wondered if this was his first experience of death. It wasn't mine by a longshot, but this death had hit me especially hard. I could have prevented it.

The fog outside was getting denser. Itmoved against the glass wall of the house, and gave me the queer sensation thatthe world had dropped away, and Bradshaw and I were floating together in space,unlikely gemini encapsulated with the dead woman.

"What did you tell the police?"

"I talked to the Sheriff personally.He'll be here shortly. I gave him only the necessary minimum. I didn't knowwhether or not to say anything about Mrs. Kincaid."

"We have to explain our discovery ofthe body. But you don't have to repeat anything she said. It's purely hearsayso far as you're concerned."

"Do you seriously regard her as asuspect in this?"

"I have no opinion yet. We'll seewhat Dr. Godwin has to say about her mental condition. I hope Godwin is good athis job."

"He's the best we have in town. I sawhim tonight, oddly enough. He sat at the speaker's table with me at the Alumnidinner, until he was called away."

"He mentioned seeing you at dinner."

"Yes. Jim Godwin and I are old friends." Heseemed to lean on the thought.

I looked around for something to sit on,but there was only Helen's canvas chaise. I squatted on my heels. One of thethings in the house that puzzled me was the combination of lavish spending andbare poverty, as if two different women had taken turns furnishing it. Aprincess and a pauper.

I pointed this out to Bradshaw, and henodded: "It struck me when I was here the other evening. She seems to havespent her money on inessentials."

"Where did the money come from?"

"She gave me to understand she had aprivate income. Heaven knows she didn't dress as she did on an assistantprofessor's salary."

"Did you know Professor Haggertywell?"

"Hardly. I did escort her to one ortwo college functions, as well as the opening concert of the fall season. Wediscovered a common passion for Hindemith." He made a steeple of hisfingers. "She's a—she was a very presentable woman. But I wasn't close toher, in any sense. She didn't encourage intimacy."

I raised my eyebrows. Bradshaw coloredslightly.

"I don't mean sexual intimacy, forheaven's sake. She wasn't my type at all. I mean that she didn't talk aboutherself to any extent."

"Where did she come from?"

"Some small college in the MiddleWest, Maple Park I believe. She'd already left there and come out here when weappointed her. It was an emergency appointment, necessitated by Dr. Farrand'scoronary. Fortunately Helen was available. I don't know what our Department ofModern Languages will do now, with the semester already under way."

He sounded faintly resentful of the deadwoman's absenteeism. While it was natural enough for him to be thinking of thecollege and its problems, I didn't like it. I said with deliberate intent tojolt him:

"You and the college are probablygoing to have worse problems than finding a teacher to take her place."

"What do you mean?"

"She wasn't an ordinary femaleprofessor. I spent some time with her this afternoon. She told me among otherthings that her life had been threatened."

"How dreadful," he said, asthough the threat of murder were somehow worse than the fact. "Who onearth—?"

"She had no idea, and neither have I.I thought perhaps you might. Did she have enemies on the campus?"

"I certainly can't think of any. Youunderstand, I didn't know Helen at all well."

"I got to know her pretty well, in ahurry. I gathered she'd had her share of experience, not all of it picked up ingraduate seminars and faculty teas. Did you go into her background before youhired her?"

"Not too thoroughly. It was anemergency appointment, as I said, and in any case it wasn't my responsibility.The head of her department, Dr. Geisman, was favorably impressed by hercredentials and made the appointment."

Bradshaw seemed to be delicately lettinghimself off the hook. I wrote down Geisman's name in my notebook.

"Her background ought to be goneinto," I said. "It seems she was married, and recently divorced. Ialso want to find out more about her relations with Dolly. Apparently they wereclose."

"You're not suggesting a Lesbianattachment? We have had—" He decided not to finish the sentence.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'mlooking for information. How did Professor Haggerty happen to become Dolly'scounselor?"

"In the normal way, I suppose."

"What is the normal way of acquiring acounselor?"

"It varies. Mrs. Kincaid was anupperclassman, and we usually permit upperclassmen to choose their owncounselors, so long as the counselor in question has an opening in his or herschedule."

"Then Dolly probably chose ProfessorHaggerty, and initiated the friendship herself?"

© Alexander Sviyash, 2009