fit nicely though.”

“Well thank you Miss Carson. They’re my favorite pair. They fit every occasion for me when I’m being a naturist.”

Missus Carson beamed when her daughter became animated enough to banter with him. She knew the spell that was cast over her daughter was broken and the rest of the evening was going to be just fine. The pie and ice cream was eaten and Missus C let the pair help her clean up the kitchen. When that was all done she said. “Let’s all retire to the living room and get to know one another.” Once again, Carly grabbed Stewart’s hand and led him into the living room. She steered him to the sofa and plopped down closely beside him. Missus C found one of the big overstuffed chairs facing the sofa that matched the sofa in material and color. “Now Stewart,” she started. “You’ve got to tell us how you started a life in

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naturism.”

“I was nine and had a friend named Willis who was struggling with math in school. He and his mother were naturists and she would only let him invite me in their small house, if I would agree to take off my clothes when I helped him. It wasn’t a problem for me and it became second nature for me to disrobe when I went to his house….” Carly stopped him for a moment.

“Was his mother nude while you were there?”

“Yeah.”

“Your mother told me it was because of you that she became a naturist but she didn’t tell me how it happened. Can you enlighten us?” asked Missus C.

“Mom found out that Yvette, that’s Willis’ mother, was being shunned by her neighbors and that I was the only boy who was allowed to play with him. The mothers of the other boys in the neighborhood wouldn’t allow their boys to play with the pervert’s kid. Mom took it on herself to go to visit Missus Tarkington. Anyway, to make that long story short, Mom took her clothes off to show Yvette that she would enjoy being nude when she came to visit.” 

“Did they ever come to your house?” asked Carly.

“Eventually they did and for a while Yvette was my Dad’s accountant.”

“Are they still neighbors?” asked Missus C.

“No! Yvette was French and hadn’t become a citizen. Her husband was dead and she met a French diplomat at a party in Seattle. He courted her and talked her into going back to France. Willis of course went with her.”

“Did your mother know about the situation before she paid the woman a visit?” asked Carly.

“Yeah, I told her and asked if Willis and I could play naked at our house. She said yes, if Willis’ mother agreed, which she did.”

“What kind of games did you play at your house?” asked Missus C, smiling lewdly.

“Use your imagination. Two naked boys playing in a back bedroom, not alone but not being closely watched.”

“I understand that you and I have something in common,” offered Missus C.

“Oh, what might that be?”

“I was a school teacher at one time. Carly said you taught down in New Mexico. What happened?”

“I was recruited when I graduated from WSU. A couple of guys from the Bureau of Indian Affairs cornered me and paid my way down to New Mexico to check it out. I liked it and took the job.”

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“What did you teach,” she asked.

“I have two degrees, math and general sciences. I taught both to ninth graders.”

“Did you get tired of teaching?” she asked.

“On the contrary! I enjoyed it. At the end of my second year, I was informed that in order to stay on as a teacher, I’d have to become a government employee. I was offered a GS 3 position which pays about the same as a grocery clerk makes. It was a pay cut of $12,500.”

“Did you try to find another teaching job?”

“Yeah, when I got back home here. I tried to find anything there was in Kitsap County…no dice. No one was hiring.”

“Why did you choose consulting?” asked Carly.

“My roommate was a teacher and when I’d been without a teaching job for more than six months, I told her I was going to find another field to get into….” Missus C interrupted him.

“You said you told her?”

“Yeah, we were just friends. She is someone I’ve known since I was twelve. Her brother Marvin and I became best friends when my best friend Willis left to go back to France. She came along as a friend with her brother. As a matter of fact, her mother and my mother are good friends as are her Gram and my Gram good friends.”

“Are they naturists?” asked Missus C.

Stewart smiled. “Yeah. Actually they all became friends as a result of my friendship with Marvin, the guy who replaced Willis.”

“Did you play games with them like you did with…uh, Willis?” she asked.

“Not as much. I spent most of my time with him at his house. He wasn’t a very good student and I used to tutor him, and his mother insisted he be where she could see he was actually being tutored.”

“Do you think that’s where you got the desire to teach?” asked Carly.

“Probably, I never thought much about it. I know I’ve always liked explaining things to people and I guess teaching grew out of that.”

“Do you have any questions for us?” asked Missus C.

Stewart didn’t respond right away. Finally, he asked. “When did you and your family get into the naturist lifestyle?”

“My husband Jim and I decided, when our two older kids were still young, that we’d like to try naturism. We found out we really liked it and joined another sun club. Over the years, as our finances

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grew, we upgraded ourselves and joined the EVSC.”

“Do you have friends or relatives who are also naturists?” he asked.

“We got together with some of the people we met at the Sun Club once in a while but neither Jim’s nor my family have any interest in the lifestyle. We had no close friends in the textile world.”

“Do you suppose that’s because of your choice to be naturists?”

“It might have something to do with it but we always had the option of giving it up. We liked it more than having a bunch of friends who didn’t want to live the way we did or who might even have found the lifestyle abhorrent.”

“I know and understand that very well. Relationships that cannot be open and aboveboard are hard to grow and nourish,” he said, looking sideways at Carly.

“You never said anything about being a naturist to me, you know,” she replied, defensively.

“I know but it wasn’t because I was ashamed of being a naturist. I just didn’t want it to muddy the waters before I had a chance to explain myself.”

“Just out of curiosity,” Missus C began. “How did you know to ask me my first name?”

“When I decided to take up my Dad’s business, he offered me his file cabinet’s worth of files. One of them was entitled The Case of the Nefarious Naturist. It was about a dozen members of a Sun Club being blackmailed.” Halfway through his explanation, Missus C began smiling broadly. When he finished she replied.

“I often wondered if he recorded our names.”

“They are all there but that’s as far as they’ll ever go. I spent almost two months studying his files before I went out on my own and the information contained in them has been an immense help to me.”

“I have one more question for you, Stewart. What are you going to do about Carly now that you know her secret?”

Caught by surprise, he didn’t have a clever comeback for her. He had to pause for a few seconds before saying anything. Finally. “I guess a lot of what I can do will be up to her…as it always has been. The only thing this changes is the expansion of topics I can open without fear of driving her away. I don’t expect I’ll be much different, I’ll still think about her the way I did before. Maybe you should ask her what my knowing now means to her?”

Missus C looked at her daughter. “I knew if he was related to Miles and Shirley Grant, he’d be someone I could deal with.” She looked at Stewart. “You’re welcome to come to our home any time you want. Just knock on the door.”

“Thank you Missus C. You’ve been a very gracious hostess and set a delicious table for which I’ll

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be eternally grateful. I have been introduced to the delights of two beautiful women tonight and your visions will be ever present in my thoughts when I’m alone and need recharging.”

She turned to Carly. “Perhaps you can help him with something more than visions but whatever you do don’t let him think you don’t appreciate what he says. He has a very special way of saying things. I’d hang around just to listen to him talk, if I was thirty years younger.”

It was Stewart’s turn to blush now and he blushed furiously. Carly was tempted to rub it in but she was reminded that he’d been most generous in his attempts to make it easier for her to decide whether to disrobe tonight or not. She remained silent. Her mother had no intention to point out his condition. He checked his watch. It was ten-thirty and he wanted to do one more thing after he left the Carson house. He spoke. “I’d love to stay and keep more of this lovely evening available to remember but I’m still involved in a business that doesn’t have regular hours. Would you mind if I called it a night?” he asked, directing his request to Carly.

“I’d love to have you stay but I know how important what you’re doing is to you. Mom and I understand,” she said speaking for her mother, as well as, herself.

He stood up and walked to the room where his clothes were. He returned shortly and both of the Carson women were standing waiting for him. They moved toward the door when he did. He stopped and re-iterated his appreciation. “Thank you so much for this lovely evening. I’ve enjoyed it more than you can possibly know.” Missus C stepped forward and hugged him close and kissed him on the lips. A motherly kiss but with her warm body holding him tightly, it had its affect. She released him and Carly moved in to finish his delightful evening. Without a word, she melted into his arms and kissed him in a way that told him she wanted him to remember her. When they had to come up for air, she stepped back and whispered. “Do you think you’ll want more?”

He looked over her head at her mother who was smiling broadly. He replied. “I already do! I wish I wasn’t on the clock. I’ll see you Monday for lunch. OK?” She nodded. He spoke to her mother. “Thanks again Missus C. I had a great time. Good night to you both.” He left before control of his libido completely failed him.

In his car on the street, his first thought was to head for Beacon Hill but he brushed the thought aside. He had just come from one of the benefits he derived from the case so now it was time to go to one of the major downsides of the same case…surveilling a suspect. He had followed Britney Teague to Woods Haven on Friday night. To the best of his knowledge, she had spent the night there. He had gone around to where she worked on Saturday morning and she wasn’t there. He made another trip to her house after checking her place of work and she wasn’t there. He was going to go there again tonight. It took a half hour but he was on the darkened street. As he drove past her house, he did not see the white LTD at the curb. There was no doubt in his mind now, she was still at Woods Haven. He sped up and worked his way over to the Interstate and north to Beacon Hill. He was going to settle in for the night and make up his mind what to do the next morning…Sunday.

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Chapter 12   Carly and Stewart talk

Sunday came in just like Saturday, gray with rain. He rolled out of bed and went to the apartment window and looked out into the half dark. The window showed the forecast was correct, the rivulets of rain ran down and dropped onto the sill where they gathered until there were enough of them to run down and drop off to the ground, two floors below. Undisturbed by the weather, he stretched and headed for the shower. On the way, he turned the switch on his coffee pot so it would start preparing his first cup of the day, while he rejuvenated his bed-conditioned body in the shower.

He had decided, the night before, he would make a pass by Britney’s house this morning. The question he kept asking himself was: was keeping a close eye on her the best thing he could do? Was there any other way he could chart her movements without physically following her? He didn’t have the resources to bug her car and sit back and see where she went on a big screen so he’d have to do it the old fashioned way…the way his father did it. Find out where she was. Go there and stay with her until she proved she wasn’t a rapist or until she proved she was! He had a quick breakfast of cold cereal and coffee and was off.

