Chapter 12

Alison drove me back to the motel where I had a vending machine snack. It was necessary because I usually eat dinner long before 8PM. Alison explained that the professor had a class until seven thirty, so it was the best she could do. He had invited us to have a hot dog at the student union, before he left the campus for the evening. That made the idea palatable at least.

Believe it or not, Alison and I had a roll in the hay before our student union dinner date. There must have been something about all those young men, which she had come across while searching for the professor, that did it. Then again it might have been the professor himself which made her horny. Either way I was thankful, because Alison was suddenly a lot more like Louise. Very adventurous and demanding in bed. I didn’t mind her being adventurous and demanding, as long as she remembered we were equal partners in bed. Anytime she demanded something of me, she gave me permission to demand something from her as well. There had to be a little demonstration, but in the end she seemed to get it.

“You know, you really have a very nice body,” I said after all the gymnastics were over.

“Given my age,” she said.

“I didn’t say that,” I replied.

“That is because it goes without saying,” she suggested.

“Then why did you say it,” I asked. “Are you looking for a fight?”

“Maybe, I am,” she replied. “It’s been a long time, since I was in a cheap motel bed with a man. Even then it didn’t end well.”

“This might not either, but we still have to work together,” I admitted. “So let’s try to be a little tolerant of each other and our quirks.”

“I’ll even try to be tolerant of your kinks,” she suggested with a smile.

“So, I get to continue with more handcuffs, and spankings,” I replied.

“Well maybe, but you might not want to go too far, too soon,” she suggested.

“Let’s go to the student union and mingle. I’ll bet you have been ogling the young guys with their hard bodies.” I said it with a laugh.

“Of course, I have. It’s not often I get to see them in our backwater town, let alone at the Haven. I think you were the youngest man there, and you don’t come close to a college football player,” she said.

“I can agree with that, if you agree you don’t match up all that well with the cheerleaders,” I said in my own defense. “And I did not stay at the Haven long.”

“I will admit the thing about the cheerleader, if you admit I have a better chance of landing a college boy, then you do a coed,” she demanded.

“Since Louise made good money in her part time job in Granny Porn, I can’t dispute that possibility,” I did admit.

“I have a lot more respect for Louise after being here,” Alison said with a smug look.

Finally we left the motel room about seven thirty. In order to get to the student union building, we had be cleared at the front gate. The professor left a note with the campus police, so getting cleared onto the campus happened without a hitch. They even gave each of us a visitors ID. Things had really changed since my days in college. My days were also before the days of mass shootings. Since I was pretty sure there would be much tighter security at the union, I wouldn’t have been surprised by a magnetometer. That is exactly why I left my weapons at home. After a look at the freak show, I felt like I should have brought a wooden stake to protect myself.

I got a diet coke and found a table away from the door and the freak show. It was a nice quiet wait for the professor, and we were surrounded by normal college kids. An older man, though still much younger than either Alison or myself, showed up. He had two even younger people in tow when he arrived at our table.

“Professors are getting a lot younger,” I commented extending my hand.

“The whole world is getting younger all the time,” he said in agreement.

“It’s good to see you again Miss Green,” he said. “I brought a couple of students who want to write professionally. I thought we could exchange information.”

“That is fair enough,” Alison agreed. “Do we get to go first?”

“That is fair,” he said.

“Professor Moorehouse, this is Chief Rogers,” she said as an introduction. I was very surprised that Alison hadn’t planned to do all the talking.

“Professor, I assume you were Caroline Moore’s husband,” I asked.

He just nodded.

“So why was her name different?” I asked.

“When we came here, I was the youngest professor in the department for a while. Caroline was a bit different and confrontational,” he said. “She liked being the center of attention. It was just better that we were not linked by the name. She just called herself Moore it wasn’t official.”

“Now I think it is our turn.” he continued. “So Alison how did you get to be a successful writer at your advanced age. I mean was ‘Murder of Eve’ your first novel attempt.” Caroline’s Husband asked.

“It was my first attempt at a collaboration,” she said. “I wrote three other unpublished novels. They were historical in nature. I think that modern murders trump family struggles on a farm in 1850.”

I noted that the kids were seemingly uninterested. “My turn,” I said, “So how long were you two Married, and do you own the Shady Lady gift shop now?” I asked.

“Five years at the time of her death. Yes I do, but it would hardly be a motive for murder. It barely breaks even,” he said.

“Then why do you bother,” I said. “I mean retail is a pain, and frankly I met some of your employees. Supervising them has to be a real trip.”

“You are right of course. If I was in it just for the money, I wouldn’t be in it at all. Many of my students are in need of jobs to help with their education expenses. I like to give them jobs, if I can. It is sort of a Caroline scholarship. Our turn again.” he demanded.

He went on to ask both of our backgrounds. For my part I got the name of the manager of the Shady Lady gift shop. As a bonus the told me that she had been there since Caroline opened the shop. The two kids, a boy and a girl hung on our every word.