Page 9 of Wild Escape

"That's not exactly what I asked," I said, sensing there was something more.

Tiffany gave a nervous glance down the hallway. "We should probably talk in private."

She invited us in, and we followed. The dorm room had the identical layout to Gabby's, although this room lacked the pictures of bands and skaters on the walls.

"You were saying…"

"I don't know if I should really be telling you this.”

She had our attention.

"You’re not going to say anything, are you?” Tiffany asked. “I mean, I don't want to get anybody in trouble.”

"It's not like Gabby is going to get in trouble at this point.” I had an idea of where she was going.

"She was seeing one of her professors." Tiffany cringed. "I know that's against the rules." Then she added, "He's married, too."

JD and I shared a look.

"I don't want you to get the wrong impression. Gabby wasn’t a whore or anything. It just kind of happened. She told me she wanted to break it off with him. She didn't feel right about it. But she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She loved him. I guess he had something she liked." In a hungry growl, she said, "Gabby told me the sex was amazing. Half these college guys don't know what hole to put it in. Sorry, but it's true.”

"How long had she been dating her professor?”

"She met Joshua over the summer. He wasn't her teacher at the time. You know, things happen.”

It was against campus policy for professors to date undergrads, especially if the professor had influence over the student’s grades. It was starting to sound like a motive for murder. I'm sure Joshua didn't want to lose his job or destroy his marriage.

"Did Gabby want Joshua to leave his wife?”

"I think that was her fantasy, but she knew that was never going to happen. To tell you the truth, I was surprised it lasted as long as it did. I thought it was just going to be a fling. But they kept seeing each other." Tiffany frowned. "Gabby was so tortured about the whole thing. Like I said, she wanted to break it off, but couldn’t do it.”

"Did Gabby ever threaten to expose their relationship?”

Tiffany shook her head. "No. Gabby would never do something like that.”

Jack said, "You’d be surprised at what people will do when they're in love.”

Tiffany frowned, knowing it could have been a possibility. “Doesn’t sound like love if you try to hurt someone.”

“Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm her?”

Tiffany's face tightened as she thought. "Well, there is this creepy guy. He's totally obsessed with her. Followed her around all the time. He's come by the dorm a few times as well.”

"You know his name?”

“He's in one of her classes." Her lips scrunched. “Austin, I think.”

"You know his last name?”

Tiffany frowned and shook her head.

“What class does Joshua teach?”

“Intro to Psychology.”

“I know her mother passed recently,” I said. “Does she have any other next of kin?”

“I don’t know. She’s from Dallas. Maybe there’s somebody there, but she never mentioned anyone.”