Among his other decisions the night before was what he would do if she wasn’t at her house. He’d park at the spot near the woods and see if she came home in the daylight. The pass by her house showed he’d been prophetic last night. She wasn’t there yet and he was parked in the woods where he could observe. His father had advised him of many of the drawbacks of the occupation he’d chosen for himself and the one he’d emphasized as the most taxing was what he was doing at the time he was thinking about it…surveilling what was likely an empty house. In the past, every time he saw a white Ford LTD in front of the house, she had been in there. Now, there was no car there. Was it parked in front of a house in Woods Haven? He couldn’t go there and check, it was out of bounds to someone who had no legitimate business in there! This raised a thought. He wondered why he just thought of it. There might be a way he could get a passport into Woods Haven. Doctor Bannister lived behind those forbidden gates. Perhaps he could discuss this with Missus Farley and get the good Doctor to come up with something that would allow him access on demand. He filed that away for now. If he ran out of time, he’d bring it up with the good Doctor’s secretary.

For the thousandth time, he checked his watch. It was ten minutes after two PM. He’d been parked here close to six hours, bored and hungry. He was going to chase the wild goose one more time. He was going to the spot he found at the street down from the entrance to Woods Haven and park. Once he was there, he’d decide how long he’d wait to see if she’d show up. On the drive to Woods Haven, he kept an eye on the traffic going the other way, just in case he might see the white LTD returning from where he was going. He got to the spot near the entrance to Woods Haven where he had parked before. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and he’d been surveilling for most of the day and all he’d determined was that this was, indeed, a taxing effort. At the beginning of the second hour on this spot, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white car appear at the entrance of the gated community. It was coming out and it was a Ford and it was an LTD. Even though it was still raining, he could tell from

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this distance that the driver was Britney Teague. The hunger, weariness and distaste for surveilling dropped away and he was bright-eyed and alert. The day had been a success after all. He allowed her to get a five block head start and he pulled out to follow. If she went home, he was going to write it in his file on the case that Sunday, November 1st had been a success in every respect, because his sense of what was necessary to do was correct. That he had done it was a proud moment for him!

When he knew she was within two short blocks of her house, he dropped off the chase and made a one hundred eighty degree turn and headed to Beacon Hill. There was one more important thing he had to attend to as well…get something to quell the grumbling taking place in his angry stomach. The small restaurant one mile from his apartment was the recipient of his business.

Sitting naked in his apartment, he made a plan for what was going to take place in the case for him. He was going to allow himself to tail Britney Teague for one more week. If nothing comes of it, he’ll ask for a meeting with his client Doctor Bannister and put it to him. How much longer do you want me to pursue a female rapist suspect that hasn’t committed a rape that he could prove?”

The first thing Monday morning, he was in his office. He brought his file up to date and added the limits he extended to the case. It didn’t appeal to him at all that he might have to admit he was not going to find out who had raped two of Doctor Bannister’s co-eds. He felt if he continued to feel sorry for himself, he’d truly turn it into a self-fulfilling revelation. The act of pointing it out to himself buoyed his spirits and he left for his lunch date with Carly. He arrived early enough to be in the cafeteria before her eleven o’clock class broke up at twelve. He found a table in the general vicinity she chose to eat in and took a seat. There had been a reasonable crowd in the cafeteria already but when the noon bell rang, it seemed as if the dam broke. Young men and women began building a line to attack the buffet.

Stewart saw the dark haired Carly enter the cafeteria in the line. She was chatting over her shoulder with another co-ed behind her. As he had done a dozen times before, he imagined her without her clothes but this time he knew what he would see. He admitted to himself that as a naturist, he was as guilty of the imaging as any male textile but somehow it was different because he was privy to the loveliness she possessed. A mere technicality but it allowed him to feel less carnal than the other guys.

Carly finally worked her way through the line and looked over to where Stewart was sitting. Normally, she didn’t pay attention to who was sitting where but she had been expecting him to be standing. When she didn’t see him right away, she sort of frowned and began moving toward his table. He didn’t want her to find another area to sit in so he stood up and spoke her name. “Carly, over here!”

She looked up from her tray and saw him and her face lit up. She moved a little faster and in a moment was at his table. “You must have got here sooner than usual. I expected to see you standing.”

“I wanted to be here to welcome you,” he said, motioning for her to sit down. “You look very lovely today, have you had a good morning?”

Blushing a bit at his compliment, she smiled. “I’ll admit I was a bit more interested in lunch time than I usually am but all in all, it’s been a very good day. How has it been for you?”

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“I had some very lovely memories going to bed and waking up to on Sunday, thanks to Saturday night and they seem to have carried over. It was a pleasant morning knowing I’d be seeing you at noon.”

“You didn’t say those things just to impress me or my mother did you?”

He looked at her for a long moment. “Tell me something Carly. What would be worse than lying about something?”

“I don’t know. What would be worse?”

“Admitting it later! You know I don’t build things to show off my skills to other people. I don’t write great stories for people to read and enjoy and I don’t play music to soothe their tattered egos. I tell people what I think of them, if they are people who I think are worth my words. The truths of my words are all I have to offer others and if they were false pretending to be true, I would be a sham. Do you think I’m a sham?”

“No, I think you believe what you say.”

“Then that’s your answer. I told you and your mother what I thought of you. You once asked me why I used my father as an example for the many things I do. It’s because he taught me that if I presented a false front and people saw through it, I would never be believed. In my business, my word is all I have to offer. I like you to ask questions about me that shows you are interested. But questioning whether I’m telling you the truth hurts me way down deep. Sooner or later it might cause me to say what the hell. Is it worth it? I don’t want that to happen.”

“So many of the young men I meet are shallow and demanding, as if they were the answer to a woman’s dreams. I’ve had some bad experiences with men like that and I don’t want this to be another one, is all.”

“Well, as I said. All I have is my word. It’s been a while since there have been any dragon’s to slay or windmills to tilt at so I never had the chance to learn how to do either of those. So I work with what I’ve got. Let me say this once and I’ll never, ever repeat it. If there comes a time when you don’t want me around, just say so and I’ll be out of your life like a bad smell. I do take direction fairly well!”

“I hope that day never comes,” she said sadly.

“Manga, manga,” he said jokingly.

“It’s only salad. I don’t know why I choose it every day. I could just as easily go without it.”

“I don’t give advice, so I have nothing to say.”

“Are you going to take me home this afternoon?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to invite you in?”

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“If you want to.”

“I want to!”

“And I accept.”

“Why don’t you ever eat lunch with me? You come and sit here while I eat. Doesn’t it make you hungry?”

“Yes.”

“Then, why don’t you eat?”

“It’s not proper. You see in my job, I work for a daily fee plus expenses. One of the expenses I usually charge is for meals. If I ate here, it would be like Doctor Bannister inviting me to dinner at his house and then me charging him for the dinner I ate at his house.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The meal you eat here is partially subsidized by the college. You pay a portion of its cost and the college is paying a portion. If I ate here, Doctor Bannister would be paying for a portion of what I ate and would then have to turn around and pay again for what I ate, when I submitted my expense report. In other words, he’d be paying twice for one meal.”

“It wouldn’t be much,” she reasoned.

“But it’s still not proper. I know he wouldn’t think twice about paying it but I wouldn’t feel good about charging him, so if I don’t eat here, I don’t feel bad.”

“You are a strange man Stewart Grant. Are you going to be working tonight?”

“Yup!”

“What is it you do at night?”

“If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else…uh, maybe your mother but swear her to secrecy if you do?”

“I swear…damn it!” she said, with a little laugh.

“I’m following someone.”

“What for?”

“Because that’s the only way I have of knowing what that person is doing.”

“You just pick some person at random and commence following them?”

“I could say yes and then refuse to explain myself but I won’t. I have reason to believe this person has committed a very serious crime and I’m trying to prevent that person from doing it again.”

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“Why do you keep calling them that person?”

“Because I didn’t want you to know it’s a female, that’s why!”

“What has she done that’s so serious?”

“Can you wait until I take you home and can tell you and your mother at the same time?”

She sat up straight. “You’re going to tell my mother too?”

“Don’t you want me to?”

“Well yes but for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been so secretive about what you’re doing. Now you want to tell me and my mother. I don’t understand.”

“It’s like this. I’ve seen you out of your costume. You’ve bared it all to me. I know now I can trust you and your mother and…well, it’s like I now have someone I can confide in.”

She almost cooed to him. “You honestly trust me?” He nodded. “I can’t wait to tell Mom.”

“I think she’ll get the idea when I explain what I’m doing here at Fielding.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. You said you were going to tell us together. I think Mom will like that.”

“Do you tell your mother everything?” he asked.

“Yes, why?”

“I just wondered if that was a mother daughter thing. My mother tells her mother everything.”

“Does she really tell her everything?”

“Yes! Do you think there might be something you wouldn’t tell your mother?”

“Maybe something sexual, that is something that happened between me and some guy I was with. Something like that.”

“Anything my Mom and Dad do goes directly to her mother. Anything he says, anything he does to her or she to him…Gram knows immediately. Of course, Gram reciprocates with Mom, so I guess it’s only fair. Mom told me some time ago that she and Dad make love spontaneously and not always in their bedroom. Somehow Gram manages to come down from upstairs in time to hear them. Mom said she has the decency to wait, just out of sight, until they finish before letting them know she is down- stairs and heard them.”

“Does this bother your Dad?”

“Mom told me that he acts like it does but that is for Gram’s benefit. He told Mom, secretly, it doesn’t bother him at all. In fact, he told Mom, that if society was a little less hidebound about it, it wouldn’t bother him if she sat down and watched them.”

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“Did your mother tell your Gram what he said?”

“Oh yes!”

“You’re kidding?”

“Not one bit! I told you she tells her mother everything.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it. Have they always shared everything that way?”

“I would have to assume so. I was almost fully grown up when she told me, so in all likelihood, they’ve always done it. Do you think that makes them perverted in some way?”

“No, I think it says they have the ultimate trust in each other. I wish I had that kind of trust with my Mom.”

“I’m not in the advice business but I suggest the best way to find out is, if you tell her something you’ve held onto for a while, and if she doesn’t throw you out of the house…it might be the beginning of a trust like you want.”

“I’ll have to think on that for a while.” The cafeteria was beginning to thin out. By his watch, the time was nearly one forty-five. He waited to see if she was going to continue with the topic and when she didn’t, he spoke.

“Do you have reading or writing to do until your three o’clock?”

“No, I’m all caught up. Why? Do you have something in mind?”

