your committee—the three professors who will oversee the writing of your dissertation—grades your exam. You need to get them all to pass you on this exam so you can move on and write your dissertation and, eventually, graduate.”
“And that’s what Bryan failed?”
“Exactly. Bryan’s committee included Jonas Landry—”
“The department chair?”
“Yep. It was Jonas Landry, George Gunderson, and Emily. I don’t know how Landry and Gunderson voted, but Emily failed Bryan. It was the second time Bryan had taken the test. If you fail twice, you get thrown out of the graduate program.”
I whistled. “Wow. This was a big deal.”
“Very. The school let Bryan stick around until his complaint against Emily was resolved, but he was living on borrowed time.” Finn winced. “Okay, poor choice of words. But you know what I mean. He was about to get the boot from the school.”
I broke off a corner of my cake with my fingers and popped it into my mouth, chewed contemplatively, and then licked the frosting from my fingertips. “I guess Bryan, given what was at stake, did have a motive to lie about Emily. Of course, he might have had a motive to lie and still have been telling the truth.”
“I just can’t see it,” Finn insisted.
I held up a hand. “Let’s assume Bryan was lying about Emily coming on to him. That still put her job in danger. That still gave her a motive to kill him. Even more of a motive if he was lying, because he was persecuting an innocent woman.”
“Oh, come on. You’ve met her. Can you even fathom her beating some guy’s head in with a stapler?”
I had to admit it was hard to picture Emily doing something so messy. But whether Finn could see it or not, there was a quiet rage simmering just beneath that woman’s placid exterior. I looked at my cat, continuing to wage primal war on his yarn. I could absolutely imagine Emily doing whatever it took to protect her livelihood and her life from a malicious liar.
“Look, you asked my opinion, and I gave it to you. I think just about anyone could commit murder if pushed hard enough.”
“Fair enough,” Finn said. “But who else was Bryan pushing?”
“Finn, I have no idea. And I’m not really sure I want to know.” I took another bite of cake. “At the funeral, Cal accused me of meddling in a murder investigation. I assured him I was doing no such thing. And I meant it. I didn’t much enjoy being in the middle of that investigation last year, and I hope to never be in that position again.”
Finn smiled, a secret smile that brought to mind all the positions in which I’d found myself last year.
“I get it,” he said. “I’ll leave you in peace. But can we still meet at the A-la-mode?”
I shot him a glare, but with no real heat behind it. “It’s a free country.”
He laughed. “Softy. Oh, and . . .” He paused, a sheepish look on his face. “This may be asking too much, but Emily could really use a distraction from her troubles and she doesn’t have many friends here yet.”
Yet? The woman had been in Dalliance for almost five years. How could she not have friends yet?
Finn grimaced. “I was thinking it might be good to get her out of the house, so I thought we’d go to karaoke night at the Bar None on Wednesday.”
If Emily Clowper sang karaoke, I’d swap suppers with Sherbet.
“You don’t need my permission, Finn,” I said, embarrassed by the testy tone of my reply.
“I know. But I thought maybe you and Bree would come along.” I never thought I’d see the day, but Finn Harper actually blushed a bit. “Underneath that tough-cookie exterior, Emily’s an emotional girl. I want to be there for her, but I don’t want her to get the wrong impression.”
“Geez, Finn, we’re not in high school anymore.”
“I know. Maybe it’s stupid, but I’d feel better if you came with us.”
I sighed. “Oh, all right. Bree will be at karaoke night anyway, and I wouldn’t mind a night on the town before we get slammed with summer customers. As long as we go late. I want to get the A-la-mode locked up and Kyle and Alice safely home before I head out.”
Tension drained from Finn’s body and his slow grin spread across his face. “Deal,” he said. “So I’ll see you Wednesday?”
“Guess so,” I replied, leading him to the front door.
I swung open the door to let