The Lesson of Her Death

would fire me in a minute if he found out I’d looked through his personal things.”
    “If he was sleeping with Jennie we’d dismiss him. He’d be no threat to you.”
    “But if he
wasn’t
sleeping with her …”
You stupid bitch
. “That,” he added delicately, “is the only time when it would be a risk.”
    “Of course.” The dean debated and Okun watched her thoughts stroll to where his were impatiently waiting. She said, “There would be a simple way of protecting you. You’ve applied for a teaching position here, haven’t you?”
    “Subject to the acceptance of my dissertation, of course.”
    “I could talk to the Appointments Committee. I couldn’t guarantee much of a salary.”
    “I’m a scholar,” Okun said. “Money is irrelevant.”
    Through the window came a buzz of an old lawn mower. A breeze was blowing but he could detect no scent of cut grass. Okun looked at the worker moving like a drone. He felt abject pity for the man’s unimaginative life, a mass of dull years utterly without the cocaine of intellect.
    The dean asked coyly, “Have we just agreed to something?”
    A quote of Nietzsche’s came to mind. Okun rewrote it slightly and was pleased with the result.
Man is the only animal that makes promises and fulfills threats
.

A fter a sleepless night Corde drove Jamie to the Sheriff’s Department. Red-eyed and ragged with anger and exhaustion, Corde had sat silently in the car. Jamie, however, was talkative, almost flighty, as if the two of them were going fishing. In fact he seemed
happier
than if they were going fishing. It made Corde’s anger boil harder.
    He remembered the way his son’s eyes used to brighten when Corde took him for an unauthorized ride in the squad car, a delight Jamie had had no desire to experience in the last few years. Corde glanced at him then back to the road. Somewhere deep in his son, he eagerly believed, was Corde’s own fundamental manner, which is why he felt so often that words were unnecessary between them. And now it hurt, oh it hurt, to see the boy wall this nature up as well as he did, secure as a hogtied prisoner, with this chatter. Corde didn’t say asingle word all the five-mile drive to the Sheriff’s Department.
    T.T. Ebbans said, “Hello, Bill. Hi, Jamie.”
    Miller waved uneasily to both of them. Corde looked at the astrological chart on the wall prominently taped above Slocum’s desk then nodded to both men. Through the doorway of Ribbon’s office Corde saw Ribbon and Charlie Mahoney the Family Representative talking. The sheriff glanced up, saw Jamie then walked over to the others. Mahoney hung in the doorway.
    There was a long moment’s silence then Corde said, “James tells me he was alone that evening.”
    Ebbans was nodding. He had on his face a smile that meant nothing. “Well,” he began and fell silent. No one spoke. Ribbon stared intensely at the boy. Corde studied the floor.
    “Jamie,” Ebbans finally continued. “We just want to ask you a few questions. You don’t mind, do you?”
    “No sir.”
    “Why don’t we go into the back office?”
    The boy looked at his father and started after Ebbans. Corde followed. Ribbon said, “Bill. Just a minute.” He stopped. Ebbans and Jamie disappeared through the door. Neither looked back.
    “Best wait here, Bill.”
    “I’d like to be with my boy.”
    “He didn’t say
anything?”
Ribbon asked in a low voice.
    “He says he was alone, didn’t see the girl or anybody.”
    “Do you think he’s lying?”
    Corde looked into Ribbon’s eyes. “No. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
    Ribbon touched his arm. “We talked about it, Bill. We think it’s better if you’re not there.”
    “He’s a minor. I’ve got a right to be present during …”
    Corde’s voice faded and Ribbon verbalized Corde’s sudden thought. “He’s not a suspect, Bill. We’re just treating him like a witness.”
    “I—”
    Ribbon shook his head. “It’s better for the investigation and better for you not to be in there. We want to avoid any, you know, appearances of impropriety.”
    Corde turned toward the door. Thinking how easy it would be to lift Ribbon’s hand off his arm and walk out of the office and into the room where Jamie was. What he did was to take off his hat and drop it on a nearby desk.
    Steve Ribbon stepped away, stood for a minute looking out the window then said, “We’ve got to go fishing one of these days.”
    Corde said softly, “You bet,