Catch a Falling Knife

Elise filing a harassment charge against Mark…Dr. Pappas.”
    “The fact that she wasn’t a virgin gnawed at Elise because she figured it would be found out when she got married, if not before. She needed to get it excused in Ted’s eyes. She came up with this idea of filing a harassment charge for nonconsensual sex. I told her not to, especially not against Dr. Pappas. But she did it anyway.”
    “Why did she choose Dr. Pappas?”
    “Because…he’s young and good looking, and because…I suspect Elise fantasized about him, just like I did.”
    There’s nothing like living out your fantasies. “So Ted knew about the harassment charge because he was meant to. I gather that her father didn’t know about it.”
    “She didn’t want him to know about it because she was afraid he would hurt Dr. Pappas.”
    “But the consequences of the charge, itself, wouldn’t.”
    “I warned her about that. But she wasn’t thinking straight. I don’t think she thought it would hurt Dr. Pappas as much as it did. Or cause an uproar on campus. The whole thing was supposed to be confidential.”
    “Who do you think leaked the fact that Mark was the accused?”
    “I’d rather not say. I work in the Administration Building and I don’t want to lose my job.”
    “You’ve said enough. I want to talk to this guy, Ted.”
    “The police have already talked to him.”
    We had been standing in the bedroom all this time. I had noticed a loose-leaf binder sitting on Donna’s dresser. The cover had been hand-decorated with music notes and flowers. The word “Compositions” was written on it in fancy script.
    “Are you a writer?” I asked her.
    She followed my gaze to the notebook and giggled in an embarrassed manner. “I like to write. I’ve written some poems and stuff. The drama department put on a musical review last fall. I wrote the words to many of the songs they sang, including all the songs that Elise sang.”
    “That’s impressive. I read that Elise was a singer. She must have been good.”
    “She was great. She was going to have the lead in Carousel , the May musical here at the college. Here death really upset things. They’ve been going crazy trying to recast the part of Julie.”
    Speaking of crazy, I had one of my crazy ideas. “Where do your parents live?” I asked.
    “In Virginia. Near Washington, D.C. They both work for the government.”
    “So you don’t go home weekends.”
    “Oh, no. They asked me if I wanted to come home for a while…to get over the shock, but then I’d miss school. I think I can handle it here, but of course it’s hard.”
    “On Sundays my family gathers for brunch at my son’s farm in Chapel Hill. You have a car. How would you like to drive down and have brunch with us? Dr. Pappas is a friend of the family, too. I think I can arrange for him to be there.”
    She blushed at my mention of Mark’s name. “That…sounds like fun, but I don’t want to intrude.”
    I assured her that we brought friends to the brunch all the time.
    She consented, thanked me and then added, “Please don’t tell Dr. Pappas that I was the Shooting Star. That would be just too embarrassing.”
    I agreed and gave her directions to Albert’s farm. Then I said, “One last question. Who do you think killed Elise?”
    “I wish I knew.” Donna looked puzzled. “I know you’re trying to help Dr. Pappas. I’d like to work with you to find the killer.”
    “I’ll take you up on that.”

Chapter 14
     
    The office of Burt Brown, my attorney friend, was plush considering his age, early thirties, and the fact that he had been out of law school only a few years. His parents had been friends of Milt, my late husband, and me, although they were younger than we were. We had known each other since before Burt was born.
    Burt’s firm handled cases ranging from murder to immigration and I wanted him to be in at the start with Mark, even though Mark hadn’t been charged with anything yet. He had agreed to meet us on Saturday morning before his golf game, because of the family friendship.
    Burt met us in the lobby of his firm’s offices, which were in a new office building in Durham.
    “Hi Aunt Lillian, it’s good to see you,” he said, greeting me with a warm smile and a hug.
    Of course I wasn’t really his aunt. He wore a golfing sweater and casual slacks. He was about the same height as I am and his exotic good looks, caused by his mixed ancestry, had to attract females, although I wasn’t