Free Bond With Death by Bill Crider

Houston.”

    â€œAnd then there’s Seepy Benton,” Jack said. “Nobody knows for sure what he is.”
    Seepy was Dr. C. P. Benton, who preferred to be called by his initials rather than either of his first two names. It hadn’t taken long for the initials to elide into the nickname. Benton was the college’s director of institutional research. Among other things, he was an adept with computers, could create PowerPoint presentations that captive audiences actually enjoyed, and was a brilliant manipulator of statistics. All those things endeared him to Fieldstone, despite the fact that Seepy was unquestionably a little odd.
    A former mathematics instructor, he was enchanted by fractals and chaos theory. He had his own Web site (http://web.wt.net/~cbenton/welcome.htm), where he explored such things as Jewish mysticism and presented his “song of the week,” complete with a video presentation of his own performance of it.
    To say that he was a bit different from other administrators at HCC was like saying that a Farrelly brothers movie was a bit different from a Royal Shakespeare Company’s performance of Hamlet.
    â€œYou know, I’ve wondered about him,” Vera said.
    Jack laughed. “Join the club.”
    â€œI mean I’ve wondered if he might not be a Wiccan. I know he believes in astrology.”
    â€œOnly when it’s supported by mathematics,” Jack said, as if quoting something he’d heard several times.
    â€œWhatever,” Vera said. “I still wonder if he’s a Wiccan.”
    â€œI suppose you have meetings,” Sally said.
    â€œYes. We don’t get naked and dance around moonlit graves at midnight, though, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
    â€œI wasn’t thinking that.”
    â€œI was,” Jack said, and Vera punched him on the arm.
    â€œThis isn’t funny, Jack,” she said.
    â€œI wasn’t trying to be funny.”
    â€œWe do believe in the power of the moon, though,” Vera said.
    â€œNever mind,” Sally said. She wasn’t interested in Vera’s religious
practices at the moment. “You haven’t seen Seepy at any of the meetings?”
    â€œNever. But there are several groups besides the one I’ve joined.”
    Sally thought that Seepy’s possible Wiccan leanings might be worth looking into. The president was counting heavily on Benton’s skills in the bond election, and Benton would naturally be antagonistic to Harold Curtin if he was mixed up with the opposition.
    â€œWeems told me that Curtin might have been murdered,” Sally said, not that she thought Seepy was a killer. But she also knew you could never be sure about something like that. “And if I know Weems, he doesn’t believe in witchcraft or spells. He believes in things he can prove.”
    â€œYou know,” Jack said, “there’s a connection between Harold and the Jacksons.”
    That was interesting, especially given what Sally had just been thinking about Benton.
    â€œYou told me that he was involved with Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility,” she said. “What about the Jacksons?”
    â€œI don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were with him on that. For all I know they are the Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility.”
    â€œWhoever that bunch is, they know a lot about the college,” Vera said. “I’ve seen their ads.”
    â€œCurtin was feeding them information,” Sally said, sure of it. “He must have been.”
    Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s possible.”
    â€œYou don’t seem so sure about it,” Sally said, “but you seem to know an awful lot about Harold Curtin and his doings. Is there something you want to tell me, Jack?”
    Jack looked around the kitchen. “I think I’d like a little more coffee, after all. You think it’s still