I looked at the list. Most of the names were students who worked part time shelving or at the front desk, names I didn’t know. She also included her boss, Wydra Beems, and herself on the list and the missing caretaker—nothing new, nothing that I could use.
Under Myrna’s letter there was a note on my desk asking for me to contact Veronica IMMEDIATELY!
I called her on her cell phone. No answer. These kids, I tell them to always carry their cell phone but… I tried her land line and after the phone was passed to two or three girls, Veronica spoke.
“Professor. Finally you called,” she said breathlessly, “We’ve got to meet now.”
“Now?”
“Yes, Professor, now! I don’t want to talk about it on the phone.”
“Should we meet at the Library?” I asked.
“No, the Bar Bar’s best. Please pick me up, Professor. I’m afraid to walk over there by myself.”
“I’m on my way.”
I locked the office and headed to Wakely Hall, a quick trot across the campus. It was dark now and the decorative gas lights that are poised next to the walks are attractive but don’t really do much to dispel the darkness around the trees. I can see how Veronica would be easily scared and assume some of the tall bushes were goblins hiding among the distant trees.
Veronica was standing just inside the front door, near the mailboxes. At least I thought it was her. She had her coat bundled up and a scarf wrapped around her neck and head. When she saw me, she rushed out and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go!” She looked left and right and pulled me in the direction of the Bar Bar.
“Veronica? Is that you?”
“Of course it’s me,” she said.
“What’s this all about?” I asked as she tugged me along the walk.
“Can’t talk here. I’ll tell you at the place.” She turned her head in both directions and kept at her furious pace. She stopped and looked intently behind us. I looked also, not knowing what I was looking for. She pulled my arm and kicked up leaves as she sped through the north parking lot and to the entrance road that goes from the lot to Route 27.
After the three minute walk, she led me into the Bar Bar and stopped in the foyer, at the doorway into the main room. The lighting is bright here, and since we were out in the dark night, our eyes needed to adjust. She slowly scanned the entire room, table by table, and then quickly walked ahead of me to a table in the farthest rear corner. She sat facing the door, still wearing her coat and scarf.
I sat down, dropping my coat against the chair back in the process. “What’s going on, Veronica? Are you going to keep your scarf on all night?” I asked.
“I might be safe here with you. I don’t know. I suppose I can take my scarf off now.” She shook herself out of her coat and all-encompassing scarf.
“Professor, we’re not alone!” Her eyes were saucers.
“What do you mean, Veronica? Aliens?”
“Professor, be serious. I mean that someone is watching me—watching us. Are you being watched too?” she asked, penetrating me with her big eyes.
“I don’t think so.” I was taken aback by her remark. “What makes you think that we’re being watched?”
“Because I am.” Her eyes were pleading, boring into me, her breaths coming fast.
I gave her a questioning look, raised eyebrows, raised shoulders.
“I’m not exaggerating, Professor, someone is following me.”
“How do you know, Veronica?”
“I saw him! I was coming out of Washington Hall and there was this person on one of the stone benches there, all bundled up. Now it wasn’t that cold around lunchtime. So I thought, “Strange, all bundled up.” The person was about my size so I couldn’t tell if it was a woman or some boy. I didn’t think anything of it until I came out of lunch at Johnson Hall and saw the same person in the grass, just standing there.
“When I walked back to my place with Monica, I turned around as I held the door open for her and I saw him, or her, again.”
The waitress came to our table with pencil on order pad. “Ready?” she said.
Veronica said, “Coffee,” and I nodded my agreement.
After the waitress left, I said, “Do you think he followed us here?” I didn’t look when we were walking because I didn’t know that that was a problem. This was more of a check of the depth of her paranoia.
“I don’t think so. I didn’t see anyone when I left the dorm. I guess he thought that I was in for the night, not going out any more.”
That was a rational answer. She hasn’t gone coo-coo. We sat there silently. Our coffee came.
I took out my cell and called Ralphy. No answer. I called Jason who picked up on the second ring. “Yes, Professor,” he said.
“Jason, we think someone is following us. Veronica and I are at the Bar Bar. Come over here and see if anyone follows us, OK? Come in the door and look around, like you’re looking for someone and then leave. We’ll leave a few minutes after we see you, OK?”
“If someone is following us, call me. Keep back so you won’t be seen. We’re more interested in finding out if we’re being tailed than catching the guy.”
“OK, Professor, I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in five minutes,” he said.
We sat there, not talking, waiting for Jason to appear. After a few minutes, Jason came into the barroom, squinting and with pursed lips. He looked around and then walked out. Veronica looked at me and I said, “We’ll wait a minute and then go.” I spotted our waitress and gave her the international sign for we-need-our-check—a checkmark sketched in the air.
I paid, Veronica rewrapped and we left.
The inky sky was only slightly disturbed by the widely spaced street lights as we left town and headed down the tree lined road toward campus and her dorm. Veronica held onto my arm with a death grip as we passed bushes and low hanging branches. “Is he following us, Professor?”
“I don’t know. We shouldn’t look around so he won’t know that we know he’s tailing us,” I said.
