“Someone who saw you around campus together,” Tessman said.
Burke noted that he hadn’t denied it. “And you were the one who picked her up from her dorm the evening she left school. The question is, where did you take her?”
Oliveira shook his head and held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “No, man, you’ve got that wrong.”
“You were seeing her outside of class. You were her TA, isn’t that frowned on by the university?” Burke asked.
“It’s not what you think,” he said.
“What do we think?” Tessman asked.
“Why do her parents want to talk to her now?” Oliveira asked, ignoring Tessman’s question.
Burke shrugged. “Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago. Christmas is coming up. It makes sense that they want to talk to their daughter. Unless there’s something we don’t know about that relationship. Making sure Zoe is safe is our primary goal, even if that means keeping her safe from her parents.”
“They spent the last month before she quit school arguing,” Oliveira said.
“But she didn’t actually quit, though, did she, as in withdraw? She just moved out of the dorm and stopped going to class,” Tessman said.
“I think she wanted to leave her options open,” Oliveira said.
“She talked with you about her decision,” Tessman stated. He didn’t ask it as a question.
“I don’t know what you want from me. I have no way to reach her.”
Burke doubted that. “Besides you, who else was Zoe close to?”
“She had friends here at school.”
“If you two weren’t involved, who was she involved with?” Tessman asked.
“I don’t know,” Oliveira said.
“Why did she leave school?” Burke asked.
“What did her parents tell you?” Oliveira asked.
Burke was tired of this guy evading their questions, half answering, or answering with a question. “I’d like to hear what she told you. I get the feeling it may be more truthful than what she told her parents.”
“Zoe’s reasons were just that — Zoe’s reasons. It’s none of your goddamn business,” he said, turning aggressive. He opened the door. “We’re done here.” Without waiting for a reply, he walked out of the office.
Burke and Tessman followed. Tessman had his phone out, the pairing app open.
“Hey, hold up, one last thing,” Burke called. Both men jogged to catch up with him.
Tessman circled behind Oliveira as he turned to face Burke. Tessman could see the bulge of his phone in his back pocket.
“If you can get a message to Zoe, just let her know her parents want to talk. That’s it. Talk.” He pulled his card and handed it to Oliveira. “I’ve got one hundred dollars for you as a finder’s fee if you can make that happen. And her parents have money for her as well, a Christmas gift. They just want to be sure she’s okay, and if she’s not, have her call us. We can help her.”
Oliveira took the card. “No promises. I’ll see what I can do.” Then he turned his back and walked away.
Burke and Tessman let him go. They watched him descend the stairs. Moving to the railing by the stairs, they saw Oliveira exit the building.
“Did you get it?” Burke asked Tessman.
“Yeah. So far, Gabby hasn’t made or received any phone calls, nor has she sent or received any text messages. I have a feeling, though, that our lying TA will within the next five minutes.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t bet against you on that,” Burke said.
