Sophie nodded absently, but she seemed lost in her own thoughts.
As innately suspicious as I was, I could not sense even a tiny bit of murderous guilt in either of them. But I did sense guilt—which was probably normal under the circumstances. Even I felt guilty. I wished I’d done something different that might have prevented Mallory’s murder.
“You guys know anything about her family?” I asked.
“Her father, you mean?” Sophie sniffed.
“Is his name Conn Clacher?” If Gaylord had represented Mallory’s father, then there was definitely a conflict of interest in him representing me and Tom.
Rena frowned. “No. Boris. Boris Clacher. He’s a strategic director at the medical school. Part of the administration.”
“Not Conn?”
Rena and Sophie looked at each other. Sophie said, “No. Why?”
“It’s not important.” I thought a moment. “Mallory lived in this building and she’s from here? Her father works in the medical school?”
“Aye. He’s well respected. And, I get what you’re saying, but it’s best not tae live with family while you’re going tae medical school, if there are other options,” Rena said.
That probably applied to all higher education.
“You suppose Dr. Eban and Boris Clacher had a … strained relationship?” I said.
“We were just talking about that. We aren’t aware of any problems, but Mallory mentioned that her father and Dr. Eban used tae be such good friends, about ten years ago. We asked her what happened tae make them less friendly. She didn’t answer us. We didn’t think much about it at the time, but we are going tae tell the police when they come by,” Sophie said.
Rena nodded. “The police stopped by this morning, but didn’t question us. They just made sure we were okay. I think they talked tae one of the residents on the first floor about Mallory but I don’t know. The news spread from there. We didn’t even think tae tell the police ourselves that we were with her last night, but they called not long ago to inform us they were coming over again. We’ve been waiting. We guessed they figured out we were with her, but we weren’t trying tae hide the fact. We’ve been so stunned about everything.”
I nodded again. “I told them. I didn’t have a moment to let you know they’d be getting in touch. I thought they would have talked to you by now.”
“That makes sense,” Sophie said. She and Rena shared a glance. Were they bothered that I told the police about them? They didn’t seem to be. Sophie continued, “What else can you tell us? She was killed right next tae where you work. Did you find her?”
“No, Hamlet and Rosie did. You’ve met them. I don’t know much more than that. It was tough.” Another well of tears tightened my throat, but I swallowed again.
“That had tae be so terrible,” Sophie said.
I pushed forward. “Did anyone not like Mallory? Did she have enemies?”
“No!” they proclaimed at once.
“Everyone loved her,” Rena said. “She worked very hard, studied all the time. She rarely went out, even on Fridays after an exam. We had tae beg her last night.” Now, her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away.
My heart beat even heavier. I sighed and looked at my friends. They were unquestionably distraught. They weren’t faking it. But there was something else to their emotions or behavior, or both. I listened hard for my bookish voices, silently beckoning them to say something. Anything. What was I sensing about these two women?
The voices had been so silent lately that I was surprised when one answered. One of my favorites, C.S. Lewis.
Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
Did someone in the room need to grow up, mature? Or was I grasping at so many straws that I’d been making up my own fairy tale? Impossible to interpret at the moment.
“Do you think Dr. Eban might have had something to do with Mallory’s murder?” I asked. I hesitated, but only for an instant. “Lola, downstairs, mentioned an affair. Between Mallory and Dr. Eban.”
They exchanged another look as I zoned in on Rena.
“We can only speculate,” Sophie said, her voice so clear that I did a double take. She didn’t sound upset at all.
“Delaney,” Rena piped up. She sat forward and looked at Sophie before she turned her attention back to me. “I … I made a mistake. There was nothing going on between Sophie and Dr. Eban.”
“You were pretty sure last night.”
“No, that’s not true. I told you that Sophie wasn’t sharing this part of her life with me and that I was guessing.”
“It was just my marks, Delaney. I’m not doing well, and I’ve been worried. Rena turned it into something else,” Sophie said. And then she changed the subject. “We heard Mallory was suffocated.”
Had the police released the cause of death?
“I don’t know…”
“Burke and Hare,” Sophie interjected. “That’s how they killed their victims.”
“You think it might be a copycat Burke and Hare murder?” I said.
“Not that so much, as … well, Dr. Eban, Delaney. We told you about his strange … adoration almost for the killers,” Sophie said.
“Did they leave a skull behind with their victims?” I asked too quickly.
The two women sat up. “What?” they said together.
“There was a skull there?” Sophie said.
“A skull?” Rena added.
“Sorry. I don’t know how much the police are going to share, and my information is spotty at best. But did Burke and Hare leave bones behind?” I’d been caught off guard and I didn’t know how to get out of it.
“Not that I know of,” Rena said, perplexed. “But there’s a skull room on campus, part of the medical school.”
“I heard,” I said, at least keeping mum about the confirmation from Inspector Pierce that the skull had come from that room.
“I’m sure Dr. Eban has full access tae it. We were given a tour our first year—the same day of our first dissection.” Rena fell into thought.
“Dr. Eban is an extraordinary teacher, but he’s such an odd
