Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery (9 page)

“Sex is a
beautiful thing when you love someone, Ellie.
 
You need to be careful, though.
 
Save it for a serious, committed
relationship.
 
Save it for someone
whom you really care for and who really cares for you.
 
Stefan is a real problem.
 
He was threatening you tonight, and I
think you really need to report his behavior to someone in a position to do
something about it.”

“I’m afraid of
him,” Ellie admitted. “I thought he wouldn’t know I was here but someone
must’ve told him where I was staying.
 
Maybe he talked to Jenny or some of my other friends. I called them
earlier, I guess that was a mistake.”

By this time,
Sue had returned with the coffee.
 
Ellie was regaining her composure, and Lin was feeling some relief that
this situation was finally out in the open. Lin hoped Ellie realized that
something had to be done.
 
The
atmosphere lightened up a bit as they nibbled cookies and sipped the fragrant
dark roast.
 

They were all
still shaken by what had happened earlier.
 
Finally, after some discussion, it was decided that Lin would take the
next day off from her work at the park.
 
Sue was already slated to take another half day, hoping to conclude her
car business in the morning and report to work in the afternoon.
 
The mechanic would pick her up and she
could also use the Toyota dealer’s shuttle service for needed transportation.
 
She decided to move forward with that
plan while Lin determined that she and Ellie needed to pay a visit to the
Sheriff’s department and to the office of the Dean of Students at the
university to report the behavior of Stefan Kovich. Ellie had supplied them
with his last name.

“One more
thing,” Ellie said as she turned to go upstairs. “Sue, you said you might be
able to help me remember more about what happened the day Pete was killed, the
day I was shot?”

“I would be
happy to try,” Sue responded. “If you think you’re ready.”

“I’m ready,”
Ellie said, “Maybe tomorrow. When Stefan threatened me tonight, when he said he
could hurt me, his voice triggered something in my memory.
 
I thought I’d heard him say that before,
and I think I heard a voice like that when I was shot.”

At ten o’clock
the following morning, Lin was sitting in the office of the Dean of Students
with Ellie.
 
She’d called earlier
and, when she’d indicated how serious the matter was, Dean Stebbins had agreed
to make room in his schedule to see them.
 
She’d followed that with a call to Ellie’s parents.
 
John and Hillary wanted to come up and
get Ellie immediately when they learned that Stefan had made his threatening
visit to the house, but Lin had pointed out that nothing could really be done
to stop this behavior unless Ellie herself was present to file the appropriate
complaints.

“I promise that
we’ll take every precaution and call you right away if this behavior continues.
You’ll be coming up Thursday to take her home after the hearing anyway,” Lin
tried to assure the distraught parents.
 
“Hopefully, something can be done to put a permanent stop to this.”

Reluctantly,
Ellie’s parents agreed that she needed to stay to take care of these matters
and attend the competency hearing.
 
They insisted that she not be alone, however; Lin agreed that either she
or Sue would be with her so long as there was a risk of Stefan bothering her
again. “If we have to work on the same day, one of us will take her along.
 
She can find something to do at the
park, I’m sure the staff will understand, and we generally work no more than
six hours at a stretch, sometimes less.”
 

Now Lin arose
as Dean Stebbins stepped out of his office and greeted them.
 
He offered them coffee which Ellie
declined while Lin accepted.
 
She
was fearful that Ellie would be reluctant to tell him about her relationship
with Kovich, even though she’d stressed the importance of being forthright and
not leaving anything out.
 
She was
not prepared for what happened next.

Dean Stebbins
brought out a large art portfolio and placed it on the conference table in his
office.
 
He opened it to reveal a
stack of nude sketches—quite beautifully executed in pencil and
pastels—that he spread out before them.
 
He looked them over and looked squarely
at Ellie.

“I take it
these pictures are of you.
 
You were
the model for these?”

Ellie nodded in
affirmation but she said nothing.
 
Obviously, she was embarrassed.
 
She’d expected to tell her story but didn’t realize the Dean would’ve
seen the actual sketches.

As if to answer
both their questions, Dean Stebbins sat back and explained, “When Dr. Hanna
called me this morning and asked to come in and discuss Professor Kovich’s
behavior, I went down to his office and pulled these from his portfolio of
work.
 
He wasn’t present; however,
these were here on university property.
 
