“The professor.”
“The professor? Our professor?,” asked Willa.
“H-he killed her,” he sobbed.
“He killed my sister?” asked Samantha.
“I-I’m not sure,” he said sucking in a breath. Quinn placed a cup of water in front of him and he gulped it down.
“Who exactly did this professor kill?” asked Ham.
“M-my wife,” he sobbed. “Today was our fifth anniversary.”
“Oh, God,” whispered Willa.
“Okay. What the fuck is going on here?” asked River. “What’s happening? How do you know this man killed your wife?” He took another drink of water and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
“We were students at the University of Arkansas together,” he started.
“I couldn’t find anything on you being a student anywhere else,” said AJ. He nodded.
“My name isn’t Morris Cooper. It’s Paul Stivick. We were attending together but I was in the master’s program and she was in the undergraduate program at Arkansas but following different disciplines. She kept saying that the professor would send her messages to meet him in his office, late at night.”
“What did he want?” asked Willa.
“He never said. He would only say it was important to her grade. So, she reported him to the administration. They came back and said it was a simple request and that she should meet with him during normal school hours. Normal school hours are seven a.m. to seven p.m. It was the worst advice ever.”
“What happened M-, I mean Paul?” asked Finn.
“I told her I would wait for her downstairs in the coffee shop but two hours passed and she never showed up. I finally went upstairs and his office was locked. I called security, I called the administration, finally calling the police. No one wanted to believe that the good professor took my wife.”
“That must have been horrible,” said Samantha.
“I was forced to answer their questions for hours. Then, one of the officers walked in and said they found my wife inside our home. She was dead by lethal injection and they declared it a suicide. I know that’s not true. It’s him!”
“Okay. Okay, Paul,” said Finn. “We’re sorry we scared you but we are going to help you.”
“You worried about me with Willa but I wasn’t sure if I could trust you. I wanted to watch her, keep her from him. I was so busy watching Willa that I didn’t notice him sending messages to Ara.”
“How do you know he sent messages to her?” asked AJ.
“Before all of this, I was studying information technology. When I knew that he was watching some of the girls, I hacked into their phones so I could see if he sent any messages. I never got into Willa’s. You’ve got an amazing security system.”
“Yeah,” she grinned. “I do.”
“Anyway, I never saw any messages to anyone until the exam ended. It was as if the phone had been turned off, then back on.” He took out his own phone and handed it to Finn. “Scroll through this folder and you’ll see the messages.”
“I’m concerned about your grades. Meet before the exam.”
“Why are you concerned? I have a 91 average.”
“That’s not what I’m seeing. Meet me at CC’s Coffee at 7am.”
“She didn’t appear to reply but she must have gotten scared and met him. It’s the only answer I can think of. When she didn’t show up I was confused but he was there so I thought she was safe. I should have said something.”
“What’s this professor’s name?” asked Ham.
“Teller Wayne.”
