Killing Kirshner (A Psychological Suspense Thriller) Read online

  “Yeah, Sean, I think. Not a good first day for him,” Abrams whispered.

  “Good morning, class. As you know, I’m Professor Dunlap-Elliott and this is Legal Writing I. This class is very different than the other classes you will be taking this semester. This class will not only require you to read a great deal of material; it will also force you to become an expert researcher. We will use the book method of research and the computer method. And what I mean by this is that computers have made legal researching much easier and a whole lot faster. But, I still want to teach you the old-fashioned way to look up cases and regulations, the way I learned it – searching through hundreds of books in the library at two o’clock in the morning. To me, this is what the law is all about; it’s the chase to find the right answer. I feel we cheapen this by merely sitting in front of a computer screen and typing in a few words. It is the journey and the hunt for finding the right answer that makes us good lawyers – not our computer skills.” She pulled out a tissue and wiped her nose.

  “As for the rules of the classroom, I expect everyone to be on time to my class. So, the gentleman in the back row who snuck in, I suggest you make that your last time being late. I expect everyone to respect each other while in my classroom. When someone is speaking, do not interrupt them; give them the same respect you would want. Lastly, I do not accept any assignments late. That means any – there is not a reason on this earth that you could come up with that would excuse you from turning in an assignment on time. So, don’t bother to even try because I run my class like a judge runs his courtroom. Now, everyone take out your textbooks and let’s go over your first assignment.”

  The students flipped to the assigned pages and sat for an hour listening to Professor Dunlap-Elliott read from the textbook. “You think she is going to read to us every class?” Abrams whispered to Amanda.

  Amanda shrugged her shoulders and went back to intently listening to her professor.

  Chapter 6

  Jack Biel sat in the lobby of the school sipping his Cuban coffee and watching his fellow students walk by. Will James sat across from Jack, reading an article in the Miami Herald about the latest victim of the Miami Mangler, Miami’s notorious serial killer.

  “Do you think they’ll ever catch this guy?” Will asked.

  “Eventually – when he wants to be caught. My cousin’s a cop and he told me a bunch of shit about what this maniac does to his victims. The press doesn’t even know about this stuff; it seems that he’s revealing a little more about who he is with each victim, hoping to get caught soon,” Jack told him.

  “Why would he want to be caught? Obviously this guy enjoys what he is doing, so why would he want it to stop?” Will argued.

  “I can’t explain it, but it always seems like these guys get to a point where they are dying to reveal who they are – kind of like Bruce Wayne. Bruce is dying to tell every hot chick that he is Batman,” Jack said.

  “Batman? That’s a terrible analogy. Batman is fighting crime, and he is loved by the public – revealing himself is a positive thing. If the Miami Mangler reveals himself, he goes to prison and no one is exactly cheering for him when he admits to killing all those people.”

  “Hey, you asked my opinion, and I gave it,” Jack yelled.

  “Well, your opinion sucks,” Will said.

  The two had been arguing about everything they could since they had met two days earlier – verbal sparring, they called it. They felt this would sharpen their minds for law school.

  “So, you ready? This is the big day – Kirshner’s class,” Jack said.

  “I am scared shitless because I know he’s going to call on me. I can feel it in my bones,” Will said, putting his newspaper in his bag.

  “Don’t be paranoid. There are 30-plus people in our section. Maybe he’ll have a chance to call on five or six of us today. Your chances are pretty good of not getting called on,” Jack assured him.

  “If you say so, but I am willing to bet you.”

  “How much?” Jack quickly asked.

  “$100,” Will said.

  “You’re on,” Jack said as they shook hands.

  From a young age, Jack would bet on football, baseball¸ and basketball, and then horses as he got older. Luckily, his parents were quite wealthy and would regularly pay off his debts. Jack was hoping he had left that addiction when he left for law school, but here he was betting on silly things like whether Will was going to be called on in class.

  It was nearly time for their property class to begin, and Jack and Will decided they better hurry and get into the lecture hall so they could get a good seat in the back. Jack knocked Will in the arm as they walked behind a tall, brown-haired girl. “Nice,” he mumbled, pointing to the girl. Will smiled but was too worried about Kirshner’s class later in the day to be interested in any girls.

  As they had planned, Jack and Will sat in the last row of the lecture hall. Will looked at his watch and calculated the amount of time before Kirshner’s class started. Sean Jackson walked past Will and sat next to Jack.

  “Hey, man, what’s going on?” Jack said to Sean.

  “Hey,” Sean said, out of breath.

  “You okay?” Jack asked.

  “Yeah, I had to run over here from the dorm. I didn’t want to be late again,” Sean said.

  “Hey, what have you heard about this professor?” he asked.

  “I heard she’s fair, but if she’s in a bad mood, she could be as mean as Kirshner,” Will interjected.

  “Great. Let’s hope she is in a good mood today,” Sean said.

  Professor Anna Ferguson entered the lecture hall and ferociously started writing on the board. Jack looked at the girl they were walking behind a few minutes earlier and saw her writing just as ferociously. She sat in the second row with her textbook, notebook, pens, pencils and highlighters set out like she was about to perform surgery with them. Jack sat daydreaming for a few minutes before he realized he was the only one in class who was not writing. He pulled out his pen and copied what Professor Ferguson had written on the board.