“I’ve got lots of things in mind, but we don’t have time for most of them. Do the cafeteria folks have a problem with students hanging around in here?”

“They’ve never complained to me,” she replied.

“Would you like to have coffee with me?”

“I’m a tea drinker actually.”

“That’s even better. I usually only drink coffee in the morning and when I’m on a stake out and need to stay alert. Would you like to have tea with me?”

“I would love it.”

“Stay put and I’ll dispose of your tray and return with the tea. How do you take yours?”

“Just the way it comes before you put anything in it.”

“Two plain teas…coming up!” he said, grabbing her tray and heading for the food line. He was back in five minutes and set her cup down in front of her. “Your tea Madame!”

“Thank you kind Sir,” she replied with a big smile.”

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He let her sip her tea for a couple of minutes before speaking again. “Do you have anything special you’d like to talk about?”

She looked at him over the rim of the cup, her eyes shining. “I’d like to know more about how you and your best friends played when you were playing together.”

Unfazed by the question, he responded. “Don’t you mean you’d like to know what we did rather than how we did it?”

She smiled broadly. “Yeah, it’s what I meant, I just didn’t want to ask it that way.”

“I’m not ashamed, at all, of questions like you didn’t ask me. If it’s something you want to know, ask away. I always have the option of saying no comment,” he said, smiling to back up his words. “Do you still want to know?” She nodded again looking over the rim of her cup. “My first best friend Willis was not an athlete…not in the sense of most American kids. His sport of interest was soccer. So rather than try to generate an interest in baseball, my sport, I chose to ignore sports when I was with him and let him choose what he’d like to do…” She jumped in.

“What did he like to do?”

“By saying he was a horny little kid, it describes what he liked to do most.”

“Where did you do your playing?”

“At his small house, he had a nook that his mother curtained off. It had room for a cot, a small chest of drawers and a small table with a lamp. If we played in his house, we had to do it there but we had to do it quietly. At our house, I had my own bedroom and bathroom.”

“Did you mother know what you were doing?” He nodded. “How did she know?”

“She caught us!”

“What did she say?”

“If you’re going to do this, don’t leave your bedroom door open. Close it and I’ll always knock.”

“Did she tell your Dad?”

“Yeah, and her mother. My Gram used to be my confidant when I had questions.”

“Why not your Mom or Dad?”

“Gram had much bigger tits and she loved to hug me a lot!”

“Seriously?” He nodded. “Did you ever talk to your parents about issues too?”

“Sometimes I talked to all three of them to see if they agreed. I was surprised at how often they had the same answer.”

“What did you do when Willis moved away?”

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“Willis and Marvin were completely different. Marvin was as big as me and athletic. We both went out for the baseball team and we both made it. He was as interested in the kinds of things that Willis and I did but he was a follower, not a leader.”

“A follower in what way?” she asked, sipping the last of her tea.

“He would never say let’s do this or that. He’d always say would you like to do this or that or do you think we could do this or that. I had to tell him, yes let’s do it and he’d wait for me to initiate the action.”

“What about his sister?”

“She was a leader. After he’d been at our house, which wasn’t that often, she’d ask him what we did together, then make him tell her in minute degree what we did.”

“Did you ever….” Stewart interrupted her question.

“Did we ever have sex?” She nodded. “No, not until we were both adults…college graduates, as a matter of fact.”

“You said your friend’s family were naturists. Did the whole family take part?” He nodded. “What did you kids do if it was the three of you at your house?”

“I had a TV set of my own. They had a TV shared by the whole family. At my house, I let them choose what they wanted to watch. Messing around wasn’t as important then.” He checked his watch and she saw it.

“What time is it?”

“Two-thirty!”

“I’d better get down to Harmony Hall for my three o’clock. What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to sit here and have another cup of tea but don’t worry, I’ll be out front of Harmony Hall at four o’clock.” She leaned down and kissed him. Not passionately but tenderly.

“Do you like me to kiss you?” she asked, softly.

“The same as I like air. I don’t want to do without it.” She smiled, blew him a kiss and walked away. He watched as she left, admiring what he saw from the backside.

At four o’clock, he was parked in front of the entrance to Harmony Hall, radio on, listening to his favorite AM station. The tune that was cued up and playing was. “For Your Eyes Only” by Sheena Easton.

At ten minutes after four, Carly appeared in the entrance and began looking for Stewart’s car. She saw it immediately and ran down the steps to his car. He reached across the seat and pushed it so it would be open when she got there. With little fuss, she slipped in and leaned across the seat and kissed him. She sat up and said. “Hurry up let’s go. I want to get home so we can get out of our clothes.”

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Chapter 13   Stewart captures a rapist

The drive to her house seemed short and sweet. She slid over to sit close and clung to his right arm affectionately. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the top of her head and when she looked up, he saw a lovely smiling face. This time, evidently required less talk, because neither of them felt the need to communicate. Soon he was on the street of her house and then onto the driveway to her house and parked behind the blue Cadillac, her dead father’s last purchase. She looked up at him and said. “Do you feel different?”

“I don’t know, different how?”

“I feel like I’m starting a whole new era in my life. Do you feel that too?”

“I suppose that’s what it is but I wouldn’t have described it that way,” he replied.

“How would you describe it then?”

“I would say it’s like I’m returning to an aspect of my life that I love and missed when I couldn’t enjoy being a naturist at a time of relaxation. I’m looking forward to being nude with you and your mother as often as I can.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. Let’s go in and start being naturists again,” she said. He got out and went around and opened her car door. She offered him her hand and he took it leading her toward the front porch. When they reached the top steps, the front door opened and nude Missus Carson stood there.

“Welcome Stewart, it’s so nice seeing you again,” she said.

“Thank you Missus Carson. It’s good to be here,” he said, stepping aside to let Carly precede him. Missus C finally shut the door. They grouped in the area of the front door and Missus C took this time to hug and kiss him politely. Carly smiling, spoke to her mother.

“You never stood in the door that way before. Are you beginning to enter a naughty phase or something?”

“When you’re not here, I stand in the window. I want so much to just walk out of the house and let the world see that I’m here. It isn’t fair that we can’t be and do what we want without our clothes.” She looked at Stewart. “Has your mother ever uttered a sentiment like that?”

“Many times. Both Mom and Gram would love to live life everywhere without clothes.”

“Why don’t you two go get comfortable and we can talk.”

“Do you know,” Stewart began. “In my family, getting comfortable means getting nude?”

“I know, your mother told me some time ago.” Without saying anything, Carly took Stewart’s hand and led him toward the hallway and the bedrooms. She let go of his hand, when they reached her

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bedroom and he walked on to the room he had disrobed in two days prior. He didn’t hurry but he didn’t tarry either. Soon he was nude and his clothes were folded on the bed. His shoes and socks on the floor beneath the folded clothes. He left the room and walked up the hall stopping to peer into Carly’s room. She wasn’t there but he studied the room for the sake of understanding her tastes. It wasn’t a girlie girl’s room but it was definitely the room of a young woman. The only other room he could compare it to was that of Miriam Meyers, the niece of Marcus Greenwood who had been a client. Not wanting to have them wonder what was taking him so long, he left the doorway and continued on into the living room.

Carly and her mother were both seated. Missus C was in the same overstuffed chair she had occupied on the previous Saturday night and Carly was sitting on the sofa where he and she had been. When she saw him enter the room, she began patting the sofa beside her, beaconing him to join her. He sat down close but not quite touching her. He knew from long experience that skin on skin always led to his feeling aroused. Missus C spoke. “Carly was telling me that you have something for us.”

“Yes, after last Saturday, I feel my trust in both of you would not be misplaced, so for Carly’s sake, I’m going to open up.”

“You were pretty open with us Saturday. You have even more to say?”

“My childhood isn’t necessarily a secret but what I do for a living isn’t an open book. I’m going to give you a look into a few of its pages.”

“Are you something other than a consultant?” asked Missus C.

“No but it also has another name. The usual name for what I do is private investigator. I’m in the employ of Fielding College at the behest of Doctor Bannister, President of Fielding.”

“Why does the college need a private investigator?” asked Carly.

“I’m getting to that. Last month, two co-eds were raped a five minute walk from your library,” he said looking at Carly. She snapped a quick look at her mother and her hand flew up to her mouth in horror.

“Oh, how horrible. You say they were raped by the library?”

“Up the street from the library in front of that old house with the giant hedge.”

“Was one of them that girl who you asked about…the one with the overdue library book?”

“Yeah, she was one of them. The other one was the one you didn’t recognize her name.”

“Why isn’t that known about at the college?” asked Carly.

“Parents don’t send their girls to college to get raped and when it happens, it puts a damper on other parents and their concerns about the safety of their daughters.”

“When last month did these rapes happen?” asked Carly.

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“The first one was on the eighth and the second one on the thirteenth.”

“Those were both nights I was working in the library. Wait, you told me you’ve been following a female. For this?” asked Carly. He nodded. “Females don’t commit rapes,” she said, stressing the word females.

“It’s not common but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”

“How did you become fixed on the one you’re following?” she asked.

“I got the hint from the guy you told me gave you the jitters when he was in the library. Look I could spend the rest of the evening explaining everything that I’ve done since I started the case but that’s all preparation. The meat in the sandwich is what’s going on now, and since we’re on the subject, I’m going to have to leave by six thirty.”

“Where do you go to do this following?” asked Missus C.

“If you don’t mind, I need to keep some of the particulars to myself for the time being. It has nothing to do with trust but if it turns out the young woman I’m following isn’t the one who’s responsible, I’d hate to hurt her reputation. You see that don’t you?” She nodded smiling.

The bulk of the time he had left before he had to leave was taken up with the ordinary issues that naturist families deal with, such as keeping an easy item of clothing near the door in case of an unexpected visitor. Stewart told them of his mother’s and Grandmother’s propensity for calling for a pizza and then both of them answering the door without donning a wrap.

Carly said to her mother. “Do you think we ought to try that?”

“I don’t care that much for pizza,” was her reply.

Finally it was time for Stewart to leave. He stood up and started across the living room for the back bedroom. Carly followed him and stopped him as soon as they were inside the bedroom. “Is this the way you are with your family?”

“Was there something wrong with how I acted?”

“You seemed to be holding back something. Are we moving too fast for you?”

