I looked from one to the other. So they were using this to shut me up and get rid of me. Just as Emerson had threatened. But I’d never imagined an academic playing this kind of hardball.
I clenched my fists and forced myself to stay cool. Or at least try to appear cool. “I’ll need a little time to consider,” I said. “In the meantime, can you get me out of here?”
The lawyer nodded. “Yes, I’ve made the necessary arrangements for your release. You’re free to go for now.”
“Think carefully about your next move,” Westman said. “I’ll need to hear from you within the next two days or our offer is off the table. And I don’t think you want to know what will happen after that.”
My teeth were clenched as I watched them go down the hall and out of sight. Then I followed them out of the room. The airport was dark and deserted at this hour of the morning, giving it a ghostlike appearance. My heart was going a mile a minute, and all I really wanted to do was to smash Westman’s face to a bloody pulp. Then I thought of Karen. It was almost two in the morning—I couldn’t imagine what she must be thinking.
I grabbed my phone, which now had a signal again. And was surprised to find a text from Karen waiting for me.
I found out what’s happened. I’m so sorry! Somehow you must have been set up. Try to get some rest. I’ll be over in the morning. Rosie’s all taken care of. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. Xoxo
I reread the message and gave a sigh of relief. At least Karen believed in me. She’d probably be the only one. This was the kind of offense where everyone automatically assumed the accused was guilty. As had happened to Steve Upton.
And it didn’t leave me many options, other than accepting their offer and getting out of BTI under a protective cloak of silence.
26
The last thing I remembered was getting home and sinking into a chair with a big glass of scotch and Rosie on my lap. I guess I made my way to bed at some point after that because I woke up to find Karen snuggled beside me. She must have felt me stir because she rolled over and put her arms around me. Then she kissed me, exploring my mouth with her tongue. A nice way to get my mind off my problems. Then she moved her head down my chest, my stomach, and between my legs. I stopped thinking.
The smell of coffee greeted me when I woke a second time. Ten o’clock. I got out of bed to find Karen in the kitchen.
“Glad you caught some sleep,” she said. “I take it you don’t have to be at work?”
“No. Among other things, they put me on leave and banned me from campus. But how about you?”
She gave a disgusted snort. “Pretty much the same story. They appointed my old boss as the new chief. You know, the bastard I told you about from Boston PD. He gave me a month to find a new job.” She shrugged. “I have more than that in unused vacation time, so no pressure on me to go in. They don’t want me around anyway.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. That son of a bitch.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing like what happened to you. There are plenty of other universities. The whole country’s full of them. I’ll find something. I already heard from a friend in Chicago offering me something out there.”
I swallowed hard. A new threat to our relationship, on top of everything else. I wasn’t sure I could take any more. “In Chicago? Are you considering it?”
The expression on my face must have portrayed my feelings. She came over and gave me a hug. “Let’s not sweat that for now. We’ll figure things out. First we need to take care of you.”
It wasn’t quite what I wanted to hear, but I could tell that I wasn’t going get anything more at the moment. So I poured some coffee and took a croissant from a box she had open on the counter. “Where’d these come from?”
“I stopped at the Bread Place on my way over.” She hesitated and then passed a copy of the newspaper over to me. “I’m afraid they had this too.”
I was on the front page of the Boston Globe, picture and all. Professor arrested for sexual assault on airline. The article took pains to point out that BTI had responded quickly and forcefully: I’d been removed from my position as department chair and put on leave, barred from any contact with students.
The bile rose in my throat, and I had to sit down. This was it. They’d gone public. My only chance was to accept their shit offer and get the charges dropped. Even then, I’d have to get out of Boston if I was to have any chance of finding another job in academia.
“We’ve got to figure out what happened,” Karen said. “I know the basics and that the institute lawyer got you out. But fill in the details for me.”
I took a while to go through the events of the past two days, starting with my meeting with President Emerson.
Karen listened intently without interrupting. Then she said, “They set you up.”
“By they, you mean the institute? I thought of that, too, of course. But how could they even know I went to Wisconsin? Let alone pull off something like this.”
“I’ll bet they had you followed as soon as you left Emerson’s office.”
My jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding! This isn’t the CIA. They don’t do crap like that.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh no? I’m afraid you’ve got a lot to learn about how big institutions work. Why do you think universities have their own police forces?”
I didn’t try to answer that one. Instead I took a bite of the croissant. “All right, I guess you should know.”
She nodded. “Think about the woman on the plane. Had you ever seen her before?”
“I thought she looked vaguely familiar when she sat next to me. But I can’t think from where.”
“Close your eyes and picture her face, her hair, her clothing, whatever you can remember. It’s important. Now try to place where you’ve seen her. At Emerson’s office? Maybe on the flight you took out to Wisconsin?”
“No, I don’t think so,” I said. Then it came to me. Red hair and a black jacket. “Wait, she was at the outdoor café. The student union where we had coffee. Sitting a few tables away from us. I noticed that she looked out of place in a skirt and business jacket. Everyone else was dressed informally, like students or faculty members usually are.”