Ellie, were these sketches done on campus?”

Ellie shook her
head, “Er—no sir, they were done at his home studio.
 
I guess he brought them here later.”

“So he invited
you to come to his studio and pose for these works; they are beautiful by the
way,” he added.

Ellie replied,
“Yes, sir.”

“And what was
his behavior toward you during these modeling sessions?”

Ellie looked
down at her hands and tears began to well in her eyes, “Almost every time, when
he’d finished drawing, we had sex.
 
He said he loved me but…”

“But, what?”
Dean Stebbins asked, “Did he force you Ellie, were you raped?”

Ellie shook her
head; the tears were flowing freely now. “No sir, I wanted to, you know…at
least at first, but sometimes, sometimes he got really rough and hurt me.
 
Finally, I realized that he didn’t love
me, he was just… you know, taking advantage; then I tried to stop.
 
I told him I didn’t want to model for
him anymore, but he kept after me.”
 
She continued, telling him about his visits to her apartment, his
confrontation with Peter Dunne, his threats on more than one occasion…Lin was
really proud of her.
 
Once she got
over her initial fears of talking, she laid it all out for the Dean.

Finally, the
story was told, including the threats of the previous night.
 
Dean Stebbins turned to Lin. “Thank you
for contacting me and for bringing Ellie in this morning.
 
I hope your next visit will be with law
enforcement.”

“It will,” Lin responded.
“We have an appointment with the Sheriff’s office this afternoon.”

“That’s good,
because the only thing I can deal with is Stefan Kovich’s professional
behavior.
 
Ellie is of legal age
and, while she was apparently abused, did consent to have sex with this
man.
 
The abusive behavior occurred
off campus at his home.
 
However, we
have a firm policy concerning professional behavior toward students, whatever
their age, and Kovich is a visiting faculty member who remains here at the will
of the university.
 
He will likely
be terminated immediately; however, in order for that to happen, Ellie has to
file a written formal complaint, and I will have to take it up the ladder to my
own supervisor.
 
Are you willing to
file such a document, Ellie?”

This was a
moment of truth, Lin realized.
 
Ellie would be taking certain risks if she filed this complaint and cost
Kovich his job, and perhaps his permission to stay in the United States.
 
Lin was very proud when Ellie spoke up,
“I’ll do that, Dean Stebbins, just tell me how I should proceed.”

The Dean gave
Ellie an outline of all the information she needed to include in her written
complaint.
 
There was a form;
however, Dean Stebbins noted that she should add more details concerning her
relationship with Kovich and his behavior toward her. “I would like to have
this as soon as possible,” the Dean said.
 
“We need to move quickly to take action before he can present other
threats toward you and possibly other students.”

Ellie nodded.
 
She understood. “Maybe Sue can help me
write it, she’s a professional writer,” she said. “She’ll help me get it
written properly.”
 
Lin nodded in
agreement.

They concluded
their visit and were on their way.

After taking a
break for coffee and a short walk on the local greenway trail, they were off to
the county’s law enforcement center.
 
Ellie actually seemed more nervous than she had at the Dean’s
office.
 
Lin thought, perhaps, it
was because this made things a criminal matter.

After Ellie had
basically repeated what she’d told Dean Stebbins for Deputy Dave Winkler, he
asked her, “So, what do you want to do now?
 
Are you going to press any charges of
rape or abuse if so…” Ellie cut him off.

“No, I don’t
think I can do that.
 
Stefan took
advantage of me, but he didn’t rape me.
 
He did give me some bruises when he got rough, but those are long gone,
and I never went to anyone while they were evident.”
 
Ellie seemed dejected.

Lin decided to
speak up, “What about the harassment?
 
Ellie has witnesses.
 
Her roommates
were there when he came by the apartment, and they witnessed his confrontation
with Peter Dunne. Then there’s last night.
 
Kovich was at our home last night and he threatened to hurt Ellie.
 
Sue Gray and I both heard him.”

“That you can
address,” Winkler replied, “and you can file for a restraining order to keep
him away from Ellie, from you and Ms. Gray also, for that matter.”

Lin realized
that harassment charges were generally only misdemeanors and restraining orders
could be difficult to enforce, but if Ellie wanted to do that she and Sue would
certainly support her.

“I think it’s
more serious than that,” Ellie spoke up with a surprisingly firm voice. “I
think Stefan might’ve been the person who shot me, who killed Pete.
 
