[10:15AM, EDT, Karellon University]
"I’d also like to find out who put that damned thing on our car," Sandra said. "And why. There has to be a serial number on it. Maybe we can track it down that way."
"It doesn’t make any sense. If someone wanted to drive us away, why keep us here. If they want to keep us here, there are easier ways."
"Maybe they just want to make our lives difficult. Or to distract us, keep us busy with this while something else is going on."
Kate nodded thoughtfully. "I don’t think I like the sound of that."
"Neither do I." As they reached the foyer, Sandra paused by the building directory and studied it for a moment. "As long as we’re here, we might as well have a chat with the chancellor. Find out what additional security measures have been taken. Whether he has any information that might be useful."
"Good idea," Kate said. "But one of us should go back to the car and wait for the tow truck."
"Are you volunteering," Sandra asked, smiling.
"Sure, why not?"
Kate left the administration building and headed back to the parking lot on the other side of the campus, taking the longer route by the stadium. As she walked, she looked around at the faces of the students rushing from place to place and thought about the fact that in just a few years, her kids would be heading off to college. From what she had seen, she hoped that neither of them would count Karellon among their choices of schools. The entire campus gave her the same feeling of something being not quite right that she had experienced at the Delta Pi house - something that couldn’t be accounted for by the presence of a serial killer.
From there, her mind wandered to the enigmatic thought that wouldn’t quite form. It was something about the wedding dresses. She had heard a story or a reference or something, a long time ago, about someone who had been found dead in a wedding dress, but that was all she could remember about it. Nor could she explain why she thought of it in those terms - found dead, not murdered. Given this case and the flimsiness of the memory, she would have expected her subconscious to superimpose one over the other.
She put that aside for a moment, though, reminding herself that she still wanted to check out the dresses and see if a source for them could be tracked down. When the team arrived in town, that had been the first thing she planned to do. But that had been the last she’d thought of it. Things had happened too quickly, with another murder even before they’d settled in and everything they had learned the previous evening. It was becoming a trend, she thought, smiling in spite of herself at the thought of the key stashed safely in a compartment of her purse.
Passing near the stadium, lost in random musings, she paused, noticing something out of place even before she was aware of what it was. The path through this part of campus was overgrown with thick vines climbing a six-foot chain link fence on one side and a dense row of trees on the other. Beyond the trees, there was a common area full of flower beds that were in need of attention, a few benches and little else. There were no buildings nearby, no one within screaming distance. It was the perfect place for an ambush.
Standing perfectly still, she listened intently to the sounds around her, expecting rustling leaves or footfalls on dead leaves and twigs. Instead, she heard a steady mechanical buzz that was coming from the other side of the fence. Pushing through the vines until she could find a foot hold, Kate pulled herself up onto the fence and peered over the top.
The area on the other side of the fence was an unpaved parking area with a small building - or large tool shed - set off to one side and a pile of rusting equipment in one corner. Access to the area was through a gate opposite Kate’s position. The sound that had drawn her attention seemed to be coming from behind the shed.
Kate considered for a moment going around to the gate, since she wasn’t exactly dressed for climbing fences, but she decided against wasting the time. She pushed herself over the top of the fence and jumped down on the other side.
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