It’s only a short distance to the dorms. The Bar Bar is on the other side of the highway, just outside of the red brick pillars that guard the main road to the school along with the sign.
The school sign is universally mocked by the students—with cause. It reads, “Braxton University, Aimed at You.” Sounds more like a cannon than a school. How much did the marketing consultant get for that one? Or was it, “We only have two hundred dollars for a motto and it can’t be more than sixteen spaces long or it won’t fit on the sign. The students say that the motto should be, “Braxton, a small school for small minds.”
In earlier times, Braxton was a corn field. At the north and east sides are stands of old hardwood trees. Some were removed for the parking lots but most of the trees and the surrounding vegetation were saved with the buildings being placed around the natural elements of the area. The entrance road to the parking lot is as long as a football field. And, it’s the same distance again through the lot to Wakely Hall, Veronica’s dorm. All four dormitories have been placed in a diamond shape with Veronica’s being next to Jason’s, Foster Hall.
During the day, students from the dorms cut diagonally across the little woods to town, circumventing the parking lot and the entrance road. It’s a small area but large enough to get lost in at night. This shortcut halves the distance to the Hastings attractions such as Frank Foods & Beverages, Videos Unlimited, and Gamer Guy, the computer store. A car isn’t needed for necessary purchases, it is only needed to escape the country life. We took the shortcut through the woods.
I don’t think that we were being followed and either Jason was great at tailing—I didn’t see him at all—or he got lost in our little forest.
“What do I do now, Professor?’ Veronica asked at Wakely Hall’s door.
“Just go in. I’ll call Jason at our conference number. Do you remember that?” I asked.
“Yes.” She gave me her Don’t-you-think-I-know
-anything-look, “Speed dial 7.”
“Good. You can listen to my conversation with Jason and see what he saw.”
“Goodnight, Professor, and thank you for coming over,” Veronica said.
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She went in and the door closed behind her. She turned around and gave me a half-hearted wave, fingers only, and trudged slowly up the stairs.
I dialed Jason. “Jason here,” he said.
“Well, what’s the word? Were we followed?”
“No,” he said, “I couldn’t see anyone.”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m about two hundred feet from you, next to a tree by the side of Fogel Hall. Can you see me waving?”
I turned and looked at my office building. He was waving and walking toward me.
“Stop. Go back into the shadows and see if I’m being followed. Call me after I get in my car, OK?”
“Gotcha, Professor.” He hung up.
I walked down the Kennedy to the parking lot. As I slammed the car door, my phone went off.
“You’re clear, Professor. Nobody was following you.”
“Do you think someone was following Veronica?” Jason asked. “Or is she just taking this crime stuff too seriously?”
“No, she has a good point. I think that she was being tailed. I’d like to know who and why. Are we onto something?
“Jason, we’re going to follow Veronica everywhere and see if anyone is watching. But now we are going to make sure that you are not followed. I’ll go to Foster Hall and wait for you now. I’ll be in the shadows and see if you have picked up a tail. So stay where you are for three minutes then walk to your dorm. I’ll drive to the east parking lot and walk to your place. I’ll be by the trees in front of the dining hall.” We both hung up.
I drove past the football field and through the east parking lot and parked next to the tennis courts. I got out and walked on the path between the football and soccer fields, past the vegetable garden and Bellermine Hall to the dining hall. I was about fifty feet from Jason’s front door at Foster Hall and I could see him on the walkway walking toward me. He got to his door and went in. There was no one in sight. I phoned.
“You’re clear, Jason. Nobody’s around,” I said. “I’ll have Veronica call in before she leaves the dorm tomorrow so you can follow her to class.”
“This could be a break for us, Professor. Someone’s showing interest in our investigation.”
I drove home and parked. I closed the door to my place, took off my coat and fell down on the sofa with my jacket. It felt darker than usual. All of my lights that go on with the timer were on. Maybe it’s my mood.
Chapter 27
Following The Follower
“I’m ready,” Veronica said.
It was ten to nine on this chilly autumn morning and all of us were on the conference line, even late sleeper Ralphy. “OK, Jason, go to Griffin Hall, the entrance where you can see the side entrance to Washington Hall. Ralphy, wait by the admin building till you see Veronica, then follow her to Washington. If you see something, call us. Veronica, don’t have your phone on. For you, this is just another day walking to class. What room is your class?”
“W-206,” she said.
“OK, I’ll see you outside of 206 and tell you what’s happening,” I said.
“All right, Professor.”
“I’m at Fogel,” Ralphy said.
A minute passed. “I’m at Griffin, Professor,” Jason said.
“You can leave now, Veronica,” I said.
“I’m going down right now.” I heard her phone click off.
“I can see her coming,” Ralphy said, “and a lot of other people, too. Everyone’s heading to class. What’s this guy look like?”
I said. “About Veronica’s size, all bundled up.”
Ralphy responded. “I see someone, kind of dorky-looking. Might be him.”
“OK, follow him, see what he does,” I said.
Jason was talking now. “I see Veronica now. What’s the guy look like, Ralphy?”
