Small disclaimer. The books mentioned are entirely made up as well as the
author's names. So don't go looking for them, because if you find them it's
a major coincidence. Same for the students and faculty of NYU.
Goren and Eames were directed to the head of the art department, Dr. Lowry. She knew almost all of the art majors by face if not by name. She was teaching a Drawing from Life class. They walked in on a bunch of students sketching a nude woman. Eames shot a hard look at Goren who took his time "glancing" at the model. Her head was turned away from the door, so she did not see the detectives. "Dr. Lowry?" The professor had seen them come in and was already heading toward them. "Yes?" "Detective Eames, this is my partner Detective Goren." It was a switch for her to do the introductions. She turned in time to see Goren wrench his head around to meet Dr. Lowry's gaze. She smirked at the effort it seemed to take. "Perhaps we could talk outside." "I thought you'd never ask." Dr. Lowry frowned and gestured for them to go out the door first. "Sorry. I was captivated by beauty of the human form." Goren said smiling softly. He wanted Dr. Lowry to think of him as a harmless oaf. "Indeed." She intoned sternly. "Detective, I have to weed out students from this class every year. I don't know who let you down here in the first place we try to respect the privacy of our classes." "You'll have to forgive my partner. He doesn't get to leave his cage very often." Eames said picking up on Goren's effort to lighten the mood. Dr. Lowry responded more favorably to Eames joke. Goren crossed his arms in front of him. It was a signal that Eames should take the lead at least for the first part. He'd already made too much of an ass of himself to be of much use. Eames did not let him down. "We were wondering if you could help us." "Are you investigating Alice Whitten's murder?" "Yes, that's right." "I'm not sure what I can do for you. She was never one of my students." "Are you aware of the circumstances of her death?" "Oh yes. Dreadful thing. Is it true that millions may have seen it on the web?" "Thousands, but probably millions by now. It was recorded and the pictures are everywhere." Eames pulled out a copy of the enhanced photo. "I don't know if you've seen it, but this has been enhanced. We're wondering if you can identify the man in the photo." Dr. Lowry looked at it carefully. "Are you really thinking this could be a student here?" Goren cut in. "We're not ruling it out. He has a tattoo that looks like a custom job. Perhaps you might recognize the work." He slipped the second picture into her hand. "That's very blurry." She studied it. "Actually it does remind me of a student's work, But he no longer goes here." "He didn't graduate." Goren did not make it a question. "No, he was expelled. He was stalking another student from what I gather. His name was Garrick Miles. He didn't look like this man, though. She slid the other picture out and looked again. "No. Garrick was skinny and blond. He was one of my best students, too." Goren tilted he head to the side. "You don't happen to keep in touch do you?" "No. He might as well have fallen off the planet."
Garrick Miles was hovering in the NYU student library stacks. He was indeed skinny and blond. He was also intently watching Angela sitting at a table pouring over a pile of books in front of her. He was pretending to look through a book whenever he sensed another student in his peripheral vision, but most of the time he kept his eyes on her. He watched as two people, a very big man, and a smaller blond woman walked up to her. He was instantly jealous, but he knew enough to recognize cops when he saw them.
"Angela." Goren said to bring her out of her studying haze. "We asked your friend where you might be." "And here I be." She said smiling a sad smile. She gestured for them to take a seat across from her. Goren and Eames exchanged glances. They were not often asked to have a seat they usually took them of their own accord.
Goren lift the front cover of the book she was reading just enough to read the title. "A Study of Serial Killers: From Jack the Ripper to Jeffrey Dahmer." He read aloud. "This is a good one though if you want a really insightful work you'd read E. Huntley's portrait of Bundy." He paused. She just continued to look at them. "Is this for a class?" Goren cocked his head and leaned in a bit. He raised an eyebrow. "Or do you think this is a serial killing?" "I don't know what to think. This is the best I could find at the moment. I really just wanted to find out if there was anything that might indicate he'd come back." She shut the book and took up another one, handing it to Goren to look at the title. It was a basic criminology textbook. "I have a hard time with this one. It's too dense with theories on crimes. All of them, not just murders." "Funny you should be looking at all this stuff. Don't you have exams coming up?" Goren did not look at her. He had taken the book and was leafing through it. "I get to do those later. You know that college rule where you get a passing grade if your roommate dies? It's partially true. I can take an incomplete and do the exams next semester." "How were your grades going this semester anyway?" Eames had picked up on Goren's thread. Angela looked at her and then glanced over at Goren apprehensively. "Not the best in the world. I have an excuse for that. That guy I told you I had dumped? He didn't take it so well. He started to stalk me and it caused quite a problem." Goren looked up quickly. "Garrick Miles?" "How did you know?" "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Goren actually looked a bit angry. "I didn't think it was important. After he got expelled he left me alone and this was back in the beginning of the semester. I haven't heard from him since February." She was frightened by the way Goren had sat up and looked hard at her. "Do you think he's involved with this? Because he doesn't look a thing like the guy in the picture." Goren immediately settled back in his chair and appeared to think about it. "No, I guess not. We'll touch base with him, but he's probably not involved." He abruptly stood up. "You really don't have anything to worry about, Angela. This looks more like an exhibitionist crime. He liked the idea of being watched and since you were never in front of the camera."
