Chapter 16
Under skies that were spotty with clouds, Pepper and Wallace made their way back to the university. The sun peeked through sporadically-popping in and out teasingly. It was still cool-jackets couldn't be put away just yet-even if some university students were seen wearing shorts and sandals, making Pepper wonder if they were actually immune to the cold, or just stupid.
Before they'd left the station, Chin had printed them off a map showing the location of the parking area used by the faculty members in the sociology department. She'd called campus security and had flexed her cop muscles in order for them to divulge the information. She hadn't given them any more information other than she wanted the location of that section's parking area-no names, no reason. They'd been thorough-keeping her waiting while they called the station and checked on her credentials. She was actually impressed by the lengths they went to before divulging any information, but in the end, she got what she needed.
Pepper pulled to the curb adjacent to the gated parking area shown on the map and put on his hazard lights before the two of them got out of the car. They stepped into the parking lot, each taking an aisle as they searched for a four-door Honda Civic.
"Over here," Wallace called out within thirty seconds. Pepper walked between the parked cars towards his partner, now standing behind a silver Honda. "Does the licence plate match?"
Pepper looked down at the plate number Chin had scribbled on the corner of the map. "That's it. That's Drummond's car."
Pepper stuffed the map in his pocket as they walked up to the car and looked inside. There was nothing in the backseat, only a snowbrush on the floorboards. They moved up to the front windows and looked inside, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, not even a coffee mug in the cup-holders.
"All right, let me get a couple of pictures," Wallace said. He took out his phone and snapped pictures from around the car, difficult as it was with another vehicle parked on each side. He concentrated on taking a number of shots from the back right-hand corner, the position the car would have been in when Bartolucci said he approached it. Wallace scrolled through the shots, satisfied that he had a few that would work, along with the pictures Chin had printed off the internet showing the exact model in silver.
They drove to the campus security office and left their unmarked car there, identifying themselves to a young kid in a windbreaker sporting the university logo on the breast and the word SECURITY visible on his sleeve. When they flashed their badges, the kid lit up like a Christmas tree-as if he'd been waiting his whole life to talk to real cops. He asked if he could be of any assistance, and Pepper said it might save them some time if he could direct them to the stacks section of the university library.
"Sure, I can take you there," the kid said, holding the door of the security office open for them before they could say another word.
"Looks like we've got a fan," Wallace muttered under his breath to Pepper as they followed the kid outside.
"So, I notice you guys don't really have a cop haircut," the kid said as he led them across Western Road and down a path next to the library. Cop haircut? Pepper thought as the kid continued, "I like to keep mine short." He ran his hand over the bristly top of his brush cut, which reminded Pepper of the astro-turf mat at the local driving range. "I want to make sure it doesn't get in the way during any enforcement activities. Besides, it lets the kids know whose in charge pretty quick when they see the old flat-top."
Pepper and Wallace exchanged a glance, both of them keeping their lips pressed. "Do you have many 'enforcement activities' around here?" Pepper asked as they made their way towards the entrance doors of the four-storey library. The wide concrete paths were filled with students moving to and from classes.
"Mostly just breaking up fights at the community centre bar. But these kids still need to know we have our eye on them." Pepper thought it was funny-this guy was probably younger than a lot of the students surrounding them.
"Well, it's good to know there are people like you keeping things under control around here," Wallace said, winking at Pepper.
"Thanks. I've got my application in at the police college. I'm hoping to get in next semester. Maybe I'll end up working with you guys." They arrived at the bank of doors to the library, and the kid held them open for the two of them.
"Yeah, that'd be great," Wallace said as the kid followed them. "We can use guys like you on the force. But listen, you've been a great help-we can take it from here."
"Look, it's no problem, I can take you down into the stacks area and show you around," the kid said hopefully.
"No. Thanks again, but we need to do this. Police stuff-you know," Wallace said, giving the kid a conspiratorial nod.
"Right. Got it," the kid said as he started to back away, disappointed. "I'll be back at the station if you need anything more."
"Station?" Pepper said quietly, turning to Wallace once the kid had gone.
"Hey, as far as that guy's concerned, that's their very own cop shop."
They went through the security gates near the entrance. Pepper looked around at the various security cameras trained around the room. Maybe they'd get lucky. They walked up to the main counter, a middle-aged woman with warm brown eyes and a quiet demeanor gave them a pleasant smile.
"Can I help you," she said, her voice as soft and comforting as her smile. Pepper wondered if having that low-pitched soothing voice was a hiring requirement. It seemed standard for employees of every library he'd ever been in.
"Yes, I'm Detective Wallace, and this is Detective Pepper," Wallace said, automatically lowering his own voice to match the tone of the woman's. "We're wondering if it's possible to talk to the Head Librarian."
"That would be Ms. Jablonski. She should be in. Let me just check." The woman got up from her desk and walked towards a series of glass-walled offices along the back wall behind her.
"I figured that kid would be able to answer our questions about the security systems they have here," Wallace said, "but how long would it be before he had it posted all over Facebook or Twitter that we were here?"
"Good thinking. I'm sure this woman will be much more discreet."