“I might as well tell you and get it over with. I’m doing my best to keep from getting aroused and showing how little I respect the both of you. If it was only you, I would probably let it happen and hope for the best but with both you and your mother sitting there so beautifully, I’m having a tough time concentrating. There! I said it.”

She did something he never expected, she laughed. “Is that all? You’re afraid of being a man and showing your feelings for us? I thought it was something serious.”

“It may not be anything serious to you but it is very serious to me. I’ve been a naturist most of my life and I’ve never had a problem like this before.”

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“Do you think we’ve never seen anything like that?”

“Not from me!”

“I tell you what. The next time you come over, if it starts to happen, let me know and I’ll help you with it. OK?”

“Oh fine! I start to blossom and we’d get up and leave the room. What is your mother going to think? She’ll probably ask me to leave and never come back.”

“Are you talking about my mother? She’d probably offer to help you if I didn’t offer first.”

“Somehow I find that hard to believe,” he said, bending down to put his shoes and socks on. Straightening up, he continued. “We’ll have to talk about this further. I wish I didn’t have to run but there will be a next time won’t there?” he asked.

“Of course! Did you think I was preparing to tell you don’t come back?”

“I’m sorry, this is a new problem for me and it’s doing things to my pride I’ve never dealt with before.” He started to leave the bedroom and she reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you dare leave this room without kissing me like you meant it!” she said reaching up and pulling his head down and kissing him passionately. When they backed off gasping for air, she whispered. "I can tell you liked that. Let’s do it one more time.” And they did. “Now you can go,” she announced. In the living room, Missus C was standing near the door. When the two of them appeared, she spoke.

“I thought for a minute you’d decided to stay.”

“I wish I could but my real problem is I have a hard time saying good bye.”

“Then we won’t say good bye. A kiss and a hug will be our good bye from now on.” She reached out and pulled him to her and hugged him tightly, releasing him slightly and kissing him sweetly. “How was that?” she asked stepping back and smiling.

“Memorable!” he managed, as Carly moved in to extract her hugging and kissing instead of good bye. She held onto him a little longer than her mother had and she looked up into his face and whispered again.

“I know you liked that. Are you going to be at the library tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there,” he said. “Good night,” and walked out the door opened by Missus C. Carly walked over to stand by her mother while he got in his car and drove away. A half hour later, he was on the street where Britney Teague’s house was. It was dark enough so no one would have noticed he slowed down as he passed the house and smiled to see the white LTD parked at the curb. He continued down the block and backed into the woods. He checked his watch. It was a few minutes after seven PM. He began to think of a cup of coffee and made a mental note never to leave his apartment again when he

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was going to be on a stake out, without a full thermos of hot coffee. Before he could change his thoughts to those of a nude mother and daughter, headlights illuminated the street from down at Britney’s. The LTD swept by his position going a little faster than was typical for her. Maybe she has a hot date, he thought to himself. At any rate, he waited for a count of ten and pulled out to follow. It soon became obvious to him that she was heading for I-5 North. He assumed that meant she was probably also heading for Woods Haven. That too became evident, soon enough. When she turned into the gated entrance of Woods Haven, he was still four blocks away. She was inside the complex as he passed the gate guard’s shed. He found his regular parking spot a block and a half away and settled down for a period of waiting and watching. Sometime around eleven thirty PM, he dozed off. At twelve forty five, he came awake with a start. He’d been dreaming he was watching a young woman he didn’t know attempting to rape another young woman and his feet were stuck in the ground and he couldn’t interfere. His father was standing close by chiding him for letting his feet become mired in the ground. The shame of it must have caused him to realize he wasn’t awake.

When it was apparent he’d been asleep, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He couldn’t go ask the guard if a white LTD had passed through the gate on its way out. This was a dilemma he’d set himself up for. If this resolved itself without a dire consequence, he promised himself he’d put more of his time and efforts on the case and let Carly distract him only when he had no chance of missing his suspect’s movements. He sat there, the bile building up in his throat, cursing himself for his boyhood foolishness. I’ll wait for another hour and if she doesn’t appear by then, I’ll head back to Puyallup and see if she’s there, he said to himself. When it was five minutes to one o’clock AM, he saw the white LTD show up at the exit gate. He sighed heavily and turned his eyes to the heavens. Thank you Lord. I promise I won’t goof off anymore. With Britney’s car five blocks away he drove happily through the night confident she was going home for the night. About that, he was correct and when it was confirmed to him, he headed to Beacon Hill in Seattle for a good night’s rest.

He slept late Tuesday morning. It was another drizzly day, gray and overcast. This weather had one advantage to him. It was easier to follow someone when their attention was on the road and where they were going. Looking to see if they were being followed rarely occurred. He showered and shaved and set out for a late breakfast. He had no intention of going to Fielding to meet Carly at lunch. He would be sitting in his office in Seattle, updating his file, when she entered the cafeteria.

At five thirty PM, he closed and locked his office, picked up the ’55 and headed for Fielding. He was going to spend some time with Carly at the library. He decided to enter the library when he got there instead of waiting until seven. Early on it was a game…show her he could be there whenever he said he would. Now it was more important to spend the time, as meager as it was, with her. He walked into the library at six forty PM, to see her surrounded by young men vying for her attention. Some of them were actually trying to get help finding materials for study but most were just trying to make time with the pretty young librarian. He stood behind the crowd for a few moments before speaking out. “What’s going on here?” he said in an authoritarian voice. The reaction was comical but it got the results he wanted. The ones seeking help hesitated but held their ground. The ones looking for something unrelated to college work, scattered like chickens confronted by a fox. Carly smiled at him and her expression told him she was grateful for his interruption, though she remained silent. One of the young

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men, who remained, spoke for the others.  

“I need to find a book that I’ve got to read and I’ve only got two more days before I have to turn in a report on it.”

Stewart stepped up to her desk. “Miss, can you help this young man?”

She smiled at him, then looked to the one who spoke. “What book are you looking for?” He came forward and told her and she directed him where to find it. One by one, the others who remained stepped forward and were helped. When the crowd had finally been cleared out, she spoke to Stewart. “I was at my wits end. They were all talking at once and most of them weren’t seeking my help. Thank you for straightening this out for me.”

“Just doing my job Ma’am,” he said in a poor John Wayne imitation.

In a quiet voice, speaking low, she asked. “How long can you stay?”

“I’ve got to leave by eight.”

“How much longer are you going to be following this woman?” she asked softly.

“I’ve given myself until the end of the week. I’ll make a decision then.”

“What did you do all day? I missed you at lunch.”

“I have to keep my records accurate. If I go too long without updating them regularly, I risk putting down inaccurate information. That doesn’t help me in the present or the future.”

“Is this going to keep you from meeting me at lunch every day?”

“I’d like to explain something that apparently hasn’t been made very clear. I’ve been hired to find and stop someone from raping young women here at Fielding College. It’s my job and I want to do it well. Here’s the hard truth. If these young women who were raped had spent the time just before they were raped in say…the engineering building instead of here in the library, I might never have met you because I would not have given the library a thought as a place to investigate. It’s a minor thing but it’s how investigations play out. You are a benefit to me and I’m grateful that I met you but I still have to do what I’m being paid to do…find a rapist!”

“Are you saying you’re not going to try to see me as much as you did?”

“That’s not what I said at all. I’m going to try to explain it in another way. Both young women who were raped, were raped between ten thirty and eleven o’clock. Would it make sense for me to go out at eight o’clock in the morning and set a trap for the rapist?”

“No I don’t think so,” she replied softly.

“That’s why I leave here when I do so I can be in a position to follow my suspect in hopes of catching her if she tries to rape again.”

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“I guess I really didn’t understand why you were following a woman when they aren’t known for being rapists,” she said.

“I wouldn’t have put a nickel bet that it would be a woman I’d be looking for as a rapist when I first took this job but tips and other factors are building this up to look like it is a woman I’m after. I haven’t got anyone else to look to so I have to go with what I’ve got.”

“If you’re giving yourself until the end of this week, what are you going to do if it turns out she isn’t the rapist?”

“I don’t know. I can’t stand the notion I’d have to go to Doctor Bannister and tell him I’ve failed. I have to remain positive until it doesn’t work anymore…that’s all!”

She looked over his head at the clock over the entry door. It read ten minutes until eight PM. She spoke softly. “I’m sorry Stewart that I didn’t take you seriously enough when you were able to give me your attention. Now that I understand more, I realize how selfish I’ve been.”

“Don’t blame yourself Carly. I wasn’t doing a very good job of explaining anything by acting like a clown. Here’s some more facts that should help you understand me and my case. I know where the young woman lives, who I suspect. I know where she works. I know where she goes at night sometimes. I know what kind of car she drives and I know a great deal about her background. Many of these things I know about her lead me to believe she is the one who raped those two young women.”

She looked at the clock again. “It’s eight o’clock!”

“I’ll do my best to find the time to see you Carly but only if I’m not taking it away from the time I should be watching her. Do you understand?” She nodded. He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. “I wish I could hug and kiss you properly but this isn’t the place. Bye for now!” he said and walked out. He went to his car and headed for the town of Puyallup. Nighttime was his ally and he used it to his best efforts. He drove by Britney’s house and the white LTD was parked at the curb. He backed into the spot in the woods and sat back to wait.

At nine o’clock, by his Timex wrist watch, headlights flooded the street from in front of Britney’s house. She sped past his spot even faster than she had before. At the count of ten, he pulled out to follow. It wasn’t long before he realized she wasn’t heading for I-5 North. She wasn’t even heading north at all. She was angling south! He closed up the gap between them so he wouldn’t accidently lose her. Twenty minutes into the chase he began to get prickles on the back of his neck. He had a feeling she was headed for Fielding College. What would she be doing at Fielding? The only thing he was positive of was what he suspected her of being…a rapist. He believed she was going to commit a rape…she might have thought!

As they got closer to Fielding he had to be very careful not to edge any closer than five blocks. Many times he turned off his headlights and drove in the dark or would turn off and go around the block and enter the chase from right or left, in case she was watching in her rearview mirror. Satisfied he knew without doubt where she was going, he relaxed enough to think where he should go where he

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could monitor her movements. He decided he’d wait to see where she was going to park before he made his plan. Three blocks behind her on a street parallel to hers, he cursed himself for not knowing what the street looked like one block north of the street where the house with the large hedge was and where the co-eds had to walk to get to the dorms from the library. He slowed his car until he saw the brake lights of her car and it turned in on the street that was pointed at the Fielding College library. He knew that there was a concrete barricade across that street preventing traffic from driving up to the library. The old house with the large hedge was on the southeast corner of that short street. She was parked one half block from her assault position. He watched her shut off her headlights and get out of the car. She walked casually down the half block on the side of the street where the old house was. He expected to see her turn into the backyard of the house but she surprised him. She looked behind her and both ways and headed directly towards the library!

