Sounds of Murder

Chapter 2

Poor Charlotte. No, thought Pamela, Charlotte wasn't one of her favorite persons. She was abrasive and confrontational, but Pamela had never personally suffered any of Charlotte's verbal attacks-as Mitchell had earlier this evening. Oh, my God, what had happened here tonight?

As she stood there looking at Charlotte and contemplating all of the possibilities, she could hear Kent's voice and the voices of several other people--probably the police--coming down the hallway. Kent entered the lab, followed by medical personnel and two uniformed officers who quickly took over. She and Kent stood back, out of the way. The officers told them to wait because the local detectives would want to question them when they arrived.

She and Kent edged to the back of the lab and sat in two carrels in the last row of computers where they waited for at least twenty minutes. The lab was cold-to protect the equipment-and well lit, much better lit than the rest of the old building. Pamela found herself shivering; she wasn't sure if it was from the cold or her own fear. Finally, the local police arrived and added to the crazy scene. Eventually, a tall man in a shabby grey suit and overcoat strode over to them and introduced himself. Pamela and Kent rose to greet him.

"Ms. Barnes?" he said, holding out his hand, "I'm Detective Shoop." She shook his hand perfunctorily. "Ms. Barnes," said Shoop, "were you the one who discovered the body?" He had a droopy sad face with lids that hung over his eyes like wrinkled prunes.

"No, my graduate assistant Kent Drummond, here, did," she said.

"All right." The detective motioned for them to be seated again as he pulled out a chair for himself from one of the carrels, and the threesome gathered in a circle at the back of the lab. "Let's talk about the details of all of this a bit," he said.

Pamela and Kent sat close together on their lab chairs. Pamela was clutching her jacket and purse and Kent was still holding tightly to his backpack. Shoop straddled the small rolling lab chair from behind.

"Now, start at the beginning," said the tall detective, leaning over the back of the chair and sleepily eyeing the two of them

"We'd just finished Dr. Barnes' seminar," stated Kent. He glanced at Pamela.

"When was that?" interrupted Shoop.

"About five to nine," answered Pamela, "I checked my watch as I was leaving the seminar room."

"Good," nodded Shoop, then he pointed to Kent, indicating that he should continue. Shoop reached in his suit pocket and pulled out a large cloth handkerchief and wiped his nose firmly. Then he replaced the hanky in his pocket.

"Uh, Dr. Barnes wanted me to check to see if the lab was locked, so I came down here to check."

"Is this laboratory typically left unlocked?" Shoop asked, directing this comment to Pamela.

"No, never," she responded firmly. "There is so much expensive equipment here. Only faculty members have keys, and graduate students can check out keys only with a faculty member's permission."

"Hmmm," said Shoop, thinking and biting his lower lip. "Continue."

"When I got here," said Kent, "the door was open..."

"Open?" asked Shoop, "Is that normal?"

Kent thought a moment. "Not for this time of night, no. That's what struck me as odd right away. I mean, it's usually closed and locked when the last grad assistant leaves for the day. Hardly anyone uses it this late. I figured that a faculty member must be in the lab working late and when I saw Dr. Clark, that's what I thought it was--until I saw how she was..."

"Yes," said Shoop, cutting him off. "Then what did you do?"

"I ran back to the seminar room to get Dr. Barnes," he responded.

"Did you see anyone in the lab? Or near the lab, either before or after you first entered at nine o'clock?" Shoop asked the young man.

"No. No one," replied Kent. "The building was deserted except for Dr. Barnes and me."

Another man in a suit and overcoat arrived and waved a greeting to Detective Shoop, who pointed him towards the body.

"The coroner," announced Shoop. He redirected his interest back to Pamela and Kent. "Now, Mr. Drummond, did you or Ms. Barnes touch the body or anything around the

body or in the lab after you entered?"

"No," said Kent, "I didn't touch anything."

"I touched Charlotte," responded Pamela. "I checked her pulse and listened for breath sounds. The police operator directed me to do that."

"Yes," nodded Shoop, "yes, that's fine. Did you touch anything else?"

"No, nothing." she responded.

"All right," Shoop said, standing. "Mr. Drummond, I'm going to have you go with Officer Kline, here." He motioned for one of the uniformed officers to come over. "He'll ask you some more questions, standard procedure, and then he'll see that you're returned safely to your residence." The uniformed officer escorted Kent out of the laboratory. Pamela remained seated.

"Now, Ms. Barnes," began the lanky detective, looking around. "Is there some place more private we could talk?"

"Tonight?" she asked. "Couldn't this wait until tomorrow? I'm so tired. So drained emotionally. I really need to go home."

"I understand, Ms. Barnes," said the detective, "But, I'm sorry. I must ask you some questions right now, while all of this is still fresh in your mind." He looked at her expectantly.

"I guess we can go to my office," she said, sighing, "It's upstairs."

"Fine," he responded and started to lead her out of the lab, his dark overcoat flapping against his legs as he walked.

"Detective," she said, stopping him, hesitating, "Could I first please call my husband? He's probably worried that I'm not home yet."

"Sure," stated Shoop, returning to his chair and reseating himself, obviously intending to wait for her while she made her call. Pamela again reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She pressed the number key for her home. Her husband answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Babe," he said, "Where are you?"

"Oh, Rocky," she said, tears now welling up, "I...I ...won't be home for a while. There was an...an accident here." Then she added quickly, sensing his concern, "I'm fine. I'm fine, but...one of our faculty has died. The police are here. I'm going to be here a bit longer."

"Do you need me to come get you?" he asked. She could hear his voice catch.

"No," she said, gulping. "I'm really fine. I just need to talk to the police a bit more. I'll explain everything when I get home. Oh, Rocky..."

"Yes, Babe?"

"Please, wait up."

"You know it."

She hung up and slowly put her phone away. Then as Detective Shoop gestured for her to lead the way to her office, she headed out of the lab, with a quick final look toward the carrel that contained the body of Charlotte Clark.