Ellery Queen
The Campus Murders
1
McCall was accustomed to police resentment, but one look at Pearson’s frozen face told him that this chief of police was going to pose special problems. His politeness was painful.
“Have a seat, Mr. McCall.”
The visitor’s chair was straight, hard, and cramped for a man of McCall’s size, which was not large. But the chair was uncomfortable not by accident. Nothing in this office happened by accident. Pearson had green eyes that looked as if they had been boiled in salt water.
“So you’re Governor Holland’s man Friday.”
“You left out the six other days, chief,” McCall said with a friendly smile.
Chief Pearson did not smile back. “You’re a pretty tough guy, I hear.”
“Not really. I don’t care for violence. Do you?”
“It’s not what I like, Mr. McCall. It’s what my duty calls for.”
“I’m glad you’re a man who takes his responsibilities seriously,” McCall said. “That’s going to make my job easier.”
The boiled eyes looked at him.
“I’m glad you brought that up,” Pearson said. “Just what does bring you to Tisquanto?”
“The trouble at the college, for one thing.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” The chief permitted himself a smile of unbelief. “What’s happened to Sam Holland? He used to be a pretty tough guy himself. Now he sits in that office of his upstate and jitters like a little old lady just because a bunch of snotnose college kids make like great big conspirators. Look, Mr. McCall, in my job, in my time, I’ve handled everything on that campus from what they used to call hazing to a fraternity ruckus where the boys had to have the beer flushed out of their tummies with stomach pumps.”
“From what I hear, chief, this isn’t quite the same thing.”
“Sure it’s not. But I’m handling it. Tisquanto’s a good town. And it’s my town.”
“Nobody’s trying to take it away from you,” McCall said with another friendly smile.
“Then what are you doing here?”
McCall did not answer. He liked to feel his way in one of these things, where virtually everything was an unknown; he had found that the less he said the less he muddied events.
As he’d predicted to himself, Chief Pearson could not stand silence. “I’m not saying there’s no trouble,” he said. “Some of these kids are just out-and-out commie revolutionaries, I swear to God! I don’t know where they come up with these ideas. Most of them come from good solid homes, from good solid people, which you’d think couldn’t produce kids like these in a thousand years. But you can tell Governor Holland not to fret his head. If that’s what you’re here for, Mr. McCall, you can go right on back to whatever you were doing before the Governor sicked you onto me.”
“There’s something else,” McCall said.
This time it was Pearson who was silent. He had a ferret face to go with his teddy-bear bottom; it sharpened wonderfully, sniffing for danger.
“This Laura Thornton disappearance,” McCall said.
The pencil in Pearson’s fist struck the stainless steel water bottle on the desk and bounced to the linoleum. As it bounced Pearson bounced, too, to his feet.
“Look here,” the chief exploded. “There’s absolutely no need you being here, McCall. Absolutely none! Not about that. You hear me?”
“We’ve apparently got off on the wrong foot, chief,” McCall said. “Why don’t you sit down and cool it? I didn’t come to Tisquanto to step on anybody’s toes, or usurp your prerogatives, or do anything but observe what’s going on for the private information of the governor. You’ve got a job, chief, so have I. And mine is Assistant to the Governor for Special Affairs — or, to put it plainly, Sam Holland’s troubleshooter. Between the goings-on on campus and this disappearance of a girl student, the governor’s worried. And you know my credentials — they give me carte blanche anywhere in the state. If you don’t want to honor them, just say so and I’ll report that to the governor. He’ll take if from there.”
Pearson glared at him. He had returned to his overstuffed chair at McCall’s suggestion, and he seemed to be struggling with the impulse to jump out of it again. But he mastered the impulse.
“All right, Mr. McCall. Only she’ll turn up. They always do.”
“Let’s hope she does. Just the same, I’d like what information you have. I understand she hasn’t been seen since Friday. Today is Wednesday. That’s a long time.”
“For the kids these days? She’s probably shacked up with her boyfriend somewhere, turning on with LSD or something.”
“Oh, she has a steady boyfriend?”
“A creep named Damon Wilde.”
“What does this Wilde boy say?”
“Look, Mr. McCall. Why don’t you talk to the two officers working on the Thornton girl’s case? They’ll give you all the information available.”
“Who are they?”
“Lieutenant Long and Sergeant Oliver.”
“Where do I find them?”
“Long’s across the hall.”
McCall rose. “Thanks, chief.”
“One thing,” Pearson said. McCall looked down at him. The man looked blue with cold; it had a chilling effect on his surroundings. “Maybe you ought to wise me up, Mr. McCall. There’s something in this that don’t smell kosher to me. This Thornton girl is Brett Thornton’s daughter. Thornton’s trying to take the party renomination away from Governor Holland. Everybody in the state knows they’re enemies. What’s Holland’s angle? What’s he so anxious to find Thornton’s kid for?”
“That,” McCall said, “is a crack I don’t like!” He felt the old fury rising and fought it down. He had it pretty well under control these days except where Sam Holland’s interests were concerned. The governor called it his one weakness.
“No offense,” Chief Pearson said coldly. “But we’re not exactly a bunch of hicks in Tisquanto, Mr. McCall, no matter how they regard us in the capital. We keep score. What’s behind this?”
“Nothing! Thornton and Holland are political enemies, true, but they’ve always respected each other as men. If the governor can help find Thornton’s daughter, he very much wants to do so.”
“If you say so. But better sit down again, Mr. McCall. I’ve got a few more things on my chest about what’s going on at the college.”
McCall sat down again. Apparently Pearson was having second thoughts.
“Actually, the situation is pretty bad. Wade’s half out on his mind, and Floyd Gunther is as nervous as a mother bird.” Wolfe Wade was president of the college, and Floyd Gunther was dean of men.
“There have been threats against the administration.”
“Personal threats?”
“Especially against Dean Gunther.”
“Anonymous, I suppose.”
“Hell, no. They carry signs on their picket lines — bold as brass. We’ve had them in for questioning, but of course they’re smart enough to avoid a charge we can make stick. The truth is, we’re sitting on a powder keg here, Mr. McCall. We can handle it, all right — don’t get me wrong — but on second thought maybe it’s just as well the governor knows the real situation. We’re expecting anything.”
“How many students are involved in the nasty stuff?”
“A small group, relatively. Or rather a number of different small groups.”
“Hippies? Yippies?”
“And kooks and agitators and Lord knows what else. Some of the hippie crowd are okay, though they all turn my stomach.”
“What’s their beef?”
“Who knows? More say in administration, the right to pick the curriculum — you know, it’s countrywide. They come on hard at the sight of a blue uniform, start throwing things. The other day I thought they’d tear down the administration building stone by stone. So far we’ve handled them without too much trouble. I figure to keep it that way. You can tell the governor.”