Stewart shut off the ’55 and left the car. He was on the same street as she was parked but one block farther north. He saw her walk slowly, carefully, stopping every few yards to check if she was being observed. When she was at the northwest corner of the library, she did the most surprising thing of all, she opened that exit door that was supposed to remain locked unless there was an emergency, and stepped in closing the door quietly behind her. He couldn’t imagine why she went into the library. It certainly wasn’t going to be to check out a book. He didn’t for one minute think she was going to commit a rape in the library, but he couldn’t think of a good reason why she did go in.  

Now besides having her in the library and not knowing why, he had another dilemma to deal with. He cursed himself for not establishing a good place to wait while she positioned herself in the opening between the hedges in the front yard of the old house. He looked up and down the street and could not see a thing that offered a decent hiding place. The only thing he could think of was the back yard of the old house. The grass was waist high and it wasn’t likely she would wander back there to wait. He thought about the gum wrapper he found. It was in the front yard at a place she could have stood looking at an angle toward the street the co-eds had to walk to get back to their dorms. If it was her gum wrapper!!! The back yard was where he was going to have to wait because any place outside that yard was open and lighted. He moved quickly down the street to the back yard of the old house. He squeezed between the hedge and the wooden fence that abutted it. Once in the yard, he waded through the tall grass to the picket fence fence between the hedge and the old house. He knew there was gate and he forced it open as quietly as he could. He moved forward slowly until he was at the corner of the front porch. He dropped down to a squat and began his vigil.

While he was squatting, he looked at the small canvass bag he had in his left hand. The actions he took to get here filled his conscious mind to the point he forget he was carrying it. He had purchased some items at a hardware store at the beginning of the case after he had talked to his Dad. Some of the items in it included a roll of black electrical tape, a pack of commercial sized plastic cable wraps and his father’s Model 1911A .45 Caliber automatic pistol. The magazine held nine new cartridges taken from a box of one hundred. The cartridges that were in the magazine were the ones that came with the pistol he brought with him from WWII. After a few minutes he found that squatting was very uncomfortable, so he eased his legs out and sat. He reasoned it might take him a little longer to get upright and ready to chase down Britney Teague but prolonged squatting was certainly going to bring in to question whether

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or not he could be able to run at all! Doing his best to listen to the night sounds, he almost missed the most important one of all…the return of Britney Teague to her preferred hiding place. She must have been wearing gum soled shoes because he didn’t hear a thing until she cleared her throat when she was standing on the crumbling sidewalk up to the old house’s porch. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she made that sound. He held his breath for fear she could hear him breathe. After a minute or so he had to begin breathing again. The blood pounding in his ears made it almost impossible to hear anything else. An idle thought popped into his brain. I’m going to have to work a bit harder at being a stalker. I breathe too hard and can’t hold my breath long enough.

Being low to the ground and pretty well concealed by the long grass, he decided it was worth the risk to peek around the corner of the porch to see if he could see his suspect. Leaning very carefully, he poked his head around the corner. He didn’t see anything! Maybe she was also laying down in the grass. That’s silly he thought. She doesn’t need to hide that much, no one knows she’s behind this giant hedge but me and I’m not going to give her away. I need to have her attempt to rape someone, then I come to the rescue. While he was still peeking around the corner of the porch, he saw movement at the beginning of the sidewalk just inside the area between the hedges. She must have gone out and took a look to see if anyone was coming. He sat back and took a squint at his watch. It was twenty minutes after ten, well within her operating schedule. Suddenly, he heard a cough on the outside of the hedge on his side of the front yard. Someone was walking on the sidewalk in the direction of the dorms, he thought. At the same time as he heard the cough, he heard the movement of Britney as she prepared to spring out and assault her victim. He clambered up and waded as quietly as he could through the tall grass and weeds. Out on the sidewalk, he saw Britney, her right arm around a young woman’s head, attempting to force a rag over her nose and mouth. Her left hand held a knife at the victim’s throat from the left side. He heard Britney say. “Stop struggling or I’ll cut you.” Stewart hurried up till he was only a couple of feet behind Britney and said.

“Drop the knife and rag Britney. It’s not going to go any farther.”

She didn’t seem to understand that she was caught because she spoke to her victim again. “Stop struggling or I’ll cut you.”

Stewart was close enough that he could touch her, so he did and said. “Drop the knife and rag.”

Britney finally realized it wasn’t just she and her victim there on the street. She pushed the young woman victim hard and whirled around brandishing the knife, but still holding onto the rag. “Get out of my way you son of a bitch or I’ll cut you,” she snarled.

Stewart reached into the canvass bag he had in his left hand and pulled out the .45. “My gun trumps your knife. Drop it or I’ll ruin what’s left of your day.” He saw the look of sadness come over her face and he knew she wasn’t going to fight. Her left hand fell to her side and the knife dropped from her fingers. “Kick the knife over towards me,” he ordered. She did. “Now drop the rag.” She did that also. He took the cable wraps out of the canvass bag and took one out of the packet they came in. “Turn around and put your left hand behind you,” he ordered her. She complied meekly. “Now the right hand.” She complied again. Now both hands were securely bound with the plastic cable wrap and she was not going

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to be able fight him. He took ahold of her left arm and turned to the young woman she had assaulted. “What is your name please?”

The young woman had been standing about four feet in front of Britney, stunned but basically unhurt. Startled out of her stunned condition by his words, she blinked a couple of times and finally said. “Molly Morgan.”

“Do you know this person?” he asked her.

“No Sir.”

“Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Will you be able to walk the rest of the way to your dorm?”

She looked up the street and back to him. The look on her face told him she didn’t particularly want to try it. “I don’t think I want to.”

“I assure you there won’t be any more attempts to harm you Molly. In fact, I guarantee it!” he said with a bravado, he didn’t exactly feel. He was only trying to make her feel safe.

“Well, if you guarantee it. I guess I can do it,” she said and started out walking. After a few steps, she looked back and he nodded his head reassuring her. She turned back and started walking faster and soon was halfway to the dorms.

Stewart turned his attention to his captive. “Well Britney Teague, what have you got to say for yourself?”

“How do you know my name?”

“It’s a long story which I don’t have time to tell you. Are you going to give me any trouble?” She shook her head no. “Right now I’m going to offer you something I’ll bet you never considered. I’m going to offer you a chance to walk away from this without the police being aware of what went on here tonight. What do you say?”

“What do you want from me?” she asked.

“The whole story, chapter and verse.”

“Just you and me?” she asked.

“Oh no, I’m calling in the guy who is going to OK the deal.”

“Who is that, if not the police?”

“Doctor Percival Bannister.”

“That’s the President of Fielding College. What’s he got to do with it?”

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“He’s sort of fond of your other two victims and he didn’t like what you did to them, so he hired me to find you and convince you not to do it anymore. The only thing is, you’re going to have to give up the one you’re doing it for. Oh, before you try to think of someone to take the blame other than the real one, I’ve got to tell you, I know who she is.” With that, he bent down and picked up the knife, a switch blade and the rag that smelled of a wet diaper and stuffed them both in the canvass bag. “Do you have anything more in your pockets?”

“Uh huh!”

“Which one?”

“Back left.”

He reached down and felt two objects. He pulled one out of the pocket with two fingers. It was a seven inch rubber dildo. The other was a four ounce medical vial, probably the container for the ether. With her in tow, he headed for the library. “Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“We’re going to the library where I can make a phone call.”

“Who are you going to call?”

“I told you already. Doctor Bannister.” She didn’t resist him taking her where she’d already been tonight but knowing who was going to pass judgement on her didn’t settle her down a great deal. Stewart entered the library through the exit door she had entered earlier. He steered her around the benches and shelves of books that obviously had shielded her from discovery while she surveyed the occupants for her victim. When he appeared with her from nowhere, seemingly nowhere, several students began to murmur to each other. Carly became aware of the murmuring and looked up to see what was causing it. When she saw Stewart leading his captive, she stood up from her desk and started to walk towards him. He waved her to stay still until he reached her.

He stopped at her desk. “Carly, I want to use a phone but not out here in the open. Do you have one?”

“There’s one in the regular librarian’s office.”

“Take us there,” he said. Without questioning him, she set off towards the back wall. She stopped at the only door on that wall and took out a key to the door and unlocked it and stepped aside. The room inside was dark and he asked her to turn on the light, which she did. He entered with his captive and headed for the desk where the phone sat. There was one straight backed chair and an office chair besides the desk. He pulled the straight backed chair around so it was on the same side of the desk as the office chair. He walked her to the straight backed chair and said. “Sit.” She sat and he sat in the other chair and pulled out his little black note book. He turned to the page he wanted and began punching in numbers. He waiting for the ring and finally. “Hello Doctor Bannister. This is Stewart Grant. I have a present for you.”

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Chapter 14   The family gets the news

Little time was spent explaining the capture to Doctor Bannister. Other than to say he had captured the rapist and would the Doctor come to the College’s library, he didn’t want to linger on the phone. Bannister said he would come to the library as quickly as he could. His quickness took nearly two hours and in the meantime the library had to close, which Carly did but she felt she must wait, at least, until the Doctor arrived. She asked her brother to wait with her and he did willingly.

Stewart knew the plastic cable wraps were very uncomfortable for Britney, so he asked her if she’d promise to behave herself, he’d cut the wraps off her wrists. She promised and he took his pocket knife and released the bindings. As a sign of her gratitude, she attempted to explain herself. Stewart stopped her saying. “Don’t do that, please. I appreciate it but you’ll only have to do it all over again when the Doctor gets here.”

Finally the Doctor arrived. Stewart convinced Carly to go home with her brother and the library was left with only the three of them. Bannister was given the office chair, Britney remained in the other chair and Stewart brought in one from beside the desk out in the main portion of the library. Britney was given the go-ahead to tell her story. She began and with the eagerness which she related it, Stewart believed she was happy to get it off her chest. The telling took nearly three hours, with Stewart taking notes and it was almost four AM when she finished. Stewart stood up to stretch his muscles and took the opportunity to speak to Doctor Bannister. “Do you have an idea what we should do with her? If not, I have and I’ve given her the basis of what we should do. Do you want to hear my idea?”

