Jerry remembered Morris Gardener’s fiancée well. She was attractive and confident with a healthy sense of humor that kept her lectures fresh. She had the ability to remember almost every student’s name, and those damned sexy red lips-it hadn’t taken long for Jerry to form a little crush on her, another tiny detail he’d refrained from mentioning to Morris. Jerry rather liked his face and didn’t want Morris’s ham fist breaking it.
Had Sheila Tao been a sex addict back then? It was hard to picture, but it just proved that people were almost never who they seemed. Everybody had secrets.
Ethan Wolfe’s office was at the end of the hall. Jerry hadn’t called in advance to let the TA know he was coming. People’s reactions after the initial surprise were always telling.
The door was open and Jerry paused in the doorway. Wolfe was at his desk, typing studiously on his keyboard, eyes focused on the computer monitor in front of him. The office was nothing to write home about. A desk, a computer, two chairs, and a bookshelf stuffed with textbooks. Beige paint on the walls, a plastic plant in one corner. A Seahawks bobblehead sat on the desk beside the computer, nodding at nothing.
Jerry stood for a moment to observe the younger man, who didn’t appear to notice he was being watched. Wolfe didn’t look like a particularly small guy, but Morris had to outweigh him by at least seventy pounds. Not a smart move on the kid’s part, getting involved with Sheila.
Jerry cleared his throat.
Wolfe, without looking up, said, “Be right with you.” The student’s fingers continued to type out words Jerry couldn’t see from where he was standing. It seemed everyone under thirty could type nowadays, Jerry thought, noting Wolfe’s perfect hand position at the keyboard. In his day, only secretaries could type.
The bobblehead nodded in rhythm to Wolfe’s movements, and the spring in its neck produced a squeaking sound that didn’t take long to get on Jerry’s nerves. He resisted the urge to reach out and make it still. Not that he was easily distracted, but damned if that bouncing head wasn’t annoying as hell.
Standing politely in the doorway, he waited for Wolfe to finish. Finally the younger man looked up. His handsome face displayed genuine surprise to see the tall black man watching him.
“Can I help you?” Wolfe asked, standing up. Jerry noticed that his eyes, a striking pale gray, were rimmed with red. Fatigue, or staring at the computer screen too long? Or something else? His face had a hollow look, but since Jerry had never met this kid before, he couldn’t tell if this was normal or not.
“Jerry Isaac.” He eased into the little office and slid a business card across the desk. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m here to ask you some questions about Dr. Sheila Tao.”
Wolfe shook his hand. “I didn’t think you looked like a student, but you never know, do you? I’m Ethan Wolfe, but you look like you already know that.”
“Mind if I sit?”
“Please.” Wolfe looked over Jerry’s card. “Private investigator, huh? The police were just here last week. Kind of freaked everybody out. We thought Dr. Tao left for personal reasons, but they made it sound like something bad happened. Are you working with them, or did the family hire you?”
Jerry smiled. “Yes to both,” he replied, the answer rolling smoothly off his tongue. “I’m just here to follow up.”
“But I thought the police weren’t concerned about Dr. Tao.” Wolfe seemed confused. “We called them for an update a couple of days ago and they told us they’d closed the investigation. Confirmed that she’d left of her own accord.”
“That’s why the family hired me. To look into it a bit further. Police investigations aren’t always as thorough as my clients would like. Thank God for that, or I’d be out of business.” Jerry chuckled. “I understand you’ve been working with the professor for about a year now.”
“This is-was-my third semester with her, yeah.”
“Anything you can tell me about her?”
“Like what?”
“Does her sudden disappearance surprise you?”
“Disappearance?” Wolfe repeated. He rocked back in his chair and appraised the private investigator coolly. “They’re no longer calling it an absence?”
Jerry waved a hand. “Just words. Does her absence strike you as weird?”
“Totally. She’s not the kind of person to just take off. She was very organized, very meticulous about her schedule.”
“Rigid.”
Wolfe looked thoughtful. “No, not rigid. She would make time for anybody. She’d often meet with students outside her regular office hours, and I don’t know many professors who did that. But she was very particular about getting things done, very committed to her work. So, yeah, I’d say it’s surprising for her to just up and leave.”
“She didn’t say anything to you that might have hinted this was coming?”
“No. Why would she tell me?”
Jerry’s gaze didn’t waver. “Why do you think she left?”
“I have no idea. I couldn’t say.”
“If you could speculate…”
“I don’t speculate.”
Jerry chuckled again. “So you’re telling me that you guys-you and the other TAs-haven’t sat around talking about why you think she’s gone? Come on now, Mr. Wolfe. You’re a psychologist in training. Isn’t that just human nature?”
“Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated here?”
“I don’t know. Why do you? Is there something you’re feeling guilty about?”
Wolfe’s gaze remained cool. “Okay, you want my professional opinion? Maybe she’s having a midlife crisis. She’s at the right age. She’s about to get married; her taking off could be a stress reaction to making a commitment. She was single for a long time. It can be hard to change your ways, settle down, when you’ve been on your own for so long.”
“From what I know of women, they usually like being in relationships.”
Wolfe shrugged. “It’s a theory. You asked me to speculate.”
“Was she pretty open about her personal life?”
“With me?”
“With anyone. Including you.”
“Sometimes. We’ve worked together for a while now. It’s natural that personal stuff would come up.”
“And how would you characterize your relationship?”
Wolfe shrugged again. “Employer, employee. Professor, student.”
“You weren’t friends?”
“We were friendly.”
“How friendly?”
“We had a great working relationship,” Wolfe said with a smile.
“But you were more than just colleagues.” Jerry stated this as fact.
“Were we?”
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
Wolfe’s eyes narrowed. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“So you never socialized outside the university?”
“Define socialized.”
“Did you two have something going on?” There. A direct question. Jerry watched Wolfe’s reaction closely.
The TA’s face registered surprise. “You’re kidding, right? You know how old she is?”
“What does age matter?” Jerry cracked his knuckles. “She’s a pretty lady.”
Wolfe laughed. “It matters to me. Besides, my girlfriend wouldn’t be too impressed.”
“No, I’d guess not,” Jerry agreed good-naturedly. “But you didn’t answer the question.”
“Which was?”
“Were you fucking your professor or not?”
Wolfe stiffened.
“I’ll close the door so you can speak openly.” Jerry stood, his chair scraping the shiny floors of the office.
“No.” The sudden urgency in the graduate student’s voice caused Jerry to turn back in surprise. “The door stays open.”
Jerry stared at him and sat back down. “Your call.” He pulled his chair closer to the desk. “I’m waiting for an answer, Mr. Wolfe.”