by Ali Franklin
He threw the ball against the wall again. Thunk. Thunk. He smiled. He wished he could be there when his professors saw what he’d—
There it is!
He saw the mistake. It was small, but it affected everything that came after it. He stared at the screen while he considered a variety of possible solutions.
He ran his hands through his hair, imagining himself spending all night running simulations to see which solution worked. There’d be no other way to be sure. Maybe he’d get lucky with his first attempt. Or maybe he’d still be testing when his deadline came and went.
With a sigh, he looked at the little clock in the corner of his screen.
“Might as well get started,” he said aloud.
He leaned forward in his chair and started typing.
10
At eleven o’clock the next morning, Ryan, Nicki and Kyle sat at the big conference table in Oscar’s office. They were joined by Jack Prieto and his chief cyber detective, Zachary Isaac, whose team was lending a hand with the IT efforts.
The president stood next to the table, his gaze focused on Nicki. “I’m glad to hear you’re attacking this problem from so many fronts. How long until you identify the Paladin?”
The chief described the additional steps the teams were taking to ferret out clues from each of the Paladin’s communications. But with each admission that they were no closer to an answer, Oscar’s face grew a deeper red.
Finally, Nicki came to the end of her list. Jack added a few words about the Sheriff’s department’s commitment to the case.
The room was silent while Oscar contemplated his next words. Then the college employees heard chirping sounds from their phones.
Oscar balled a fist on the table. “What now?”
Everyone looked at their screens. Jack and Zack each leaned toward a college employee so they could see the message.
It began with a blank text window with a tiny dot in the center. Over the next few seconds, the dot grew into a picture of a shield and sword.
“Oh no—we didn’t catch it,” said Kyle, dropping his head to his hands.
On screen, the shield turned into a piece of paper and the sword grew into a pen. It slowly scrawled the words:
The Paladin speaks…
NOW
“He’s going to release something,” breathed Ryan.
They stared at their phones, waiting for the message. Nothing came, and still nothing came. They all looked at each other.
Ryan’s phone beeped again. It was a text from Teddy:
Did you get the email?
“It’s an email,” said Ryan, tapping her screen to switch apps. There it was, right at the top of her inbox. The subject line read:
The sins of Dr. Faith Cho
The little group read the email in silence. The message detailed two affairs Faith had taken part in over the past three years. One was with a man and one was with a woman. Both were undergraduate students, and both at least eighteen years old. The message provided multiple dates and times when Faith and the students spent the night together in hotels.
The email also claimed that another student was willing to testify that Faith provided him with psychedelic drugs one night at a Dallas nightclub. The professor had allegedly tried to convince the student to have sex with her, but the student had declined.
The final accusation appeared at the bottom of the message:
Faith Cho had an abortion at the CityFirst Clinic on August 8 of last year.
Ryan felt a sharp pain in her chest. This message laid bare the deepest secrets of a person she knew and cared for. She ached for Faith and the betrayal the professor must be feeling.
☐ ☐ ☐
In her office, Faith turned the second rum bottle upside-down over her tongue again, hoping for one more drop. There was nothing.
She’d examined her options throughout the previous day. She slept in her office, not wanting to go home to her empty house. And she’d awakened that morning convinced she could overcome anything the Paladin revealed.
Then the message arrived.
She read it for a third time as she rummaged through her drawer for more alcohol or pills. A new option presented itself. A little voice inside her head asked if she was overreacting. The rum told it to shut up.
Faith lifted the two silk scarves from her drawer. She stood and walked to the corner of the room. A thin pipe was attached to the wall. She pulled the scarves through one hand and then the other while she contemplated the Paladin’s revelations. Then she knotted the scarves together around the pole.
She’d always wondered how this particular method of ending people’s problems worked. She pulled the loop over her head and settled her weight into it. She closed her eyes.
Sometime later, Faith became aware of her mobile phone ringing. It sounded faint, like it was far away.
She wondered if she should answer it…
She wondered if she should…
She wondered…
☐ ☐ ☐
Oscar looked up from the email, his face carved in stone. “That’s it. I’ll be damned if this reprobate is going to bring down my school.”
He stood and faced Nicki. “We are not going to let this institution be dismantled person by person, brick by brick. This is your only job from now on. You find this bastard and you stop him. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” said Nicki.
He turned to Ryan. “You, too.”
“Me? I have—”
“—Find the Paladin. I don’t care what it takes.”
Ryan nodded. “I understand.”
He walked back around to the far side of his desk and sat before looking at the group again. “I want to hear options.”
Nicki said, “We could turn off the email system and the alert system. That would keep him from sending any more messages.”
“He might just find another way to send messages,” said Oscar. “If he’s been in the database, he has personal and campus email addresses. Or he might just send a message through the Gazette. Next idea.”
“What if we had a few faculty members come forward and talk about some of the mistakes they’ve made during their careers?” asked Ryan. “Things the Paladin might be looking to publish?”
“You think you could convince someone to do that?” asked Nicki. “I can’t imagine anyone volunteering that kind of information.”