“Go ahead Stewart,” said the Doctor.

“I told her she could walk out of here a free person, if she told us everything, holding nothing back. She must promise never to say anything about this to anyone…and I mean anyone. If it ever comes out that there were two rapes and a third attempt and no one was brought to justice, she would be hunted down and charged with the offenses. She has agreed by relating the full story of it, naming names. I believe she should be given a chance to straighten out her life,” he said, sitting back down.

The Doctor didn’t reply, apparently pondering the younger man’s idea. Finally he spoke to Britney. “Tell me why you ever agreed to do this.”

“In all my life, no one ever showed me the slightest amount of interest, except my mother. When she died last year, it devastated me. Look at me. I’m short, squat and plain. Who is going to love me? When that woman began to show an interest, I lost all the barriers I erected to protect myself from disappointment. If she had asked me to jump off the Space Needle in Seattle, I would have done it. It didn’t seem to be too much to ask to give a little grief to those girls who she asked me take care of.”

“You saw the items I took from her Doctor Bannister,” said Stewart. “Neither of the two she actually assaulted would have gotten pregnant. A few days of discomfort is all they actually suffered. They’re going to be compensated nicely for those days of discomfort.”

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“I tend to agree with you Stewart. To some it might seem like she would be getting off lightly but the end result of her assaults was far less dangerous than if she had been a he. I’m willing to go along with your plan.” He turned to Britney. “I’m not going to bring charges against you young lady and I hope you realize that what you did was very serious. Do not and I repeat do not make any effort to get in touch with that woman. Not by phone, letter or in person. Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir Doctor Bannister, I’ve learned my lesson,” she said, sitting upright in her chair.

“How did you get here?” he asked.

“I have my car two blocks from here.”

“You can go now,” he said. “Use the door that you cobbled up to get in and out of here but don’t you ever go near it again. You hear me?”

“Yes Sir, I hear you loud and clear and uh, thank you,” she said, standing up and fast walking out of the office.

When it was no longer possible for her to hear what they said, The Doctor spoke. “Now what the hell do we do?”

“I favor the idea of getting some sleep,” said Stewart.

“When will you be wanting your compensation for this?” asked the Doctor.

“I’m going to take a day or two to sleep and eat regularly and then I’ll type up my final notes and do the expense report. I assume you want a copy of each.”

“I do!”

“I’ll have them no later than next Monday.”

“That’s fine. I’m going home now and try to get a couple hours sleep.”

“Why don’t you take the day off? I’ll call Missus Farley and tell her you won’t be coming in.”

Bannister looked at him for a long moment. “Do you have something going on with her?” he asked, looking serious.

“No Sir, but I wish I did!”

Bannister broke out laughing. “By George young man, I believe you do.” With that he got up to walk out.

Stewart stopped him. “I don’t have a key to lock up the library.”

“Don’t worry,” said the Doctor. “No one will steal anything. They wouldn’t dare. I’ll have maintenance fix that cocked up exit door. Have a nice day,” he muttered and was gone.

Stewart walked out the cocked up exit door as a short cut to his car, noting as he passed,

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Britney’s car was gone. He got in his car and before he started it, he took a moment to reflect on what had transpired over the last few hours. Strangely enough, he didn’t feel elated, as he thought he should. He didn’t feel depressed either. In fact, he didn’t feel much of anything besides tired. Perhaps, the tiredness was masquerading the feelings of elation he thought should be there. He started up the car and drove away, heading for Beacon Hill and some sleep.

Later that morning, a gnawing in his stomach and a pulsing in his bladder, urged him to get up. One task was simple and he performed it before attempting anything else. When at last he could concentrate, he decided he could wait until a shower and shave were accomplished before he set off to tame the gremlins in his stomach. The food issue taken care of, he pointed the car toward downtown and set off. Sitting in his office, all his notes typed into the file on his case, he wondered what would do the most for his ego; drive out to meet Carly or call his father and boast a little hoping to get an invite to tell his story at home. When he was in doubt these days, he remembered his friend Ben Franklin had counseled him wisely. So he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out the quarter. “Heads I call Dad, tails I go see Carly.” He flipped the silver object in the air and slapped it on his left wrist with the palm of his right hand. He peeked carefully, then removed his hand entirely. “Heads it is!” He picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. He heard two rings and. “Hello.” The strong voice of his father.

“Dad, this is Stewart. How are you?”

“I’m fine Son. What’s up?”

“Nothing much…Oh, I solved the rape case!”

“Well isn’t that great. Have you got time to tell us about it?”

“Not over the phone but if you’re all going to be home, I could come over.”

“We’re going to be here and I’ll tell your mother to set another place at the table for dinner.”

“Thanks Dad. I’ll see you in a couple of hours, bye.” He put his file away, closed and locked the office and walked the short block to where the ’55 Chevy was parked. On his way into the parking lot he stopped at the attendant’s shack. “Hey Danny. They called me and told me my Riviera is ready, so I’m going after it. The next time you see me, I’ll be driving in style again.” The attendant gave him a thumbs up in acknowledgement.  

Two hours and ten minutes later, he was parking in the driveway of his parent’s home. He entered through the garage side door and into the mudroom. He disrobed and hung up his clothes and took off his shoes and put on the pair of sandals he always kept there. Nude and comfortable, he stepped out of the mudroom into the hallway to be met by his mother, who jumped into his arms and kissed and hugged him tightly. “Oh, it’s so good to see you Stewart. How have you been?”

“I’ve been OK but I’ve missed all of you. Where’s Dad and Gram?”

“They’re in the living room. I couldn’t wait for you to find us.”

“Well, let’s go looking for them,” he said, taking the hand she offered. They entered the living

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room together to find both his father and grandmother standing waiting for them. MJ, his grandmother stepped forward and grabbed him to her enormous bosom to hug and kiss him. When she released him, she said. “I swear you get handsomer every time I see you.”

He smiled at her compliment but didn’t reply. Next, he turned to his father who hugged him but did not kiss him. He said. “It’s good to see you Son. I’m anxious to hear how things went with the rape case you cleared up.”

“Let’s all sit down because there’s a lot to tell and everybody will be tired if they stand through it all.” I’m going to begin by saying, some of this case I’ve already told you about, so I’m going to highlight the basic early facts. Two young co-eds were raped last month. One on the eighth and the second one on the thirteenth. I was able to interview both of them…not at the same time, of course, but close enough that their memories of the assault were still fresh. The details of the assault were remarkable, in that, it’s as if they had been handed a script to read. For instance, both girls were raped after leaving the college library between ten and eleven o’clock at night….” MJ interrupted him.

“Why was the library open so late at night?”

“It was done at the student’s request. It gave them an extra place to study during the week for those who lived on campus.” She nodded and gave him the nod to go ahead. “Back to the identical rapes. Both girls were assaulted in the exact same spot. I’m not going to describe the spot now because it will get described later in the story. Both were initially assaulted from the rear, a rag covered with ether placed over their nose and mouth and a knife placed against their throat with the warning. “Stop struggling or I’ll cut you.”

“Did either of the girls get cut?” asked his mother.

“No, both of them said they could feel the point of the knife against their neck and knew the rapist might do it.” She nodded and he continued. “When they stopped struggling, with the ether-soaked rag over their nose and mouth, eventually they succumbed and were dragged to the place where they were raped. They both remember waking up later, they didn’t know how much later but groggily they continued on to their dorm where they had been heading when they were assaulted.”

“This is remarkable for both to be attacked in the same way,” said his father.

“There’s even more to the similarity. As I said, both were attacked from the rear and the assailant in both cases was approximately five feet five inches tall and left handed!....” MJ interrupted here.

“How did they know he was left handed?”

“The ether-soaked rag came over their right shoulder and the knife came against their throats from over the left shoulder.”

“Why does that count?” MJ asked.

“If you were going to threaten someone over their shoulder with a knife, which hand would you

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want the knife to be in? I’d say it would probably be the hand you have the most trust in being stable. Wouldn’t you?”

She smiled at him. “You are your father’s son.”

“Thanks Gram. I appreciate that. Now back to the rapes. Since the last place both girls had been was the college library, it was the first place I went looking for information. Much to my surprise, I found out that the head librarian is Barbara (Bobbie) Winkler, Sarah’s friend from high school. She was not helpful but she gave me the name of the student librarian who was earning credits toward her degree as a librarian, by running the library three nights a week from six until midnight. I went to the library that night and interviewed her but I didn’t tell her there had been any rapes. It was not a topic of conversation on the campus so I figured I’d keep it that way. Anyway I asked if there had been any strange occurrences lately and she said no but there was one guy who creeped her out every time he came into the library. I managed to get his first name from her and went to Doctor Bannister’s secretary, Mary Ann Farley, for help finding out who he was and what program he was in….” His father broke in here.

“What did she find out?”

“She sent a note to the Department Head of every program in their system and the only one who responded was the Head of the Criminology Department. Her name is Mariette Scofield PH.D. The only name I had was Darius and she provided the last name and his credentials. His last name is Bennett and he is a senior with a 4.0 GPA. He lived at home in Tacoma with his mother and father, who is a Sergeant with the Pierce County Mounties. He has two brothers and a sister, all younger and he is twenty one years old. He’s in the Criminology Program on a full ride scholarship from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.

“Doesn’t sound to me as a likely candidate for a rapist,” said his mother.

“I didn’t think so either but I interviewed him anyway. One of the things that made him creepy to the student librarian was when he came to the library, he brought a large book and would sit there with it open but never read it. All he did was look around at everyone else. I’m jacked him up over that. He admitted it was what he did because it was a library and he should show a deference to it by bringing a book. But when I asked him why he was there, he said he came with his girlfriend, a young criminology student like him, only one year behind. Her name is Penny Potter. He kept watch over her and walked her back to her dorm. I asked him why and he said there had been a rape. When I asked him how he knew…he said his father told him!”

“So based on what you knew so far, did you eliminate him as a candidate for your perp?” asked his father.

