Black Orchid Girls (Detective Amanda Steele)

NINETEEN

Stephanie Piper had barely got herself positioned in the chair across from Amanda and Trent when she started to cry.

“Did someone tell you what we wanted to speak with you about?” Amanda asked, curious if the news about Chloe’s murder had reached across campus by now. After all, there were already four people who knew, including the senior associate dean.

“No.” Stephanie sniffled.

“Then why are you crying?”

The girl pulled a tissue from her backpack and blew her nose. “You’re cops, right? Just makes me a little nervous.”

More like Stephanie was falling apart. Amanda and Trent hadn’t yet said a word to her. “No need to be.” Unless she had killed Chloe, of course. Then Amanda would come at her with the full force of the law. “I’m Detective Amanda Steele, and this is Detective Trent Stenson. If it makes it easier on you, you can call us by our first names.”

“Okay.” The word was barely coherent.

“We’re here today because a student from this campus was found murdered in a local state park,” Amanda said, as delicately as possible. She waited until Stephanie met her gaze before continuing. “Chloe Somner. Did you know her?”

Stephanie nodded, completely devoid of emotion at the mention of Chloe’s murder. Very strange considering how upset she was at the start of the meeting.

“What was your relationship like with her?” Amanda knew what they’d been told by the associate dean, Chloe’s roommates, and even Josh, but she wanted to hear what Stephanie herself would say.

“We never saw eye to eye.” Calm, collected, as if Chloe’s murder had no real impact on her. The transition raised the hairs on Amanda’s arms. If Chloe had always excelled at the top of the class, her death would leave the position open for Stephanie. Had Stephanie killed her, or was she simply dazed due to shock?

“How is that? On a social level or…?”

“On any level.” Stephanie worried her lip. “You might hear or have heard, but we had a bit of a rivalry between us, but it’s not what people think. Sure, as I said we didn’t gel or see eye to eye, but things became exaggerated. We actually—I believe, anyway—had a mutual respect for each other. My mom had someone like that when she was in school too. She told me it only pushed her to work harder.”

A glimmer of pain flashed across Stephanie’s eyes. Amanda believed her when she said the animosity was hyperbole. She was also starting to see the lack of emotion Stephanie showed about Chloe’s murder as being shock. “Where were you yesterday morning between three and seven?”

“I was at home, sleeping.”

Amanda nodded, leaving that uncontested for now. Stephanie was a tall girl, and with heels, she could reach the height of the estimated killer. It also looked like she had a strong upper body. While Stephanie might be physically capable, Amanda was still determining motive, means, and opportunity. She wasn’t seeing all three yet, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there to find. “What kind of car do you drive?” Again, the question born of due diligence. The girl could have had someone she knew drop her off in her car, someone she was even working with.

Stephanie blinked and sat back. “Kind of a strange question, isn’t it?”

“If you could answer it.” Amanda gave her a kind smile.

“I don’t have a car. I take public transportation or ride with friends if I need to go somewhere. My parents would never let me drive their vehicles.”

“Why’s that?” Trent interjected.

Stephanie looked at him. “They have a BMW and a Mercedes and don’t trust me behind the wheel of either one. Can’t really blame them. I tend to be a nervous driver.”

Amanda wasn’t doubting that claim for one minute. The girl had cried at simply being brought in to speak with the police. Expanding on that thought, did she possess the spite to carry out a murder and one that was so organized? “Do black orchids mean anything to you?”

“The flowers?” Stephanie shook her head. “Not really. Why?”

“We can’t answer why.” She and Trent really needed to hit up florists in the area and see who may have purchased the plant. As for Stephanie, it didn’t seem the girl was behind Chloe’s murder. There was other ground they needed to cover with her, though. “Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to harm Chloe, or who may have stalked her?”

“We weren’t close.”

Trent leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. “So, no boys hanging around… say, ones she didn’t care for?”

Stephanie pressed her lips together and started to shake her head but stopped. “Luke, I guess, but I can’t see him killing her.”

Amanda angled her head, curious. “And why’s that?”

“He’s a gentle person. I’ve seen him capture a fly and take it outside and release it. I kid you not.”

Amanda glanced subtly at Trent and found he was looking at her as well. That was an interesting viewpoint on their current prime suspect—and an observation Amanda would disagree with. Luke had gotten rather loud when accused of killing Chloe, and he had an age-old motive. In the least, Luke Hogan had a temper. But how far had he taken that temper? There could be a divide between how he treated insects and other living creatures, such as someone who had rejected him. And it actually could explain the scene—Chloe cleaned, laid out, a black orchid on her chest. Remorse through and through. Maybe. “All right, that’s all our questions for now.” She gave Stephanie her business card and ran through the spiel about calling if she thought of anything else.

Stephanie left, and there was an older man in his fifties standing in the doorway.

Amanda checked the time on her phone. 11:15 AM.

“Professor McMillan?” she asked, though she was quite certain she had it right.

“You can call me William,” he said pleasantly, but his tone and presence were formal.

Amanda gave the introductions for herself and Trent. William got seated, and they informed him about Chloe.

“Wow. I don’t know what to say.” He puffed his cheeks and blew out a breath. “Such a tragedy. She was an incredibly bright student.”

“We’ve been hearing that,” Amanda said. “Do you know of anyone who might have had an issue with her? Anyone who might have been stalking her? Whether she had any of those concerns herself?”

“From what I could see, she was quite a popular kid.” His brow was perspiring, and he wiped it away.

“We’ve heard that, but we’ve also heard that some of the kids who go here didn’t quite get along with her.”

“Ah, sure. But you can’t expect all the kids to get along with each other. It doesn’t work that way.”

Amanda didn’t need him telling her how it worked, but she smiled. “Never does. The world would be a much better place if people could overlook their differences.”

“That it would.” He dipped his head and clasped his hands on the table as he did so.

“What was your impression of the relationship between Stephanie Piper and Chloe Somner?” Trent asked.

“Those two had a competitive spirit, and it really came to life when they were up against each other.”

“You’re talking about scoring better on certain tests?” Amanda asked, recalling that the associate dean had told them Chloe had beat Stephanie’s score on a recent exam.

“Yes, and sometimes opportunities come up to assist professors in the field for studies.”

“And Chloe often received that privilege?”

“She did.”

“And the most recent time this happened?”

“Just a few weeks ago.”

Stephanie hadn’t mentioned a thing about this when she was in the room just moments ago, but maybe she’d thought it irrelevant. Or she’d intentionally kept it from them so they wouldn’t suspect her of wrongdoing. “And how did Stephanie react?”

“She wasn’t happy, sulked a bit, but she got over it. She put herself into her studies more than ever.”

Amanda nodded. “And what about Luke Hogan? Did he hang around Chloe?”

“Ah, I felt sorry for that kid. She was never going to see him.” He rubbed his jaw. “But he didn’t seem to want to accept that he wasn’t her type. He kept trying.”

“Do know how her rejection made him feel or react? I’ll get right to the point. Did you see him respond aggressively toward her or watch her in a silent, brooding sort of way?” Amanda asked.

William’s forehead wrinkled in concentration. “Nah, I don’t think so. But I saw that Stephanie was just leaving.” He jacked a thumb over his shoulder. “She would have been a good person to ask. She and Luke are friends outside of school hours, from what I gather.”

Huh.One more thing that must have slipped Stephanie’s mind. “Okay, thank you for your time, Professor.” Amanda stood and reached across the table to shake his hand. He had a strong, firm grip.

He moved to leave.