Sweet Fortune

that name I gave you. It's not much, but it's all I think I'll find,” he said. “Frankly, most of the students here on campus weren't particularly interested in dedicating themselves to the cause of the DEL Foundation. The DEL people were basically viewed as loonies.”
    “Hardly surprising. Anything on Dr. Edwin Bright himself?”
    “Just that the ‘doctor’ in front of his name is a little suspect. Probably one of those mail-order degrees. No one seemed to know what field it was in.”
    “Hah. Definitely a con man. Thanks a million for the help, David.” As she hung up the phone, Jessie stared at the name she'd written on the pad: Nadine Willard. She actually had a place to start. A clue. She was beginning to feel like a real live investigator.
    Nadine Willard worked at an espresso café across the street from the front entrance of Butterfield College. She proved to be a thin, rather washed-out-looking young woman with pale, wary eyes, pale, lanky hair, and bad skin. But she was willing to talk if Jessie would wait until she took her break.
    Jessie killed the time by ordering a cup of dark-roasted coffee and after the first sip, immediately wished she'd abstained. Her nerves promptly went into overdrive. One cup of Hatch's brew was apparently enough to last a person all day. No wonder the man was able to work fourteen-hour days.
    Jessie sat fiddling with the unfinished coffee and idly studied the mix of campus types seated around her while she contemplated Mrs. Valentine's reaction to the news of the break-in. It had been, to be perfectly truthful, rather disappointing.
    “Oh, dear,” Mrs. V had said, looking alarmed. “I do hope that nice Alex Robin was not badly hurt.”
    “He's fine, Mrs. V. Back at work already,” Jessie had assured her. She had realized then that Mrs. Valentine had had no enlightening psychic revelations regarding the incident and decided not to mention the remote possibility that it could have been related to the DEL case. No point upsetting the woman. A good assistant shielded one's boss from the petty little day-to-day annoyances of the job.
    Jessie was getting bored enough to risk another sip of the dark-roasted coffee when she saw Nadine Willard finally coming toward her.
    “Okay, I guess I can talk to you now.” Nadine sat down across from Jessie. “You wanted to know about Susan Attwood?”
    “That's right. Her mother is very concerned about her going off to join DEL. Did you know Susan well?”
    “No, not really. I don't think anyone did. Susan was not what you'd call real friendly. One of those computer nerds, you know? Kept to herself. She and I had a class together during the winter quarter. When DEL first showed up on campus, I went to one of the evening lectures and Susan was there. We talked a little about the whole thing afterward.”
    “Were you interested in joining DEL?”
    Nadine shook her head. “Nah. Just curious for a while. You know. I mean, everyone knows the environment's in trouble and all, but what can you do? Susan was fascinated right from the start, though. She tried to talk me into going with her when she accepted the invitation.”
    “What invitation? To join the group?”
    “No. It was like a tour of the DEL facilities, you know. She went out to the island and was so impressed she decided to stay and go to work for the foundation.”
    “Island? What island?” Jessie was getting excited now. She told herself to calm down. She had to take things step by step and make notes. Investigators always took notes. Hastily she whipped out her pad of paper and a pen.
    “The DEL Foundation owns an island in the San Juans.”
    “A whole island?”
    “Sure. It's not that big a deal, you know. There are other privately owned islands out there, I guess. At any rate, you have to have a special invitation to go ashore and see the facilities.”
    “Where does one get an invitation to take the tour?” Jessie asked, tapping the pen restlessly against the table.
    “At a DEL lecture, I guess. But there hasn't been one around this campus for weeks now. Maybe they've been recruiting on one of the other campuses in the area.” Nadine shrugged her thin, wiry shoulders.
    “Damn. I don't suppose you have any brochures or handouts left over from the lecture you attended, do you? Something with a phone number or an address on it?”
    “I doubt it. I wasn't interested, so I didn't keep most of it.”
    “Damn,” Jessie said again. “Sorry.”
    Nadine paused.