“No because I didn’t know for a fact if he was left-handed or not. I asked Mary Ann Farley to ask Mariette Scofield PH.D to find that out. As it turned out he is not left-handed. One of the things he told me was about a criminology student who was on a scholarship like his from the Sheriff’s Department. Up until last year, she had been a top student. Shortly after the beginning of her junior year, she started

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skipping classes and failing tests. Her grades went to hell and she got dropped because the committee at the Sheriff’s Department had warned her but she didn’t improve so they took away her scholarship and she dropped out of school. Darius only had her first name as Bethany or Britney. I asked him if she was a southpaw and he confirmed it. Again I went to Mary Ann Farley and she went to Miz Schofield. The young lady in question is named Britney Teague.”

“You came over here about this time didn’t you and asked if I’d ever heard of a female rapist, didn’t you?” asked his father.

“Yeah Dad I did and you kind of told me I was barking up the wrong tree but I told you she was the only suspect I had that fit all the categories I knew about the rapist, so I said I was going to follow up on her.”

“I’m proud of you Son,” said his father. “You stuck to your guns.”

“Well I began staking her out. I knew where she lived from the data I got through Mary Ann. From knowing where she lived I found out what kind of car she drove. From that I found out where she worked and her hours. One night, I followed her out to Woods Haven. Once again I turned to Mary Ann for help to find out if any of the College Staff lived in Woods Haven. It turned out there were three. Doctor Bannister, the new football Coach Darryl Blackstone and Mariette Scofield. Shortly after I began following Britney out to Woods Haven, I got a letter threatening the loss of my PI’s license if I didn’t lay off Britney. I knew now I was on to something. I won’t go into the process I used to find out but I found out where the letter came from that threatened me. It came from Fielding College! I was getting close to something and the smell was growing stronger in my nostrils. I continued to follow Britney and last Friday night she made another trip to Woods Haven only this time she didn’t come back home. In fact, she spent the weekend there! I had my suspicions who she was seeing there, but I couldn’t make any accusations with Doctor Bannister yet because I didn’t have proof. Monday night I followed Britney again to Woods Haven. This time she left around midnight. I spent most of the next day in my office in Seattle bringing my file on the case up to date. I left the office in time to get in position to follow Britney, if she left her home. Around nine PM, she roared away from her house and I followed her to Fielding College. She apparently had her third victim picked out and when she passed by the place where Britney was waiting, she jumped out and began the process of immobilizing her victim. That’s when I came to the rescue and took her into custody, so to speak.”

“How did you know where she would be waiting to ambush her victim?” asked MJ.

“As I said, I followed her but I knew where she would assail her victim from because both the previous victims had described the very same place where they were when they woke up from being put to sleep by the ether rag over their nose and mouth. The place that it happened is an old house that’s going to ruin. It’s been vacant for years it seems because the previous owner died intestate owing years’ worth of back taxes and many, many charges added to it. I called the assessor’s office to find out if I could buy it and was told the story I just told you. Back to the house. There’s an enormous hedge in front and down both sides of the property. Inside the yard, the grass and weeds are waist high. It’s a perfect place to lurk and spring out on someone who is walking by and that’s how Britney did it!”

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“What did you do with her after you captured her?” asked his mother.

“The girl she attempted to rape was unhurt, so I sent her on to her dorm and took Britney over to the library and called Doctor Bannister. He came out after a couple of hours and interrogated her. She told us everything. She, of course, didn’t know all that I knew but couldn’t prove so when she named names and explained why things happened, a lot of the unknowns made sense.”

“Give us a for instance Son,” asked his father.

“OK, for instance. Britney Teague had very, very low self-esteem. Her mother was the only one who supported her to the level she could function. Last year, the beginning of her junior year at Fielding, her mother died of ovarian cancer. Britney was devastated and her interest in school went to hell as well as her grades. She lost her scholarship and dropped out of school. About this time, none other than Mariette Scofield PH.D, took an interest in her case and invited her out to her house in Woods Haven. There she was given hours of attention and affection and offers to be tutored so she could keep up with her criminology interest. One thing led to another and they became lovers….” His father jumped in.

“How did this lead to her committing rapes?”

“Being Scofield’s lover didn’t mean there was no one else Scofield was interested in. She taught a couple of different types of classes in the criminology program. There was the one that was mandatory for credit toward one’s degree and another that was an elective, meaning a fill in toward the number of credit hours to graduate with any degree. It was developed by Scofield and sold to the staff two years ago and she taught it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Crime in our white collar society. It turns out both the young ladies who were raped took that class as an elective. When Scofield saw a young lady that appealed to her carnal interests, she would gradually start coming on them her. Many times it would develop into a fling but end quickly. If, however, she was rebuffed by the young lady she was trying to seduce, it made her mad and she wanted retribution. This is what happened to the two who were raped. They rebuffed her and she got Britney, who was infatuated up to her eyeballs with her, to perform the act.”

“How did this Britney actually rape them?” asked MJ.

“She used a rubber dildo like you can buy at any porn shop!”

“I don’t understand the connection to the library. Why were they both raped after they left the library and how did she know they were going to be there?” asked his father.

“This is slickest part of the scheme. Scofield would take aside the one who rebuffed her and tell her that she wasn’t doing well in the class and if she wanted a chance to catch up, there was a certain book in the library she could read a certain number of specific chapters and she could be tested later and bring her grades up to par. Does this sound at all like your Lascivious Lecturer case Dad?”

“Yes it does sound like that and from Fielding College too!”

“How much more is there Son?”

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“The only thing left is what we did with Britney Teague. When Doctor Bannister arrived, he began interrogating her. She told us everything related to her part in the rapes and who was behind it. At the end of her interrogation, I told Bannister that I had an idea of what to do with her and he asked me tell him. It boils down to this. She goes free if, she never, ever repeats any part of the rape mess or she gets charged. She never again makes contact of any kind with Mariette Scofield…” His mother asked.

“Whatever happened to the two raped girls?”

“They’ve been compensated by the college through Doctor Bannister sort of how you Dad worked it out with him in The Case of the Carnal Co-Ed.”

“There is still one thing I can’t wrap my mind around,” said his father. “How did the police find out about the rapes, yet it still was not known about on campus?”

“Cynthia Grainger, called Cindy, was the first one raped on October 8th. When she got to her dorm, she called her father, who is a member of the City Council, in Everett. He called the cops. When the cops wanted to interview her, he told them she was too delicate to be interviewed at that time. I went to their home and convinced her mother without what Cindy knew about the assault on her, the guilty guy would never get caught. She conceded and I interviewed her. Later Missus Grainger must have had it out with her husband because he called the cops again and told them it was all a big mistake. The second rape was reported but it seems action was never taken.”

“Have you turned in your report on the case?” asked his father.

“Not yet. I’ll finish the file tomorrow and get everything set to turn in next Monday the latest.”

“Was that student librarian the one you told us about?” asked his mother.

“Yeah her name is Carly Carson and her mother is Evelyn, who both you and Dad know.”

“They were naturists when we knew them,” said his father. “Are they still in the lifestyle?”

“Yeah and I’ve already been nude with them twice.”

“Are you considered a friend with benefits yet?” asked MJ, with a twinkle in her eyes.

“I don’t think so but then I don’t know if they know what it means. At any rate, I don’t think Missus Carson will want to discuss it.”

“This is off topic a bit but are you going to stay for dinner?” asked his mother.

“Yeah Mom, I’ll stay for dinner but I’ve got to get back to Seattle tonight.”

“I’m happy to have you with us no matter if it’s only a few hours,” she said, reaching out patting his knee.

“Me too,” echoed MJ.

“You know I’m with them,” said his father.

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Chapter 15   Stewart and Carly get close

Thursday morning was the first day in a week that he didn’t wake up to rain. It was cloudy but gray. He went through the process of getting ready for the day and after his morning shower and shave, he dressed casually because he didn’t expect to be conducting any customer related business. He headed for the small café where he had been taking a lot of his meals lately and he smiled because he was back in the Riviera again. Before leaving his folks’ house the night before, he transferred from the ’55 Chevy to the Riviera, all the items he carried as part of his investigative paraphernalia i.e. binoculars, zoom-lens camera, canvass bag with restraints and finally the Colt Model 1911A .45 Caliber Pistol.

His morning meal settling in his stomach, he drove into town. He left the car in its spot in the parking lot and hoofed it to his office. There were three pink slips on the floor just inside his office door. When he was away from the office, the secretarial service, with telephone answering on the First Floor, took his calls. The pink slips were the messages they intercepted. All three of them were from Carly asking him to call her!

He sat at his desk, a feeling growing over him that was becoming exceedingly uncomfortable. He did not like the notion he was required to check in with her before, during or after he did what he needed to do. Here he was, less than three weeks into a friendship and she was acting like he was her property. How was he going to impress upon her, he was not looking for a lifetime commitment? Would speaking to her mother about it be a proper thing to do? Since this was between the two of them…he and Carly, he guessed he better find a way to settle it with her on his own. But before he did anything else, he was going to finish updating his case file.

He went to work on it immediately after deciding this is what he wanted to do. It took him two hours to type and edit. Satisfied with the narrative, he turned his attention to the expense report. With all the receipts spread out, he put them in order with when and where they were obtained. Once every expense was accounted for, he added them and double underlined the total. He was surprised that the number underlined was far less that one day’s fee. He asked himself; am I doing it right? Should I spend more so it looks like I’m working harder? He answered himself by saying, if I was the client, what would I rather see, a big number or a small number? The answer was obvious!

After he had taken the report and expense sheet down to the secretarial group and made a copy, he put both into a large Manila envelope and set it on the corner of his desk. He picked up the phone and punched in the numbers for President Bannister of Fielding College. He heard the ring and. “Good morning, this is Doctor Bannister’s Office. How may I help you?”

“Good morning Missus Farley. This is Stewart Grant. How are you today?”

“I’m fine Stewart. The Doctor told me you have solved the rapes. Congratulations!”

“I didn’t do it all by myself. I had a lot of help from you Missus Farley.”

“Nonsense! I didn’t do anything.”

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“You’re too modest Missus Farley. Without you, I would still be trying to find out who all the players were in this nasty game.”

“You’re too kind Stewart. What can I do for you?”

“I told Doctor Bannister I’d have my report ready no later than next Monday. Do you think he’d mind if I bring it to him tomorrow? It’s finished and I’d like to concentrate on something new, for a change.”

