“Certainly.” I felt like a bobblehead standing next to a movie star. There wasn’t a person we passed who didn’t wave or at least acknowledge Basile. Many of them treated him with an almost reverent air. There was something intangible about him, some illuminating quality that I couldn’t quite put into words. He had an eloquent way of speaking and a low voice as smooth as velvet. I could have sworn a girl pulled out her phone when we passed and started recording us. I slapped my hands over my face in the chillest way possible.
Basile looked over at me and frowned. “You okay?”
“Absolutely,” I said, slowly removing my hands from my face. “Actually, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions about Ellendale.”
He blew out his cheeks, dark eyes glittering mischievously. “Oh, boy. You’re putting me in hot water here, asking me to rat on my boss. He’s got such a bug up his ass about the two of you and this investigation.”
I cast a glance at the students passing us. “That’s what I’d like to understand,” I said, lowering my voice. He gestured to a breezeway between two buildings, supported by rough wooden columns. We stopped in a spot that offered at least a little privacy, our backs pressed against stone. “Why is he so bothered by it?”
Basile’s own voice lowered. “He finds out I talked to you, and I’ll never hear the end of it.”
I turned toward him, the air between us packed so tightly with heat I could barely breathe. His scent wafted over me, a delicious, smoky combination of anise and lime. Even the frizzy pieces of my own hair seemed to drift toward him, drawn to whatever product he must have used to slick his hair back. “But you don’t think Ellendale had anything to do with this?”
“Of course not.”
Along the border of the breezeway were poppies and scorpionweed, the same purple wildflowers that grew in fields nearby. Absentmindedly I picked one of them, running my thumb over the petals. “Then is it Strauss? Is he trying to protect him? Does Ellendale know something?”
He looked around, ushering me out of our hiding place as other people passed under the breezeway. We crossed the breezeway toward the Arts building, full of the chatter of students and the sharp tap of footsteps on stone.
“Ellendale and Strauss are old friends. I know there are connections to Ellendale’s research funding with some of Strauss’s colleagues at Harvard, but I don’t know. I guess if he believed Strauss was guilty, or if Strauss said something, that would be a reason to not want your investigation to go further …” He shook his head. “But he hasn’t said anything to me that would suggest that. This is all conjecture, and this conversation stays strictly between us, please.”
While we walked, he shortened his stride so we’d keep the same pace, and I liked the way he squared his shoulders to face me when he answered my questions, his steady brown eyes meeting mine. He had a pleasant way about him, a gentle smoothness to his mannerisms. When he spoke, his voice was liquid and melodic. I found myself enjoying listening to it.
“What about your fraternity? Was Dani a member? Some guys on the hall said she used to hang around.” One of the seniors had thought he’d seen Dani around them once. It was a lead we had to follow up on, but I wasn’t exactly optimistic. The guy had complained he didn’t like the frat’s “shit taste in beer.”
He thought for a moment. “Dani came to exactly one meeting, and then I think we scared her off. Too many guys slobbering over a girl who liked math. It sucks. I always wonder if she’d joined the fraternity, maybe we could have … I don’t know, protected her or something. Maybe that’s stupid.”
“I don’t think that’s stupid at all. But how could she join as a female student?”
“We’re a gender-inclusive group. We try to have a very welcoming environment.”
“I see, and how was Dani at the meeting?”
“She was quiet. I think she was overwhelmed; the guys can be a little spirited once they get going, but she seemed normal. If you’re wondering if there was any indication that she might go fullExorciston us, then no. There wasn’t.” He looked away. “Sorry, the whole thing just makes me sad, you know?”
“Me too.” I looked down. I hated this part, that I had to ask people over and over again to rehash minute details about something so horrible. “And she didn’t come to any meetings after that one?”
“She put her name down for the list-serve, but no. I didn’t see her again until they were taking her to Maritza’s.”
“Okay.”
We’d reached the Phi Kat house at the far side of campus, an old Victorian structure that must’ve been built some years after the school’s main house.* The staircase creaked, and the roof leaked murky water onto the porch. In the corner, a forgotten swing hung by one end while the other half rested on peeling floorboards.
“You know,” Basile said, “I think our treasurer has the notes for that meeting still, if you want them.”
“That would be great.”
“Come on in,” he said, beckoning me up the stairs. “You can wait in my office.”
The inside of the Phi Kat house was less dreary. Walls were filled with old-school DnD posters and video-game apparel. Headsets and game controllers were set around a giant TV that faced a beat-up leather couch. Empty beer bottles cluttered up the coffee table. Very bachelor pad.
“Hey, what’s up?” a tall, brown-haired boy said as he headed out the door.
“That’s Paul,” Basile explained. “He’s Phi Kat’s vice president. You might see him flit in and out of the council meetings. He’s doing a work study with Dr. R.”
“Excuse the mess,” he said, directing me away from what looked like soccer equipment, waving to a couple of guys in the kitchen. “It’s not exactly awesome living with undergrads, but don’t tell them I said that.” He chuckled. “But free room and board as president of the fraternity while I try to finish my dissertation? Not a bad trade.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear, glad I’d washed it today, though I don’t think the guys in the house minded one way or another. Their eyes ran appreciatively down my frame. I swallowed and tried not to trip.
