“Let me guess, it’s money they don’t want to spend.”
“Correct.” She turned the steering wheel, following the path. “But, in all fairness, Harrison is a small university located in a tiny corner of Texas. Union County has only 2,000 permanent residents, not including students or faculty. Nothing like this has happened on campus before.”
Weston grunted. “They fell into the common trap that serious crime only happens in the big city.”
“Exactly. None of the cameras in the parking lots picked up anything suspicious, but I have a theory about how the killer got into the building with Jane Doe’s body.”
Avery passed the main entrance to the Fairman Building and circled around to the side. A small swatch of grass was the only division between the building and a row of pine trees. She parked the cart and got out. Weston joined her.
“The Fairman Building is on the edge of campus.” Avery pointed to a worn path leading through the trees. “Down that way is a public street. As a shortcut, students sometimes park there and come through the woods to the building. I believe the killer used the same method, bringing Jane Doe through this side door. He would’ve avoided any security cameras.”
Weston frowned. “But it wouldn’t have necessarily prevented him from running into someone. Another student coming out of the building or someone on the road.”
“The victim was petite. The coroner found evidence indicating she may have been put into some kind of luggage. My guess is, the killer transported her in a large suitcase. I can’t prove it because there was a huge thunderstorm that night and any tracks were washed away, but it’s the simplest method. Students and faculty travel all of the time for various reasons. No one would’ve looked at him twice.”
“It’s a good theory.” He eyed the side entrance. “Did you recover any prints off the door?”
“Nothing usable. There were tons inside the classroom where Jane was found, but that’s not surprising considering the number of students passing through on any given day. I doubt we’ll get a match to the killer. He’s probably smart enough to have worn gloves.”
Weston reached for the handle and pulled. The door opened. “Would this entrance have been unlocked on the night of the murder?”
“Most of the buildings, including this one, are open until ten o’clock at night. After that, students and faculty have to use their university IDs to gain access to any restricted area. Each time an ID is scanned, it’s stored in our computer system.”
He gestured for her to pass through and lead the way to the classroom. “I take it no one scanned their ID prior to the discovery of the body.”
“No, but it was only 10:30 when she was found, and the scene would’ve taken time to set up. It’s likely the killer entered while the building was open.” She paused. “How long do you think it will take to get an ID on Jane Doe?”
“Depends. I’ve already called the coroner’s office and put a rush on it. If we’re lucky, we could get an ID within a few hours.”
Some of the knots in Avery’s stomach loosened. She was grateful to have Weston’s help on the case. More than grateful. He could’ve refused to take it on or asked her to wait. Texas Rangers were assigned a specific geographical area. Harrison University was in Luke’s region, and technically, it was his case. But Weston had stepped forward to fill in without hesitation. No wonder Luke and Megan spoke so highly of him.
“Once inside, I think the killer used this set of stairs,” Avery said, escorting Weston up one flight. “The classroom is right here.”
The memory of finding Jane flashed before her eyes and Avery’s hand tightened on the door handle. She took a deep breath. Someone had murdered the young woman, but he wasn’t going to get away with it. Avery would do everything possible to get justice. She pushed open the door and stepped aside so Weston could enter.
“Who discovered the body?” he asked.
“Professor Marianne Jenkins. She called for a security escort and came downstairs to wait but realized she’d left her cell phone charger in her office. Once upstairs, she noticed the door to this classroom was cocked open, came to close it, and discovered Jane. As you can imagine, Professor Jenkins was terrified. She ran to the stairwell at the end of the hallway and tripped on the last couple of steps. That’s where I found her.”
“Was she injured?”
“Not seriously, but the poor woman had to be sedated. I was able to question her beforehand though. There were others in the building earlier in the evening, but to her knowledge, they all left around nine.”
“And she didn’t see or hear anything suspicious?”
“No. She was closed up in her office working for hours. It was her habit to play music to keep her company.”
Weston was quiet for a moment. He wandered over to the windows and looked out at the courtyard below. “Why this specific room? There are classrooms on the first floor. We passed them to get up here. It would’ve been a lot easier to deposit Jane’s body there. Or, even better, dump her in the trees. The killer went to a lot of trouble to stage the scene. None of this makes any sense unless we assume every action he made was purposefully done.”
That same conclusion had haunted her all night. “Every action…including the note.”
“Yes.” He turned to face her. “Avery, if the killer merely wanted your attention, he only had to dump Jane’s body on campus. You would’ve automatically been in charge of the case as chief of police.”
Goosebumps broke out across her skin. “That’s not what he did.”
“No. He specifically targeted you in a personal note. Why?”
“I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead. A pounding headache was blooming along the temples. One she knew would turn
