Flesh

Roland opened the door.

Alison cried out, “No!” How could she not have locked it.

She rammed the shift lever to Drive and stomped the gas pedal to the floor.

The car surged forward.

Roland yelled.

The door bumped against its frame.

Alison swerved away from the curb to miss a parked Volkswagen.

She looked at the side mirror.

Roland was sprawled facedown on the pavement, half a block away.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Jake entered the dispatcher’s cubicle, nodded a greeting to Martha, who looked back at him with grim eyes, and turned to the girl.

She was sitting on one of the molded plastic chairs that belonged in the waiting area outside the cubicle. It must’ve been brought in so she wouldn’t have to wait alone. She held a plastic coffee cup in both hands. The left side of her face was red and puffy. She wore Martha’s old brown cardigan over a blue nightgown. She looked up from her coffee as Jake approached.

“I’m Jake Corey,” he said. “I’m in charge of the investigation.”

She nodded.

“Would you like to step this way?”

She glanced at Martha, who nodded that it was all right. She stood up.

Jake held the door open for her. She walked stiffly, staring down at her coffee as if concerned about spilling it. Though she must’ve been about twenty years old, she had the look of a hurt and frightened little girl.

Jake pulled the door shut and stepped to her side.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Just over here.” He gestured toward Barney’s office. “We can’t talk about this in front of Martha.”

She walked beside him.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

He opened Barney’s door and flicked the switch. Overhead fluorescent lights came on. He followed the girl into the room. “Sit in the chief’s seat,” he told her.

“Behind the desk?”

“It’ll be more comfortable.”

She stepped around the desk, set her coffee cup on the blotter, and sat down. The stuffed chair bobbed and squeaked. She rolled it forward as if to take shelter behind the big, protective desk. Her hands curled around the sides of the cup.

Jake sat on a folding chair across from her. “You’re Alison?”

“Yes. Alison Sanders.”

“Dr. Teal told me what you did. You’re a very brave young lady.”

“Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. He’s very upset, of course.”

“The policeman, is he dead?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“So am I,” Jake muttered.

“You didn’t get him, did you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Not yet. But we will.”

“It was Roland,” she said in a steady, low voice. “I don’t know his last name, but he lives in room 240 of Baxter Hall on the campus.”

Jake took a notepad from his shirt pocket. He quickly scribbled the name and room number. “Was he a friend of yours?”

She shook her head. “I’ve only seen him around. He’s a freshman.”

“Do you have any idea why he might have done this?”

“I don’t know.” Alison rubbed her forehead. “He was somehow involved in…His roommate took Celia out last night. That’s Celia Jamerson. She was living with…”

“Celia Jamerson?” Jake asked, surprised. He saw the slim girl sitting by the road, scuffed and bleeding, holding her tremulous arm. “A van tried to hit her Thursday?”

Alison nodded. “She went out with Roland’s roommate last night and she didn’t come home. I went over to the dorm this afternoon to ask Roland about it. That was the only time I ever really talked to him. He said they’d gone to some motel in Marlowe, but I didn’t really believe him.” She met Jake’s gaze with weary, knowing eyes. “I think Roland killed her. Maybe he killed Jason, too. That’s the roommate. Maybe Jason’s in on it, but I don’t think so.”

“What happened after you spoke with Roland?”

“I went over to a friend’s house. We had dinner. Then I walked home. The place was dark. Helen’s door was shut. I thought she’d gone to bed, but I guess she must’ve already been dead. Roland must’ve been hiding somewhere. I went up to my room and went to sleep. He woke me up. He got a handcuff on me. And he put tape on my mouth. He was naked. I thought that what he wanted to do was, you know, rape me. I mean, I’m sure that is what he wanted to do, not just kill me, or he wouldn’t have bothered with the cuffs and tape. Anyway, we fought and I…I blinded him in one eye.” Her right hand left the coffee cup. She lifted her thumb and stared at it. “I washed,” she muttered. “Martha let me wash up. She found a key that opened the cuff. And gave me her sweater. She’s very nice.”

“You said that Roland was naked.”

“He had a belt on. That’s all.”

“Did you notice anything peculiar about his appearance?”

She looked at Jake and raised her eyebrows. “You mean like a tattoo or birthmark or something?”

“Did you get a look at his back? Or feel it?”

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“I just wonder if he had any kind of a bruise or bulge down his spine.”

“I don’t know. Not that I noticed. Why?”

“It’s a long story. I’d rather not get into it right now. After you gouged his eye, what happened?”

“I got away. I ran downstairs and went to warn Helen. But she was…” Alison caught her lower lip between her teeth. She shook her head.

“Then you went outside?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. I went down and broke into Dr. Teal’s kitchen, and he came out to help.”

“Okay, fine. He’s filled me in from there, up to the point where you ran for the patrol car.”

“That’s about all, then. Roland almost got me, but I drove away and…he was lying in the street the last time I saw him. I drove here to the police station and told Martha what happened. She sent a car and ambulance to the house and phoned someone.”

“She called the chief. He phoned me, and I went over. Could you describe this Roland?”

“He’s…eighteen, I guess. Skinny. About five-seven. Black hair. He’s minus his left eye and two fingers of his left hand, and he’s got a knife wound on his left nipple.”

“He won’t go far in that condition.”

“I guess not.”

“Did you notice if he had a car?”

“I don’t know. There was a VW bug on the street by the house. I almost hit it with the police car. It might not have been his, but—”