Couples
Chapter 81
Kate figures that sixteen apartments have windows on the airshaft. That's not a large number to canvass, but whether the occupants would be home during the day is another question. She decides to start on the first floor and work up.
She gets no answer from three of the four doors she knocks on. The last is opened by a woman wearing old-style curlers, covered by a scarf. Kate feels as if she just walked into the sixties. She holds up her badge. "Ms. Camfert?"
"That's right," the woman confirms. "But I didn't call the police today. And when I did, it didn't make any difference."
Kate nods. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You reported hearing cries for help coming up the airshaft."
Camfert's eyes narrow. "I never said they were coming up the airshaft, just that I heard them in the airshaft. If anything, they were coming down. There used to be an opera singer living up there. I'd hear his vocal exercises all the time. Noooo," she mimics. "It drove me crazy, and it was easy to tell it was coming from above, the fourth floor. It wasn't as easy to tell where the calls for help were coming from. It could have been anywhere above me. But it wasn't at the bottom of the shaft."
"Did you tell Detective Dimmer that?" Kate inquires.
Camfert rolls her eyes. "I did, but I don't think he was paying attention. He said it must have been someone's T.V. But I know what T.V. sounds like. This was a live voice, high and kind of nasal, like the guy who does commercials for the perfume you throw in your laundry. You know who I mean?"
Kate tries to picture the pitch. "I think I do. You've been very helpful, Ms. Camfert."
"So, are you cops going to do something this time?" Camfert questions.
We'll do our best," Kate replies.
"Did you find out anything?" Alexis asks when Dana returns to their apartment.
"I talked to one of the guys in maintenance because I thought he might know where hot spots were put away. He did, but he also told me what was going on. At first, they believed that some cables got soaked in the storm, and something shorted out. It's happened before. But they checked connections, and they were all working. Just no wi-fi. Some guys from the physics department thought that a stronger signal might be knocking out the campus system. They had a tracking app." Dana shakes his head. "You won't believe this. It was the film people."
"How did they screw up the wi-fi?" Alexis asks.
"Uploading footage from digital cameras, but not just one camera. They're doing a project with a bunch of them. They all started uploading at once. That many packets jam up the works."
"The wi-fi is still down. Wouldn't it come back when they stopped?" Alexis asks.
"They haven't stopped yet. Apparently, they got permission from the administration. Someone didn't realize just how much bandwidth the project would be using. They won't be finished uploading for another half hour, maybe more. Fortunately, they're not on the same channel as the phone hotspots and some that the others use. The students can get some work done."
"That's something," Alexis considers. "But someone is going to have to take a look at the allocation of resources around here. I'm going to write a letter to the board."
Dana shrugs. "Good luck with that. But it can't hurt."
Kate's not surprised that no one except Camfert answered the door, but it doesn't make her job any easier. She'll have to come back either in the early morning or the evening. She can understand why Dimmer might have gotten a little frustrated investigating the case. But that's no excuse for dropping the ball.
Rick's steak salad sounded great. If she goes home right at the end of her shift and gets up early, she should be able to catch at least some of the residents she wants to see.
Kate digs into her dinner with enthusiasm. "Auchincloss is brilliant. This is great! Does he still want to start another restaurant? You haven't mentioned it in a while."
"That's because he hasn't mentioned it in a while," Rick explains. "He got bogged down with his divorce."
Kate's fork stops halfway to her mouth. "I didn't know he was married."
"The problem in a nutshell," Rick declares. "He's like that chef on the Food Channel whose third wife just divorced him. Cooking is his first, second, and third love. Apparently, his wife was tired of being pushed to the back of the queue."
"Can't blame her for that," Kate offers.
"Uh-hmm. They got married when he was teaching culinary school for a couple of years. I guess neither one of them realized how little time they'd spend together when he took on chef jobs again. But anyway, I think the divorce should be final any day now. He might decide to pick up his idea again. I don't know how that would work out for Imagination Patch, though. Lots of executive chefs supervise more than one restaurant. But if Auchincloss goes that route, I'll need to find someone else to handle the daily grind. Or at least Mark will."
"If that happens, just make sure that whoever it is can make those pumpkins filled with chili," Kate urges.
'Absolutely," Rick declares as Alexis's ringtone sounds from his phone. "Hey, Sweetheart, what's up?"
"Who do you know on the board at Hudson U?" his daughter asks.
"I've met pretty much every board member. It's part of their duties to attempt to pry open my wallet. But as far as knowing any of them well enough pick up the phone just to chat, only one, Curtis Oliver. We go back to meeting at Comicadia. He's a collector." Silence stretches at the other end of the phone. "Alexis, are you still there?"
"Just thinking for a minute. Is he the kind of nerd who would understand how resources like wi-fi need to be controlled so students don't suddenly get knocked off? We had an incident today, one that should have been avoided. I had Colbert Hall residents in tears. And some of them will be pulling all-nighters to get their papers in on time."
"That sounds like normal college life," Rick offers. "But Curtis isn't really any kind of a nerd. Not in the loving hobbits or Star Wars sense, anyway. More like a financial genius. He realized when he was still a kid that comics could be an excellent investment. He would buy up the limited editions and the ones that introduced new characters. I don't think he even read most of them. If he was going to read one, he'd buy an extra copy so he didn't mess up the spine of his collectible. I think his collection is worth at least ten times what it was when he plunked down his money. Maybe a lot more than that. So if there's anyone who can help straighten out a glitch, especially one that could lower the school's ratings, it's Curtis. You want me to give him a call for you?"
"Could you tell him to expect an email from Dana and me outlining the situation?" Alexis requests.
"No problem," Rick agrees. "But it sounds like your stint as a house parent is turning into an education in crisis management."
"Growing up with you did that," Alexis teases. "But thanks, Dad. It's hard to get anything out of the administration without knowing someone."
"It's hard to get anything out of anywhere without knowing someone, Pumpkin," Rick declares. "Unfortunately, that's how the world works."
"Yeah," Alexis agrees. "I've been finding that out."