Part 6 (1/2)
”No,” replied Jane Marie. ”Rosemary is just torn up about this. She seems really concerned about the team-and the boys on the team-and how they're reacting. They're like sons to her.”
”I can imagine. I spoke to one last week. It was heart breaking.”
”Horrible,” agreed Jane Marie, frowning.
”Is Mitch.e.l.l in?” Pamela asked suddenly, glancing at the adjoining door to the Department Head's office which was closed.
”No,” answered Jane Marie, ”he hasn't come in yet. He usually doesn't get here before ten.”
”All this with the Coach and the apparent affair-that n.o.body seemed to know about-it sort of makes me think back to when all that happened with Mitch.e.l.l,” she whispered, ”and that former student. You know, when you were worried about Mitch.e.l.l because of his behavior and thought maybe he was mixed up in Charlotte's murder . . .”
”And it turned out he wasn't . . . but he was having an affair . . . with that woman who used to be one of his students.” Jane Marie stared at Pamela. The two women locked eyes and seemed to be having the same idea.
”I mean, Jane Marie,” continued Pamela, ”you're devoted to Mitch.e.l.l-anyone would say that, but you suspected his infidelity . . .”
”And I told you my suspicions,” she agreed, clutching the top of her monitor and bending over it to speak quietly. ”But, Dr. Barnes, I had no idea what was going on with Dr. Marks back then. I just knew he was acting strangely. I was worried about him . . .”
”Just like the Coach's secretary must have been . . . surely. If anyone suspected that he was having an affair-let alone multiple affairs-it would have been his secretary.”
”You would think,” noted Jane Marie. ”She keeps his schedule, sees that he's on time. I know she's very efficient and organized-and protective. If he was sneaking off in the afternoons and Rosemary suspected what he was doing, I'm not certain that she'd mention it to anyone.”
”Even you?”
”I don't know. We do talk a lot. I mean, we share similar jobs and we interact a lot on the phone about students and course scheduling for team members. She's always been very friendly and open -but, of course, you know Dr. Marks insists that we bend over backwards to help the athletes with any scheduling or cla.s.s problems they might have.”
”I know,” said Pamela. She had often felt annoyance at the pressure the Psychology faculty was under from their boss to cooperate with the demands of the Athletic Department-demands that she felt were excessive, if truth be told. But now, Mitch.e.l.l's support of campus athletes could prove beneficial in securing information.
”I did have lunch at her house once-along with a few other administrative a.s.sistants that I a.s.sume have also been helpful to the team. She is quite a cook-Rocky would be jealous!” The two women laughed.
”Probably,” laughed Pamela, ”he's always threatened by anyone with a new recipe!”
”And Rosemary's an amazing gardener. She grows her own vegetables and maintains a small herb garden in her office. Of course, her office is much larger and nicer than mine,” said Jane Marie, with a snicker, cringing as she glanced around her tiny s.p.a.ce.
”Surely,” continued Pamela on her original track, ”someone over there must have been aware that the head football coach was stepping out for afternoon trysts-and evidently on a regular basis.”
”You'd think,” agreed Jane Marie. ”But then, men can be sneaky!” As they laughed, a tall, lanky man entered the office with a textbook tucked under one arm.
”Not all men, surely?” he questioned, standing forlornly in the doorway, glancing from one woman to another.
”Dr. Goodman!” exclaimed Jane Marie, blus.h.i.+ng.
”It's farmer Bob!” announced Pamela, greeting the man with a warm hug. ”I haven't seen you in ages. What is it I hear now about horses? Arliss said you two are expanding your livestock holdings.”
”We're hoping to,” said the painfully skinny professor, beaming widely. ”A farm doesn't seem a farm without a horse-or two.”
”What about cows?” asked Jane Marie from her seated post, returning to her typing.
”Whoa, Jane,” he whistled, tugging at his gla.s.ses, ”one step at a time. We have to run this menagerie ourselves and both of us are pretty darn busy keeping the animal lab over here going.”
”Pretty darn! Now you even sound like a farmer. You'll have to have a party out there one of these days,” suggested Pamela.
”Absolutely,” he agreed. ”We'd love to show off our new homestead. Maybe when all the furor over this-you know-horrible event . . . calms down . . .”
”What do think about all this, Bob?” Pamela asked. Jane Marie continued to type as the two professors chatted, but she kept herself glued to their conversation.
”Not what this school needs,” he said. ”We've had enough of death and murder, especially of faculty members recently . . . as you well know, Pam.”
”Yes,” nodded Pamela.
”At least,” he noted to her, ”you won't have to be involved in this one. Doesn't appear as if anyone made a recording of this murder, does it?”
”No,” she said smiling. Little did Bob realize how right-and yet how wrong he was.
”Had you ever met Coach Croft, Dr. Goodman?” asked Jane Marie, looking up from her work.
”No,” said Bob Goodman, ”I'd never met the man . . . but I have met the young fellow who is apparently taking his place-this Jeff Dooley.”
”The a.s.sistant coach?” asked Pamela.
”Yes,” he continued. ”We served together on the Academic Probation Committee for several years. A nice young man. Looks like he'll take over officially for the Coach, doesn't it?”
”He did win the game,” said Pamela. ”That seems like a good first step in becoming the Coach's replacement.”
”Yeah,” agreed Jane Marie.
”Did this Dooley ever say anything about the Coach?” Pamela directed this question to Bob.
”Oh, you mean, about . . . women?” Bob queried cautiously. ”I'm trying to think. He was certainly very open and chatty about things going on in Athletics. Maybe a disparaging remark or two about the Coach from time to time, but nothing mean-spirited or on a regular basis. I don't recall him ever suggesting that there was any hanky-panky going on.”
”But now with the Coach out of the picture,” said Pamela, ”he suddenly becomes Head Coach. One might consider that a motive for murder.”
”Maybe,” agreed Bob, ”but the Administration could bring in someone from the outside. Just because the Coach is gone doesn't mean Dooley automatically gets the job.”
”But his chances are greater now,” she said, ”don't you think?”
”Pamela,” sighed Bob, ”I think all your work for the local police has colored your outlook of the world.”
”Probably,” she confirmed, wis.h.i.+ng he weren't so right in his observation.
”I've got to get back to Bailey,” he said abruptly, turning to go. ”You can't leave that monkey alone for more than a few minutes or she gets as angry as a hornet!” He waved briefly at the women as he walked out at a fast clip.
When the two women were alone, Pamela sat back down next to Jane Marie and scooted closer.
”Jane Marie,” she whispered. ”Mitch.e.l.l says that the Coach's oldest daughter is a student at Grace.”
”I believe he did,” responded the secretary, also whispering. ”What are you thinking?”