Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar by Gray Cavender (red scrolls of magic TXT) 📗

corridor and not let anyone in. I pulled the door to behind me and then hurried downstairs to Jonathan’s…Professor Keefer’s office and told him…what I’d found. He came with me straightaway.”

Wes looked at Professor Keefer, who said, “I haven’t anything to add. I did not enter Nelda’s office. I waited with Grace and the student…ah…Ms. Nagel…we were waiting for you all to arrive.”

Wes asked, “And Carla Nagel, the student?”

Ms. Wilson answered, “She said she had another class and didn’t want to miss it. Before she left, though, I got all her information—cell number, email and such, she’s an English major—and I’ve given it to Officer Voss. I hope this is OK, but I didn’t feel as if…honestly, I didn’t know what to do.”

Wes, “No worries, we have her information.” Wes turned to Professor Gilroy. “Professor Gilroy, you called ASU PD?”

“Yes, I did. I was in the departmental offices downstairs when the student came in, looking for Nelda. Then she and Grace left to come up here. I guess I was just swept along with them, although not immediately—I was getting my mail—but then came on up. My office is on this floor as well. I saw Grace come running out of Nelda’s office, obviously shaken. She said Nelda was dead. I didn’t know that she’d already called 911, so I called ASU PD. I’d seen the phone number in the departmental office, and I just reacted.”

Wes again, “When Ms. Wilson went to get Professor Keefer, did you enter Professor Siemens’s office?”

“Oh no, I stayed in the corridor with the student…that’s actually when I called ASU PD. But, no, I didn’t enter her office. Then Jonathan and Grace got back to Nelda’s office, and I heard Grace say that she’d called 911. By then, I think other people heard the commotion and came into the hall to see what was going on.”

Wes asked, “So Professor Gilroy, why you’d come to Professor Siemens’ office?”

“Well, no reason really, as I said, I was just…pulled along,” he said, and shrugged.

Neither professor was especially tall; both were shorter than Wes who was five ten. Of the two, Gilroy was the taller, maybe five eight; Keefer was about five seven, but also looked to be a good ten years younger than Gilroy.

“I see,” Wes said to Gilroy, then turned back to Professor Keefer. “Professor, you’re the chair of the department, do you know if Professor Siemens had any enemies…any issues, any threats against her?”

“Well, no…this was only the start of her second year at ASU. I mean…

Before Keefer could finish his sentence, Gilroy interrupted. “Oh, come on, Jonathan, you know how divided the department was over her hiring.” Then to Wes, “Her hiring was a very divisive issue.”

“How so?”

“Well, she was hired as a part of one of those Ayn Rand Studies grants. The outfit that gave the money wants to revitalize Ayn Rand’s place in academe…as a novelist or an ideologue, I don’t know, maybe both. Gilroy emphasized the word ‘outfit.’ “Anyway, they made grants available to universities that would create Centers for Ayn Rand Studies. ASU applied for one—actually, some Business professors did the deed—and it was funded. That led to an external search for an Ayn Rand scholar to head the Center. Nelda applied and got the job.”

As Gilroy talked, Jillian remembered that this is how she’d heard of Professor Siemens. She’d read a story about her and the Ayn Rand Center in the paper. She caught Wes’ eye, raised her eyebrows and gave a slight nod to let him know that she’d heard this before. He nodded to acknowledge that he understood.

Gilroy, who didn’t appear to have noticed the silent exchange between Jillian and Wes, looked back and forth between Keefer and Wes, and continued talking. “She’d been in English at one of the Seven Sisters, so she wanted a joint appointment in Business AND English. We had a big debate in English about this…”

Keefer interrupted, “I don’t know if it was such a big debate, Billy, and in any case, I don’t see how this could have any bearing on…” he gestured with an open hand down the corridor toward Professor Siemens’ office.

“Trust me, Detective,” Gilroy addressed Wes, “it was a hot potato. Some faculty didn’t want to hire someone just because funding was available to pay for her. Some were opposed to the whole enterprise—this Center—because, let’s face it, these days Ayn Rand has more to do with some sort of pro-business ideology than with the novel.”

“Nevertheless,” Keefer interrupted again, “there was a good deal of support, Nelda was hired to run the Center, and that’s all there is to it. We’ve moved on,” he added, obviously irked at Gilroy.

“I must disagree, Jonathan. This sort of a hire has become all too common in U.S. universities.

“Please, Billy, let’s not air all our dirty linen to the police. I’m sure that given what’s happened…” again, he pointed to Professor Siemens’ office…”the detectives have more pressing issues.”

As he said this, almost as if on cue, the Tempe PD Forensics Unit emerged from the elevator. They headed along the corridor toward the group of six people. They were loaded with equipment, looking like people from outer space. Jillian recognized everyone, and gave a small wave.

As the forensics team was about to enter the office, the other member of the EMS team peeked out, saw them, waved, and then disappeared back into the interior of the office.

The arrival of the Forensics Team signaled the end to the conversation in the corridor. Wes told the English Department people that he would join the Forensics Team in Professor Siemens’ office, and that Detective Sergeant Warne would begin follow-up interviews starting immediately. The English Department personnel shared their office numbers with her.

After the English Department people had dispersed, Wes said to Jillian, “Why don’t you begin with Gilroy. I’ll go with Angel and Forensics. By the way, I’ve heard of Ayn Rand, but remind me why I have…who is she?”

“She was a writer, but her novels were