Page 51

CHAPTER FIFTY

Keller sits on the sofa in the living room that has all the accoutrements of new parenthood: a blanket spread out on the floor, a portable crib in the corner, one of those automatic swings.

She holds one of the twins as the professor’s wife, Jill, holds the other. After the professor dropped the grenade that he knew who made the Rizz posts, there was no way Keller was leaving without having a deeper conversation with him, and not on the front porch.

“You’re good with her,” Jill says.

“Lots of practice,” Keller replies.

When both babies conk out, Keller follows Jill to the nursery. The room has hundreds of butterflies painted on the walls. Not stickers, but intricate hand-painted butterflies.

Keller and Jill each embark on the perilous endeavor of lowering the babies to the mattress without waking them.

Success.

In the hallway, Keller says, “I love the butterflies.”

“Jonathan hired someone to paint the nursery. He calls me his little butterfly.”

She’s sweet, this woman.

“I’ll try not to keep him too long,” Keller says, a not-so-subtle hint that she wants to question her husband alone.

Jill gives another faint smile. Before Keller heads back to the living room, Jill says, “He’s a good man. The false accusations, they really hurt him…” She lets the rest die.

In the living room, Keller finds Professor Turlington on the sofa, leaning forward anxiously.

“Thank you,” he says.

Keller isn’t sure what he means. Helping with the kids, perhaps. But maybe it’s more: not treating him as guilty before proven innocent in front of his young wife, who obviously doesn’t need more stress in her life.

“Why do you think Natasha Belov made the posts?” Keller asks. The professor was sure that the young woman, who died of an accidental drowning less than a week ago, was behind the Rizz accusations.

Professor Turlington releases a breath. “She skipped nearly all the classes in my course last year. I’m not a hard-ass, I know they’re kids, but they’re here to learn. So I have a policy: Four unexcused absences and you fail. On her third absence, I called Natasha to my office, warned her. And she said she was going through something personal. I said I could help her get some campus resources, but I have to stick to the policy.”

“And I take it she didn’t like that?”

“To the contrary, she said she understood. That she’d make sure not to miss another class. That she’d reach out to CAPS, the school’s counseling office. I came home and I told Jill that I was Super Professor.” He shakes his head.

“And then she missed the fourth class,” Keller says, seeing where this is headed.

He nods. “I reached out to her, said that I was disappointed, but—contrary to my own policy—would give her one last chance. But she then missed another class. I had to draw the line.”

“And then what happened?”

“An anonymous report against me.” He looks down at his lap. “It said I pressured a student for sex, stalked and harassed her.”

“What happened?”

“The university conducted an investigation.”

Keller waits.

“They were somehow able to trace the report to Natasha, they didn’t tell me how. There were rumors spreading—it’s a small campus.”

“What happened?”

“Natasha denied it all. And I was exonerated.”

“But you still thought she was behind the anonymous report?”

“The inquiry concluded that she likely made the report, angry at me, but then denied it for fear of getting in trouble for making a false accusation. I started this year thinking it was behind me. But then… Rizz.” He takes in a breath. “I get added to this ‘creep list’ anonymously. The post was pulled down quickly, but not before the rumors started.”

“Did you try to talk to Natasha Belov about any of this?”

“Are you kidding? No way was I going near her. It could’ve looked like I was trying to intimidate her, or worse.”

Keller nods. “Any idea why she’d do this to you?”

“I have no idea. I was nothing but supportive. And the worst part: When she disappeared last week, until they realized it was an accidental drowning, there were more rumors that I had something to do with it. Can you imagine?”

Keller cannot, particularly if he’s telling the truth.

“I don’t want to speak ill of the dead. But she was a disturbed young woman.”

Keller doesn’t respond. She’s feeling defeated, suspecting this is another dead end.

At the same time, if Natasha Belov posted the Creep Lists, she is somehow connected to The Five. Keller needs to find the link.