He had threatened us both, and when I
was at his home, I ‘d seen he had several guns.
 
He told me he liked to hunt and was a
good shot.”
 
This revelation was new
to Lin.

“I guess you’ll
remember that Eustace Hinson has already signed a full confession regarding
that shooting.
 
That case is on its
way to closure.
 
There’s to be a
hearing Thursday, as you know, about committing Eustace to a facility.
 
He’s not competent, but his behavior
warrants removal from the community so he can’t harm anyone else.” Winker
seemed nervous as he spoke. “Have you remembered what actually happened?
 
Can you identify your assailant?
 
Are you sure it’s Kovich and not
Hinson?
 
We’ll need a strong
identification if a signed confession is going to be tossed out.”
 
Winkler seemed almost angry.

Ellie seemed
shaken by Winkler’s barrage of questions.
 
Lin wanted to come to her rescue but also knew she needed to handle this
herself now that she’d started the process.
 
Finally, after a few awkward moments,
Ellie spoke.

“I’m not sure
of anything at this point Deputy Winkler.
 
I know that I told you I couldn’t remember anything that happened that
day after we finished the picnic, but last night, when I heard Stefan
threatening me, his voice triggered something.
 
I thought I’d heard a deep strong voice
like that before—the day we were attacked.
 
I think my memory may be coming
back.
 
I hope so anyway.
 
Would it be possible for me to hear Mr.
Hinson’s voice?
 
Maybe I’d remember
that too and that would help.”

Dave Winkler
thought for a moment. “It’s a bit unorthodox, but I suppose we could bring Mr.
Hinson back up to one of the interrogation rooms and ask him again about what
he told us.
 
There is a room next
door with one-way glass and openings to let sound go through.
 
Mr. Hinson wouldn’t know you were there,
but you could see him and hear his voice.”

“Could I do
that, please?”
 
Ellie asked.

“I’ll try to
arrange it.
 
He’s still here in the
jail, but you’ll have to remember the poor old fellow has dementia.
 
One day he talks about killing someone
and the next he doesn’t know anything about it.
 
Actually, he’s confessed to killing
several people since he’s been here, but I don’t know what you’ll hear today.”

“All I need is
just to hear him say anything at all.
 
That might help me remember,” Ellie responded.

“Then give me
about an hour and come back.
 
I’ll
see what I can arrange.”

***

Lin took Ellen
downtown for lunch while they waited for the Sheriff to make his
arrangements.
 
It was a quiet
affair.
 
They’d chosen Melanie’s and
were eating outside on the patio as it was warm and the weather had improved substantially
since the night before.
 
The food
was great, but Ellie barely touched hers.
 
Finally, Lin decided to break the silence.

“You seem
troubled Ellie.
 
I’m sure all this
can seem overwhelming, but I know you’re trying to do the right thing.”

Ellie nodded,
“I am, but I feel bad about it.
 
I’m
not sure why, but I feel like it’s my fault.
 
If I hadn’t been so gullible all this
with Stefan might never have happened. Now he’s probably going to lose his job
and maybe even be arrested.
 
What if
he wasn’t the one who shot Pete and me?”

“Ellie, all you
can do is to be honest with what you say.
 
Don’t try to guess.
 
Just be
truthful.
 
Tell what you remember to
the best of your ability and leave the rest to the authorities.
 
Please remember, what happened between
you and Stefan wasn’t your fault.
 
You may be an adult in age, but he is older than you and far more
experienced.
 
His behavior toward
you was totally inappropriate.
 
You
were his student after all.
 
You
made a mistake, but we all make mistakes from time to time.
 
You’re trying to do the right thing now,
and that’s all you can do.
 
Then
just move on and leave all this behind you.”
 
Lin realized fully that this advice was
easier to give than to follow.

“Don’t
forget.
 
Last night he actually
threatened you directly, and he’s hurt you in the past.
 
That could only be interpreted as a
blatant attempt to intimidate you.
 
I think he is truly a disturbed young man,” Lin added.
 
She called for their check as it was
time to head back to the law enforcement center.

When they
arrived they were taken into a room where Deputy Winkler was waiting for
them.
 
They stood before a window
that allowed them to see into the adjacent interrogation room.
 
Speakers mounted below provided sound.