Into the Grey by Clea Simon

Author:Clea Simon
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780107929
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2016-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

Dulcie was halfway across the Yard when it hit her. Maybe she couldn’t talk to Tom, but clearly Alyson had. In fact, it sounded like Alyson had spoken at length with the shy junior about the morning Fenderby had been killed. And while Dulcie didn’t think that anyone ought to be passing along second-hand information to the police – she’d have to check with Suze, but she was pretty sure that was not considered kosher – it sounded like Alyson had done just that. Which meant that whatever she knew wasn’t that private. Surely, she could share it with Dulcie.

Only, where had the pretty junior gone? Dulcie sped up, walking quickly back up the path she had ambled down only minutes before. Alyson, as an upper-classman, no longer lived in a Yard dorm, so she might have been on her way to one of the lecture halls. Or the library. Or maybe …

There she was! Dulcie caught a flash of honey-blonde hair striding rapidly, head down, and about to disappear behind a rhododendron. And if the woman beneath it wasn’t heading for the administration building opposite, that meant she was heading to the Square. Dulcie broke into a run, eager to catch her student before she disappeared in the tumult of the city.

‘Aly—’ Dulcie called out, before swallowing the last syllable of the name. Because as she raced around the big green bush, she saw why Alyson was hurrying. She was hailing Tom Walls.

Dulcie stopped short. Here, by the rhododendron, she was shielded from their sight. Nobody could accuse her of being a stalker if she was simply standing around the Yard, waiting for an opportunity to speak with one of her own students. To foster the illusion, she bent over the shrub’s dark green leaves. Yes, there were buds. In a few weeks, there would even be flowers. In a few weeks, maybe she’d be filing her last thesis chapter. Or looking for a job.

She snuck a peek. Alyson was leaning toward the tall young man in a manner that clearly made him uncomfortable. Of course, thought Dulcie. Tom Walls wasn’t at ease with any woman. Surely a beauty like Alyson would make him tense. As she watched, Alyson gesticulated, raising both arms, and when Tom stumbled back, Alyson stepped toward him, closing the gap. Her head bobbed as if she were talking at a furious pace. This wasn’t a discussion about reserve reading material or conflicting interpretations of a sonnet. From what Dulcie could see, the two were having a heated discussion of something personal. Very heated.

She couldn’t resist. She stepped closer.

‘Excuse me!’ Another cyclist whizzed by, forcing Dulcie into the planting. A sharp branch, one that hadn’t survived the winter with its leaves intact, scraped her leg.

‘Ow!’ She bent by instinct, though what she could do if her jeans were torn or she was bleeding wasn’t immediately apparent. Still, she hiked up her pants’ leg to examine the damage – a long scratch, much like something Esmé might give her, ran up the back of her calf.

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