“Congratulations, Wade.”
“Now I can do whatever I want.”
“Anything at all, Wade.”
Someone with white hair and a suit to match sidled up to Wade Biggins somewhat warily.
“Hey, dad, this is Dr. Cowlishaw. He’s the only teacher who ever gave me an A.”
I had not missed the accent by a great deal. Mr. Biggins was, however, more reserved than I had imagined, saying a quiet, rather embarrassed thank you as he weakly shook my hand.
Twenty minutes after Delilah’s final words—“I wish you all so much more than luck”—the theater was empty, save one man onstage. Thayer projected his voice to the last row. He had obtained permission from Cyrus Kavasmaneck to stage all the productions he wished in the three months before the building was scheduled to be demolished. The actor-detective was unexpectedly grateful for how things had turned out. He was turning the events into a screenplay, the treatment for which had already gotten him a phone call from an agent based out of Los Angeles.
“Was that the ending you had hoped for?” I asked.
“More or less,” Thayer said. “In my version, Bibb kills herself onstage.”
I found Dr. Parshall in the lobby, staring at the bust of his great grandfather.
“That would look great in front of your library window,” I said. If he nodded or shook his head, I didn’t see it.
“How about one last trip around the quad?”
I pushed his chair along the crumbling sidewalks. With each bump, Parshall sank a little lower in his chair. I stopped frequently to pull him up by his armpits. When the theater was in front of us again, I asked if he wanted to go inside any of the other buildings.
He shook his head.
I phoned the taxi and we waited in the parking lot. “Goddammit anyway,” he said. “I hope the spirits that toppled this institution continue to haunt whatever takes its place.”
“Yes, sir.”
I angled his chair to give him a view of the library and dorm.
“There’s that poltergeist, Nick. Above the theater. Do you see it?”
“I see it,” I said.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Academy Gothic Page 27