“I could be the first one,” said Ryan. “I could talk about—”
“—No,” said Oscar. “We’re not going to become known as the college with all the faculty who couldn’t get jobs anywhere else.”
“You could proactively pardon everyone’s sins,” offered Ryan. “Tell them you’re declaring amnesty until this is over.”
Oscar didn’t even respond to that one. They sat in silence for a few minutes without producing any more ideas.
Jack said, “There’s always someone else who knows what’s going on. What about offering a reward for information leading to the Paladin?”
“That’s more like it,” said Oscar. “Nicki, partner with Jack to make that happen and send out a message. Whatever amount Jack thinks is best.”
Nicki nodded. “I still don’t understand his motive. If we could figure that out, we could either give him what he wants or convince him he doesn’t need it.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” said Oscar. “He wants to ruin the college.”
“I don’t know,” said Ryan. “If that was the motive, he could have just released all the information to any news outlet at any time.”
“He must have a reason to want to hurt specific faculty members,” said Nicki. “To get them fired or make them quit. Who benefits if Faith is fired?”
Oscar and Ryan shook their heads.
“Do you think it means anything that he’s releasing the information a little bit at a time?” asked Ryan.
“Maybe,” said Jack. “He could be trying to make it look like he has more information than he does. Or maybe he enj
oys toying with you, keeping you on the edge of your seats.”
“That’s part of his profile,” said Nicki. “He wants to manipulate us.”
Ryan’s mouth dropped open. “I forgot about the profile. Did you give Faith those student discipline records the other day?”
“Yes.”
“We should follow up with her.”
They turned to Oscar, who nodded and made a shooing gesture with one hand. Nicki’s phone rang as they pushed away from the table. She stepped away to answer it. When she finished, she called to Ryan,
“Let’s go.”
They left Oscar’s office and Nicki explained the reason for the call.
“Lance Cho called the station. He said Faith isn’t answering her phone and he asked if we’d check on her. He’s been trying to reach her since yesterday.”
“I hope she’s okay,” said Ryan. “Let’s hurry.”
11
Ryan’s phone rang. She and Nicki were so focused on hurrying to Faith’s office that she didn’t check the caller ID before answering. It was Mike Garza.
“Dean McCabe,” said the student. “I’m calling as a courtesy. Rick says he told you we were going to run with the Paladin story tomorrow. Would you like to give us a quote?”
Ryan froze. She’d forgotten about Jensen’s forty-eight-hour deadline. She took two deep breaths, in and out, before answering.
“I appreciate the call, but I don’t have a comment. You should call Rena in public affairs.”
“Are you sure? We don’t want to just print the formal statement.”
“I wish I could, Mike, but it’s not my place.”
He expressed his disappointment again and ended the call.
The women reached Miles Hall a few minutes later. They took the stairs to the second floor and walked halfway down the hall to Faith’s office. Nicki knocked. There was no answer.
“Dr. Cho?” she called out.
Ryan knocked. “Faith, are you in there?”
Nicki tried the doorknob, but it was locked. “Looks like she’s not here.”
“Do you get many calls like this from people looking for their spouses?”
“No. People usually answer their cell phones.”
“Do you have your keys?”
Nicki pulled a small ring from a pouch on her belt. She unlocked the door and poked her head through the opening. “Dr. Cho, are you—” She pushed the door all the way open and ran into the room.
Ryan entered the room and stopped short. Nicki was pushing Faith’s body upright, but it crumpled to the floor as soon as the scarf went limp.
The chief looked over her shoulder. “Call nine-one-one for an ambulance. And lock that door.”
Ryan followed her instructions, then ran to the corner, where Nicki was checking for a pulse.
“She’s gone.”
Ryan opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Nicki laid Faith on her back. She pointed at the bruise covering the front half of the professor’s neck. “It looks like she suffocated.”
Ryan looked over her shoulder at the scarves knotted around the pipe. She started to ask a question, then heard sirens outside.
“Go down there and show them the way,” said Nicki. “I’ll stay here.”
Ryan ran out the door and down the stairs. She reached the main entrance just as the EMTs were entering with a gurney.
“She’s upstairs,” said Ryan, “but I think she’s…” She punched the button for the elevator.
Five minutes later, the EMTs pronounced Faith Cho dead at the scene. One of them used his radio to call the Sheriff’s department.
“Possible suicide,” he said.
He finished the call and asked Nicki and Ryan to wait in the hallway until the detectives came. Nicki’s mouth pressed into a thin line, but she did as requested.
Ryan paced up and down the hallway while Nicki leaned against the wall.
“Do you think she hung herself?” asked Ryan.
“Looks that way.”
Ryan stopped pacing. “She must have thought it was her only solution.”
Nicki didn’t respond.
“I feel sorry for Lance.”
“Me too.”
“I hope he knew about some of the accusations already. Otherwise this will be even harder for him.”
“Hard to say,” said Nicki. “Lance might be the reason Faith thought she’d run out of options. Facing him might have seemed impossible.”
