the back of his hand to wipe his nose. Jeffrey could not tell if he had a cold or was trying not to cry.
Lena asked, “So, was there anyone strange hanging around the lab or Sibyl’s office?”
Richard shook his head. “Just the usual weirdos.” He laughed, then stopped abruptly. “I guess that’s not altogether appropriate.”
“No,” Lena said. “It’s not.”
Jeffrey cleared his throat, getting the young man’s attention. “When was the last time you saw her, Richard?”
“After her morning class,” he said. “She wasn’t feeling well. I think I caught her cold.” He took out a tissue as if to support this. “She was such a wonderful person. I really can’t tell you how lucky I was that she took me under her wing.”
“What did you do after she left school?” Jeffrey asked.
He shrugged. “Probably went to the library.”
“Probably?” Jeffrey asked, not liking his casual tone.
Richard seemed to pick up on Jeffrey’s irritation. “I was at the library,” he amended. “Sibyl asked me to look up some references.”
Lena took over, asking, “Was there anyone acting strange around her? Maybe dropping by more than usual?”
Richard shook his head side to side again, his lips pursed. “Not really. We’re more than halfway through the term. Sibyl teaches upper-level classes, so most of her students have been here for a couple of years at least.”
“No new faces in the crowd?” Jeffrey asked.
Again Richard shook his head. He reminded Jeffrey of one of those bobbing dogs some people put on their dashboards.
Richard said, “We’re a small community here. Somebody acting strange would stick out.”
Jeffrey was about to ask another question when Kevin Blake, the dean of the college, walked into the room. He did not look happy.
“Chief Tolliver,” Blake said. “I assume you’re here about the missing student.”
Julia Matthews was a twenty-three-year-old junior majoring in physical science. She had been missing for two days, according to her dorm mate.
Jeffrey walked around the young woman’s dorm room. There were posters on the wall with encouraging statements about success and victory. On the bedside table was a photograph of the missing girl standing beside a man and a woman who were obviously her parents. Julia Matthews was an attractive girl in a plain, wholesome way. In the photograph, her dark hair was pulled into pigtails on either side of her head. She had a snaggled front tooth, but other than that, she looked like the perfect girl next door. As a matter of fact, she looked very much like Sibyl Adams.
“They’re out of town,” Jenny Price, the missing girl’s dorm mate, supplied. She stood in the doorway wringing her hands as she watched Jeffrey and Lena search the room.
She continued. “It’s their twentieth wedding anniversary. They went on a cruise to the Bahamas.”
“She’s very pretty,” Lena said, obviously trying to calm the girl. Jeffrey wondered if Lena noticed the similarity between Julia Matthews and her sister. They both had olive-colored skin and dark hair. They both looked to be about the same age, though Sibyl was in fact ten years older. Jeffrey felt uncomfortable and set the picture down as he realized that both women resembled Lena as well.
Lena turned her attention to Jenny, asking, “When did you first notice she was missing?”
“When I got back from class yesterday, I guess,” Jenny answered. A slight redness came to her cheeks. “She’s been gone overnight before, right?”
“Sure,” Lena supplied.
“I thought maybe she was out with Ryan. That’s her old boyfriend?” She paused. “They broke up about a month ago. I saw them at the library together a couple of days ago, around nine o’clock at night. That was the last time I saw her.”
Lena picked up on the boyfriend, saying, “It’s pretty stressful trying to have a relationship when you’ve got classes and work to do.”
Jenny gave her a weak smile. “Yeah. Ryan’s in the agricultural school. His workload isn’t nearly as heavy as Julia’s.” She rolled her eyes. “As long as his plants don’t die, he gets an A. Meanwhile we’re studying all night, trying to get lab time.”
“I remember what it was like,” Lena said, though she had never been to college. The easy way lies came to her both alarmed and impressed Jeffrey. She was one of the best interviewers he had ever seen.
Jenny smiled and her shoulders relaxed. Lena’s lie had done the trick. “You know how it is, then. It’s hard to make time to breathe, let alone have a boyfriend.”
Lena asked, “They broke up because she didn’t have enough time for him?”
Jenny