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Monday, 9:15 a.m.
- Michigan State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
25 and it sure as hell is someone’s fault. more than a few people. it’s the colonizers ’ fault for doing it to us and it’s our fault for letting it happen.” “okay.” He knew better than to argue with monique. she’d die trying to eradicate the country of racism. on top of that, her brother had been killed by some drunken white guys and that was her main reason for turning to law enforcement. revenge combined with intense anger towards the dominant society could be dangerous motivators. He worried about her. “check out this one,” he said as he picked up another framed photo. monique looked at the five people, clearly two parents and three children . one was tony, smiling with straight white teeth. His long-haired father smiled with the same teeth and towered over everyone in the picture. tony looked about six feet. Dad stood three inches taller and mom a few inches shorter. “mama looks like she could whip some butt,” said clarke. the woman’s dark brows framed intense, slanted eyes. she wore her black hair streaked with gray and pulled back at the sides, fastened with tortoiseshell clips. she appeared dangerous in a mature, cat-woman sort of way. two young men who looked alike stood next to tony. Both appeared to be smiling reluctantly, and monique figured they didn’t like having their pictures taken. one had sunglasses on his head that held back his hair. the other brother wore his hair in a single hair-and-leather braid that fell over his shoulder to his hip. He had inherited his mother’s threatening stare. “imposing family,” said clarke. monique looked at the photo once more. she recognized the look in the woman’s eyes. “Here.” she handed the frame back to clarke. “i have a feeling something significant will hit the fan when they find out what happened to their son.” monDaY, 9:15 a.m. after monique and clarke completed their initial investigation, they removed their gloves and jackets. as they left tony’s office, meg returned from printing the doors. 26 “i got prints from every knob.” “Good work. thanks,” said monique. “except for two.” “What does that mean?” “this one,” she said, nodding toward the dead man’s door, “and the knob to the office at the end of the hall have no prints.” “no prints?” “nope. someone grabbed these knobs and turned, but they had gloves on. By doing so they cleaned the handle of prints. not only that. in the big meeting room on the second floor there are footprints on the carpet, but it looks like the perp put socks over the shoes. i can probably determine the foot size but not the treads. it’s a very plush carpet for a university classroom.” “no kiddin,’” said clarke. “Where i went to school my classrooms always had tile or a brand x carpet that never got cleaned. and we sure didn’t have all this art on the walls. in the cafeteria we . . .” monique held up her hand as a signal to hush. she nodded for meg to continue. “anyway, i didn’t go in, but it appears the feet belonged to someone who came through the window. then he went down the hall.” she pointed towards the end of the hallway and the stairwell. sunlight through some of the classroom windows reflected off the old oak floors. the faint odor of floor wax floated through the air. “But there’s only one set of footprints in the meeting room.that means,” meg continued, “our perp went upstairs to do the deed, came back down, and left the building through a door instead of going back into the seminar room to climb down the wall.” “ogden!” Yelled monique. the gangly cop jogged over to her. “i need you to post someone by the meeting room one floor down. no one goes in.” “okay. anyplace else?” “this floor for sure. Keep the first-floor doors closed. no students allowed in unless they have information for me.” ogden repeated the orders to richard snelson, who had regained his composure and stopped sweating, though his armpits revealed plate-sized stains. monique wondered if hers looked the same. she felt hot, and a throb had started in her left temple. “meet us down there in a minute,” ogden said to snelson’s back. [44.201.64.238] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 18:41 GMT) 27 “Why...