Got Your Number

rejected, Officer."
    "Did Dr. Seger invite a lot of female students back to his office?"
    "I don't know."
    "Why didn't you report Dr. Seger to the school authorities?"
    She concentrated on the ugly fingerprint ink around her nails. "I don't know."
    "Is it because you were in love with Dr. Seger and were a willing participant?"
    Angora looked up. "I was young and stupid. Afterward I was so humiliated, I never told anyone what happened." She'd simply pretended it hadn't happened.
    "Were you in contact with Dr. Seger after you graduated?"
    "No."
    "But you never forgot him."
    "I sometimes read about him in the alumni newsletter."
    "Your cousin told us you were recently jilted at the altar."
    Tears stung her eyes. "So?"
    "So that would make a woman mighty angry. Angry enough to get even with the next man in her life that crossed her."
    Why had she told Roxann about her nasty urges? A feeling of betrayal flooded her chest, magnifying the odd pain radiating there. "Did Roxann tell you I said that?"
    " Did you say that?" Jaffey asked.
    "Don't answer," Mike warned her. "Next question."
    "When did you become reacquainted with Dr. Seger?"
    "When my cousin and I arrived in South Bend yesterday."
    "And you bid on a date with him at the bachelor auction last night?"
    "You know I did."
    Jaffey whistled. "Two thousand dollars is hefty sum for a little food and conversation. Did you have something else in mind?"
    "I don't know what you mean."
    "Maybe a little revenge for the way he treated you all those years ago."
    "Is that a question?" Mike asked.
    Jaffey frowned. "What happened after you and Dr. Seger left the auction?"
    "We went to Utopia for dinner, then dancing at a place called DeSoto's."
    Warner held up his hand and checked written notes he'd brought in. "Utopia? That's where your cousin and Dr. Oney had dinner last night."
    "I didn't see them there. We were in a private dining room."
    "Ms. Beadleman says she lost her scarf sometime during the evening. You didn't by chance find it at the restaurant, and decide to return it to her later?"
    "No. And it was a cheap scarf."
    Jaffey's eyebrow went up. "Cheap scarf—I'll make a note of that. What time did you leave the restaurant?"
    "Eleven o'clock, maybe? I'm not sure."
    "What about the dance place—DeSoto's?"
    "Closing time—maybe one in the morning?"
    "Then what happened?"
    "We went back to his place."
    "To have sex?"
    She squirmed. "That was the idea, I suppose."
    "And did you?"
    "No."
    "Why not?"
    "We...were going to, but then Carl started choking me." Her voice broke and she touched the tender skin on her neck. "I thought he was trying to kill me."
    "So you killed him?"
    "Don't answer that," Mike warned.
    She ignored him. "I passed out. When I woke up, I was alone. I left the house and ran all the way back to Dr. Oney's."
    Warner made a noise in his throat. "Ms. Ryder, why do you think Dr. Seger was choking you?"
    "I...said something that made him angry."
    "What was that?"
    She glanced at Mike, who nodded. "When I was going to school here, there was a girl named Tammy Paulen who was killed on campus in a hit-and-run."
    Neither man seemed surprised. "Go on," Warner urged.
    "I was driving back to my dorm room that night, and I had my window down. I heard a scream, and when I turned the corner, she was lying in the road and a black Volvo was speeding away."
    "Dr. Seger's car?"
    "Yes."
    "What did you do?"
    "I didn't know what to do—I was in shock. I kept driving, then pulled over and parked my car. When I walked back, a car had stopped and two guys were bending over her. I knew they would help her, so I went back to my room." She swallowed. "I didn't know she was dead."
    "Why didn't you tell the police what you saw?"
    "Because...I didn't see it happen. I only heard her scream and saw the car. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought I might be mistaken."
    "You couldn't put two and two together?"
    They thought she was dumb. "Even if Dr. Seger had hit her, it was an accident. Tammy was...dead, and I couldn't see how destroying Dr. Seger's career would help anything."
    The men exchanged doubtful glances, then Jaffey gave her a tight smile. "Ms. Ryder, we know that you were questioned in the hit-and-run of Tammy Paulen. Nell Oney was the girl's academic advisor and filled us in on the details. She said that Tammy Paulen knew something that she was holding over your head."
    Her heart fell to her stomach—she thought her secret had died with that horrible girl, but