"You look rather chipper today." Alan said to Kirstin as they rode together towards U of M campus.
'Hmm?" Kirstin wasn't paying attention, she was too busy thinking about Sakeena and what she said the night before.
"Just knock next time..."
"Oh, uh, I guess I just got some good sleep." she said, laughing nervously as she parked the car against the sidewalk. "The past couple of nights haven't been great if you know what I mean." she didn't like reminding her peers about her embarrassing night, but Alan was unlike most of the others in that he didn't stare at her with lust filled eyes.
"That's good. So how do you want to handle this?" he asked as he unbuckled his seat belt.
"Just keep an eye on her and I'll do the talking. I want to see how she responds, my guess is if she did know anything she's going to be highly anxious about us."
"What makes you say that?"
"If you were in another country whose laws you didn't entirely know and the police approached you about a dead body would you be able to keep cool?"
"Good point." Alan held his hands over his eyes as he surveyed the area outside of the Education building. Located on one of the busier streets in Ann Arbor, University Ave, the sidewalks were already overflowed with students walking to their next class. "So the good news is that there was only Helena with a last name that sounded French, the bad news is there's a good chance that it could be the nine other Helena's enrolled at U of M if it isn't her."
"What's the last name?"
"Delaforge"
"Well at least we have her picture." Kirstin said, looking down at the copy of the profile pic they printed. She looked up to Alan and leaned close to his ear, "You didn't...tell anyone where we were going right?"
"No, wwwhy?" he asked slowly, raising an eyebrow as to why she was being discrete all of the sudden.
"Hillier again." Kirstin said with a roll of her eyes. "I think she's trying to beat us to it, so this being on the down low would be best for us." and for Kirstin. Alan approached her early with the list of names and Kirstin felt if they left now, Hillier couldn't grill her for details. Besides, hopefully after today, the blackmail scheme would be a thing of the past.
Alan raised his eyebrows as he shook his head. "Seriously, the less she has to do with homicide the better. Bad enough she racially profiles black people for drugs, I don't even want to think what happens when she wants to arrest them for murder. She has to be the only cop in Ann Arbor who gives a shit about people smoking pot."
"When their not white though correct?" Kirstin chimed in as they walked towards the Dept of Education building.
Alan nodded. "Mmmhmm." he mused, "Little Miss Confederate, savin' Ann Arbor from one pot-smoking criminal at a time." he said with a laugh.
Kirstin chuckled as well, stepping past Alan as he held the door open for her. The sight of students in their 20s brought Kirstin back to her own time in college, making her think again of all the interpersonal connections she missed.
Ahead, they spotted campus guard dressed in a dark blue uniform leaving a nearby cafe. he was in his mid 40s, black hair turning grey and gut starting to hang over his belt. He had a cup of coffee in his hand. Kirstin nudged Alan and then walked up to the man who blew on the top before taking a sip. "Excuse me, officer, do you regularly patrol this area?"
The man stopped and nodded as he stared at Kirstin and Alan. "Yes I do, may i ask who you are?"
Kirstin reached for the badge on her belt and said, "I'm Detective Delaney, this is my colleague Detective Howard. I won't take up too much of your time, I was just wondering if you have ever seen this student around campus?" she held up the photo of Helena.
The officer leaned closer, squinting his eyes as he got a look at the picture. "Hmm...I believe I've seen her around maybe. I dunno, they all look the same to me you know?"
Sighing, Kirstin nodded. "Indeed sir, her name is Helena. We believe she might be a first year student. Do you have an idea where we might be able to locate her?"
The officer held his free hand on his belt. "That depends, may I ask what this is about?"
"We were hoping to ask her some questions pertaining to a case that is involved on campus. She is not a suspect, just a person of interest."
"It's the murder that happened two nights ago isn't it?" he asked as he drank his coffee, watching Kirstin nod her head. He looked away from them, weighing his options in the ethics of giving away a students' whereabouts. "Well if she is a first year, she's probably in the Kaufman-Gail Residence. That's an all women's dorm. She's bound to be in and out of there if you wait outside. At the very least, one of the RA's could point you to her."
