student of yours named Dustin Miller? He graduated seven years ago.”
“He was murdered,” Matthew said.
The detective nodded. “Right. So you do remember him?”
“Not well. He took one class with me. I don’t think I would have remembered him if he hadn’t . . . if he hadn’t been in the news. Are you still investigating his murder?”
“It’s unsolved, so, yes, we are. Some new information led us to believe his death might have had something to do with the time he spent at Sussex Hall, and that’s why I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on to that time of his life.”
“I really . . . I barely knew him, to tell the truth. He was not a memorable student.”
“Why wasn’t he memorable, Mr. Dolamore?”
“You can call me Matthew.”
“Okay. I will. And you can call me Iggy.”
Matthew, besides being bothered by the detective’s presence, was also bothered by the detective’s face. He was neither a fox nor a pig. He was something new, with his round cranium and sunken eyes, his small chin. Was he an owl?
“What was the question?” Matthew asked.
“You said that Dustin Miller wasn’t memorable. I was wondering why that was. Why wasn’t he memorable?”
“Well,” Matthew began, somehow unnerved by the question, “you remember your best students and you remember your worst. He was neither. Not particularly bright, but not a problem.”
“What about friends? Do you remember what type of friends he had?”
Matthew frowned as he shook his head. “No.”
“Did he play sports?”
“Most of the kids at Sussex Hall play sports. I don’t pay that much attention, to tell the truth.”
“So you don’t know anything about what happened when Dustin Miller went to the Junior Olympics of fencing?”
Matthew pretended to think. It was fairly big news at the time, a lot of gossip among the teachers. “It does ring a bell. Something bad, right?”
“He was accused by a fellow student of sexual assault.”
“Okay. Now I remember.”
“Do you remember Courtney Cheigh?”
“Again, not well. I think she was in my freshman world history class, and she took a seminar with me her senior year. Ancient Rome.”
“Did she complete that class senior year?”
“No, now that I think of it. She left early that year. She transferred to Lincoln-Sudbury High School.” I was sad to see her go when she left. She had the palest eyelids, almost appearing translucent, and she was small with narrow shoulders. Shortly after she’d arrived at Sussex Hall, she’d developed large breasts that she worked very hard to cover. It was probably the reason she switched from field hockey to fencing, because of the uniform, how stiff the material was, how much it covered. But she’d gotten excellent at it and qualified with Dustin Miller and Brandon Hsu for the Junior Olympics after all three did well at the New England qualifiers. She’d actually come to me, excited, after finding out that she was taking the trip. She wanted to know about the history of St. Louis, if it was worth going up inside of the arch. Dustin raped her in her hotel room. He’d managed to bring alcohol on the trip, and they’d both gotten drunk. After Courtney left Sussex Hall—I was amazed and proud that she’d stayed as long as she did—I overheard Dustin and one of his friends trying to figure out who had the biggest tits in school now that she was gone.
“So what can you tell me about the incident at the fencing tournament?”
“I know she filed a complaint, but I’m not sure she ever pressed charges. I remember hearing they’d gotten drunk together.”
“The trip wasn’t chaperoned?”
“I know that the fencing coach went—he always did—and maybe one parent, but Courtney had her own room.”
“You remember more than you thought you did.” The detective smiled slightly, but it didn’t change his sorrowful eyes.
“I guess I do. It’s one of those things you hope to forget about.”
“Did you have an opinion about the incident?”
“I’m not sure I ever knew enough about it.”
“But you must have had some opinion, having taught both students. If it was a he said, she said type of situation, then who would you have believed? This isn’t an official question, by the way, I’m just interested in your opinion.”
“Do you think that what happened at Sussex Hall had something to do with Dustin Miller’s death?”
“Nope, not really. To be honest, we’re just following leads, and the more information I can get on this situation, the better. Again, I’m not looking for an official statement, I’m