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they might be lovers.”
    â€œForget it. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard. Who told you that?’ ”
    I waved my hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter.” I changed the subject. “Who were Melissa’s friends?”
    Chris answered that question immediately. “After Jill died, Beth was about it. Except that once in a while she’d hang out with Holland and Brandy. Her suitemates,” he explained.
    I wrote down their names.
    â€œAnd then, of course, there’s Tommy.”
    â€œYou sound as if you know him.”
    â€œI do.”
    â€œWhat kind of person is he?”
    Chris shrugged. “A regular guy.”
    â€œMeaning?”
    â€œYou know.” He hesitated while searching for the right word. “Normal.”
    Well, you couldn’t get more specific than that. “As opposed to Bryan?”
    â€œI didn’t say that,” Chris objected.
    â€œThat’s true. I did.” I walked over to the heat register and absentmindedly picked up a teddy bear. It had the dilapidated look of a much-loved stuffed animal. “Whose are these?” I asked.
    Chris smiled and folded his arms over his chest. “Beth’s. She collects them.” He pointed to the three in the corner. “I gave her those.”
    â€œNice.” I put down the bear I was holding. “Maybe you can tell me something?” Chris cocked his head, waiting for my question. “I hear that Tommy and Melissa fought all the time, that she was going to leave him, and that he wasn’t real happy about that.”
    Chris laughed derisively. “I don’t know where you’re getting your information from, but it’s not true.” It was the first time I’d heard real emotion in his voice. He was about to add something else, when there was a knock on the door. A moment later a guy stuck his head in.
    â€œCan I speak to you?” he asked Chris.
    Chris excused himself and stepped out into the hall.
    I went back to looking out the window, imagining myself watching Melissa leave the dorm four months ago, willing myself to see what had happened to her, but the only thing I saw was a man dressed in a bright red and blue jogging suit, yellow lab in tow, laboring up the path that twisted through Tyler. Two spots of color in a black and white photo. Which wasn’t much help. So much for visualization. When the jogger rounded the bend, I turned and headed toward the sugar glider’s cage, thinking I’d get another glimpse of him. Maybe we should carry them in the store after all. On the way, I walked past a desk piled high with books. A piece of paper lay on top. I glanced at it.
    â€œChris, ” I read. “Went to library. Usual spot. Meet me there when you’re hungry. Love, Beth. ”
    â€œI wouldn’t have let you in if I’d have known you’d go snooping around Beth’s things.”
    I jerked my head up. Chris was standing in the doorway, watching me. His arms were crossed over his chest. His eyes were narrowed.
    â€œToo bad.” I grabbed his jacket off the chair and threw it at him. “Now, let’s go.”

Chapter 8
    I t took me twenty minutes to find a parking space near the library—even the illegal spaces were taken—and in the end I capitulated and did the unspeakable, parked in a lot. The building made me wish for the one it had replaced. Even if the old one hadn’t been efficient, the wood, the stained glass, the slight musty smell of old paper, had made me feel as if I were home. Walking inside here made me feel as if I were entering the corporate world, but then, that was what universities were these days—big business.
    We got in the elevator and Chris pressed the button for the third floor. When we got off, he led me through the maze of cubicles to where Beth Wright was sitting.
    â€œThat’s her,” he said as we approached, pointing to the left and indicating the