"Where is that dorm located?"
"Off of State Street." he set down his coffee and pulled out a notepad. "Let me get you the address." he scribbled it down and handed the note to Kirstin. "Good luck.
Kirstin and Alan had to walk across town to Central Campus where the dorm was located. It was a three story building, a clash of light blue paint and bricks, while new, still gave the dorm its old look, hundreds of years of history standing still while places around it rose and fall.
Kirstin held the door open for Alan as they stepped inside. The faint sound of a piano could be heard in the distance and Kirstin was reminded of a private school as she looked at the hardwood floors and old portraits from the 1800s on the wall. Two hallways stood on either side of Kirstin and she nudged her head towards the side where the source of the music came from.
The music got louder, the keys striking in an upbeat motion, the notes cutting off so fast that it didn't seem like it was a classical piece. They stopped at the end of the hall, staring at the open room where several couches and chairs were laid out in a semi-circle. On the other end was a large Steinway piano, the lid left open to showcase the hammers striking the strings.
Sitting in front of sat a woman wearing a long black skirt under a brown knit sweater. Thick, black rimmed glasses sat atop her face and her curly brown hair was tied in a bun. Upon standing several feet away, Kirstin could see freckles across the front of her face. The student looked up and adjusted her glasses, "Um..hi?"
"Hi there. Sorry to bother you." Kirstin began. "We were wondering if you could help us locate a student." she held open her jacket to showcase her badge.
"What for?" the student asked, her body frozen as she stared at the badge.
"Just to ask some questions, she's not in trouble."
WIth a shrug, the student said, "I can try."
Alan produced the picture and handed it to the woman. She took one look at it and bit her lip. "Umm..that's my roommate. Why do you want to speak with her?"
Kirstin took a deep breath to contain the excitement from her luck and said, "We're investigating the murder of a student and we're trying to investigate who may have had contact with him. Do you know if she's home?"
With a sigh, the woman handed the photo back. "She might. you're sure she's not in trouble?"
Both detectives nodded. Kirstin said, "We just have a few questions to ask her, if we had reason to believe she was, we would have came in with a warrant." Kirstin watched as the student's agitation showed, her slumped posture and foot that started to shake as it was crossed over the other.
"Okay, let me take you to our room." she said in a dry tone. She bent down to pick up her bag and stood up from her bench. She led Alan and Kirstin down the hall towards the other end of the dormitory where a flight of stairs led them up to the second floor. The halls became narrower as they were only corridors bridging the distance between each room.
The student, whose name was Maggie, stopped at a door on her right. "hang on just a second." she grabbed her keys and unlocked the door while Kirstin exchanged glances with Alan, a tacit reminder to their original plan.
"Helena? You home?" Maggie asked. No response came and she gestured for the two officers to come inside. She led them down a small corridor that opened up into a small kitchen adjacent to a tiny living room space.
Watching Maggie walk into the living room and turn to the left, Kirstin could hear a squeal and then a loud thud, causing both Alan and her to rush into the room. "Oh! There you are. Did i scare you?" Maggie asked .
Kirstin rushed in to see a small room containing two beds on either side along with two desks. Laying down in the bed on the right was a young woman with long jet black hair, the top of a white t-shirt peaking out above a red bedsheet that was gripped tight under her fingers. She had a look of terror on her face as she looked from her roommate to Kirstin and Alan. Sitting on the floor in front of the bed was a laptop, the lid open with a black screen. Kirsten could see a crack form on the back of the screen, even at small distances they were useless in withstanding impact.
"Wh-what is this about? Who are they?" the student asked. The accent and the appearance made Kirstin happy that they had found their mystery student, but it didn't explain why she had a slight shade of pink to her face.
"These are cops. They said they wanted to ask you some things."Maggie assured her. She turned to Kirstin and Alan, "She's um nervous, she's actually a student from France so she's not used to talking to police in America.
