trust Mr. Halsey. But I didn’t act on that feeling, because his father is a very powerful man.”
“I’m sure you’re not the first person to make that mistake,” I point out. “I let him charm me into dating him, even though I knew I shouldn’t. I liked the attention.”
“You’re not the first person to make that mistake, either,” she says drily.
“Noted.”
“You understand that I have to investigate everything you’ve told me.”
“Of course.”
“And that will take some time.”
“I hope it takes a very long time,” I point out. “Because I really need a college degree. And I’m only a few credits short. If I get arrested for trespassing here and then thrown out of Burlington U, that’s it for me.”
She puts her head in her hands. “Daphne, nobody is going to arrest you. And you’ll finish your degree.”
I sag with relief.
“You should have just told me that you were involved with him. You’re both undergraduates. It didn’t have to be a big deal. I would have rearranged things. Maybe you would have been taken off the project.”
“In hindsight, that sounds perfectly acceptable. But I let my ambitions get in the way.”
She shakes her head. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d already noted the strange turnout pattern in Hartford. It’s gotten worse in the last couple of months.”
I let out a little moan of anguish. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” A scientist is lost without her data. “I’ve ruined everything.”
“Did you throw any surveys away, Daphne?”
“What?” I yelp. “No way.”
“Right. You didn’t create this problem. And the fact that it’s continued after you left is part of the reason I believe your whole crazy story. But I still have to verify it.”
“Of course you do. And if there’s anything I can do to help—aside from staying far away from your brand-new office building—I will do it.”
“How’s Burlington U?”
“Good. Fine. I like it there. I have a job working for Dr. Drummond. If I’m lucky, I’ll be applying to graduate school in a couple of months.”
The dean taps her pen on the desktop. “Can anyone else verify that Mr. Halsey threatened you?”
“Well, no.” My face reddens. “Only my boyfriend. But seeing as he punched Reardon yesterday after another string of those threats, nobody will believe him.”
She flinches. “Mr. Halsey said he’d accuse you of sexual harassment.”
Burning with shame, I nod.
“If that’s the case, he’s the harasser, Daphne. You’re the one with a case against him.”
“If I hadn’t panicked, you’d be right,” I admit in a small voice. “And he’ll never confess. His type never does. The best I can hope for is that you verify the damage he did to your study. He can’t try to blame me if it continued after I left. That’s the only way I’ll be out from under him—by slinking off to earn a degree somewhere else.”
Her sigh is heavy. “All right, Daphne. Thank you for telling me the truth. I have a lot of work ahead of me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know you are,” she says gently. “Hang in there. You’ll hear from us eventually. I’ll probably need you to sign a statement about all the things you just told me.”
“Okay,” I say, my throat closing up. I did it. I told the truth. And it didn’t kill me. “Thank you.”
With that finally done, I duck out of her office and speed walk back to the old Volvo. I’m nervous about running into Reardon, but luckily I don’t see him anywhere.
It isn’t until I’m locked safely into the car that I pull out my phone. There are two new texts from May. First she writes: Plea is not guilty! Lawyers convened at the bench.
Then, five minutes later: CASE DISMISSED! OMG!
There’s also a photo of Rickie in a bear hug with an older man. It must be his dad. We’d called him last night, just like Rickie had asked me to do.
Now I call my sister, and she answers on the first ring. “You okay?” she asks.
Once again I’m humbled. May dropped everything to rush to Connecticut and be by my side. She found the litigator for Rickie. She met me in the parking lot of the police station and made me tell her the whole story. And then, after I told her about breaking into Reardon’s office, she made me unavailable to talk to the police.
“I can just refuse?” I’d asked.
“You can, and you will,” she’d said firmly.
Then she’d bought me a fast food sandwich and made me eat it.