Read Online Tunnel Vision by Brenda Adcock - Free Book Online Page B

back with the coffee pot.“It’s a fresh pot,” she said while pouring.
    “Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate that,” he said.When the waitress finally left the table, Brodie asked, “Adding another one to your already long list of Barbies?”
    “The list can never be too long,” he laughed as he brought his cup to his lips. Maggie wasn’t a part of their conversation and didn’t ask any questions. She had been generally silent throughout the meal, a fact not lost on Brodie.
    “When did you start smoking again?” Maggie asked, realizing her mistake as Brodie’s eyes flew up to meet hers.
    Nicholls didn’t seem to notice Maggie’s slip. “I’ve been trying to convince her to quit, but she’s being stubborn about it.”
    Brodie took a deep breath and flicked ashes into the ashtray. “You know, she’s been dead for a while now, but if memory serves me right, neither one of you looks a fuckin’ thing like my mother,” she said tightly.
    “Jesus, you’re touchy today, Brodie. Strike out last weekend?” Nicholls asked.
    “My personal life isn’t any of your goddamn business, Nicholls. Remember that!” she snapped. Surprised by the sudden irritation in his partner’s voice, Nicholls narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
    Mashing out her unfinished cigarette, Brodie quickly changed the subject. “Nothing,” she said, looking at Maggie. “What do you think our next step should be, Weston?”
    Grateful to be on a safer topic, Maggie pulled her notebook from her pocket and glanced through it for a minute before answering. “If we make a few assumptions, and I suppose we’ll have to for now, the victim was probably killed over the weekend and there might be a missing person report. Since the head was left on the campus he could have been a student or a university employee. I think we should check with personnel first to see if anyone has been absent from work today. Cardona said he looked to be at least thirty, so we might speculate he wasn’t a student.”
    “Why?” Brodie challenged. “People over thirty have been known to attend college.”
    “I know, but universities don’t keep attendance records the way public schools do. It would be easier to eliminate employees first.”
    “The vic could have come from anywhere,”
    Nicholls said.
    “True,” said Maggie leaning slightly forward,
    “but why would anyone carry around a head and decide to dump it at the university here? He, or she, could have dumped it in a field somewhere in the boonies and it wouldn’t have been found for weeks or months, if then. Besides, considering the head showed no signs of decomposition, I don’t think the perp kept it around very long. Maybe a few hours at most.”
    “She’s right,” Nicholls nodded.
    Emboldened by his agreement, she continued,
    “Decapitation is pretty extreme for a beginner or an impulse killer. Something like that would take some advanced planning. He could have done something similar before and gotten away with it. Perhaps not as flashy as this, but now he’s willing to take more risks.”
    “Maybe he doesn’t like Hispanics,” Brodie said.
    “Maybe he’s just a fuckin’ whacko,” Nicholls added.
    Brodie leaned her head back in thought. “We need to find how our perp got the victim into those tunnels. We’ve spent hours searching every one only to run into a brick wall, literally. I want to see the earliest floor plans for the Biology Building and examine the inside again at the exact original entrance location. He didn’t get the victim down there by wiggling his nose and there’s no evidence he used the outside basement entrance.”
    “My team and I checked that building thoroughly, Lieutenant,” Maggie said defensively.
    “I’m not saying you weren’t thorough, Detective. But now I want that building torn apart. We have to have missed something. It’s a good idea to check out the university employees. Make a few calls when we get back to the