The Professor's Daughter

It was dark, really dark. Only a snippet of light came from the distant building, illuminating the figure in front of her. They had moved around the corner to avoid any witnesses and, as he ripped at her dress, Susie continued to weep against the brick wall.

“Wh-why?” She croaked, her voice half gone.

He paused in his work and solemnly looked up at the mess of a girl.

“I can’t.” He whispered and Susie clung to the hint of remorse in his voice. She reached out for his hand but he pulled away and raised it high in the air.

“Don’t, please.” She begged but she soon felt the slap of skin against her cheek, the impact causing her face to scrape against the rough wall. Her weeping turned to thick, heavy sobs as blood prickled to the surface and stung.

“I’m sorry.” Came another whisper and this time when Susie reach for his hand, she curled her fingers around it and held it tight.

“I know.”

.

Maria moved her hand from Susie’s grasp and stretched her fingers out, relieved that the monitors maintained their steady beeps as the patient slept. Susie’s signs were all looking positive, the doctor had informed them, and with any luck she could return home the following day. Maria didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

On one hand it showed the hospital’s confidence that Susie was under no medical threat but what about another threat? What if the attacker had a strong motive and was going to attack again? With no parents at home, was she safe? Of course there was her uncle but, Maria noted as she passed his slumbering form on the way out, if someone really wanted to cause harm, an old bumbling man could hardly stand in the way.

Walking the empty hallways, Maria tried to calm her jittering nerves and rid the thought that someone would want to hurt Susie. Perhaps it was a random attack and Susie was in the wrong place at the wrong time but then perhaps she was in serious trouble?

Her fingers pushed the coins into the slot of the payphone and she dialed the now-familiar number, holding the clunky receiver to her ear.

“Hello?” Came the abrupt voice at the other end.

“Hey, it’s Maria.”

“Oh hi.” There was now a far softer tone. “Is everything alright?”

Maria twirled the cord around her fingers, contemplating her answer. “Yes, no, I’m not sure.”

“What’s happened? Where are you?”

“I’m at the hospital, they rang when I got back. It was about my mother.”

“Good?” A pause. “Bad?”

“No, no, it was good news.” Maria smiled a little, recalling her mother’s form moving with life. “They think she’ll wake soon, Papa is with her for the time being.”

“Maria, that’s excellent news, you must be so relieved.”

“Oh I am, it’s just…”

“What?” Maria could practically see him pacing his apartment as his voice heightened. “Maria, tell me.”

The lump in her throat caught and her eyes strained, holding back tears. She took a deep breath and raced out her words.

“Susie was attacked last night.”

“What?! Oh God, what happened?”

So she told him. She told him about how Professor Daniels had found her and how horrible it had been to see her friend in such a state. How whoever had done it was still at large and how the police would come back on Monday for questioning.

“I’m coming down right now.”

“No!” Maria shook her head even though Leighton couldn’t see. “It’s fine, I’m fine. You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to. Look, go and see your mother again and I’ll pick you up in half an hour. It’ll do you good to get away from that place; God knows you spend too much time there.”

Maria smiled to herself, part of her wondering how she’d ended up having someone care so much about her and the other part just being blimmin’ grateful.

“Thank you, I’d really appreciate that.”

.

Maria was hasty to arrive for classes on Monday; there had been no change with her mother since Saturday but then often no news was good news, she told herself and as for Susie? She had been released yesterday and the police had come for questioning this morning.

Susie had barely said a word about Friday evening’s events and the unknown was killing Maria. It truly sickened her that the assaulter was still out there and, as she pushed through the main doors, she tried not to picture the scene.

“Neil!” She called, spotting his form moving down the hallway ahead.

The boy’s head whipped around and he stopped and waited for Maria to catch up. He was the last one that Maria had seen on Friday and she hoped that he would be able to fill her in on some of the missing details.

“How are you?” She asked instantly when they were close.

Neil shrugged and looked away. “Oh, you know… How’s Susie?”

Maria shook her head. “Not good, but the police want to know what happened as soon as possible. Professor Daniels said they would be here this morning.”

With a short nod, Neil’s face turned regretful. “Yeah, that’s kinda where I’m heading now. They asked if I could speak to them seeing as I, you know, found her.”

Maria was sure her face showed the surprise she felt. No, she hadn’t known, in fact she knew next to nothing about anything.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Neil sounded uneasy, his hands deep in his pockets. “I should really speak to the police first-“

“Please, I feel so awful for leaving her that night.”

Neil sighed and Maria could tell he was contemplating his reply.

“Fine, but I don’t think I’ll be much help.” Maria led him over to one side, out of the way of the other students that filled the corridors. “It must have been just after midnight, people were either really drunk or all over each other so I went to head home. When I passed outside the admin offices I heard someone crying and found Susie around the corner. Someone was with her, I didn’t recognize them, but as soon as they saw me there they ran away real fast. She was shaking and crying, I couldn’t leave her but I called the ambulance. She was in such a state.”

“She didn’t say who it was?”

“Not a word, she looked like a child: so frightened she could barely open her mouth. You saw her in hospital, right? How was she?”

“There was no major physical harm, just scrapes and bruises, looks like you made it in time.”

Neil shook his head and ran his hand down his face, pulling at his tired eyes. “I don’t think I did.”

After a few moments where the pair stood in silence reflecting on each others words, Maria followed Neil to Margaret Richard’s office. There was a small waiting space outside by her assistant’s desk and Maria recognized the woman as the same who had accompanied Leighton the whole night of Professor Daniels’ retirement party. She was quite pretty, his age and ushered the two of them into some seats with a pitying smile.

It wasn’t long before the door opened and in walked Maria’s least favorite person. Curt.

His usual slippery demeanor shone through and he eyed Maria with contempt as he took a seat.

