display freezer drop with a thud. “Geez, Mom,” she snapped. “She’s working on a book about the political subtext of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and she needs access to the collection of her letters and diaries in Amherst and to information about her father’s term in Congress. Without the summer teaching money, she’ll have to get a grant to fund the trip. And grant money is really, really tough to get.”
“Sor-ry,” Bree drawled.
Alice rolled her eyes, but she seemed mollified. “It’s a big deal,” she said. “Dr. Clowper’s up for tenure next year, and she needs this book to be done and published if she wants to keep her job. It’s all about tenure, you know.”
A flicker of wistfulness clouded Bree’s expression. We both wanted Alice to have a good education and all the opportunities that came with it. But the bottom line was that Alice was entering a world Bree and I knew little about. Our little girl was vanishing right before our eyes, being transformed into a sophisticated stranger.
“How do you know so much about the nitty-gritty of Emily Clowper’s job situation? As in her precise situation at this moment?” I asked, sliding a canister of salted caramel sauce in next to the fudge.
Alice’s shoulders jerked, and she turned toward the sink. She cranked on the faucet to wash her hands, and for a second, the hollow roar of water on metal made talking impossible.
I waited until she snatched up a towel and knocked the tap closed with her elbow. “Alice?”
Bree had slid the cash drawer closed and was watching her daughter with narrowed eyes.
Alice sighed. “Okay. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d be all crazy about it, but I talked with Dr. Clowper last night.”
“You what?” Bree barked.
“It’s no big deal. I went over so we could talk about my paper—”
Bree cut her off. “ ‘Went over’? You mean to her house?”
“Yeah. It’s really no big deal. She’s had us over before, all the students who are doing independent studies with her, so we can workshop our projects. We order pizza and sit around her living room. It’s just more comfortable than meeting in her office and quieter than a coffee shop or whatever.”
“Were these other kids at her house last night?”
Alice looked at her feet for a moment, before raising her chin and facing her mother squarely. “No. I went by myself. Dr. Clowper had sent us a mass e-mail saying she wasn’t allowed to come to campus until everything gets resolved, and I was worried about her.” She tucked her sleek strawberry hair behind her ear. “I tried to get some of the other kids to come with me to show our solidarity.”
“But they were all too smart to say ‘yes,’ huh?” Bree shook her head. “Well, you’re not gonna do that again.”
Alice’s jaw slid to the side, like she was chewing on gristle. “Actually, I am. Dr. Clowper isn’t allowed on campus, and they even put a hold on her account so she can’t access the library or the school computer network from home. So she gave me the key to her office, and I promised her I would stop by a couple of times a week so I can bring her things she needs for her work.”
Bree gasped in outrage, but Alice pressed on. “I want to show her that we don’t all think she’s some sort of criminal.” She set her small fists on her hips. “Because she’s not.”
Bree matched her daughter’s belligerent stance, so I sidled up to her, ready to intervene if things got too nasty. After all, I had to unlock the store in a few minutes, and their domestic dispute wouldn’t be good for business.
“She’s not a criminal,” Bree mocked. “And do you have anything other than her word for that?”
“Yes,” Alice said. “I have my own good judgment.”
That took a little of the starch out of Bree’s spine. “I still don’t like it,” she insisted. “Even if she weren’t a suspect—”
“She’s not a suspect.”
Bree raised her hand. “Even if she weren’t a suspect,” she repeated, “I think it’s weird for you to go to a teacher’s house, especially by yourself. If there was any way for you to drop your classes this late in the semester, I wouldn’t even let you on that campus. I sure as heck don’t want you spending one-on-one time with a possible murderer.”
Alice opened her mouth, then snapped it closed. She shook her head as she stripped her apron off. “I