Bobby and Alex were sitting on a park bench enjoying their lunch. Bobby was eating pastrami on rye. Alex was sipping some soup from a cup. "Do you think she had her roommate killed to get her grades up?" "I admit it looks suspicious. She doesn't bring up this significant fact about this Garrick Miles person until we start questioning her along those lines." "But she was studying those books like she was really concerned about the killer coming back." "Or wants ideas about avoiding arrest." He took another bite of his sandwich while Alex just stared at him. He saw her looking and raised his eyebrow. "You were so gung-ho about her earlier. Did the nude model sway your attention?" He finished his bite and smiled at her. "I'm just not ruling this out. We have to check out her story first. Make sure she is the girl Miles was stalking and if she is we need to find this Miles guy." "The boyfriend of the roommate did it." "An ex-boyfriend. If you were so jealous of your ex-girlfriend's time wouldn't you be wondering if she was ever tempted to go in front of that camera? Wouldn't you send her a warning as to what you might do if she did?" "This will be hard to prove." "Whoever said life was easy?"
Garrick Miles did turn up to have priors. Those consistent with a stalker. There was even a restraining order for him not to come within one hundred yards of NYU. It was filed by NYU shortly after the expulsion. A call to the campus security did confirm that Angela was the target. However they could not locate Miles. A visit to his mother's home in Queens turned up nothing. She wouldn't even let them in the door. "My boy was hurt by that slut. He told me that she even wanted him to get in front of that camera. What he ever saw in her I don't know, but I am not going to answer any of your questions. I haven't heard from him since February. He said he was going out west to school." And with that she slammed the door in their faces. "Well, that was helpful." "Yes, very." Goren looked back at the house before getting into the SUV. "Does she look like someone who would have a computer?" He laughed slightly. "And I would never tell my mother that my girlfriend let people watch her on camera or that she wanted me to do the same. I'd want to keep that private no matter how bad the breakup was." "So, Garrick is talking to Mommy." "Lying to Mommy. Angela never did get in front of that camera. All those message boards on Jancam confirmed that. No one knew she even had a roommate."
When they returned to headquarters Deakins was waiting for them. "Here's a background report on Angela. She has quite few scholarships going for her. Scholarships that would be taken anyway anytime she goes below a 3.0 average." He tossed Goren the file. And then looked at the both of them significantly. "I understand she also has incompletes this semester. And she had been averaging a 2.0." "We've questioned her on that." Goren said simply. He opened the file and scanned it quickly. Deakins waited, but quickly grew impatient. "And.?" "Bobby doesn't think too much of that theory." Eames quipped. "What about you?" "I think there may be something there. But this Garrick Miles guy has something to do with it too." You're basing this on the tattoos? Some fuzzy photo and an even fuzzier memory from a tattoo artist? You haven't even tracked the guy down." Deakins walked back to his desk and sat down. He glared and Goren when he finally looked up from the file. "Pick her up for questioning. She's the best lead we've got." "Ok." Goren tucked the file in his case and left with Eames. Outside Eames snorted at Bobby. "I know you. You don't think she's involved. Why didn't you argue?" Bobby gazed at her for a moment. "Sometimes you've got to shake the tree to see what falls out of it." "What?" "If Garrick Miles is still watching her, then he might be more than a little concerned with her being questioned." Goren opened up his file again to read.
Back at the NYU library Garrick Miles had moved to a different vantage point but was still close enough to see her. She had gone to lunch, but was back at her studies. The books had changed on the table and her laptop was open. She paused to stretch her arms. He had finally worked up the courage to approach her. He was coming around the bookcase when he saw the two detectives from before approach her. He barely made back around to behind the bookcase before the big detective looked up.
"Back so soon?" Angela looked at the detectives before her. "And you're still here." Goren said. He did not sit down but did look around the library quickly. He picked up another book. "This time you should come with us." Eames said. Angela looked at her before she gathered her things in her bag and zipped up her laptop. Goren and Eames flanked her as they walked out. Goren made sure to grab her arm just above the elbow. He twisted his hand so that the fabric of her coat bunched and made it look as though he was holding her tighter then he was.
