Chapter 3

Usually, Sundays in Baton Rouge were very pleasant when the LSU football team won a Saturday night game in November, especially when the game had taken place in Tiger Stadium. “Death Valley” was often considered by many as the most hostile environment for visiting teams in college football. It was said to be the place “where dreams come to die.” LSU fans took their football seriously. The students also took their partying seriously, as LSU was annually listed among the nation’s top “Party Schools,” taking the top spot in the infamous “Princeton Review,” on a number of occasions. The Tiger faithful definitely knew how to party. In fact, almost everyone in town, not just those on LSU’s beautiful campus, was touched by a victory on the home field.

The Fighting Tigers had indeed won their game, yet, this Sunday was certainly unique, with the discovery of the dead girl, and Mike’s subsequent escape. The deceased had been positively identified as Rosemary Griffin, a sophomore student from Parkview Baptist High School in Baton Rouge, and one of the school’s cheerleaders. Rose, as she was known to her friends, had been a likable girl, cute, blonde, and full of energy, one of the most popular students on campus. Her death had left a noticeable veil of grief, not only over the campus, but also over the entire city and state as well. To make matters worse, the national media had descended upon the campus, and the murder had rightfully overshadowed the Tigers’ #1 ranking in the polls. Rumors were everywhere.

Luckily for heartbroken Jake, it didn’t take long for the coroner to determine that poor Mike the Tiger had been accused wrongly. The girl had clearly been sliced up with a sharp weapon of some kind, and then unceremoniously dumped into the Tiger Cage. No teeth marks, either man-made or Tiger, were to be found on Rose’s corpse. Her throat had been slashed, and she had bled to death. Numerous other slashing wounds had also been found on her body, but these, it was determined, were administered after her spirit had left her body. It appeared quite clear that someone had been awfully mad at poor little Rose.

In addition, besides the murder and their football team, the Tiger fans had something else on their minds that Sunday. Although football season was still going strong and the team was competing for another National Championship, the LSU basketball team was also revving up its engines. The annual Purple-Gold intra-squad scrimmage had been scheduled to take place on Sunday evening, following the football team’s Saturday night game. The scrimmage was to be the public’s first look at the start of a new era in LSU basketball. The previous coach who had been quite successful, had left the school for a job in the pros. Yet, he had left the nucleus of a very good team, and the fans were expecting great things from this squad. Some had even predicted that LSU would win National Championships in both football and basketball, in the same year. That feat had never been accomplished in the history of the NCAA.

The basketball Tigers were returning with two very talented seven footers, and a point guard, a true leader, who had led the nation in assists. All three were just Sophomores. In addition, the Athletic Director had persuaded the hottest young coach in the country to take over the program. Dylan Smith had been pursued by every major college program ready to make a coaching change. He had previously made a name for himself as an assistant coach in the pros, and then had experienced great success in taking over the collegiate program at nearby Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. In each year that he had been at Southeastern, his teams had led the nation in scoring, with an exciting brand of basketball. Smith, in his early 40s, had further delighted Tiger fans by announcing the hiri