the works. Not showy. Elegant.”
“To attract?”
“I don’t think attraction was in her scheme of things. Obviously men were interested, but she didn’t encourage them. Certainly not in the workplace, anyway.”
“She preferred women?”
A shake of the head. “If she did, I never got a hint of it. No, she had her own agenda to look a million dollars and that was it.” Helen Sparks laughed heartily. “You’ve seen the rest of this lot. She was in a minority of one.”
“Two, I would think.”
She accepted the compliment with a shrug and a wry smile.
“Where was she from?”
“Liverpool, originally, but I don’t think she had anyone left up there. Most of her travelling was to help the police.”
“So she talked about the work she did, the profiling?”
“Once or twice when she got back from a case she mentioned what it was about. There were some rapes in a Welsh town, and she put together a profile of the man that definitely helped them to make an arrest. She also helped with a horrid case in Yorkshire, of someone maiming farm animals. She said it became fairly obvious which village the man came from. They caught him in the act.”
“What about the case she was involved in this time? Did she say anything at all?”
Dr Sparks leaned back, frowning, trying to remember. “One Thursday, she said she wouldn’t be in for a few days, and if I had to cover for her, would I arrange to show the final year students a film we have of juvenile offenders talking about their attitude to crime. I think I asked her where she was going this time and she said she wasn’t allowed to speak about it. I said, ‘Big time, then?’ and she said, ‘Huge, if it’s true.’ ”
“‘ Huge .’ She said that?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“‘ If it’s true .’ I wonder what she meant by that.”
“I’ve no idea.”
“And that was all?”
“Yes, apart from some messages for students about assignments.”
“How was she when she told you this? Calm?”
“Yes, and kind of thoughtful, as if her mind was already on the job she had to do.”
“Is there anyone else she might have spoken to?”
“Professor Chromik, I suppose.”
“He says she didn’t tell him anything,” Diamond said. He hesitated before asking, “Is it just me, or does he treat everyone as if they crawled out from under a stone?”
She smiled faintly. “It isn’t just you.”
“Did Emma have enemies?”
“In the department? Not really. You couldn’t dislike her.”
“Students?”
She drew back, surprised by the suggestion.
He said, “She graded them, presumably. Her marking might affect the class of degree they got, right?”
“It’s not so simple as that. They’re being assessed all the time by different people.”
“But one of them could hold a grudge against a member of staff if he felt he was being consistently undervalued?”
“Theoretically, but I don’t think they’d resort to murder.”
Diamond disagreed, and explained why. “Some students buckle under the pressure. Look at the suicide rate in universities.”
“That’s another matter,” Helen Sparks said sharply. “I wouldn’t accept a link with murder, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”
“But if someone felt their problems were inflicted by one of the staff, the anger might be focused there, instead of internally.”
“Ho-hum.”
“What do you mean—ho-hum?”
“These are just assertions,” she said. “You don’t have any data base to support them.”
“There won’t be data. Murder is an extreme act.”
“That’s no reason to be suspicious of students.”
“Helen, I have to be suspicious of everyone.”
He asked her to introduce him to more of her colleagues, and he met three others on the staff. All professed to having been on good terms with the saintly Emma. It was obvious no one would admit to being on bad terms with her. Maybe he should have delayed the questions until they’d all had a few more drinks.
He left
“To attract?”
“I don’t think attraction was in her scheme of things. Obviously men were interested, but she didn’t encourage them. Certainly not in the workplace, anyway.”
“She preferred women?”
A shake of the head. “If she did, I never got a hint of it. No, she had her own agenda to look a million dollars and that was it.” Helen Sparks laughed heartily. “You’ve seen the rest of this lot. She was in a minority of one.”
“Two, I would think.”
She accepted the compliment with a shrug and a wry smile.
“Where was she from?”
“Liverpool, originally, but I don’t think she had anyone left up there. Most of her travelling was to help the police.”
“So she talked about the work she did, the profiling?”
“Once or twice when she got back from a case she mentioned what it was about. There were some rapes in a Welsh town, and she put together a profile of the man that definitely helped them to make an arrest. She also helped with a horrid case in Yorkshire, of someone maiming farm animals. She said it became fairly obvious which village the man came from. They caught him in the act.”
“What about the case she was involved in this time? Did she say anything at all?”
Dr Sparks leaned back, frowning, trying to remember. “One Thursday, she said she wouldn’t be in for a few days, and if I had to cover for her, would I arrange to show the final year students a film we have of juvenile offenders talking about their attitude to crime. I think I asked her where she was going this time and she said she wasn’t allowed to speak about it. I said, ‘Big time, then?’ and she said, ‘Huge, if it’s true.’ ”
“‘ Huge .’ She said that?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“‘ If it’s true .’ I wonder what she meant by that.”
“I’ve no idea.”
“And that was all?”
“Yes, apart from some messages for students about assignments.”
“How was she when she told you this? Calm?”
“Yes, and kind of thoughtful, as if her mind was already on the job she had to do.”
“Is there anyone else she might have spoken to?”
“Professor Chromik, I suppose.”
“He says she didn’t tell him anything,” Diamond said. He hesitated before asking, “Is it just me, or does he treat everyone as if they crawled out from under a stone?”
She smiled faintly. “It isn’t just you.”
“Did Emma have enemies?”
“In the department? Not really. You couldn’t dislike her.”
“Students?”
She drew back, surprised by the suggestion.
He said, “She graded them, presumably. Her marking might affect the class of degree they got, right?”
“It’s not so simple as that. They’re being assessed all the time by different people.”
“But one of them could hold a grudge against a member of staff if he felt he was being consistently undervalued?”
“Theoretically, but I don’t think they’d resort to murder.”
Diamond disagreed, and explained why. “Some students buckle under the pressure. Look at the suicide rate in universities.”
“That’s another matter,” Helen Sparks said sharply. “I wouldn’t accept a link with murder, if that’s what you’re suggesting.”
“But if someone felt their problems were inflicted by one of the staff, the anger might be focused there, instead of internally.”
“Ho-hum.”
“What do you mean—ho-hum?”
“These are just assertions,” she said. “You don’t have any data base to support them.”
“There won’t be data. Murder is an extreme act.”
“That’s no reason to be suspicious of students.”
“Helen, I have to be suspicious of everyone.”
He asked her to introduce him to more of her colleagues, and he met three others on the staff. All professed to having been on good terms with the saintly Emma. It was obvious no one would admit to being on bad terms with her. Maybe he should have delayed the questions until they’d all had a few more drinks.
He left
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