Goren and Eames were directed to the head of the art department, Dr. Lowry. She knew almost all of the art majors by face if not by name. She was teaching a Drawing from Life class. They walked in on a bunch of students sketching a nude woman. Eames shot a hard look at Goren who took his time "glancing" at the model. Her head was turned away from the door, so she did not see the detectives. "Dr. Lowry?" The professor had seen them come in and was already heading toward them. "Yes?" "Detective Eames, this is my partner Detective Goren." It was a switch for her to do the introductions. She turned in time to see Goren wrench his head around to meet Dr. Lowry's gaze. She smirked at the effort it seemed to take. "Perhaps we could talk outside." "I thought you'd never ask." Dr. Lowry frowned and gestured for them to go out the door first. "Sorry. I was captivated by beauty of the human form." Goren said smiling softly. He wanted Dr. Lowry to think of him as a harmless oaf. "Indeed." She intoned sternly. "Detective, I have to weed out students from this class every year. I don't know who let you down here in the first place we try to respect the privacy of our classes." "You'll have to forgive my partner. He doesn't get to leave his cage very often." Eames said picking up on Goren's effort to lighten the mood. Dr. Lowry responded more favorably to Eames joke. Goren crossed his arms in front of him. It was a signal that Eames should take the lead at least for the first part. He'd already made too much of an ass of himself to be of much use. Eames did not let him down. "We were wondering if you could help us." "Are you investigating Alice Whitten's murder?" "Yes, that's right." "I'm not sure what I can do for you. She was never one of my students." "Are you aware of the circumstances of her death?" "Oh yes. Dreadful thing. Is it true that millions may have seen it on the web?" "Thousands, but probably millions by now. It was recorded and the pictures are everywhere." Eames pulled out a copy of the enhanced photo. "I don't know if you've seen it, but this has been enhanced. We're wondering if you can identify the man in the photo." Dr. Lowry looked at it carefully. "Are you really thinking this could be a student here?" Goren cut in. "We're not ruling it out. He has a tattoo that looks like a custom job. Perhaps you might recognize the work." He slipped the second picture into her hand. "That's very blurry." She studied it. "Actually it does remind me of a student's work, But he no longer goes here." "He didn't graduate." Goren did not make it a question. "No, he was expelled. He was stalking another student from what I gather. His name was Garrick Miles. He didn't look like this man, though. She slid the other picture out and looked again. "No. Garrick was skinny and blond. He was one of my best students, too." Goren tilted he head to the side. "You don't happen to keep in touch do you?" "No. He might as well have fallen off the planet."
Garrick Miles was hovering in the NYU student library stacks. He was indeed skinny and blond. He was also intently watching Angela sitting at a table pouring over a pile of books in front of her. He was pretending to look through a book whenever he sensed another student in his peripheral vision, but most of the time he kept his eyes on her. He watched as two people, a very big man, and a smaller blond woman walked up to her. He was instantly jealous, but he knew enough to recognize cops when he saw them.
"Angela." Goren said to bring her out of her studying haze. "We asked your friend where you might be." "And here I be." She said smiling a sad smile. She gestured for them to take a seat across from her. Goren and Eames exchanged glances. They were not often asked to have a seat they usually took them of their own accord.
Goren lift the front cover of the book she was reading just enough to read the title. "A Study of Serial Killers: From Jack the Ripper to Jeffrey Dahmer." He read aloud. "This is a good one though if you want a really insightful work you'd read E. Huntley's portrait of Bundy." He paused. She just continued to look at them. "Is this for a class?" Goren cocked his head and leaned in a bit. He raised an eyebrow. "Or do you think this is a serial killing?" "I don't know what to think. This is the best I could find at the moment. I really just wanted to find out if there was anything that might indicate he'd come back." She shut the book and took up another one, handing it to Goren to look at the title. It was a basic criminology textbook. "I have a hard time with this one. It's too dense with theories on crimes. All of them, not just murders." "Funny you should be looking at all this stuff. Don't you have exams coming up?" Goren did not look at her. He had taken the book and was leafing through it. "I get to do those later. You know that college rule where you get a passing grade if your roommate dies? It's partially true. I can take an incomplete and do the exams next semester." "How were your grades going this semester anyway?" Eames had picked up on Goren's thread. Angela looked at her and then glanced over at Goren apprehensively. "Not the best in the world. I have an excuse for that. That guy I told you I had dumped? He didn't take it so well. He started to stalk me and it caused quite a problem." Goren looked up quickly. "Garrick Miles?" "How did you know?" "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Goren actually looked a bit angry. "I didn't think it was important. After he got expelled he left me alone and this was back in the beginning of the semester. I haven't heard from him since February." She was frightened by the way Goren had sat up and looked hard at her. "Do you think he's involved with this? Because he doesn't look a thing like the guy in the picture." Goren immediately settled back in his chair and appeared to think about it. "No, I guess not. We'll touch base with him, but he's probably not involved." He abruptly stood up. "You really don't have anything to worry about, Angela. This looks more like an exhibitionist crime. He liked the idea of being watched and since you were never in front of the camera."
