I do what I came to his house to do. I come clean. “Preston, I didn’t write my book. Madeline O’Brien did. It was her thesis, and when she disappeared, and I needed to get tenure, I passed it off as my own. And published it. That’s part of the reason she came back to town. She wanted the money from the book so she could start a new life. I could have admitted it then or at any point along the way, but I didn’t. And maybe if I had, we all could have avoided the chaos that’s ensued. That’s on me. But I’m admitting it now. That’s the manuscript in Madeline’s own handwriting. And on the top is my resignation letter. I spell this all out in the letter for the dean and the provost to see. The plagiarism and everything. And I resign. I’m going to call my publisher in the morning and tell them. They’ll pull the book. And I’ll have to figure out a way to pay back the money, most of which I’ve spent.” I rub my forehead. “It’s going to be a nightmare. But I deserve it. And I wanted to let you know since you’re the head of the department. And you’ve been a good friend to me.”

Some of the color runs out of Preston’s face. He stares at me, his eyes intense, glistening. Long moments pass while the music plays in the other room.

“This is pretty shocking, Connor. On top of everything else today, this is pretty damn shocking.”

“Lance didn’t say anything to you about this?” I ask.

“He made plenty of snarky and degrading comments about your book. But that’s just Lance. I didn’t listen to a lot of what he said.”

“And the police didn’t?”

Preston rubs his cheek. “Detective Bowman said something about your book and who wrote it. . . . She seemed more focused on the details in there coming from Lance. And how that made Lance guilty of the two murders. I guess I didn’t follow all of it. I was pretty upset by everything that was happening. That’s why Kelly took the kids out. She wanted me to gather myself a little. I was listening to some jazz.”

“Well, it’s all in there. You can take it to the tenure committee and whoever else it needs to go to tomorrow. I can finish the term if you want, but I’m already suspended, so I might as well just stay away. I can start to figure out my next move. If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.”