“I tell you what. I’ll tell him you’re bringing it to him tomorrow so set aside the time…uh, what time will you be here?”

“Is nine o’clock too early?”

“Make it easy on yourself.”

“Nine o’clock is fine!”

“OK, that’s what I’ll tell him.”

“Thanks Missus Farley.”

“You can call me Mary Ann, if you like,” she said softly.

“No Ma’am I can’t. All my life I’ve been told people who deserve my respect deserve to be addressed respectfully. To me, you’ll always be Missus Farley. You deserve that!” He thought he heard her trying to hold back a sob. After several seconds, she replied.

“I’m going to talk to Perce and have him put a course on the new schedule called Politeness, how and when to use it. Would you be interested in teaching it?”

“I’m tempted but no thank you Ma’am. I’ll keep on doing what I know and maybe it will rub off on some of the ones who could use it.”

“Do you have anything else Mister Grant?”

He chuckled at her remark. “No Ma’am. Good bye for now. I’ll see you tomorrow at nine o’clock.”

“Good bye Stewart. Have a nice day.”

Friday morning he was on the road south at a time that would get him to Fielding College with plenty of time to prepare himself to enter Missus Farley’s Office at exactly nine o’clock. He sat in his car, radio playing “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton. How apropos, he thought. When the time was right. He slipped out of the car and into the Administration Building and on up to the fourth floor. He checked his watch and when it was exactly nine AM, he opened her office door. She was smiling and looking over his head at the clock over the door. “Perfect. Your record is still intact,” she said, in praise.

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“It helps when the people I deal with appreciate the effort it takes to keep my word. Is the President in?”

“He is and he’s expecting you. I’ll buzz him in case he’s napping. He’s a whole lot more relaxed since you took care of his main headache.”

“Thank you Ma’am. I’ll try not to take up too much of his time.” Missus Farley spoke into the intercom and told him that Stewart was here. The Doctor told her to send him in. She looked up at him and nodded. He opened the door and stepped in.

“Good morning young Stewart. I’m so glad to see you with the previous nastiness behind us.”

“It is nice to have it all cleared up.”

“Please have a seat,” said the Doctor, pointing to a straight backed chair beside the desk.

Before he sat down, he handed the large Manila envelope to Bannister. “The report and expense sheet are both in there for your review.”

He took the envelope and held it up to the light. “It isn’t very thick.”

“I only used short words,” he replied.

The Doctor laughed. “That’s something your Dad might have said.”

“I learned this job from him. The language came along with it.”

This time he opened the envelope and took the contents out and laid it on his desk. He separated the report from the expenses and began reading the report. He must have been a speed reader because he read the nine pages in less than ten minutes. He laid it on the desk and picked up the expense sheet. He spend less than two minutes with that. It ended up on top of the report. He sat back in his swivel chair and looked at Stewart. “Good report. If I didn’t know better, I’d say your father wrote it.”

“Thank you Sir. That means a lot to me. Uh, what about the expenses?”

“You missed a few meals, if I’m any judge.”

“I needed to lose a few pounds and this helped me do it.”

“You can take it back and put some meals on it, if you want,” said the Doctor, sotto voce.

“No Sir I can’t. I didn’t eat because I didn’t have time or place. That’s my fault for the poor planning on my part. It’s no fault of yours and you shouldn’t have to pay for it.”

“Well I’ll look into some way to compensate you for it anyway. It’s my pleasure to tell you I heartily approve of the way you handled this nasty business. Your father should be very proud of what you’ve become. I’ll find time soon to tell him.”

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“Thank you Sir. I really appreciate the compliment.” He stood up. “I know you are a very busy man, so I won’t take up any more of your time. Good day to you Sir and I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving.” He walked out before anything more could be said.

Back in his car, he began thinking about what he was going to do concerning Carly. He decided he’d drive back to Seattle and if he was going to fritter away his time, he was going to do it in his business office, in case he needed to conduct business.

At four o’clock, he was parked in front of Harmony Hall. At ten minutes past the hour, he saw Carly come out of the entrance to the building and look around. He saw her expression change and she started to walk toward his car. He zipped the passenger window down from his command pad. She approached the car and leaned down. He didn’t wait for her to speak by speaking first. “Do you need a ride Miss?”

“No, I need an explanation. Where did you go?”

“You saw the culmination of a nasty case that I was tasked to resolve. I’ve been on pins and needles for the whole time until I was released by Doctor Bannister telling me the case was resolved. I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in more than two weeks and my nerves were so ragged I thought I was going to scream at the thought of failure. I’m sorry Carly but I didn’t want to be around you while I decompressed from this case, so I went to my apartment and slept until Wednesday afternoon. I spent Thursday finishing my report on the case and at nine o’clock this morning I turned it in to my client Doctor Bannister. My time now is my own to spend as I see fit but I want you to know that it will always be this way when I’m on a case. I’ll give you time when I don’t have to give it to the case.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Do you want a ride?” She nodded and climbed into the car. He zipped the window closed and drove on. Soon they were on I-5 North heading to Tacoma. When they stopped in the driveway to her house, the dark blue Cadillac was not there. “Did your brother need the car again?”

For the first time since she got in the car, she seemed interested in conversing. “No, as a matter of fact, Mom has the car and should be in Yakima by now.”

“Is everything OK over there?” he asked.

“Yeah, Mom thought I could use some alone time to…well she thought I’d like to be alone with you for a while.”

Stewart looked at her for several seconds without speaking. Finally. “So what do you plan to do with the time?”

“I thought maybe we could test your stamina.”

“Running, jumping jacks, wood chopping…what?”

“What would you say to sex?”

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“Howdy! Are you amenable to me spending some time with you?”

“Do you have any place to go…this weekend?” she asked him.

“No, my rent is paid and I don’t have anything in the refrigerator that’ll spoil.”

“How about spending it here?”

“Do you get naked when you’re home alone?”

“Yes.”

“So do I,” he said. “Maybe be we could get naked together.”

“I was thinking along those lines too!”

“Do you plan to spend it here in the car?” he asked.

“No, I’d rather spend it in the house. Shall we go in?”

“I’ll help you out of the car and you help us into the house. OK?” She nodded. He ran around and opened the door for her. She took his hand and practically ran to the porch. She plunged the key into the lock and the door swung open and he followed her in. When the door slammed shut, she turned and jumped into his arms and began kissing him all over his face. She finally slipped out of his arms and spoke.

“Let’s get out of these clothes and start having some fun.”

They divested themselves of clothes in about a minute and the clothes remained on the floor untouched until Monday morning. They began an expedition to find out how many places in the house they could have sex. Close around midnight, they tried her mother’s bed, in case one or both of them ran out of steam and wanted a comfortable place to sleep. A new leg of the expedition started again near dawn and lasted until hunger claimed their attention. Tummies full, the expedition reconvened on the kitchen table and moved through the house to the bathroom shower. Clean and smelling of eau de cologne, they ventured to the closest bedroom and messed up the bed long enough to warrant a nap. It is safe to say, there wasn’t a period longer than three hours when they weren’t bumping bellies, all day Saturday. Sunday the pace was slow to start but built to a crescendo around noon. Breaking for lunch, they began again working their way to the bathroom shower for the second time. There was no place they didn’t try unless it was too small to lay down or stand in. Sunday night was spent in Carly’s bed, the intention was to sleep and build up their reserves. At four AM, they began Monday morning and at seven AM, Stewart after a refreshing shower put on his clothes and sat down in the living room to gather his thoughts.

Carly allowed as how she couldn’t stay away from college even one day if she wanted to gather enough credits to graduate in December. Stewart secretly pleased to hear that, gladly offered to drive

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her to her first class at Harmony Hall.

Monday at six o’clock in the evening, Missus Carson called from Yakima. Her son Mark and his wife convinced her to stay until the weekend so Carly would have the house to herself until then. They planned another assault on good sense for the time but had to plan around Carly’s speckled schedule. They managed to get in a few good sessions.

Wednesday, Stewart went into Seattle to his office after dropping off Carly at Harmony Hall. In his mailbox was an envelope from Fielding College. In the envelope was a note from Doctor Bannister once again praising Stewart for his handling of the rape case. In addition, there was a sizable sum added to his daily fee plus expenses. Bannister explained it was what the college’s lawyers calculated he saved the college if they had had to spend one day in court.

The end of the week came and Saturday afternoon, Evelyn Carson drove up into the driveway. Carly and Stewart were sitting in the living room, having finished fucking, showering and eating. Stewart’s initial reaction was to run for his clothes but then he remembered he was in the home of a naturist and being naked with her daughter wasn’t verboten.

Carly opened the door for her mother. They hugged and kissed and she turned to Stewart who was standing close by. “I’ll take some from you too, if you don’t mind.” He hugged and kissed her and tried to back away but she held on. “One more please,” she asked. He moved forward and hugged her again. She released him and said. “Did the two of you have fun?”

Carly, without showing the least bit of modesty replied. “We sure did! All over the house.” Stewart’s flushing proved he wasn’t prepared for the question or Carly’s answer.

Stewart stayed for dinner but pled a need to go home to his apartment for reasons related to recuperation. Missus Carson laughed but Carly wanted him to stay until Sunday night. Stewart told her he had a way to resolve the issue. He went to his trousers which were in Carly’s bedroom on a chair and took his pal Ben Franklin out of his pocket. Back in the living room he showed her the quarter. “Here’s how it goes. Heads I stay till Sunday night. Tails I go home. OK?” Carly nodded. He flipped it but didn’t attempt to catch it, but rather let it fall to the floor. “What is it Missus C? Can you see it?”

She bent over and looked. She raised up smiling. “Sorry Honey,” she said to her daughter. “It’s tails!” He picked up the coin and walked to the bedroom to put on his clothes. Carly stayed in the living room pouting. He came out after ten minutes. Missus Carson was the first to rise and head for the door where he was heading. She turned to her daughter. “C’mon Honey. He’ll come back soon enough to scratch your itches.”

Carly smiled and stood up and crossed the living room to the door. “Good bye Love,” she said. “It’s been a fun week. We’ll do it again won’t we?”

“If I recover!” he said smiling. Both mother and daughter hugged and kissed him and stood in the door until he drove out of sight.

The End

of The Criminologist Affair

Stewart and Carly had many more romps after this. Some will be recounted in the next story of the series