  “Good morning. My name is Professor Ferguson, and I am teaching Property for Section 5. If you think you are in a different class or different section, then now is the time to get up and find the right class.” She waited a few seconds then pulled out a long piece of paper and began calling out each student’s name, in which they responded, “Here.”

  She placed the list down and stood away from the podium. Without looking at the list she said, “So, let’s talk about your assignment, Brown vs. Moss. Mr. Freeman, would you care to brief the case for us?”

  “Love to,” Abrams Freeman said.

  Abrams got through briefing his first case in law school. While Professor Ferguson was by no means impressed, she appeared to be satisfied with his summary of the case. Abrams sat back in his chair, relieved and confident that he had succeeded. He quickly looked at Amanda, who was sitting next to him, but she was intently looking at Professor Ferguson, awaiting her every word.

  Will and Jack made it through another class without getting called on; they were both relieved, but neither could relax. They were 30 minutes away from meeting the infamous Professor Kirshner.

  Chapter 7

  The class was completely silent as Professor Kirshner walked into the room. He was dressed in a well-ironed blue shirt and a tan vest, and a silver Rolex decorated his thick wrist. His hair was slicked back with slight grey highlights along the side, and oval-shaped glasses rested on the tip of his pointy nose. His shoulders were very built up, inconsistent with the rest of his thin frame. But most striking about him were his eyes – an orangey yellow that would penetrate out into the lecture hall to strike his next victim. They did not have any emotion behind them; he truly appeared to be soulless.

  Kirshner held a small notebook in his hand and laid it on the podium. He pulled out a large seating chart, and handed it to the girl directly in front of the podium. The girl wrote her name in the appropriate spot: Amanda
Martin. She handed the paper to the student next to her, Abrams Freeman; next to Abrams sat Will, Jack, and then Sean.

  Will, Jack, and Sean had discussed their strategy before class; Jack came up with the idea that if they sat in the front row, they would be safe. There was a rumor that Kirshner would not call on the front row, but loved to hit the wimps hiding in the back. Unfortunately, Jack did not realize that he would be stuck in the front row for the entire semester due to the seating chart he had just signed.

  Professor Kirshner stood silently as his new victims signed their names to his seating chart. The seating chart finally made its way to the front and Professor Kirshner grabbed it from Will. He walked back behind the podium and with delight he called on his first victim. “Let’s see. Who shall I call on first?”

  The class was completely silent. Every student shifted their eyes away from the podium and did their best to avoid eye contact with the professor. Will’s heart pounded in his chest as rolls of sweat rolled down the side of his face – just like in his dreams. He looked straight down at his textbook and prayed. “Please, please, please no. Not me – anybody, but me. Even pick Jack. I cannot believe I listened to him about sitting in the front row. I’m such an idiot. I could kill him,” he thought.

  Professor Kirshner slowly looked up from the seating chart and quickly looked back down. He seemed to relish in tormenting these poor first-year students. “Here it comes. Oh no, I think he is looking at me. No, no, no,” Will prayed.

  “How about you, Mr. James?”

  Chapter 8

  “Why, for Christ’s sake, would you sit right in the front row? There are plenty of seats in the back and along the right side there but you picked the front row – some of my former students called it the frontline. So, either you are very confident or very stupid. Tell me and the rest of the class, are you confident or stupid?”

  “I’m not sure. I guess I did not want to miss any of your lecture,” Will said, praying that this satisfied Kirshner.

  “Very good, Mr. James, you’re a good bullshitter. Just what the world needs – another bullshitting lawyer. Well, how about giving me so much more of your bullshit and briefing State v. Earp,” Professor Kirshner directed.

  “The defendant in this case was charged with attempted murder …” Will began reading his brief. As he said each word, Will felt more confident and comfortable with the case he was briefing. Every few seconds, Will would quickly look to see the expression on Kirshner’s face to make sure he was heading in the right direction, but Kirshner’s face remained blank. Will finished briefing the case and looked up at Kirshner for some feedback. Professor Kirshner stood to the side of the podium. “Mr. James. How are you paying for your education here at Miami Law?”

  “My parents are helping me,” Will said trembling.

  Kirshner walked over to Will’s desk and ripped the brief out of Will’s notebook and crumbled it up. “Tell them they’re wasting their money,” he said, throwing the crumbled brief into the wastebasket.

  Will turned beet red and slumped down into his chair. The class sat stunned. It was worse than any student had thought. Jack thought about making a run for the door, but did not want to look like the biggest chicken in the class. Sean sat up high in his chair, sticking his chest out, almost daring Professor Kirshner to call on him. Amanda’s heart raced, as she looked at her textbook in front of her. Abrams sat completely still and did not move a muscle. He hoped that Professor Kirshner would assume that he had died from nervousness. Unfortunately, none of their tactics would save them from Kirshner.