"Gentlemen, if you'd come right this way please." The woman they'd spoken with held open a gate for them, allowing them to enter the staff area behind the desk. They followed her to the largest of the offices behind her. The head librarian's office was situated in a corner of the building with windows facing out each of the two walls. As they stepped into the office, a woman in a navy skirt and teal sweater came out from behind the desk and walked towards them. She appeared to be in her mid-50's, medium build, short hair that nipped at her ears, round-faced with friendly eyes that greeted them from behind plastic-framed glasses. She wore a stylish scarf with navy and teal accents that matched her outfit. She had on minimal makeup, with very little jewelry, but Pepper did notice she wore a bold-looking watch that he knew the Inspector would have spotted immediately.
"Thanks, Lisa," the woman said, closing the door behind them as her colleague returned to her station. The head librarian reached out her hand towards them. "Detectives, I'm Dana Jablonski. What can I do for you?"
Pepper liked her handshake, confident and businesslike. "We're wondering if we could just ask you a few questions about the library," he said.
"Certainly, have a seat." She gestured to the two chairs opposite her desk.
As they took their chairs, Pepper was surprised to see only a single bookshelf in the office, the walls adorned with various pieces of art, most of them indicative of the west coast of Canada. There was a mixture of native art mixed in, with one wall even sporting a small wooden totem pole with the Thunderbird figure on top of it. The lone bookshelf was neat and tidy, with various small pieces placed attractively among the books, an actual flute facing them on one of the lower shelves. Her desk was equally neat, with papers stacked and organized in almost regimental fashion. A large glass bowl shaped like a giant brandy snifter sat on one corner of her des
k, filled with glass eggs of every colour. The glass eggs looked like they would be soothing to the touch. Pepper felt like stealing one, knowing it would be perfect for bopping Wallace in the head the next time he got out of line.
"So what can I help you with?" Ms. Jablonski asked as she slid into her seat, shifting the papers she'd been working on to the side, adjusting them until they were perfectly aligned.
"I'm sure you've heard about the recent death of one the students here." Pepper said.
"Oh yes. A horrible thing. But I understood that happened at one of the restaurants downtown." She looked at them quizzically, wondering what her library had to do with any of that.
"Yes, that's right, and you don't need to be alarmed. There's no concern about the library being involved in anything directly related to her death. We are just following up on some information we've received, and we need to ask you a few questions."
"I'll do what I can to help."
"Ms. Jablonski, we need to ask you to please refrain from discussing what we talk about here today with anyone."
"Certainly. I understand."
"Good. What can you tell us about the security systems you have in place here?"
"Well, when you came in, you would have had to pass through the security screens like everyone else, which basically picks up the anti-theft strips on the books and other library materials."
"What about security cameras?"
"We have a number of security cameras placed throughout the library, and they are monitored by a staff member in the security office we have right here in the basement of the library."
"What about the stacks department? I understand that's in the basement too? Are there cameras in that area that are monitored from that security room as well?"
"You're right, the stacks department is in the basement. But no, there are no security cameras down there."
"Why not? I thought that's where some of your older and more valuable books are kept."
"You're right, but it's just another example of university budgeting. The stacks department is used rarely, and although I've submitted a request nearly every year for the past ten years to have security extended to that area, I've always been turned down. They say there's just not enough money in the budget, but the football team did get a whole new locker room with state of the art weight-training equipment put in last year. Go figure."
Pepper and Wallace knew exactly what she meant about budget cuts-the police chief fought that battle with City Hall every year.
"When somebody goes down into the stacks area, do they have to sign in, or show some kind of student card, or anything like that?"
"No, there currently is no kind of monitoring system like that, other than the materials down there having the anti-theft tape attached, and that would show up on those scanning machines if somebody tried to walk out with them."
Pepper heaved a big sigh as he and Wallace exchanged a glance, feeling like they'd driven into another brick wall. Pepper continued, "So, in reality, the average person off the street could just walk in, go down into the stacks department, look around, and then walk out without anybody knowing they'd even been down there?"
"Yes, that's basically true. That area is used so rarely, we don't even have a staff member down there."
"Okay then," Pepper said, "your security cameras that monitor the main entrance area-we'd like to review what you have for St. Patrick's Day and the day before."
"I'm sorry but we can't help you with that. Like I said, our system is pretty old, and it is set to clear itself every twenty-four hours. So, we've got nothing further back than yesterday."
The two detectives looked at each other again, Wallace leaning on the arm of his chair and tapping his lips pensively with his index finger.
"This situation with your budget requests to improve the security systems being turned down a number of times-would faculty members here at the university be aware of that?"
A wry smile appeared on the woman's face as she looked at them through her glasses. "Well, there wouldn't have been anything in a newsletter, or anything like that, but let me tell you, in your office, who knows everything that's going on?"
"Umm, the administrative assistants seem to be the ones who everybody goes to when they want to know what's going on."
"And it's exactly the same here. It's like a big community. The administrative staff in each department talk to each other, and I'm sure they occasionally divulge information about budget requests their supervisors are having them work on. It's human nature-it happens." She gave a thoughtful shrug. "So the answer to your question is that although it's not made public knowledge, our budget requests could fairly easily be known by faculty members in other departments."
