Package Deal(105)

She smiled at him. “Thank you, Evan. I’m sure he’ll appreciate knowing that. He lost a lot of blood.”

“Too bad we can’t use it to repair old Shakespeare. Beatrice’s been moping around ever since she came in and saw the empty space in the entrance wall.”

Amanda smiled. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe we can find a similar sculpture to replace him.”

Between classes, she returned to the office. Greg Hillier was waiting for her.

“I have something you may want, Amanda—forgot to mention it this morning. Give me your hand.”He dropped her necklace into her palm. It was stained with blood but, except for the broken chain, appeared undamaged.

“Where did you find it?”

“One of the police officers brought it to me after they finished their investigation and gave the cleaning people permission to put the office back together again. It was under one of Shakespeare’s hands, lying next to your door.I called Janine Foote in the art department to see if she thought old Will was repairable. She seems to think it’s possible, so we swept up all the pieces and he’s now in her capable hands. If she calls me back and says it’s a lost cause, we’ll plan a burial service that satisfies Beatrice and try to find something else for that part of our entrance wall.” He smiled. “How is Marcus faring? Leonard says we almost lost him.”

Amanda smiled. “He’s doing better now. I need to thank Ian for the loan of his shirt—I, we used it to try to stop the bleeding.” Her eyes filled. “I think it went to the hospital with Marcus, but I have no idea where it went after that.”

“I’m sure Ian thought it all in a day’s work.Did you know he used to be a paramedic before he got his degree?”

“No wonder he knew just what to do.”

“You go on to class. Tell Marcus we expect a full recovery—and if he needs more blood, just let us know. I suspect there’ll be a line of people at the blood bank wanting to contribute.”

Amanda went off to her third class of the day smiling—until she remembered the papers she’d intended to give back to her students.Realizing her mistake, she changed her plan, and engaged the students in a free-ranging question-and-answer period about anything they wanted to talk about. The bulk of their questions centered on the fight in the English department until she finally called a halt.

“No more of this. Let’s talk about Shakespeare.”

An English major laughed. “Which one? The sculpture in the office that got creamed—or the guy who died in 1616?”

“Jim,” Amanda replied. “How about the one who lived in the seventeenth century? The other one is being repaired by the art department.”

The students laughed, and Amanda let them out early with plans to return to the hospital.



Carlton slouched against the chair in the interrogation room. He mumbled to himself then rose and wandered around the room.

Detective Will Park stood up and leaned against the wall, watching the man pick at a scab on his face and rake his hands through his dark hair. A real sleazeball, in his opinion. “Time to sit down, Professor Winslow.”

Rex Mahoney, Will’s partner, remained seated.

Carlton returned to his seat facing Rex. When he did so, Will took a chair next to the disheveled professor. The blood on Carlton’s shirt was a dark red stain, blending at the edges with the dirt that had worked its way into the fabric. His hair was stiff with grease and dirt, and the stains on his pants suggested the man had been sleeping on park benches or grassy areas.

“Let’s go over this again.” Rex looked at his notes. “The other man says you attacked him. What do you have to say about that?”

Carlton glared at the detective. “He threatened me and then he shoved me against the wall! He’s been out to get me ever since I came on campus.”

“Why is that?” Will asked.

“He’s hot for my office-mate. I’ve seen them at the movies, at different parties together.”

“Oh, so you’re interested in her, too—romantically speaking?” Rex asked.

“I didn’t say that. I just said—”

“What about in the last couple days?”Will twirled his pen. “What did you do to provoke him, to make him attack you?”

Carlton gulped, and cleared his throat. “Can I have some water?”

Rex pointed to a glass of water he had placed on the table.“Well?”

“Dunbar says you were holding a knife to the lady’s throat,” Will interrupted. “Why were you doing that?”

“I just went in there to get my things. She hid them somewhere, and I couldn’t find them! I just wanted to scare her so she would give them back. I couldn’t find them and then her kid started screaming.” Carlton’s eyes widened and his pupils dilated. “I was just trying to get away from the noise, the screaming.” He drank the water in several gulps.