undeveloped land – Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. I plan to present our findings at the Regional Environmental Impact Conference next month and publish it as a paper in the EPC journal.”
He continued, “The study spans the years 2008-2012. Hilary had already collected the data and had begun summarizing it. I need someone to complete the statistical analysis of the data and summarize the trends, including charts and graphs. If you could take care of this by the middle of next week, I’ll take it from there.”
The way he put it, it sounded like an ominous task. I nodded, at the same time trying to squelch that little voice inside that had me wondering if I was in over my head. Dr. Stickler proceeded to explain the task in greater detail, while I noted the types of tables and graphs he wanted me to generate based on the data.
“I have arranged for IT to reset Hilary’s password so that you can access her files on the server. You should receive a message with the details sometime today. There are printouts and notes in the folder on Hilary’s desk. Let me know if you have any questions.”
“Of course, Dr. Stickler.”
I returned to my desk just as Michelle messaged me to hurry up. I checked the time and realized I had been in Dr. Stickler’s office for more than an hour.
Michelle and Amber were waiting for me when I reached the reception area. Michelle smiled. “Finally. I was afraid you were still mad at me.”
“I was in a meeting with Dr. Stickler. I’ll fill you in over lunch.”
“Can we please hurry up? I’m starving over here,” interjected Amber. Amber is always hungry.
Our lunch break is 45 minutes long. Not bad, but given the time it takes to go out and come back, we stick to places with fast service. Amber was on a health kick, so we went to a sandwich place where she could get a giant salad. Me, I’d be happy to eat pizza every day.
When we were seated, Michelle apologized again for divulging my secrets. Amber, who had been with her at happy hour, came to her defense.
“Adina, you should have seen Michelle on Friday. Holly, Ryan and Zach were with us. They started hypothesizing about Hilary’s death. Well, you know, Michelle was all tipsy… she shocked us all when she blurted out that you were the one who found the body.”
“It’s OK. I get the picture. Did the guys at least have some interesting theories on what might have happened?”
Amber volunteered, “Holly said she saw one of the papers mentioned that it might have been one of those happy hour hook-ups gone wrong. You know, when couples sometime go at it in a bathroom stall.”
I laughed, “Ridiculous. She didn’t even talk to anyone else at McSweeney’s that night. Besides, even if I hadn’t been with her, Hilary was totally in love with Duncan.”
Michelle piped up, “Holly has always been jealous of Hilary, especially since she started dating Duncan. I think she has a crush on him.”
Holly, with her whiny voice and excess weight, was one of the few women under 30 at the DIPPeR that Duncan hadn’t dated yet. Based on his past conquests, I doubt he would even flirt with her.
“Now that Hilary’s out of the way, it’ll be interesting to see who Duncan dates next,” Amber commented.
Michelle and I exchanged knowing glances. When Amber had started working at the DIPPeR, Duncan was already seeing Hilary. Unlike Holly, Amber’s porcelain doll features and slim build might appeal to Duncan. I bit my lip, while Michelle responded, “Safe bet it won’t be Holly.”
I asked, “So did anybody have any other theories?”
Amber added, “Ryan suggested maybe it had something to do with drugs, you know, a deal gone bad. Only catch being that none of us knew of Hilary having any drug problems.”
“Of course not. Hilary wasn’t into drugs,” I responded automatically. At least not that I knew of. Duncan used a recreational drug now and then, had she started using? I kept my thoughts to
He continued, “The study spans the years 2008-2012. Hilary had already collected the data and had begun summarizing it. I need someone to complete the statistical analysis of the data and summarize the trends, including charts and graphs. If you could take care of this by the middle of next week, I’ll take it from there.”
The way he put it, it sounded like an ominous task. I nodded, at the same time trying to squelch that little voice inside that had me wondering if I was in over my head. Dr. Stickler proceeded to explain the task in greater detail, while I noted the types of tables and graphs he wanted me to generate based on the data.
“I have arranged for IT to reset Hilary’s password so that you can access her files on the server. You should receive a message with the details sometime today. There are printouts and notes in the folder on Hilary’s desk. Let me know if you have any questions.”
“Of course, Dr. Stickler.”
I returned to my desk just as Michelle messaged me to hurry up. I checked the time and realized I had been in Dr. Stickler’s office for more than an hour.
Michelle and Amber were waiting for me when I reached the reception area. Michelle smiled. “Finally. I was afraid you were still mad at me.”
“I was in a meeting with Dr. Stickler. I’ll fill you in over lunch.”
“Can we please hurry up? I’m starving over here,” interjected Amber. Amber is always hungry.
Our lunch break is 45 minutes long. Not bad, but given the time it takes to go out and come back, we stick to places with fast service. Amber was on a health kick, so we went to a sandwich place where she could get a giant salad. Me, I’d be happy to eat pizza every day.
When we were seated, Michelle apologized again for divulging my secrets. Amber, who had been with her at happy hour, came to her defense.
“Adina, you should have seen Michelle on Friday. Holly, Ryan and Zach were with us. They started hypothesizing about Hilary’s death. Well, you know, Michelle was all tipsy… she shocked us all when she blurted out that you were the one who found the body.”
“It’s OK. I get the picture. Did the guys at least have some interesting theories on what might have happened?”
Amber volunteered, “Holly said she saw one of the papers mentioned that it might have been one of those happy hour hook-ups gone wrong. You know, when couples sometime go at it in a bathroom stall.”
I laughed, “Ridiculous. She didn’t even talk to anyone else at McSweeney’s that night. Besides, even if I hadn’t been with her, Hilary was totally in love with Duncan.”
Michelle piped up, “Holly has always been jealous of Hilary, especially since she started dating Duncan. I think she has a crush on him.”
Holly, with her whiny voice and excess weight, was one of the few women under 30 at the DIPPeR that Duncan hadn’t dated yet. Based on his past conquests, I doubt he would even flirt with her.
“Now that Hilary’s out of the way, it’ll be interesting to see who Duncan dates next,” Amber commented.
Michelle and I exchanged knowing glances. When Amber had started working at the DIPPeR, Duncan was already seeing Hilary. Unlike Holly, Amber’s porcelain doll features and slim build might appeal to Duncan. I bit my lip, while Michelle responded, “Safe bet it won’t be Holly.”
I asked, “So did anybody have any other theories?”
Amber added, “Ryan suggested maybe it had something to do with drugs, you know, a deal gone bad. Only catch being that none of us knew of Hilary having any drug problems.”
“Of course not. Hilary wasn’t into drugs,” I responded automatically. At least not that I knew of. Duncan used a recreational drug now and then, had she started using? I kept my thoughts to
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