Black Cat Weekly #76

Chapter 6

byThe college’s bell tower tolled midnight as State Police Detective Kelly Stone slipped on her latex gloves and entered the third-floor faculty office of the victim, Professor Harold Sweetwater. The head of the figure that slumped over the desktop computer keyboard had been clearly bashed in from behind. Lying on the floor were a pair of broken glasses and a blood-covered 2004 baseball bat commemorating the Red Sox’ first World Series win in almost a century.

“Think it was a disgruntled Cardinals fan with a long-time grudge?” said Assistant Coroner and CSI Jackie Bowdoin, who was dusting the computer keyboard just beneath the professor’s head.

Recognizing the gallows humor common to the profession, Kelly said, “Possibly, if one of the three suspects rooted for St. Louis.”

“Got it down to only three possibilities already?” said Jackie. “That’s fast work.”

“While giving you first shot at the crime scene, I’ve been down in the security room checking tonight’s video.”

“If they’ve got video of this office, then this murder is solved,” said Jackie, standing up.

“Not really. After 5:00 pm, the only possible entrance to the faculty office building is the front door, and there is only a camera there. Tonight is Sunday with slow traffic, and just three people carded in after Sweetwater.”

“Maybe the perp came in earlier and waited for the good professor,” suggested Jackie.

“Not possible. Everyone who carded in this weekend after the usual Friday night sweep also carded out.”

“What was Professor Sweetwater even doing here?” posed Jackie.

“Meg, the security guard who helped me with the video, said the professor was a famous scholar who liked to come in on the weekends because nobody was around to bother him.”

Jackie picked up some journals piled on Professor Sweetwater’s desk. “Listen to these articles by the professor. ‘Classical Allusions in John Cheever’s “The Swimmer”’…‘The Structure of Browning’s “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister.”’”

“The guy sounds brilliant,” admitted Kelly.

“So who are the three suspects?” pressed Jackie.

“All members of the English department. Professor Kate Posey, a poet; Kailey Layne, the professor’s Teaching Assistant; and Melanie Sonata-Sweetwater, the professor’s soon-to-be ex-wife. According to Meg, who’s a bit of a gossip, Kate the poet is a bitter rival of Professor Sweetwater, who thinks she’s the better writer.”

“A promising suspect,” said Jackie.

“Kailey might be better. Meg thinks the two had an affair that the good professor just called off and Kailey wanted it rekindled.”

“A traditional academic trope,” commented Jackie.

“Melanie might be the best suspect,” said Kelly. “Meg says that she, hating the impending divorce, was trying to win him back by bringing him food during his weekend writing binges.”

“I didn’t notice any food around, but there is lipstick here on the professor’s collar. Maybe what Melanie brought him was fury as in ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’” Jackie pounded her fist on Professor Sweetwater’s desk to make her point, and as she did, the computer suddenly came to life.

“What’s that?” said Kelly, pointing to the lit screen.

“Looks like some sort of esoteric article,” assessed Jackie.

“No,” said Kelly. “I mean what are those nine characters about four lines below the last paragraph on the monitor?”

“Y85 G6 28R3,” read Jackie. “It looks like a Social Security Number with some letter substitutions…as in a code.”

Kelly stared at the screen, then said, “Ah ha! I believe we’re looking at a dying declaration wherein Professor Sweetwater named his killer.”

“Who?” said Jackie.

Kelly immediately arrested Melanie Sonata-Sweetwater, who, surprised at being caught so quickly, immediately confessed. When she had stopped by with a basket of food for her ex, she said she saw him through the window kissing Kailey. Enraged, Melanie waited until Kailey left, then snuck into his office and bludgeoned him from behind with his favorite baseball bat. Why did Kelly suspect Melanie? Dazed, his glasses on the floor, and feeling his life leaving him, Sweetwater tried to leave a dying clue. Unfortunately, in his last moments, instead of placing his eight fingers on the keyboard’s home row, he put them on the row above. Therefore, with his left digits on QWER and not ASDF, and his right fingers touching UIOP and not JKL, he typed Y85 G6 28R3 when he meant to write HIT BY WIFE.