Frank met me there. It was the sort of case that might have otherwise merited a patrol car — if that — but because Nick Parrish might be connected to the break-in, the mobile crime lab was already at work when I arrived.
“Any fingerprints?” I asked Frank.
“No, but they’re hoping they’ve picked up some tool marks on the door here and the latch of the window at the campus.”
“Not likely that Ben would suffer a break-in at both the office and at home on the same day, is it?”
“No, especially unlikely that he’d have two break-ins and nothing stolen from either place. There were valuables here and in the office that weren’t touched.”
“What could Ben have that Parrish wants?”
“We don’t know that this was Parrish.”
I stared at him.
“Yes, I’m with you — but we have to stay open to other possibilities,” he said. “You mentioned this ex-girlfriend of his.”
“Camille. And don’t even pretend you’ve forgotten her name.”
He laughed. “Okay, Camille. There was some rancor between them, right?”
“Some,” I admitted. “But I have a hard time picturing this woman in her silk power suit breaking in through a basement window.”
“Just the same, I think I’ll call Ben and ask for the name of the place where she works. I’d like to have a talk with her.”
“I’ll bet you would.”
The detective handling the case approached us just then. “Neighbor across the street says she saw a repairman of some sort over here earlier. Either of you know if Dr. Sheridan had arranged for any repairs?”
“No,” I said. “He hasn’t.”
“The neighbor said the repairman came directly into the backyard. She knows Dr. Sheridan is in the hospital, so she got suspicious and came over and knocked and rang the bell. There wasn’t any answer.”
“What time was that?” Frank asked.
“Early afternoon. She was watching a soap opera that comes on at one o’clock. She came over on a commercial break, so she didn’t stay around too long.”
“Any description of this repairman?”
“Not much of one, unless you call ‘a white guy wearing a cap’ a description. She has no idea regarding height or weight — changed her mind about three times on that one.” He paused, then said, “At first, before she figured out that he would have used the front door, she thought Sheridan might be home from the hospital. She said this repairman limped.”
Frank raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah,” the detective said. “Exactly what I was thinking. Flights from San Francisco on the hour.”
“Who’s in San Francisco?” I asked.
“Phil Newly — north of there, really, but not too far from the city. He’s visiting his sister.”
“Lady across the street said she thought it looked like a fake limp, but then, she can’t remember which leg the guy was limping on.”
“There’s someone else we may want to talk to,” Frank told him.
“It’s not Camille,” Ben insisted. “Impossible. She’d never do anything like that. Besides, I have nothing she’d want.”
“Just the same, I’d like to follow up on this,” Frank said.
Ben grudgingly gave him Camille’s work and home addresses. “If, for some unimaginable reason, she did this, I’m not pressing charges.”
“You parted amicably?” Frank asked.
After a long silence, Ben said, “No.”
“Thanks for being honest about it,” Frank said. “As you say, it probably wasn’t her.”
Frank called me at the paper to tell me that Camille Graham hadn’t been into work that day. “In fact,” he said, “she’s quit working there. We caught up with her at home, where she claims she’s been holed up for the last few days with a summer cold. She did seem to be a little congested.”
“You saw her?”
“Yes,” he said, amused. “She’s a looker, but I prefer brunettes.”
“Even though classes are over for the term, can you imagine a woman who looks like Camille crossing a campus undetected? Don’t young frat boys have radar for such women?”
“Why, Irene! I think that might have been a sexist remark,” he said.
“You know what I’m trying to say, Susan B. Anthony.”
“Anything is possible — of anyone. That’s all I’m asking you to keep in mind.”
We were getting nearer the day when Ben would be released from the hospital, and he was still claiming that he didn’t want to impose on us, but he wasn’t protesting quite so much. He was having problems with both phantom limb
