Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 11

PhDead Part 3

"Yes? What is it?" Kate demands when Rick taps on her office door.

"An excuse to leave your paperwork and get back to the case," Rick calls through closed blinds.

Kate jerks the door open. "What have you got?"

Rick grins. "Invite me in, and I'll tell you."

Kate waves him to the couch. "This better be solid, Babe. I don't have time to mess around."

Rick arches a brow. "Pity that. Maybe later. For now, I think I know why Peter Garber was dressed in orange scrubs. He was part of an experiment a psych prof named Barbara Lillstrom was conducting – one the university knew nothing about. Apparently, they're both into prisons."

Kate nibbles on her lower lip. "We need to find out more about that experiment. I'd have the boys stake out Lillstrom, but they're still canvassing Hudson students. From what they've heard so far, no one saw Peter for days before he was killed."

"That would fit. If he were playing a prisoner, he would have been locked up."

"And if he was on the run, probably confined not far from where we found him in the park," Kate figures. "But that still covers a lot of territory."

"We could stake out Lillstrom together," Rick suggests. "It would be just like the old days."

Kate holds up a thick stack of documents. "I shouldn't leave all of this. But 1PP made it clear that I have to keep our closure rate up, too. I can't do that from my desk. And I already lost a lot of time going after Reed."

"So, is that a yes to the stakeout?"

"Yeah, Babe. I guess so. At least I'm assigned a better unit now. It won't have that spring that hits you in one of my favorite spots. So I can keep that part of you all to myself."

"In this situation, your possessiveness is appreciated. I already have locations for Lillstrom's office and her apartment. I also have her class schedule."

"How did you get all that?"

"The miracles of modern electronics. When we're back at the loft, I'll introduce you."

Rick consults the picture Lucy sent to his phone. "That's Lillstrom getting into a car. Can you follow her?"

Kate starts the engine of her unit. "I'm not out of practice yet. She's heading south, away from Hudson U."

"But toward the park and possibly her secret lair."

"We'll see." Kate follows the professor for several miles. "She's pulling into public parking. We'll have to follow her on foot."

"The way she's looking over her shoulder, she can't be going far," Rick assumes. "She's entering an office building. I remember that place. It was one of the properties owned by that developer, Lumpfish, that the DA went after for cheating on his city taxes. The building was sold off at auction. But from what I heard, it was in such bad shape that it went for practically nothing. Lumpfish stiffed so many of his contractors that no one competent wanted to work for him."

"I remember the case. Lumpfish is a real prince of a guy. When his father started suffering from dementia, Lumpfish stole his money too. Too bad he only ended up at Lincoln. That facility is like a YMCA."

"But given Lumpfish's penchant for goldplated everything, I doubt he's comfortable even there," Rick offers.

"And the staff will make him do actual work," Kate giggles. "I'd love to see him doing laundry."

Laugh lines spread from Rick's eyes. "Me too. But I'd like to see what's in that building more. Do you think we can sneak in?"

"We don't have to. We're investigating a murder. Lillstrom was acquainted with the victim. We can knock on the door and demand to see her."

"Wow! You're even more assertive as a captain than you were as a star detective. Will that transfer to more private venues?"

Kate winks. "We'll see about that later." The entryway to the building shows only minor signs of use, and the call button for the elevator doesn't light. Kate opens the door to the stairwell. The dust on the stairs leading upward is undisturbed, but tracks lead to the basement. "Lillstrom must be down there." Kate cautiously starts downward with a hand on her weapon. "Stay behind me, Babe."

"One of my favorite places to be."

A student dressed as a guard opens the door at Kate's insistent rapping. "You can't come in here. This is a restricted area."

Kate holds up her badge, gazing down a hall leading to rows of prison cells. "It's not restricted to us. We're investigating a murder. I need to talk to Dr. Lillstrom."

"Only the head guard talks to the warden," the student protests. "Anything else would disrupt the experiment."

"And who's the head guard?" Rick queries.

"It was Peter Garber. But he was demoted. That puts me next in line."

"Then lead the way to Dr. Lillstrom and tell her she's talking to us," Kate orders, "or you'll both be charged with obstruction."

The cowed guard starts down the hall. "Yes, Ma'am."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lillstrom demands. "You're jeopardizing months of work."

"Whose work?" Kate presses.

"The university doesn't know anything about the cosplay you set up here," Rick adds.

"The university didn't commission this project," Lillstrom admits.

"Then who did?" Kate pushes.

"That's classified," Lillstrom claims.

Rick and Kate lock gazes. "Military."

"Dr. Lillstrom, I don't care if your work is classified or not," Kate insists. "A student lost his life, a student with a direct connection to you. So you're going to answer my questions, either here or at the 12th Precinct. Your choice."

Lillstrom's eyes widen. "What student? Who died?"

"Peter Garber, your former head guard and later prisoner. What was he going to do? Blow the whistle on your operation?"

Lillstrom sinks into her chair. "I swear, I had no idea what happened to Peter. Since he escaped from his cell, I've either been here or sleeping at my apartment. I haven't even looked at any news. And I doubt I can tell you anything that will help. I don't even know how he got out."

"Why did you demote him from head guard to prisoner?" Rick asks.

Lillstrom swallows. "I can't tell you that. It involves details of my experiment."

Rick shakes his head. "I think I can take a pretty good guess. Peter was softhearted. He stood up against hazing. And he wanted in on this project to see if he could prevent the cruelty that overcame guards during the Stanford experiment. But he couldn't. He started to see what happened at Stanford, happening here. He even saw it happening to himself. And he couldn't take it. So you made him a prisoner instead. But he couldn't handle that either.

"Peter couldn't let the experiment keep going," Kate continues. "So he escaped to tell the world. But you couldn't let him do that. So you tracked him down and killed him."

"I didn't kill Peter," Lillstrom protests. "All the students, including Peter, signed strict NDAs. If he'd revealed what we were doing, he would have not only forfeited the money he got for participating in the experiment, he would have been liable for a massive financial penalty. And since this is a classified operation, he also could have been prosecuted under federal law. He knew that. I didn't need to kill him. So you can take my DNA or whatever will prove I didn't do it."

"Believe me," Kate assures her, "I will."