Evanly Bodies - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,68

her school first thing, and nobody there knows where she might have gone. We've got the Leeds Police asking around her old neighborhood, in case she's gone back there. We've shown her picture at the railway station and on the buses, and so far no luck."

"All of these are presupposing she's run away," Evan said.

"What do you mean? Of course she's run away."

Evan shook his head. "Bronwen says that Jamila's school friends agree with her, that Jamila's brother may have killed her because she disobeyed her family and besmirched their honor."

"Oh surely not?" Glynis smiled. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"Shipping someone off to Pakistan to marry a man twice her age is extreme too, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

"And if you haven't met her brother yet, he's an aggressive and violent type. Quite capable of killing, I should think."

"Inspector Watkins said he was impossible," she said. "He went to interview him again this morning and came back foaming at the mouth."

"Rashid is anti-everything to do with Western culture," Evan said. "He's a bit of a religious fanatic. Did they search his digs this morning?"

"Not that I know of."

"He could have her imprisoned there, if she's not already dead," Evan said.

"Evan, aren't you maybe overreacting a little?" Glynis asked. "My guess would be that one of her friends is hiding her and just not telling us. I'll go and speak to their families tonight. I'll let them know that I'm a friend they can trust. I'll promise not to hand her over to her family if that's not what she wants."

"I hope to God you're right." Evan paced uneasily. "Do you happen to have Rashid's new address?"

"Are you thinking of visiting him yourself?"

"I'm going to be at the university anyway, so I thought that I might . . ."

"It's not your case, Evan," she said firmly. "Don't you think DI Watkins knows how to handle it?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, then."

She was eyeing him coldly.

"I'm not suggesting that you're not trying hard enough, Glynis." "That's what it sounds like to me."

"It's just that I have a rather personal interest in this case. Bron-wen would never forgive me if anything happened to Jamila."

"We're doing everything we can, Evan. And I have to say it's rather presumptuous of you to hint that you can find her when we can't."

Evan looked at her in surprise. Until now they had been best mates, working well together in a close-knit team.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just so frustrating not knowing what's going on and not being able to do anything."

"I understand." She nodded and attempted a smile. "I'll keep you up to date, I promise. If we hear anything, I'll let you know. And I'll make sure that Inspector Watkins knows about the death threats Jamila's brother made."

That was the best he was going to get. Evan drove back toward the university. It was lunch hour and students were spilling from all the academic buildings, heading for food. He tried the History Department common room and found it contained only Gwyneth Humphries.

"Badger will be out at the dig," she said. "The others are probably battling the line at the cafeteria, except for David Skinner-he usually brings his own lunch and eats it in the fresh air when it's not actually blowing a gale. He may also be out at the dig." She frowned at Evan. "What is it now, may I ask? What can you possibly ask us that hasn't already been asked?"

Evan hesitated, then he decided that there probably wasn't much that Gwyneth Humphries didn't know about the workings of the History Department.

"Is David Skinner gay?" he asked.

She looked astonished, then gave an embarrassed laugh. "To be truthful, I've sometimes suspected it, but he's not openly so. He's not living with anybody. Why do you ask?"

"Is it possible that he might have had a relationship with Professor Rogers?"

This time she laughed out loud. "You're suggesting that Martin Rogers had homosexual leanings? Oh, dear me, no. That would be barking completely up the wrong tree. Martin was a prude, as I think I mentioned. He was also very narrow-minded. He had strong ideas about what was right and wrong. And he was very outspoken about homosexuality. He tried to get the university to ban the gay/lesbian dance last year. It almost caused a campus-wide riot."

"Was there one particular student who was leading this riot? Anyone who might have been particularly upset by Professor Rogers's stance?"

She shrugged. "I didn't pay much attention, personally. Students