Braxton Campus Mysteries Collection - Books 1-4

Chapter 7-2

Lorraine explained Sheriff Montague had quarantined the second and third floors for the balance of the week. Although they"d removed Abby"s body and the cleaning crew had finished sanitizing the stairwell, the sheriff didn"t want anyone in the building"s top two floors while they searched for evidence. No students were allowed except a few workers who helped Lorraine with the daily administration in the communications department.

“So, there"s no news yet?”

Lorraine leaned in and whispered, “Sheriff Montague is going through Abby"s office. They"re not telling me anything. It"s awful.”

I guessed I wouldn"t be offered the chance to see Abby"s belongings. I didn"t expect the sheriff to take me up on my proposal, despite it making things much easier. “What"s being said to students?”

“Full cooperation with local law enforcement to understand how Abby Monroe tragically fell to her death. We"re expediting the investigation, and the building is off-limits until next weekend.” Lorraine advised that she was given office space on the second floor of Diamond Hall because the communications department"s office manager had gone on maternity leave earlier that year. Rather than fill the vacancy for the three months Siobhan would be away, Lorraine was asked to support my father and the professors since she"d temporarily be working in Diamond Hall. Knowing my father"s impending retirement meant less work, Lorraine had agreed to handle the additional responsibilities and work from Siobhan"s desk.

“I"m sorry you got stuck with all that. Holding up okay with the sheriff?” I asked.

“I"ve never found a dead body before. I"m so glad you were there to help me, Kellan. I haven"t been able to sleep much.” Her hands clasped together while rubbing her palms with nervous fingers.

“Lorraine, someone mentioned overhearing a conversation you had recently with Abby. Something about you issuing a veiled threat against her. I"m not entirely sure what that meant, but I wanted to ask you directly.”

Lorraine sighed loudly. “Foolish of me. It was nothing. Honestly, the student worker simply misunderstood what I"d said.”

“What do you mean?” I had to extract the explanation from her.

“I guess you"ll find out, anyway. It wasn"t common knowledge, but I knew Abby Monroe outside of Braxton. We were disagreeing about something… personal. It had nothing to do with her death. I could never hurt anyone.” She glanced to the side and fiddled with a few papers.

“Does Sheriff Montague think you did something to Abby?” My mother seemed to be under the impression my father was a suspect. Could Lorraine be one too? “How did you know Abby?”

“My brother, Alton, had served her with divorce papers, but she wouldn"t sign them for an entire year. Abby was a vindictive woman.”

Lorraine filled me in on their history. Abby and Alton had been married for five years when he"d gotten fed up with her selfish attitude. He tried to mend the relationship, and even Lorraine had talked to Abby about the issues. In the end, Alton determined it was best to split up. The argument Lorraine had with Abby the prior week was about the divorce. Abby had threatened to ask for a larger amount of alimony if Alton wouldn"t give her the rights to an upcoming book they"d planned to co-author.

“Someone overheard me saying "It"ll be over your dead body that I let you take anything else away from Alton." But I didn"t mean it literally, Kellan. You"ve got to help me figure out what happened to Abby.” Her hollow cheeks flushed, and she slammed her head against the desk.

It"ll be over your dead body that I let you take anything else away from AltonThere was something in the tone of Lorraine"s voice, the imminent fear over what would happen if the cops couldn"t find Abby"s actual killer. She might always be suspected of the crime. As far as I knew, she had no children or a husband. Someone needed to protect her from any accusations cast in her direction. “I don"t know the specific time Abby died, but surely Sheriff Montague understands you only slipped away from the party for a few minutes to stop by the office.”

“Someone killed Abby between a quarter after eight and a quarter to nine. She"d only been dead a brief time when I"d first found her body. I can"t find anyone who saw me at the party after eight o"clock.”

“It"ll be harder to prove you didn"t do it, that"s true. Do you know what they"re hunting for upstairs?” The murder weapon had to be part of the search. I really wanted to know what it was.

“An officer said they"d swept the whole place but couldn"t find anything. I still don"t understand what they"re looking for. I thought someone pushed her down the stairs.”

Lorraine wasn"t aware the gash on the back of Abby"s head had come from a brutal blow. Either she was playing dumb or genuinely didn"t know someone had hit Abby before she fell. I didn"t think it was my responsibility to tell her, so I changed topics. “Is your brother holding up well enough?”

“Alton"s my half-brother, we only share a mother. That"s why we have different last names. I haven"t been able to get in touch with him. He left last week for a remote research trip. No cell connection,” Lorraine replied, dabbing her swollen eyes with a tissue. “I"m not sure he knows Abby is dead.”

If Alton was away, then he couldn"t be responsible for Abby"s death. The sheriff would check his alibi, to be certain. The guy near Abby"s house popped back into my head. “Was Abby seeing anyone new recently? If she was divorcing Alton, maybe there was a new man in the picture.”

Lorraine shook her head. “I didn"t keep tabs on her love life. Alton didn"t care either, he just wanted out. They tried maintaining a friendship, but she was too egotistical.”

I told Lorraine to think positively and cooperate as much as possible with the sheriff during the investigation. The truth had to come out at some point, and Sheriff Montague would realize Lorraine had nothing to do with Abby"s death. I couldn"t picture her as the killer. Unfortunately, that meant the sheriff might still suspect my father.

I checked the time and realized I still hadn"t visited Maggie or eaten lunch. After stopping at the campus cafeteria, I would head to Memorial Library. I needed to learn what Maggie knew about the athletic director, theorizing she could figure out a way to introduce me to Coach Oliver.