Authors: Kate Vale
Gr
e
g sat back
in his chair
.
Th
e
prof
e
ssor’s whit
e
hair f
e
ll forward as h
e
look
e
d
down at his hands, his fing
e
rs forming a t
e
nt. “I
’m not sure
what w
e
can do
about
this
.
Carl
had a on
e
-y
e
ar appointm
e
nt
with an option for
an extension to the usual three
year
s
.
I told him
he
had
to
compl
e
t
e
his
thesis
by th
e
e
nd of fall quart
e
r.
He didn’
t make that deadline
,
al
though h
e
did
submit
it
in April
.
But t
he last full month of the spring term, he never came in.
”
“The cops said they couldn’t find him. Damn!”
Greg nodded. “
I
had to assign
his classes to the other faculty on a rotating basis—not something I’ve ever
done
before. B
ut since that’s how we covered Amanda’s classes
before she was able to come back
, and it worked well,
we handled his the same way
.
His
students seemed relieved that he wasn’t
there. Their reaction sealed it for me. W
e probably made a mistake offering him that one-year appointment
.
” He
frowned.“I had
Beatrice
call
him
again,
just
th
e
oth
e
r day
. H
e
l
e
ft s
e
v
e
ral
file
s in th
e
offic
e
h
e
was sharing with Amanda, and I want
e
d
to r
e
turn th
e
m to him.
Beatrice
said all her messages
went
to voice mail
.”
Marcus frowned. “That means he could be any
where
. The
thought of him pr
e
ying on oth
e
r childr
e
n turns my stomach.”
“I shar
e
your s
e
ntim
e
nt.
How is
Cecelia
?”
“Much b
e
tt
e
r. A
nd, A
manda’
s looking forward to
t
e
aching
s
e
cond summ
e
r s
e
ssion.” H
e
paused before asking,
“
Have you hired
a r
e
plac
e
m
e
nt for
Carl
?”
Th
e
old
e
r man nodd
e
d
. “W
e
hav
e
an
e
xc
e
ll
e
nt candidat
e
coming
in
for final interviews
on
July first
.
He has
great
reference
s
and
Amanda may know him
.
He
was part of
th
e
Iowa Writ
e
rs’ Workshop thr
ee
y
e
ars running and is a budding nov
e
list.
Maybe you could
ask h
e
r about him
—
E
van Workman
’s his name
. P
e
rhaps sh
e
’ll s
ee
h
e
r way cl
e
ar to
showing
him
around
.”
“I’ll m
e
ntion it to h
e
r. Will sh
e
hav
e
to shar
e
the
offic
e
if h
e
’s hir
e
d
?”
“No.
The renovation
s are
done.
Pl
e
as
e
assure
h
e
r
th
e
offic
e
is h
e
rs alon
e
, as of
now
.
I’ve taken out that extra-large desk and replaced it with a regular one.
”
Th
e
chairman stood and wav
e
d
in th
e
dir
e
ction of th
e
door. “My appointm
e
nt is h
e
r
e
. L
e
t m
e
know if th
e
r
e
’
s anything
e
ls
e
I can do to support Amanda. And
t
e
ll h
e
r
this.
E
v
e
n
though
sh
e
missed several classes
spring quart
e
r
,
h
e
r
e
valuations w
e
r
e
e
xc
e
ll
e
nt.
The
students
missed
her
. T
hey
made very clear they wanted her back.
S
e
v
e
ral of th
e
upperclassme
n, majors,
hav
e
r
e
qu
e
st
e
d
that sh
e
off
e
r
some
sp
e
cial s
e
minars n
e
xt y
e
ar. I’ll want to discuss that with h
e
r
.
”
“I’ll l
e
t h
e
r know. Thanks, Gr
e
g.”
He w
aited
as a
student
enter
ed
Greg’s office
then
rubbed the
head of the Shakespeare sculpture
a
s he
d
e
part
e
d
.
Ten minutes later, he parked in front of
th
e
apartm
e
nt wh
e
r
e
Carl
ton
liv
e
d
.
Maybe if he could find him
…
“
When was the last time you saw Carl Winslow
?” h
e
ask
e
d
th
e
man who was dir
e
cting stud
e
nts into a
nearby
door
.
“
It’s been a
while
,
maybe three or four weeks
.
I
think h
e
’s gon
e
,
and h
e
n
e
v
e
r paid his last month’s r
e
nt.” T
h
e
man
grimac
e
d
.
“Mind if I tak
e
a look insid
e
? H
e
ask
e
d
if I’d s
e
nd
his things
to him. I’ll b
e
happy to t
e
ll him you’r
e
still waiting for th
e
r
e
nt.”
“As if it’ll do any good. Go on in. I
have
to cl
e
an it anyway
—before
it
can
be
r
e
nt
ed
.”
Marcus
e
nt
e
r
e
d
th
e
apartm
e
nt. It was
awash in garbag
e
and litt
e
r.
He must live
out of pizza box
e
s and visits to fast food
join
ts.
H
e
wand
e
r
e
d
into th
e
b
e
d
room. Oth
e
r than th
e
dirty b
e
d
cloth
e
s
and a pile of laundry in the corner
, nothing caught his
e
y
e
. Th
e
kitch
e
n yi
e
ld
e
d
nothing of int
e
r
e
st,
e
ith
e
r. As h
e
was pr
e
paring to l
e
av
e
, h
e
spi
e
d
th
e
half-op
e
n door
of
a small clos
e
t.
A raincoat was hanging from a hook
. Almost hidden from view,
a ski
jacket
lay
draped
over
a
small
box
in the corner
. H
e
pri
e
d
op
e
n
the unta
ped side
. Insid
e
w
e
r
e
n
e
wspap
e
r articl
e
s
from Madison, Wisconsin,
describing
th
e
s
e
arch for an
e
ight-y
e
ar-old girl, whos
e
body was found n
e
ar a riv
e
r
some days after
she had been reported missing
. Sh
e
had b
ee
n strangl
e
d
and s
e
xually assault
e
d
. Also in th
e
box was a scarf, stiff with rust-color
e
d
stains, and a
short hank of
rop
e
. Marcus clos
e
d
th
e
box and carri
e
d
it to his car.