Face of Murder

Dr. Applewhite nodded, taking the changed tack with focus. “It’s a theoretical equation I came up with a little while ago. I spend a lot of time working with colleagues in mathematics circles, not to mention certain—gifted individuals.” Her eyes conveyed what her tone did not; that Zoe was one such. “It helps me keep in shape, so to speak, to work on these kinds of projects in my spare time. Anyway, I published it, and I suppose it generated a bit of buzz in local circles. It wouldn’t be much known outside of this area, but at the college, we discussed it in depth.”

That caught Zoe’s attention. It narrowed their suspect pool significantly. The killer had to be a local. Not only to get access to the victims and know who they were, but to recognize the equation—if, indeed, it had not appeared by coincidence.

But the hairs, too—it was beginning to look more and more like an attempt to frame Dr. Applewhite. Which meant it had to be someone who knew her, and knew her now—not some random from her past who would never have heard of the equation.

“Do you have any enemies, Dr. Applewhite? Anyone who might hold a grudge against you?”

Dr. Applewhite blinked at the change in her line of questioning. “I don’t believe so. I don’t particularly do any kind of controversial work. I had a research subject pass away recently, unfortunately, after taking his own life. I haven’t felt any indication of blame from their family, however.”

“And in the world of math?”

Dr. Applewhite shook her head slowly, side to side, three times. “No. I’ve never… done anything. The equation was a bit of fun, really, nothing more. I wasn’t going after someone else’s project or stepping on any toes. Besides, it wasn’t exactly a success. I could never quite get it finished off.”

That sparked Zoe’s attention. “Your equation is not complete?”

“That’s why I published it in the first place.” Despite the circumstances, Dr. Applewhite managed a small and thin-lipped smile as she tucked a strand of bobbed dark hair behind her ears. “I am not a genius at these things. I have studied, but I am not as gifted as others. I thought that if I shared it, someone else might be able to make the necessary corrections and get it finished off.”

All of this was extremely interesting, and more so by the minute. Zoe looked off to the side of the room thoughtfully, turning it over in her mind. Dr. Applewhite writes an equation that she knows is flawed; it turns up on the dead bodies of men all connected to her, with evidence seemingly linked to the scene. More than that, it shows up in equations which are themselves seemingly flawed.

What did it all mean?

Zoe looked into her mentor’s eyes and threw caution to the wind. Tape be damned. She wasn’t going to let Dr. Applewhite sit here, afraid for her future and her freedom, without a word of reassurance. “I am going to do everything that I can to get you out of here,” she said, firmly and without hesitation. “You can bet on that. I will find the real killer.”

Zoe got up and headed for the door. The interview was over. She had work to do—and she was going to clear Dr. Applewhite’s name sooner rather than later. She wasn’t about to sit around wasting time.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Shelley watched their exchange with bated breath, twisting her pendant around in her fingers and anxiously listening as Zoe said things she shouldn’t have been saying on tape. It was only when she tasted cold metal in her mouth that she realized she had retreated to a habit she thought she had kicked back in high school—chewing her fingernails.

Shelley pulled her hand away from her mouth, and tutted at herself to see smears of pink lipstick on her skin. She would ask herself what she had been thinking, but the answer was clearly not very much.

Grabbing a tissue out of her pocket to wipe the marks away, Shelley caught sight of the time as her smartwatch lit up. It was getting late. Far too late, now, to really get things cleared up and dealt with before they had to stop for the night.

It looked like Dr. Applewhite wasn’t going to be going home to her own bed.

Shelley was just thinking about going in and interrupting when Zoe finished the interview, in that abrupt way of hers, and strode out of the room. Despite the show of confidence, Shelley wasn’t sure that Zoe was dealing with all of this well. It was hard to tell, given that Zoe almost always wore the same mask of dispassionate concentration, but Shelley knew how to read people. She was even, after spending more and more time working with her, starting to be able to read Zoe.

“Where are you going in a hurry?” Shelley asked, as Zoe burst into the observation room, grabbed her coat, and turned on her heel.

“There is more investigation to be done.” Zoe was already halfway out into the corridor. “I am going to reexamine all of the evidence.”

“All of it?” Shelley shot to her feet and followed after her, managing to grab her arm and hold her still for a moment.

“Yes. Why would I not be thorough?”