“Maria Ludwig.” He spoke to her and Maria couldn’t help the internal shudder that swept through her. Curt motioned to the door to Ms Richard’s office. “Anyone in there at the moment?”

“I don’t know, we’ve just got here.” She replied, willing him to discontinue any conversation he wanted to have.

“Never there at the right time, are you?” Curt laughed and Maria’s eyes shot to his face with loathing.

“Leave it out, Curt. It wasn’t Maria’s fault.” Neil piped up from her other side.

Curt leant forward and smirked at the other boy. “Sure about that, mate?”

Maria couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open. To think she had anything to do with this was awful, she had been miles away from the university when it happened and she regarded Susie as a close friend. She’d never dream of anyone she cared about coming to harm.

Thankfully, the tense silence was broken and, at the sound of a different voice, the three of them turned to the police officer in the office doorway.

“Neil Matthews?” He asked and Neil stood up. “Won’t be a moment.”

It was another ten minutes or so before Neil appeared again. Luckily Curt had remained mute throughout the time and the only sounds were the assistant’s voice as she talked on the phone or the typing of keys as she worked at the computer.

“Thank you for your time Mr Matthews, we’ll be in touch if we need anything else. This is Maria Ludwig?” He turned to Neil who nodded and Maria stood to attention.

“Is everything ok?” She inquired, the police had not been in contact with her before.

“Would you mind answering a few questions, Miss? We’ve got some blanks to fill in.”

Maria murmured a ‘sure’ and flashed Neil a quick smile as they passed.

Professor Daniel’s office looked quite different now that Ms Richards was in charge, gone was all the clutter and its place, minimal furniture and barely a scrap of paper in sight. The officer shut the door behind her and motioned to one of the seats by the desk. In front of her stood another officer who must be the one in charge, thought Maria as she sat and noticed Ms Richards lingering in the far corner.

“Maria Ludwig, yes?”

Maria nodded, she had never spoken to a policeman before, just sitting in the same room as one made her feel guilty.

“My name is Inspector Michaels, we just need to get a few things straightened out. You are friends with Miss Daniels?” The man was middle-aged and seemed gentle in his approach.

“Yes, I’ve only known her for a few months but we’re friends. Have you spoken to her yet?”

“We have, but Miss Daniels insists that she can’t remember anything, the shock has most likely blocked out any real memories. Do you know of anyone who would do this? Maybe someone who had a grudge or who didn’t like your friend?”

“No.” She was shocked to think that someone she knew would be the culprit. “Susie wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I don’t think anyone would have the inclination to do that to her.”

The officer nodded and jotted something down. “And I understand from Mr Matthew’s that you weren’t present at the time of the incident.”

Maria tried to relax, she could only tell the truth and she had done no wrong. “That’s correct, I left the party earlier on.”

“What time?”

“About half ten. It wasn’t really my thing anyway so I caught the bus outside the main gates.”

“How was Miss Daniels in the earlier part of the evening?”

Maria shrugged. “She was her normal self, dancing and chatting with Curt.”

“Curt Henry, yes?”

“Yes, she was annoyed that I wanted to leave so early but I really didn’t want to be there.”

Inspector Michaels wrote another thing down and moved onto his next question without looking up.

“And when you left, where did you go?”

Horror flashed through Maria’s mind. Instantly her heart thumped in her chest and her face flushed. Where had she gone? She couldn’t tell them the truth, not with Ms Richards stood only a few meters away. Thomas would lose his job, his reputation and Maria knew what happened to a man when he lost his reputation.

“Miss Ludwig?” Maria’s gaze shot up to the Inspector who eyed her expectantly.

Surely one white lie wouldn’t hurt?

Maria took a deep breath and wished that her face didn’t give her away. “I went home.”

“And you didn’t hear from Miss Daniels at all?”

She couldn’t help the way her eyes flicked to Ms Richards in the corner as the Inspector absorbed her lie. There was no obvious disbelief in the elder lady’s face but there was a skeptical look to her that Maria couldn’t ignore. She returned her focus to the Inspector and shook her head.

“No, I didn’t.”

The Inspector thanked her for her time and the other led her out, calling Curt in afterwards. Maria left in a daze, she had just lied to the police, what if they found out? Could they charge someone for doing that? Would she end up in prison surrounded by criminals?

But I’m not a criminal, Maria’s voice wailed in her head as she stumbled down to her class.

It was only when she clasped the handle, did she pull herself together. There was no way that they would find out and there was no need for them to know her true location. As far as they were concerned, she had left the party much earlier and hadn’t been seen since.

.

“So just to clarify, you were by the gates when the attacker ran straight past you?” The Inspector asked, there was a slight tone of incredulity to his voice that Curt didn’t appreciate.

“That’s what I said. Neil must have scared him off when he came out and he legged it. I didn’t realize who he was until he was gone and it was too late.”

“And the description you gave, there’s nothing to add?”

Curt shook his head, “It was dark and I only saw the guy for a second. But like I explained, there was something real familiar about him.”

Inspector Michaels leant even further forward, trying to grasp every detail the boy threw him.

“I’ve been going through it the whole weekend, trying to place him but I just can’t.”

“Well was it a friend, a fellow student, someone from the university even?” He proffered.

Curt waited for a moment before nodding, “Yeah possibly someone from here. I dunno.”

The Inspector turned to Ms Richards who stepped forward to be of use.

“Description sound familiar to you?” He inquired.

Margaret pulled off her glasses and cleaned them with the corner of her shirt. She took a long look at the Inspector’s notes before turning to Curt one last time.

“Think very carefully about this Mr Henry. You’re sure this is what you saw?”

A smile grew on Curt’s face, “Positive Miss.”

Margaret sighed and her mouth set in a grim line.

“Yes Inspector, there is one person.”