Jack’s smile grew wider, and I resisted the urge to take a step back and out of the line of fire. Jack wasn’t a fan of attorneys, and he especially wasn’t a fan of attorneys trying to run the shots in an investigation.
“Well, Mr. Horowitz,” Jack said, but he was looking at Jim Coleman. “I appreciate you trying to get things organized, but when I came in here, I was thinking I’d get cooperation from two employees of the university over the death of one of their students. But instead, those two employees have a troop of lawyers to do the talking for them, which leads me to believe that maybe there’s something to hide and that maybe they’re not so innocent after all. I mean, all I wanted was a list of rules for the tournament and a little background on the victim, but now I’m thinking I need to start digging a little deeper.”
“Now hold on a second, Jack,” Jim said, putting his hands up. “That’s not what’s happening at all. You know how these things work. This is the advice we were given, and we put these protocols in place for everyone’s protection.”
“I understand. You do whatever you need to do,” Jack said. His tone was polite and friendly, and I knew he was about to drop the hammer. He turned back to Horowitz and said, “We’ll need your clients at the sheriff’s office at eight in the morning for formal interview.” Then he looked at Jim and the scared-looking woman who hadn’t made a peep. “Formal interviews can take hours. I hope these guys are worth what you’re paying them.”
The woman made a tiny gasp of outrage, and Jim went red in the face. “That’s ridiculous, Jack.”
“No, Jim,” Jack said. “What’s ridiculous is this power play for no reason whatsoever, when we’ve got a crime to solve and a family to let know that their child is dead. But by all means, make sure you tie things up in red tape.”
“Fine,” Jim said. “You three out. I’m not wasting my day tomorrow sitting at the sheriff’s office.”
“Dr. Coleman,” Horowitz said, frowning at Jack.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Jim said, waving them away. “I took your advice and now I’m not. We don’t have anything to hide. This was an accident. A tragic accident. There’s nothing we could have done.”
“Nothing you get from this interview will be admissible,” Horowitz said.
“Wow,” Jack said. “You really don’t have a lot of faith in your clients. Maybe you want to go ahead and confess for them.”
“Out,” Jim said, staring Horowitz down with a steely glare.
The three attorneys gathered their legal pads and filed out of the room, not meeting our gazes. Jim came out from behind the table toward Jack and extended his hand.
“I’m sorry about that, Jack,” Jim said, in full hospitality mode now. “You know how attorneys are. We just got caught up in it, but truly, we don’t want to do anything to make things difficult for you and your wife.” He turned to me and gave me a genuine smile. “Nice to see you again. We met at the Fourth of July party last year.”
I wasn’t nearly as good at remembering people’s faces or names as Jack was, and it seemed I was always meeting someone or another at official events. For the life of me I couldn’t recall having ever seen Jim Coleman before, but I nodded and gave him a friendly smile that I hoped gave the impression that I remembered our meeting fondly.
“Come on in and sit down,” Jim said. “I don’t know if you’ve met Trish Johnson, but she’s the university event coordinator. You might have seen her at some of the donor receptions.”
Trish looked like she was scared to death, but I’d learned over the years that some people just had that reaction to cops, no matter if they were innocent or guilty. She was a thin woman with high cheekbones and a long nose that spoke of a Native American ancestry somewhere down the line. Her dark hair was pulled up in a knot on the top of her head and a fringe of bangs rested above dark brows and thickly lashed black eyes. She was dressed casually in a KGU sweatshirt and jeans, and she looked young, too young to be a professor.
“Dr. Graves,” I told her, extending a hand. Her skin was cold to the touch, but her handshake was firm.
“We won’t take up much of your time,” Jack said, holding out one of the rolling chairs for me to take a seat. “We know this is difficult for everyone on campus.”
“That’s an understatement,” Jim said. “The last time we lost a student at this campus was eight years ago. A girl was hit by a drunk driver. This is a safe place. The phone is already ringing off the hook with panicked parents.”
“I’m interested in the weapons that were used during the last match between Dwight Parr and Kevin Schwartzman. We were told each of their weapons were inspected before they were allowed to fight.”
Trish tapped her index finger repeatedly on the table in a nervous gesture, but she kept eye contact with Jack. “Believe me, I’m interested in knowing the answer to that too. None of this makes any sense. The weapons were inspected before the fight began.”
“What about the enhancement?” Jack asked.
Her mouth pinched tight at that and she glanced at Jim. He let out a sigh and squeezed the back of his neck.
“Honestly, that’s what all the hullaballoo was about with the attorneys,” Jim admitted. “The kids add things all the time to their weapons. Light shows and bits of technology that make it look like something from a video game or movie. But it’s always been amateur stuff. It’s the blades and spikes and weapons that impale that have always been the concern for safety.”
“Why did you say none of this makes sense?” I asked Trish. “You say that as if you’re familiar with Kevin and Dwight and their weapons of choice.”
“Because I am,” she said, blowing out a frustrated breath. “I’m the university event coordinator, but I’m also a professor of American history, and I’m the faculty sponsor for the KGU D&D club. I’ve known Kevin and Dwight since they were freshmen. I’ve seen them fight with those weapons before.”
“And you’ve never seen the electrical component to the sword?” I asked.
“Not like that,” she said. “Dwight has made enhancements over the last four years as his knowledge and skill have grown. He’s a brilliant student. But it’s all been for show. Extra lights or sound effects. He won the Archimedes Fellowship and is headed to Oxford this summer.”
“We’re very proud of him,” Jim cut in. “It’s a huge coup for the school.”
“Did you know something was off about the sword?” Jack asked Trish.
“Not really,” she said. “At least not at first. Like I’ve said, I’ve watched these guys fight many times before. Kids like Dwight and Kevin don’t always fit in. In fact, I’d venture to say they’ve never fit in anywhere until they came here. But the D&D club is a family. It’s a bunch of like-minded people who love and take pride in what they do—the fight sequences, the costumes, the fan fiction and original stories told.
“When Dwight hit the switch on his sword the blue light danced up the entire length to the tip. It was very cool to see, and all I could think was that he’d done an amazing job with his enhancements. I mean, it was pretty good before, but you could still see the flaws in it. But this time…it really was top notch. CGI quality.” She ducked her head down and grasped her fingers together tightly. And then she looked up with a guilty expression on her face. “I was really proud of him when I saw it.”