“Beige ski jacket, beige pants, ski cap over his ears,” Ralphy said.
“I see him,” Jason said. “Veronica’s in the building. He’s sort of slowed down. Looks like he’s considering going in. Nope. He’s staying out. He’s starting to walk back toward you, Ralphy. Wait, he’s stopped. He’s sitting on the bench next to the bell tower. I think he’s waiting until class is over.”
“It’s the carillon, not the bell tower, Jason,” Ralphy chided.
“Good job, Jason. Ralphy?”
“Yes, Professor?”
“Do you have any friends in Wakely or Kennedy Halls?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because I want you to hurry up to my office. Ask Fay to give you my camera with the longest telephoto lens and get over to Wakely or Kennedy and take some pictures of our man. Do you know anyone on the second floor?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it, Professor. I’ll get it done,” Ralphy said.
Veronica joined me at 206. I took her off to one side and said very quietly, “You were right. Someone followed you. We’re getting a picture of him.”
“Does he look scary?” her brows were furrowed.
“Ralphy said he looked dorky.”
“I wish he would follow someone else, Professor.” She was holding her books against her chest and twisting nervously from side to side and looking up at me.
“If he’s still there after class and follows you again, I’ll call campus security to pick him up and see what his story is,” I said.
“Won’t that jeopardize our investigation?” she asked.
“Maybe, but I’m not going to put you in a potentially dangerous situation. Go to class, study hard. And don’t worry about this. Maybe this guy is just another admirer.”
“Oh, professor.” She smiled at me, one of those 500 watt smiles, and gently touched my forearm.
“Where’s your next class?”
“Griffon, 300.”
“All right. We’ll be watching, so don’t worry.”
I looked into the next classroom. It was empty. I turned on my phone as I walked toward the windows. I could see the dorms but, more important, I could see the carillon and the bench beside it with the dork in question sitting on it.
“Ralphy, where are you?” I asked.
“I’m leaving your office now, heading toward Washington Hall.”
“Cut through the dorm courtyard. We don’t want you to be seen by our tailer,”
“OK, Professor,” Ralphy said.
“Do you guys think that he was following Veronica?” I asked.
Both returned a yes. “I’m going off the air for a moment to get campus security to pick this guy up.”
I called security and told them that there was a person stalking one of my students and that he was sitting next to the bell tower. They said that they would get right on it.
I continued looking out the window at the fellow in beige on the bench. He got up, slowly looked both ways in a manner that made me think he was guilty of something, and moved up the pathway away from Washington Hall and toward the parking lot.
“Where are you, Ralphy?” I said after I got on our conference line again.
“Behind the dorms walking toward the main path.”
“Get your camera to the ready. He’s off the bench and should be passing the dorms momentarily,” I said.
“What should I do, Professor?” Jason asked.
“Stay at Griffon Hall for now.”
“Here he comes. I’m going to get a shot of him now,” Ralphy said.
A moment passed and then I heard, “Beautiful. I got four shots of him so maybe we’ll get one good face shot out of it,” Ralphy said.
I couldn’t see Ralphy but I could see the two big security guards with their blue jackets coming out of Louis Hall, right acr
oss from Washington Hall. I got off our conference call and called security.
“The guy’s moving. He’s walking up the Kennedy toward the north parking lot and he’s wearing beige pants and a beige ski jacket and a ski cap over his ears. He’s about five foot six, average to skinny build. Tell your men we really want this guy brought in.”
I could see one of the guards holding his radio to his ear and nodding. They both turned onto the Kennedy and started walking quickly after our man. The tailer casually looked behind and saw the guards walking toward him. He picked up the pace a little and then started to run full speed to the parking lot, arms pumping. I could see Ralphy now. He was next to the Kennedy watching the guards chasing our man.
“What should I do, Professor?” Ralphy asked.
“Tell me what’s happening?” I said.
“The little guy’s running and the guards are about fifty feet behind him. I see a car parked where the path meets the parking lot and the passenger door just swung open. The guards are getting closer but I don’t think they’ll get him.
“Yeah, he jumped into the car and they’re really flying out of here. The guards are at the lot now, and one of them is on his radio.”
“Jason, get out of there and run to the highway and see if you can catch the license number. At least get a description of the car and who’s inside,” I said. If they headed into town, they wouldn’t pass Jason, but if they went south, then we’d be in luck. I heard a siren start up behind me, a campus security car was on the access road south of the classroom buildings.
“I don’t see anything. Wait, there’s a car turning out of the school lot and heading south,” Jason said.
“What color, Jason?” I asked.
“Dark red, maroon, something like that.”
“That ain’t it,” Ralphy butted in. “It was a silver four door, small, Japanese,”
“Wait,” Jason said. “Yeah, there’s a silver four door turning toward town and he’s really peeling rubber.”
I clicked off the conference call and got back to Campus Security. “Silver, four door, small, Japanese, headed toward town. It’s got our bad guy in it.”
I heard the siren go by. Now I could see it through the trees on the highway flying toward town. Man, they’re good for a small school security team.