Sisters in Crime

THREE

Susan’s room on the second floor of the large sorority house was one of the smaller ones, and two beds, two dressers, and two desks nearly filled it.

“So someone wants to get rid of me in three days,” Emma mused as she locked the door after she and Susan entered the room.

“Don’t take it personally,” Susan said. “Nobody could possibly know why you’re here. Your idea to be my cousin is a perfect cover.”

Looking at the colorful photos of marine life that hung around the room, Emma mumbled, “We’ll see.”

“Rina took all those photos with her underwater camera,” Susan said. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Very,” Emma nodded, studying a school of shimmering orange-green fish.

Turning away from the photograph, Emma sat on a desk chair and said, “Tell me more about Rina. Anything might be helpful.”

Sitting across from Emma on her desk chair, Susan began, “Well, she was an oceanography student, and she was mainly taking classes related to that, like marine biology. She also loved to swim and deep-sea dive. She grew up out here in Southern California, and dove probably two, three times a week.”

“Was she doing well with her classes?” Emma asked.

“Fine, as far as I know,” Susan said.

“Did Rina have a boyfriend?” Emma said.

“No.” Susan shook her head. “Not here. I think she had somebody she liked last year in high school, but he’s at Berkeley this year. She talked to him on the phone every once in awhile, I don’t think it was really a big deal. Not like you and Drew,” Susan said, referring to Emma’s boyfriend of many years. “How are you two doing, by the way?”

Emma smiled as she thought of Drew Acker. “You know, its kind of amazing that after all these years, I still think he’s the greatest.” Folding her legs under her, Emma added, “Sometimes it’s hard with him away at school---he goes to Emerson College---and me traveling around so much, but we manage to stay in touch.” Quietly Emma added, “And in love. We’re doing just fine.”

Susan smiled back, “When you talk to him, tell him I said hi. I do miss the old gang.”

Emma nodded and absent-mindedly picked up a pencil that lay on the desk in front of her.

“There was this one guy that Rina was friendly with,” Susan said. “But they weren’t dating or anything. He’s a part-time student. He works for San Diego Institute of Oceanography and takes care of all their underwater equipment. From the way she talked about him, I think they were good friends.”

“What’s his name?” Emma asked.

“Ira.” Susan closed her eyes, obviously searching her memory. “Ira---Ira something. I can’t remember his last name. Sorry.”

“Did you ever meet him?”

“No. He never visited her here.” Susan thought for a minute before she added, “I have a feeling that Rina might have been afraid that he wouldn’t have ‘the right image’ either, so she never brought him around. Maybe that’s why. I don’t know.”

Emma tapped the eraser end of the pencil against her teeth. “And the place he works, the Oceanography Institute, do you know where it is?”

“Yeah, Not far from here. We could drive out there tomorrow. I don’t have any classes until eleven o’clock on Mondays.”

“Good,” Emma said.

“So, with her classes and diving and being treasurer of the sorority, she was pretty busy,” Susan said, continuing her description of Rina’s life.