Hired Education: Inspector Calamari Mysteries, #8

By Richard Vadim

Inspector Calamari and Sergeant Treadwell are confronted with the most difficult challenges they have ever faced, both professionally and personally.

 

Buckle up for this fast-paced, spell-binding ride into the world of our favorite police investigators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Vadim
• Release date: Apr 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224357932

Book preview

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Hired Education

An Inspector Calamari Mystery

Richard Vadim

Hired Education

An Inspector Calamari Mystery

by Richard Vadim

Copyright © 2024 Richard Vadim

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

For licenses, contact: [e-mail]

This work is a product of the author’s imagination.  Any references to people or places are imagined or used fictitiously.

To my family, especially my daughter, Carol, whose thoughtful editing greatly enhanced this work.

Hired Education

Table of Contents

1 - Feelgood Murder

2 - Call to Duty

3 - Outed

4 - Crime Scene

5 - Taking Pause

6 - Babysitting

7 - Déjà Vu

8 - Murder Board

9 - Nurse Nightingale

10 - Déjà Vu All Over Again

11 - Somebody’s Mother

12 - Revelation

13 - Poetic Justice

14 - End of the Beginning

1 - Feelgood Murder

A

 broad walnut desk commanded the expansive, dimly lit office.  Three of its walls were floor-to-ceiling bookcases, the fourth decked with shelves, resting places for numerous awards and potted plants. 

A cluster of upholstered furniture anchored a thick ornate carpet.  Glowing embers in the brick fireplace spoke to the cozy temperature of the chamber. 

The attractive blonde took a deep drag on her cigarette and added a lungful of smog to the hazy room.  A brief knock and the squeak of a door hinge spurred her to lean forward slightly in an oversized leather chair and crush the lipstick-stained butt into a floor-standing ashtray.  As she stood, she remarked coldly, I thought you changed your mind about coming.

​The next instant, a heavy object crashed down on the back of Professor Edwina Feelgood’s head, catapulting her onto the floor.  Her eyes were open when her perfect lips smudged the carpet, but her consciousness had left, as would her life within the hour.

2 - Call to Duty

I

nspector Dulles A Calamari and Sergeant Angel Treadwell strolled through the squad room and joined up when they reached the hallway leading to their captain’s office.  Calamari cocked his head to his partner.  So, he called you, too?

​Yes.  Do you know what for?

​Not a clue.

​Something good or something bad?

​It’s a toss-up.

​The inspector knocked and led Angel inside.  Captain Walter Slotnick faced away from them, looking out the window.  Calamari spoke.  Captain?  You wanted to see us?

​Yes, he said as he turned, a serious expression on his face.  Please, have a seat.

​The anxious captain stood behind his desk chair and studied his detectives.  Dulles, Angel, I have a delicate assignment for you two.

​Delicate? Calamari responded.  That doesn’t sound like a word used for a homicide assignment.

​Perhaps, but you see, I just received a call from Dr. Maximus Carrom, the provost of Tempest University.

​Oh, Treadwell interrupted, my alma mater.

​The captain smiled.  That may prove very useful, Angel.  His solemn expression returned as he sat and continued.  Dr. Carrom just called me about a possible murder on campus.

​Oh, no, the sergeant blurted out before covering her mouth with a hand.

​You see, Slotnick continued as he looked down at some notes.  "ProfessorEdwina Feelgood was found on the floor of her office this morning.  When the campus police arrived, they first thought the professor had fallen and hit her head on the fireplace hearth.  But one of the officers, an ex-Philadelphia detective, looked closely and concluded it was more likely a homicide than an accident.

"The provost, concerned about the profound negative impact on the university, called me.  We’ve known each other for years.  He asked that I send my best detectives to investigate, hoping a swift, accurate determination of the facts might help diffuse the situation. 

You two are my detectives of choice.  I don’t want you to deviate in any way from your usual fervor in solving this case. And based on your past reports, I know your final write-up will be concise.  Such a high-profile case will naturally bring reporters out of the woodwork.  Be professional and rely only on facts that the public needs to know.  Faculty, students, and their parents will naturally be on edge; hence my earlier comment that this is a delicate assignment.

The captain handed his handwritten notes to Calamari.  Okay, you guys, do your thing.  Keep me posted.

3 - Outed

T

hree months earlier, Professor Edwina Feelgood displayed her credentials to the university’s testing center proctor and spoke softly.  "The students in my Financial Modeling course are taking an exam today.  I just want to make sure one of them, Albert Armstrong, is here."

​The young woman examined the seating chart before her, then looked up and pointed.  Yes, there he is, the last seat in the fourth row.

​The professor eyed the identified student typing away on a computer keyboard.  The last seat in the fourth row?

​Yes, in that red hoodie.  See him?

​Oh, yes, I see him.  Thank you. 

Professor Feelgood headed for her office but stopped before the secretary, who served the six staff members on that floor.  Cathy, can you contact one of my students, Albert Armstrong, and ask him to come to my office after six today?  He is taking an exam at the moment, so wait until after lunch to reach out to him.

​Certainly, Professor.

At 6:30, a nervous third-year student stood, sweating, before his instructor’s door.  He raised his hand to knock and gritted his teeth as he tried to forestall the action.  At long last, knuckles met wood, and a voice from within beckoned him to enter.

​Professor Feelgood, a comely woman in her thirties, was seated at her desk, pressing her fingertips together.  She nodded toward the chair opposite her, and Albert Armstrong melted into the chair and presented a false smile.