Bobby and Alex were sitting on a park bench enjoying their lunch. Bobby was eating pastrami on rye. Alex was sipping some soup from a cup. "Do you think she had her roommate killed to get her grades up?" "I admit it looks suspicious. She doesn't bring up this significant fact about this Garrick Miles person until we start questioning her along those lines." "But she was studying those books like she was really concerned about the killer coming back." "Or wants ideas about avoiding arrest." He took another bite of his sandwich while Alex just stared at him. He saw her looking and raised his eyebrow. "You were so gung-ho about her earlier. Did the nude model sway your attention?" He finished his bite and smiled at her. "I'm just not ruling this out. We have to check out her story first. Make sure she is the girl Miles was stalking and if she is we need to find this Miles guy." "The boyfriend of the roommate did it." "An ex-boyfriend. If you were so jealous of your ex-girlfriend's time wouldn't you be wondering if she was ever tempted to go in front of that camera? Wouldn't you send her a warning as to what you might do if she did?" "This will be hard to prove." "Whoever said life was easy?"
Garrick Miles did turn up to have priors. Those consistent with a stalker. There was even a restraining order for him not to come within one hundred yards of NYU. It was filed by NYU shortly after the expulsion. A call to the campus security did confirm that Angela was the target. However they could not locate Miles. A visit to his mother's home in Queens turned up nothing. She wouldn't even let them in the door. "My boy was hurt by that slut. He told me that she even wanted him to get in front of that camera. What he ever saw in her I don't know, but I am not going to answer any of your questions. I haven't heard from him since February. He said he was going out west to school." And with that she slammed the door in their faces. "Well, that was helpful." "Yes, very." Goren looked back at the house before getting into the SUV. "Does she look like someone who would have a computer?" He laughed slightly. "And I would never tell my mother that my girlfriend let people watch her on camera or that she wanted me to do the same. I'd want to keep that private no matter how bad the breakup was." "So, Garrick is talking to Mommy." "Lying to Mommy. Angela never did get in front of that camera. All those message boards on Jancam confirmed that. No one knew she even had a roommate."
When they returned to headquarters Deakins was waiting for them. "Here's a background report on Angela. She has quite few scholarships going for her. Scholarships that would be taken anyway anytime she goes below a 3.0 average." He tossed Goren the file. And then looked at the both of them significantly. "I understand she also has incompletes this semester. And she had been averaging a 2.0." "We've questioned her on that." Goren said simply. He opened the file and scanned it quickly. Deakins waited, but quickly grew impatient. "And.?" "Bobby doesn't think too much of that theory." Eames quipped. "What about you?" "I think there may be something there. But this Garrick Miles guy has something to do with it too." You're basing this on the tattoos? Some fuzzy photo and an even fuzzier memory from a tattoo artist? You haven't even tracked the guy down." Deakins walked back to his desk and sat down. He glared and Goren when he finally looked up from the file. "Pick her up for questioning. She's the best lead we've got." "Ok." Goren tucked the file in his case and left with Eames. Outside Eames snorted at Bobby. "I know you. You don't think she's involved. Why didn't you argue?" Bobby gazed at her for a moment. "Sometimes you've got to shake the tree to see what falls out of it." "What?" "If Garrick Miles is still watching her, then he might be more than a little concerned with her being questioned." Goren opened up his file again to read.
Back at the NYU library Garrick Miles had moved to a different vantage point but was still close enough to see her. She had gone to lunch, but was back at her studies. The books had changed on the table and her laptop was open. She paused to stretch her arms. He had finally worked up the courage to approach her. He was coming around the bookcase when he saw the two detectives from before approach her. He barely made back around to behind the bookcase before the big detective looked up.
"Back so soon?" Angela looked at the detectives before her. "And you're still here." Goren said. He did not sit down but did look around the library quickly. He picked up another book. "This time you should come with us." Eames said. Angela looked at her before she gathered her things in her bag and zipped up her laptop. Goren and Eames flanked her as they walked out. Goren made sure to grab her arm just above the elbow. He twisted his hand so that the fabric of her coat bunched and made it look as though he was holding her tighter then he was.