Stalking Death by Kate Flora Read Free Book Online

that things were under control, his problem solved, and that all he had to do to tidy up was send that letter. How he avoided thinking about strategies for dealing with a 6' 3" minority woman who claimed she was being stalked and was mad as hell escaped me. But whatever he was trying to do, that didn't absolve his lawyer of her responsibility to ask the important questions.
    "I'm surprised she let you off so easily," I said. "It's hard to believe any lawyer, hearing that a female student who claims to have been the victim of a stalker who leaves images suggesting sexual violence in her room has had those claims dismissed, and hearing that the claimant has essentially been called a liar and a fraud, would say you didn't have anything to worry about. Especially when it all took place without the benefit of the school's written procedures."
    I hesitated, but there were things I had to tell him. He was being frighteningly complacent in the face of a potential disaster. "Todd, I'm sorry to be saying this, but I think you have a lot to worry about. Just for starters, you have a ton of negative publicity to worry about. You have a frightened female student population to worry about. You have a potential lawsuit for slander to worry about. Stalking is a crime in most states, so you have a failure to report an alleged crime to worry about."
    I forced myself to stop. I was dumping it on him too fast. Better take it slowly, give him a head's up about potential issues I saw, and lay out a strategy after I'd gathered the facts.
    Miriam Chambers rose with an angry rustle. "How many times do we have to tell you." Her voice was unsteady. "There was no stalking. There is no stalker. The girl is a mental case. She needs help. That's our only problem."
    I hadn't yet asked what kind of support and services they'd offered Shondra. Somehow, I didn't think they'd be responsive to that question right now.
    I looked down at my notes. "Tomorrow, I hope I'll be able to talk with the people involved. And we needed to begin devising a management strategy. Your biggest challenge will be communication—reassuring your student body and their parents that there is no stalking problem on your campus and that the students are perfectly safe, without doing so in a way that will embarrass or enrage Shondra Jones."
    "That's impossible," Miriam Chambers said flatly. "She's already enraged."
    My neck was getting sore from swiveling around. "It's unfortunate that it's gone that far. We'll have to find a way to calm her down. Show her that St. Matthews cares about her and wants only the best. Do you disagree, Mrs. Chambers?"
    She glided down the room to join her husband, setting a possessive hand on his shoulder. Her previously expressionless face had congealed into an icy, dismissive glare. It was a practiced look, and probably normally quite effective. But if looks could kill, I'd have been dead a thousand times. So far, knock on wood, not even the real killers had succeeded. If she meant to intimidate me, she'd have to work pretty damned hard.
    "I think you should get the school's attorneys back here," I said. "Get their feedback on the details of your investigation. On your failure to follow your own procedures. Get them to clarify the issue of slander. Get their sign off on not involving the local police."
    Todd Chambers put a cautionary hand over his wife's and manufactured a yawn. "Excuse me," he said. "Long day. I'm afraid I'm losing my concentration. What if we get together again in the morning?"
    He was the client. "What time?"
    "Eight-thirty?" he suggested. "Come to the house. We'll give you breakfast."
    Miriam Chambers looked like that was the last thing on earth she wanted to do, but she nodded.
    "Fine," I agreed. "Could you arrange for me to meet with Dean Dunham afterward? And the faculty residents from her dorm? And, of course, Shondra herself?"
    He nodded.
    A thought struck me. "What about her brother? You said he was very protective toward his