Free Formula for Murder by JUDITH MEHL Page A

though they were the only ones in the room. She eyed Nick speculatively and finally decided it could do no harm to reveal what she heard. She told them that, yes, Professor Billings did suggest they investigate Charlie but the committee dismissed it immediately. There were really no grounds, no evidence that would support accusing Charlie considering the embarrassment or potential harm if he was found innocent.
    Kat pondered where she could find a sample of Billings ’ handwriting while Nick inquired, “Do you have Billings current location?”
    Louise rifled through the folder she’d brought in earlier and handed a sheet to Kat. “Here you go. I knew you’d be asking.” The sample showed the logical strokes for an inquisitive thinker.
    She hunted further and answered Nick. “He went over to Cummings State to fill in for someone on sabbatical. Don’t know where he went from there. His student intern might know. He probably lost more than anyone in the trashing. He went to the University of Illinois .”
    She supplied them with his name and then folding her spindly arms over her even scrawnier chest, said, “But if you’re looking for suspects for Charlie’s murder you should try closer to home.”

 
     
    Chapter 9
     
    Irregular handwriting gives an ambiguous message but it can mean instability. It also can mean creativity and spontaneity. Regular handwriting at least gives the message of self-control.
“Handwriting, An Analysis Through Its Symbolism” by Rudolph Hearns
     
    Nick and Kat plopped back down in their chairs simultaneously. Was the answer right here and no one thought to ask Louise? That would be too easy. Nick regained his speech first.
    “Louise, you’ve been holding out on us. Do you know something?”
    “Now, Nick, this is only my opinion. The one that hated Charlie the most was that Maria Alvarez, though God knows she doesn’t look like she could kill anything these days.”
    “What do you mean?” Kat perked up in her chair. Maybe they were looking in the wrong direction.
    “She had a nervous breakdown a couple of months ago. She’s on leave now but who knows what’s going to happen. She’s a physical wreck. Couldn’t blow a leaf over now, not that she was much to begin with.”
    Nick hadn’t ever met Maria, so Louise explained. “If one considered her wiry before, she’s now lost her wire.”
    Kat interrupted. “That was sure kept hush-hush. I haven’t heard a thing. What caused it?”
    Though seldom one to gossip, once started, Louise was like a wound-up rubber band let loose. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she continued. “They’re not saying, but I think she went off the deep end when Charlie turned down that last intern she wanted placed in the chem labs.”
    Kat looked at her excitedly but before she could question more, Louise continued.
    “Now that’s just what I think, you understand. You can’t repeat a word of it. But all the paperwork comes through here one way or the other and I saw how much she put into those grant proposals. She was devastated every time Charlie turned one down.”
    She shuffled her folders nervously, then continued. “Others took on a few interns, but never Charlie, and without him, the rest of the department was able to stay away from it too. She was crushed one day, furious the next.”
    “And you think she’d kill for that?” Nick was incredulous.
    Kat asked for more details and a handwriting sample, hoping to find some irregularities. Louise respecting Kat’s abilities and knowing she would keep it confidential, found a recent letter. The signs of instability were there, but they could also reveal a creative streak. Not enough to draw conclusions, but they decided Maria deserved another look.
    Further questions to Louise were forestalled.
    “Talk to her chairman. I don’t have enough facts. And you know I don’t gossip!”
    Nick and Louise swapped the latest news from President Ludlow before they left.  The president had