  Chapter 9

  By the time Professor Kirshner’s first class was over, everyone in Will’s row was called upon – Amanda, Abrams, Jack, and Sean. They were all devastated by Kirshner’s verbal assaults. Professor Kirshner advised Amanda to drop out of law school immediately and marry a rich man. He threw Abrams out of the classroom, and instructed him not to come back until he bought a brain. He told Jack that it was a good thing his daddy was rich because he did not have a chance in hell of graduating from law school. And, Professor Kirshner compared Sean to a retarded boy that he used to attend school with when he was a child.

  The five victims immediately bonded in the hallway after class. They stood in a circle trying to comfort each other the best they could. “Well, at least one good thing came out of this,” Will said.

  “What’s that?” Amanda asked, not being able to imagine anything good about what just happened.

  “Jack here owes me $100,” Will said, slapping Jack on the shoulder.

  “I need a drink,” Jack said. “First round is on me.”

  They all hopped into Jack’s Escalade and headed to the nearest bar – Lucky’s. Lucky’s was a popular bar with Miami University students. It was very common to find Lucky’s packed on a Friday afternoon with law students drinking their stress away.

  “That was brutal, man,” Sean said.

  “I’m not sure who got it worse,” Amanda said.

  “Well, I’m the only retard in the group – so I vote me,” Sean said, sipping on a nice, tall, mug of beer.

  “It was so much worse than I ever imagined. What’s the matter with that guy?” Will asked.

  “Maybe his mother used to beat him – who knows? He’s just an asshole – it’s as simple as that,” Abrams mumbled.

  “Well, I don’t know how we are going to get through this guy’s class. It’s been one class and I am ready to drop out,” Jack said, slamming down a raw oyster.

  “We’ll do it together. I was planning on forming a study group. So, here we are – a study group of five,” Amanda suggested, smiling.

  “How do I know any of you are smart? I don’t want to be in a study group with a bunch of dummies,” Sean said.

  “We all made it into Miami University, so nobody here is a dummy. I think it is a great idea – strength in numbers,” Will smiled at Amanda. Amanda immediately smiled back. She was definitely attracted to Will, but she wanted to get to know him a little better before she would pursue any kind of romantic relationship. Besides, romance was not on the top of her list – school was number one.

  “So, let’s do it. Let’s set up a schedule to meet every night or afternoon,” Abrams said. Any group that had Amanda in it, he was going to be a part of.

  “Cool. I know Will, Sean, and I live on campus. Where you at, Amanda?” Jack asked.

  “Dawson Hall; just a hop, skip and a jump away from the school.”

  “Great, we are in Dawson too. How about you, Abrams?”

  “I live about ten minutes away – so whatever time you guys decide is fine with me.”

  “Perfect, so this is the group. We will eat, sleep, and drink Property, Torts, Legal Writing and Criminal Law for the next few months. Now, let’s celebrate with another round,” Jack cheered.

  Chapter 10

  The study group decided it would meet four times a week for two hours each session. They all decided they would write their own outlines for each class and exchange them with each other. This way, if one missed something, someone else would probably cover it.

  The five spent most of Saturday and Sunday preparing for next week’s classes. While the Legal Writing class was only one credit, it required a lot of time and work. Professor Dunlap-Elliott wanted her students to use books instead of LexisNexis, a computer-assisted legal research service. This required an extraordinary amount of time searching through the enormous library. The group decided to split up the week’s assignment – each would research their part.

  Amanda was very uneasy about this because she had always studied by herself and never had trusted others to do her work for her. But she knew that law school was a whole different game, and every preparation book said to get into a study group. She needed to accept a different approach to studying. This would be the only way she could maintain a high grade point average.

  Will ran down the stairs to the bottom floor of the library; the librarian had helped him narrow down his search to the b
ottom floor. He stood in front of rows and rows of books trying to figure out where to get started. He walked down the long hallway and realized he was heading the wrong way. He was frustrated because he did not want to take too much time looking for one case. He knew he had to get back to his dorm room and read Kirshner’s assignments. He was still shaken from his embarrassment and wanted to make sure Kirshner would not tear up his brief again. Will was just about to give up when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

  “Hey there.” Will turned around to see Amanda with a big smile on her face.

  “Hey, you, working on Legal Writing?” Will asked.

  “Yeah, I have two more cases to find. How about you?” Amanda questioned.

  “I got one more. The librarian sent me down here – I hope she knows what she’s doing.”

  “Yeah, she sent me down here too. I tell you what, you help me find my cases and I’ll help you with yours. Then, we’ll both be finished,” Amanda suggested.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Will and Amanda giggled quietly as they walked up and down the aisles. On the other side of the room, Abrams sat in the corner watching Will and Amanda get close.

  “That little prick,” Abrams mumbled to himself.

  Chapter 11

  Professor Wilson was the students’ favorite teacher because he did not believe in the Socratic Method and would never try and humiliate one of his students. He was the “fun professor” that every student hoped that they would get. His review class before an examination was legendary. He would dress up like Alex Tribec and play Jeopardy – the Torts Edition. This review class was standing room only, with the lecture hall packed with students lined up standing in the back and sitting on the ground up front. Unfortunately, it was only the second week of the semester and the students would have to wait many weeks before Wilson would sport his fake mustache and blue suit.