“He is. He’s fine.”

“Maybe we need to talk further, Madeline,” Hoffman said. “In private. I have a problem when I drink, as I did the other night. . . . I talk a lot, and then I regret it. Sometimes, like now, I regret what I say quite a lot. And some of those things I said, those imaginative details about the murder weapon and the crime scene and the body I provided, they might prove hurtful.”

“Hurtful? You mean, Dr. Nye will be hurt because you helped me more than he did?”

“Can we forget about Connor for a second?”

His voice rose in volume and became sharp. Madeline saw that something else was on his mind, something more urgent.

“Okay,” she said.

“I know you’re friends with Sophia, right?”

“Yes. I am. Was.”

“And what happened to her is terrible. A tragedy. But it’s also led to a lot of misunderstanding. If those details I told you get out, then there will be more misunderstanding. Even by people you know and are connected to.”

“I did use those things you told me because they were so good. They made the book better just like you said. They were vivid and real. You were right when you said the perfect details make the book more powerful.”

“Of course I was right about that,” he said. “But those details are going to cast certain people in a bad light.”

“Oh . . .”

Zach appeared in Madeline’s mind. Again. The hands that touched her at Hoffman’s house . . . were they the same hands that . . . ?

“A thesis is a public document. The defense is a public event. Everyone will know about it. And people will get hurt. And that’s not good.”

“I don’t want anyone else to get hurt,” she said.

“Anyone else? See, that’s it. Someone will get hurt by this thesis. Anyone who reads it will think the worst.”

Madeline’s mouth felt dry. Her head started to hurt. It was the beer. And she hadn’t eaten.

And her heart raced more and more as the conversation went on.

“We’re talking about Zach? That people will think the worst of Zach if these details get out? I know you and he are friends. And he’s a suspect. Is that why you’re worried about this? About him?”

It became Hoffman’s turn to look confused. “Zach?”

Madeline said it before she could stop herself. “Yes, Zach. Is he the one who told you those details? I mean, everyone thinks he did it.”

“Everyone does think he’s guilty, don’t they?”

“Pretty much,” Madeline said. “But I can get the thesis back if—”