Kindred in Death (In Death #29)(49)

“Lieutenant, thank you for coming, and for being so prompt.” She strode around the desk with the gait of a woman who got where she was going with minimum detours and shook Eve’s hand briskly. “Harry, let’s get Lieutenant Dallas some coffee.”

“No, thanks.”

“No? You can go Harry. Lieutenant.” She gestured to a chair, then circled behind her desk again. The position of power. “I understand you paid a visit to one of our dorms last night.”

“Correct.”

“I asked Darian about it this morning. He’s afraid he might be in trouble, and is considerably upset about the circumstances.”

“He’s not in trouble with me. The circumstances are upsetting.”

“They are. Darian is an excellent student with only a few minor infractions. I vetted his record thoroughly and personally this morning. I’m concerned that one of our students was used to commit a crime, and one of this nature. We’ve provided you with the data you re quested.”

“Appreciated.”

Lapkoff sat back, smiled a little. The smile softened her face, but the eyes remained bold and sharp. “You’re annoyed with being summoned here, so to speak. I understand. We’re women of position and authority, and being summoned grates.”

“Murder grates, Dr. Lapkoff, a hell of a lot more.”

“Yes, it does. I didn’t ask you to come just to satisfy my curiosity. Though I admit I wanted a look at Roarke’s cop. And Jamie Lingstrom’s. I’ve taken an interest in Jamie, as he brought us Roarke.”

Those piercing blue eyes sparked with amusement for a moment. “Again, so to speak.”

“Roarke’s taken a personal interest in Jamie.”

“So I’m told. And I understand from Darian Jamie’s also connected to this girl.” She angled her head. “Another thing I imagine we share is an ability to interrogate and elicit information.” She waited a moment. “And to keep information to ourselves. I appreciated your discretion, Lieutenant, but—”

She leaned forward again. “This isn’t just my job. This university and all that goes with it are my responsibility. And my passion. The obvious conclusion is this university may be connected to Deena MacMasters’s death. That disturbs me.”

She paused, shook her head as if impatient. “No, that’s not accurate. It pisses me off. If the person who killed that girl is associated with Columbia, you can believe I want to find out. I want to offer any assistance I can.”

“I appreciate your cooperation.”

“My paternal grandfather was a cop.”

Eve’s eyebrows lifted. “Is that so?”

“In St. Paul. His stories fascinated me as a child. He retired a Detective-Inspector. We were very proud of him. Lieutenant.” Peach folded her hands on the desk. “I believe in law and in order—and in a very dry martini. I also believe in this university, what it stands for. Darian and Jamie are what it stands for. Darian is sick with guilt and worry. Jamie, though I haven’t spoken to him, is probably sick with grief. You, Lieutenant, have a reputation for getting things done, and kicking whatever ass needs to be kicked to do it. So do I. This office, and any office or facility at this university are at your disposal.”

“That’s quite an offer.”

Now Peach edged forward and those eyes were frosted glass. “I saw the morning reports on the murder.”

“So it’s out.”

“They didn’t have much, but enough. They showed her photo.”

“I hope to have an artist’s rendering of the suspect by end of day. That may lead to a name and location, but unless he’s in the system already, something like that can take a great deal of time. Do you have imaging programs?”

“We do.”

“It’s possible he was a student here at one time, or employed here. It’s possible that if you ran that artist’s rendition through imaging with your database of student and staff IDs, you could match him before we do.”

“I’ll arrange it.”

“It can’t be done by anyone on staff. I need a cop to do it. That would take a warrant without your permission and approval on record.”

“You’ll have both.”

“That certainly cuts through the bullshit.”

This time Peach flashed a brilliant grin. “One of my best skills and favorite occupations.”

“Well then, when we have the sketch I’ll have an EDD man report here for that duty.”

“I’ll clear it.”

“I believe the suspect hacked into your student files in April, added his data, or the data he wished, so that any check would show him as a student here. He would have removed that data on or about the day of the murder. A good e-man might be able to find those hacks, and trace.”

Peach blew out a breath. “All right. It will be a lot of tedious work, I imagine.”

“That’s a good portion of what we do. Tedium.”

“Understood. Not so different from what I do. I suppose I was hoping for something more immediate and exciting.”

“Then you didn’t listen to your grandfather’s stories very closely.”

She smiled again. “I suspect he juiced them up. Still you get juice. I’m looking forward to reading Nadine Furst’s book on the Icove case.”