"So for example," Wallace piped in, "it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for somebody in say the?the sociology department for example, to know you were turned down to have better security measures put in place?"
"Like I said, we don't exactly advertise it, but if a faculty member there knew, that wouldn't surprise me at all either."
Wallace turned to Pepper and nodded, his index finger tapping his lips once more.
"Do you think we could see that stacks area, please?" Pepper said.
"Follow me." Ms. Jablonski got up from her chair and they followed her across the library. Pepper looked down at the students sitting at tables, laptops or tablets open in front of every one, much different from the days when he was a student when all you had was a notebook and pen. He'd been in this library many times himself, but had never ventured into the stacks area. He paused as the woman stopped in front of them and pushed the button beside the bank of two elevators.
"Um, are there stairs we could take? It's only one floor down, right?" Pepper asked, feeling his heart start to race.
"The stairs are at the corners of the building," the head librarian said, gesturing towards the front and back of the building. "The elevator will take us right to the entrance of the stacks area."
"It'll be all right, Tee," Wallace muttered under his breath as he stood on the opposite side of Pepper away from the woman. "It's only one floor. Just stand near the front and listen to my voice."
The elevator doors opened and the woman stepped into the car. Wallace took Pepper's elbow and ushered him inside. Pepper turned around immediately, his blanched face an inch or two away from the doors as they closed. Wallace positioned himself between the woman and his partner, his hand holding onto his friend's arm.
"An Otis elevator." Wallace started talking. "Just about the safest elevator in North America. Smooth ride, secure cables, very nice." He smiled over at the woman, who looked at him like he'd just arrived from another planet.
"Uh, okay," she said, just as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
Pepper stepped out hurriedly, the ten-second ordeal over. He coughed and took a few deep breaths.
"Are you all right, detective?"
"Yes. To tell the truth, elevators just aren't my thing."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You should have said something. If I'd known that, we could have taken the stairs."
"That's fine, really. But maybe we could take them on the way up?"
"Not a problem." With her heels echoing eerily on the terrazzo floor, the woman passed through a pair of doors across from the elevator, motion sensor lights coming on in the foyer of a large room. There was enough light to illuminate a corridor between row upon row of high bookshelves extending the length of the room. The air was musty and stale, evidence that these rooms were rarely used. The place was quiet as a tomb-a burial ground where old books came to die. Pepper knew now why The Sandman had chosen this place to make his drop of the drugs-it was perfect. With no cameras or any staff members on duty, it was the ideal spot to stash something with no fear of being detected. And with the area being used so rarely, it was highly unlikely that anyone would happen to come upon the hiding spot by accident.
"Where's the light switch?" Wallace asked, looking around the foyer.
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"The lights down here are all on motion sensors. Since it's used so infrequently, the university put it in as a cost saving measure. Are you looking for something in particular, or did you just want to see the room?"
"No, we're looking for a particular book. If you could show us where it's kept, that would be great."
"All right. What book are you looking for?"
Pepper checked the note he'd made on his phone of the book Bartolucci told them he'd been instructed to look behind. "It's called 'Love Letters from Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett Browning', or something close to that."
"I know exactly where that book is." Without hesitation she set off down the main corridor, lights coming on overhead as she made her way further into the tunnel of massive shelving units. She got about halfway down and turned down into a narrower corridor between two high shelves, the lights over that side corridor coming on now. Pepper found the parade of motion-sensor-activated lights coming on kind of eerie, as if it was beckoning them deeper and deeper into the gloomy darkness, to meet whatever kind of fate awaited them.
"It's here," Ms. Jablonski said as she stopped and pointed to a shelf almost at eye level. "That book you're looking for is the one sticking out right there."
They saw a slim book with a worn brown leather-like cover sticking out about half an inch from the other books in the row. The woman started to reach for it before Pepper's words reached her. "Stop!"
Startled, she instinctively lowered her hand and turned towards them.
"I'm sorry," Pepper said, "I should have mentioned beforehand that it's probably best if you don't touch anything. Would you mind?" Wallace was already pulling on a pair of blue latex gloves he had in his pocket.
"Of course," she said, stepping to the side.
Pepper pulled out a small flashlight and trained it on the protruding book as Wallace reached up and slowly slid it out, carefully touching as little of the book as possible. Pepper held open a clear plastic evidence bag as Wallace slid the book inside, Pepper zipping the bag up as soon as Wallace released it. They peered into the gap where the book had been, looking behind where Bartolucci had told them he'd found the ziplock bag with the pills The Sandman had left for him. Moving the books on each side of the gap slightly, all they saw were minor disturbances to the thin film of dust at the back of the shelf. They stepped away as Wallace peeled off his gloves and stuck them into his pocket.
"Ms. Jablonski, we're going to need to take this book for a short time."
"Of course. Anything we can do to help."
"This should be fine for now. We'll have it returned as soon as we can."
"Is there anything else you need to see down here?"
Pepper gave her a warm smile. "Maybe just the door to the stairwell going up?"
She gave a little chuckle as she turned on her heel. "Right over here."