The two women leaned against the wall, shoulders touching. Nicki’s hand found Ryan’s and she laced their fingers together lightly.
“You know,” said the chief. “If you ever had anything you wanted to tell me, but you thought it would be hard… You know you could tell me anything, right?”
“I know. And the same goes for you.”
Nicki let out a grim laugh. “Well, I don’t have any secrets, so you won’t have to worry about that.”
“I don’t either, thank goodness.” Ryan paused and looked at Nicki. “Wait a minute. You don’t think I have a closetful of secrets the Paladin wants to expose, do you?”
“No, that’s not—”
“—Because I don’t have a habit of sleeping with students or doing any of the other things he would be interested in.” Ryan stepped away.
“I didn’t say you had secrets. I just said…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass anyone with my sordid history. Your reputation as a clean-cut law enforcement officer is safe.”
Nicki took a step forward and reached out. Ryan stepped back.
“I just want you to know I’m here for you,” said Nicki.
Ryan looked down at the floor for a long moment. Then she took a deep breath and looked back at Nicki.
“Nick—
The elevator dinged.
It was Jack. They greeted each other and Nicki pointed to Faith’s door. “She’s in there.”
“I’ll just go take a look,” said Jack. “Can you stay right here?”
Both women nodded.
Jack disappeared into Faith’s office for a few minutes, during which Ryan and Nicki were silent. Then the detective opened the door and asked them both to come inside.
“Tell me what happened,” he said, looking first at Nicki.
The chief related how she and Ryan had found Faith. Her story was succinct and factual, with no frivolous detail or supposition added.
When she finished, Jack asked her, “What’s your take?”
“It looks like one of those ‘leaning hangings,’ where the person ties something around their neck and just leans into it until it compresses their esophagus. Eventually, they just run out of air.”
Jack rubbed his chin with his knuckles. “How did you happen to find her?”
“She’d offered to put together a profile of the Paladin. We were on our way here to see if she’d made any progress when Nicki got the call about Lance.”
“Who else knew she was working on a profile?” asked Jack.
“You, Zack, Kyle and Oscar,” said Ryan. “Oh, and I told Helen.”
“Oscar might have told some of the faculty,” said Nicki. “A few of them have been very vocal about us stopping the Paladin before he went public.”
Ryan looked at Jack. “Is there any way you can keep Faith’s death quiet? We have enough going on right now.”
“It was on the police band,” he said. “There’ll be people nosing around soon enough.”
“I need to go talk to Oscar and Rena,” said Ryan. “Do you need me for anything else?”
“No,” said Jack. “I’ll call if I have more questions later.”
Nicki followed Ryan into the hall and laid a hand on her arm. “I’ll make sure this stays as quiet as possible.”
Ryan swiped at the tears edging out of the corners of her eyes. Then she put a hand against the wall to steady herself. “I may be going into shock.”
“Give me one second to talk to Jack, and I’ll walk you to your office.” Nicki
disappeared into Faith’s office for a moment, then came back out and wrapped an arm around Ryan’s shoulders.
They left Miles Hall and walked around the south side of the pond toward Glaser Hall. Ryan kept her eyes down, not wanting to see or talk with any students. Nicki’s scowl made it clear the two women didn’t want to be disturbed.
When they reached Glaser Hall, Nicki took Ryan into her office. Helen followed. Nicki described the morning’s events.
Helen’s hands flew to her face. “Oh…” She stood still, unable to say anything else.
Nicki took a blanket from a corner bookshelf and wrapped it around Ryan’s shoulders. “Sit down and let yourself feel it,” she said. “Go ahead and cry if you want to.”
Ryan her feet up onto her chair and hugged her knees. The tears flowed freely now, but she was still silent. Nicki stood beside her with both arms wrapped around Ryan’s shoulders.
Five minutes later, Ryan sniffled and sat up straight. “Nicki, did they say this might be a murder?”
“They have to investigate that possibility. I didn’t see a suicide note. But Jack will have to check the office and the Chos’ home.”
Ryan walked to the window and looked out. “Do you think she figured out who the Paladin was? Could he have killed her?”
“We shouldn’t try to guess what happened. Let Jack finish his investigation. He promised to keep me informed. I’ll tell you as soon as I know anything.”
“Poor Faith,” said Ryan.
Nicki walked over to stand behind her. She wrapped her arms around Ryan’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Think of it this way. If Faith Cho died the way I think she did, she didn’t suffer.”
Somehow, that made Ryan feel a little better.
Ryan and Nicki focused on every positive topic they could think could think of for the rest of the morning, but it didn’t help.
“Faith encouraged her students so much,” said Ryan for the umpteenth time.
“Our first two-time teacher of the year.”
“We should think about a memorial.”
“Maybe a tree at the pond?”
“That sounds nice.”
They fell silent again.
☐ ☐ ☐
Helen knocked on the door sometime after noon. She carried in soup and sandwiches from the SUB. “You two have a lot of work to do. Make sure you keep up your strength.”