Karen nodded and pursed her lips. “Hang on a minute.” She grabbed her phone and scrolled through it. Then she showed me the screen. “Any of these women look familiar?”
There were photos of five women. My jaw dropped when I looked at the third. It was the woman from the plane. “How the hell did you do that? That’s her!”
“They’re pictures of my colleagues. Meet the female BTI cops. Your little friend here is Ann Collins, assigned for special duty in the president’s office. She must have followed you out to Madison, tailed you there, and then set you up on the flight back.”
I was starting to catch on. “So she knew who I talked to in Madison. And then presumably reported back here.”
Karen nodded. “And then got instructions to fake an assault and get you arrested when the plane landed.”
“But how could she have managed to sit next to me? Just dumb luck?”
“There are advantages to being a cop. All she had to do was tell the ticket agent that she was following you and wanted an adjacent seat.”
I stood up and went over to the window. People were walking outside with their dogs as if it were a perfectly normal day. Unknowing.
“So what do I do? They’ve boxed me into an impossible position.” I picked up the newspaper. “Especially now that it’s public.”
“I think you tell them that you’ll accept their deal,” she said.
I smiled sadly. “That sounds good, doesn’t it? We could both look for jobs away from Boston—Chicago or wherever. Start over together. But I can’t do it. If I’m right, Singer is a rapist and a murderer. Being protected by the president of BTI.”
She gave a mock sigh. “Sometimes you don’t listen carefully. I didn’t say you should accept their deal, not for real. I said you shoul
d tell them you’re going to accept it. Buy yourself a little time.”
I went over and kissed her forehead. “Thanks, I’m glad you don’t want me to fold and just walk away. But still, what can we do?”
“First, let’s back up for a minute. What you’ve learned tells us that Singer was guilty of sexual assault ten years ago in New Haven and that our current institute president was involved in sweeping it under the rug. Bad stuff, I agree. Bad enough for Emerson to try to force you out like he has. But it’s still a jump to blame Singer for Emily. I get that the initial attack on Emily was similar to what he did to Martha, but unfortunately, drugging an intended victim at a party or restaurant is pretty common. And Upton’s pretty much admitted to being the initial assailant. He even signed the nondisclosure agreement, not only resigning his position but also giving up his rights to further develop his work with Singer, which could be worth a bundle. Why would he have done that if he wasn’t guilty?”
“Maybe just to get out of here and put this mess behind him. Once he was accused of rape and murder, how could he stay? Better for him to take a job at Berkeley and get away from all this.”
Karen frowned. “All right, I can see that. Let’s walk through what you think happened.”
“Okay, I had some time to think this through on the plane. Starting from the beginning, Singer was there at the restaurant to spike Emily’s drink. If it wasn’t Upton, then Singer’s the only one who had an opportunity to drug her. And he could have used this delay-send thing on his email to establish what looked like a convincing alibi.”
“So you think that Singer went up to his office after he dropped Upton off that night, let himself be seen by his students, and set up a bunch of emails to be sent off at later times over the next hour and a half? Then he went back to Emily’s, assaulted her, and had time to go back to his office and be seen again by one of the students when he was leaving?”
“Right. It was the emails that convinced you he was in his office. Could you have seen on the server that they were written first and sent later?”
“No, the server just gives me the time they were actually sent. So that would have worked. But Singer’s the one who brought the case to your attention in the first place. Why would he have done that if he was the guilty party?”
“That’s the part that bothered me the most, until I realized this wasn’t just an ordinary assault. Singer had dual motives. Sure, he raped Emily for whatever sick reasons he has for attacking women. But he also wanted to frame Upton for it.”
Karen looked puzzled. “I don’t get it. Why would he want to do that? They were collaborators on an important research project.”
“That’s precisely why. His plan was to discredit Upton and take over the project for himself. Remember how insistent he was on getting Upton to relinquish his rights to further development of their drug? Singer didn’t want to share the credit for their work with Upton. He wanted it all for himself.”
Karen looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. “Yes, he definitely wanted that as part of the nondisclosure agreement. You really think he set this all up and raped Emily for scientific credit? What a piece of shit.”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly what I think. He drugged Emily in the restaurant and then went back to Emily’s apartment and assaulted her after Upton left. Which fits what the woman with the dog said about seeing a big man outside that night. It wasn’t the ex-boyfriend. It was Singer. The only thing I don’t get is how he got into Emily’s apartment.”
“That’d be easy enough,” Karen said. “Picking the kind of lock she had is trivial. All you need is a credit card. You can even find some nice instructional videos on the web.”
“Okay, so he had the whole thing planned out. It helped that Emily texted her friend Carol, but I figure he would have come to me with the accusations even if she hadn’t. You remember how he told us he was suspicious of Upton that night anyway.”
“Yes, just because of the way Upton acted. And he counted on Emily knowing that something had happened, so one way or another we’d have gotten the story out of her.”
