Smoke in Mirrors

about the gossip. Bad for the college’s image and so forth. Eubanks was even more conservative all those years ago than it is now.”
    Thomas exchanged glances with Leonora, Deke and Cassie. He turned back to Margaret.
    “It’s been thirty years,” he said. “Can you tell us the gossip?”
    Margaret chuckled. “I’m retired, remember? I can do anything I please these days. Besides, the dean who issued the warning died ten years ago. I never did care much for him.”
    Cassie smiled. “Don’t keep us in suspense, Margaret.”

    “At the time,” Margaret said, lowering her voice to a confidential level, “several people in the department and in the administration were convinced that Sebastian Eubanks was murdered by his lover, not a burglar.”
    They all stared at her.
    “There was no mention of a lover in the newspaper accounts,” Deke said.
    “Probably because the lover was a man,” Margaret said. “A very charming, rather good-looking instructor named Andrew Grayson in the computer science department. Grayson was forced to resign, naturally. The administration applied a great deal of pressure. I have always suspected that the trustees took steps to make certain that he never got back on the tenure-track at any other college.”
    Leonora leaned forward and folded her arms on her knees. “Why did the administration work so hard to keep that theory quiet?”
    “The silly fools were terrified of a wealthy alumnus who was, at the time, a major donor. He was preparing to endow a chair in the political sciences department and build a new wing for the library. He was rabidly antigay.”
    “I get it,” Leonora said. “The administration was afraid that if this donor discovered that Sebastian Eubanks had been involved in an affair with another man, he would pull his funding and take it elsewhere.”
    “In a nutshell, yes.” Margaret hesitated. “I heard that the police chief did question Andrew. Supposedly he had an alibi for the time of the murder. But most of those in the know remained convinced that he had killed Eubanks in what amounted to a lovers’ quarrel.”
    “What happened to Andrew Grayson?” Deke asked.
    “I have no idea. He packed up and left very quietly and was never seen in Wing Cove again.” Margaret looked pensive. “I’ve thought about him from time to time overthe years. He was so very smart. His departure was a great loss to the college.”
    “Do you believe that he murdered Eubanks?” Thomas asked.
    “Absolutely not,” Margaret replied. “I didn’t believe it then and I don’t believe it now.”
    “Why not?” Cassie asked.
    “Because I knew for a fact that Andrew Grayson had ended his relationship with Eubanks almost a month before the murder. I also know that it was Andrew’s decision, and that he made it because Sebastian Eubanks’s behavior had grown so extremely bizarre.”
    Deke took out a pad of paper he had brought with him and started to make some notes.

    They left half an hour later. On her way to the door Leonora paused at the dainty little desk where the computer sat.
    “I see you’re online,” she said to Margaret.
    “Yes, indeed.” Margaret’s eyes brightened. “Can’t imagine life without my email account.”
    “Do you, by any chance, subscribe to Gloria’s Gazette ?” Leonora asked.
    “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. How did you know about the Gazette ?”
    “My grandmother is the publisher and editor,” she said proudly.
    “You don’t say. Please tell her for me that I look forward to every edition. My favorite column is ‘Ask Henrietta.’ ”
    “I’ll tell her,” Leonora said.

    Thomas got behind the wheel. Leonora sat beside him. Deke and Cassie slid into the back. Wrench rested hishead on the rear seat. All four doors closed. Belts were buckled.
    “Okay.” Thomas started the engine. “I admit it, I’m impressed. If all academic department secretaries are like Margaret Lewis, they are a force to be reckoned with.”
    “Every college and university in the nation would fall apart without them,” Leonora said.
    “Now what?” Cassie asked.
    “That’s easy.” Thomas put the SUV in gear and drove out of the parking lot. “Now we see if we can track down Andrew Grayson.”
    “No problem.” Deke reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a wireless palm-sized computer. “If he’s alive, I’ll find him. Heck, I’ll find him even if he’s dead.”
    Thomas drove in silence. Thinking. Everyone else