Tortured Dreams

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter 24

"Well we were right. She was in town for all the murders." Lucas said to everyone as I reentered my hotel room.

"Somehow, she is involved." Alejandro frowned at me, but then I got the impression he didn't smile much, so I didn't get offended.

"Somehow she knows who it is," Lucas sat down.

"Thesis advisor?" Xavier asked.

"Female, Dr. Janice DeLong. She accepted my dissertation because it was too good to reject, but she wasn't real happy when it started evolving. She is one of those historians that would gloss over the dirty sides of history."

"Grad students?"

"Several. None that stick out."

"Undergrads?" Xavier continued.

"I tutored in English during my undergrad days. As a grad student, I worked for the history department as an assistant. Most of the students hated me, I was the one they hoped didn't grade their papers."

"How many total?"

"Estimation? Several thousand. I helped with basic European history as well as several of the advanced European history classes. Even did a semester as an assistant in an undergrad thesis class. They really hated me. Hence why it only happened one semester."

"How many enemies do you think you have?" Lucas asked.

"True enemies, very few. Students that hated me for grading their homework, thousands. Maybe tens of thousands. I was an unpopular teacher's assistant."

"Why'd they keep you?"

"Because while the students hated me, the professors loved having me as their assistant."

"That seems weird and counterproductive," Xavier said.

"Not really. I was the assistant that would take home 40 or 50 papers and grade them all in a weekend. Most of them would set amounts I could take off for grammar and spelling, knowing those were my pet peeves."

"Anyone else?"

"I don't know. I'm not a people person. I notice them when they seem out of place. I notice stalkers. Everyone else is just a flash in the pan for me. I barely knew the grad students I shared an office with." I shrugged again.

"Yeah, I get it," Lucas let out a long sigh again, "Your brain catalogues faces and names, but unless they come at you with a knife, the information is unnecessary, so it is hard to access."

"Exactly. Now if any of them had really hated me, I might remember them, but none stand out."

"None of this is useful," Alejandro said.

"Sure it is," Xavier countered. "We know who it isn't."

"Yes, but we are talking about a serial killer and we are talking about one that is incredibly smart. He could have met her in line for coffee and became fascinated." Alejandro pointed out.

"There was a guy like that, sort of. I was grading papers one weekend and it was close to summer. I had gotten in the habit of forcing myself to go to the Chinese place down the street once a week. I was walking in the door, he was walking out. Ended up covered in Orange Glazed Chicken and fried rice."

"How did you end up covered in Orange Glazed Chicken and Fried Rice?" Lucas prodded.

"He dumped both cartons on me. I ran into him, smashing the boxes. He opened up the bag and dumped them on my head. The cartons kind of hurt. The food was really hot."