“And nailed Upton for it. As long as Emily couldn’t identify her assailant, pinning it on Upton by coming to me was straightforward.”
Karen sighed. “Yes, we all believed it. You’re the only one who had any doubts.”
“Just vague misgivings. It all would have worked out like Singer planned, but then Emily started to remember.”
“And Singer was right there in the dean’s office when I got the call that things were coming back to her,” Karen said. “Once that happened, he had to kill her to protect himself. Like we thought Upton did.”
“Yes, that’s what I think happened. And he used the same email alibi for the night she was killed.”
Karen nodded. “It all makes sense. I think you’re right. But now the question is how to prove it. We’re not going to get anywhere with what we have at this point, especially given President Emerson’s support of the bastard.”
“I’m pretty sure that Linda, the woman in Wisconsin, will talk to the police.”
“Maybe,” Karen said. “But her story’s just hearsay about something that happened ten years ago. Even if they believe her, she doesn’t have anything that links Singer to Emily.”
I got up and started pacing. “Is there any way your computer guys could see if he actually used this delay-send thing?”
“They might be able to if they could get hold of his computer for forensic analysis. But I don’t think we’ll be able to do that without some kind of direct evidence, especially if he’s being protected by Emerson. I’m afraid we’re going to have to somehow catch him in the act. Hopefully before he goes on to attack anyone else.”
“Huh!” I scoffed. “Catch him in the act of what, assaulting another student? How the hell do you expect to do that?”
She smiled. But it wasn’t the warm smile that I loved about her. This was the way a snake might smile at a mouse before turning it into dinner. “Not to worry. I have a plan.”
My eyes widened. “A plan?”
“I’m afraid you’re not going to like it,” she said. “But you have a part to play. You better sit back down while I explain.”
I sat down and listened. And I objected more than once. As strenuously as I could. But she was determined, and maybe she was right. Maybe this was the only way.
She was certainly right that I didn’t like it.
27
I waited until late afternoon to call Westman and tell him that I’d accept his offer. I said that all I wanted now was to get out with some chance of finding another job elsewhere. I’d be more than happy to never hear about Mike Singer again. He told me that I’d made a wise choice, and he’d have the paperwork ready tomorrow. Once I signed, the charges would be dropped.
Two hours later, I headed over to Singer’s office. I got there a little before five thirty. We’d changed back from daylight saving time a few days ago, so it was already dark.
Singer was alone, working on his computer. I knocked on the open door and went in, closing it behind me.
His eyes widened when he saw me. “What’re you doing here? I was told you’d been banned from campus.”
He started to reach for his phone, but I held up my hands. “It’s okay—don’t worry. I’ve accepted an offer to resign, on the condition that I keep my mouth shut. I’ll sign and be gone tomorrow, but I wanted to warn you first.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “Warn me? What are you talking about?”
“Look, I’m done with this. Out of here tomorrow. I know you’ve figured out that I pried into what happened at Yale. I was only trying to track down the missing grant money. I never thought it would end up tying in with Emily’s case. It doesn’t matter anymore anyway. Hell, it was years ago. I wish I’d never found out in the first place, but it’s finished. And my lips are sealed.”
He stared at me silently. I wondered if he knew I was lying. Finally, he shrugged. “So wh
y come here? Westman already told me things were settled.”
“It’s that detective woman I worked with. You remember, we interviewed you together?”
“I remember. Reynolds or something like that, right?”
“Richmond. Karen Richmond,” I said. “Anyway, she’s like a bulldog, and she thinks you’re the one who raped Emily. And maybe even murdered her.”
His expression didn’t change. “Why would she think that?”
“I don’t know, based on what happened at Yale, I guess. And she said Emily told her something that puts the blame on you for her initial assault.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“Look, I don’t know what she has or doesn’t have. The point is, she’s still pursuing this, and I don’t want to be blamed for what she does. I told her about Yale before I agreed to keep quiet, and I think she’s nuts for thinking you’re responsible for Emily. But she does, and she’s going after you.”
Maybe it was my imagination, but he seemed to blink just a little more rapidly. “You say she’s pursuing this crazy notion. What’s she planning to do?”
“That’s why I came over here, to warn you. She’s put together a case and is going to file charges against you. I just talked to her, and she’s in her office now. Maybe you can talk her out of it. Or get Westman to deal with her.”
He got up from his chair. “All right, thanks for the warning. I’ll see what I can do. Let’s just keep this between the two of us, okay?”
“No problem,” I said. “I don’t want to have anything else to do with this.”
I extended my hand, and he shook it. His palms were sweaty.
I turned left when I exited the building and walked a block down to my car. It was pointing away from the building, but with a good view of the entrance from the side mirror. I checked the view, adjusted the mirror, and called Karen.
“I think he bought it,” I said. “He was so nervous that it felt like I was shaking hands with a wet dish towel when I left.”
Nondisclosure Page 17