He listened as she filled him in on Kayla’s revelation.

“A guidance counselor providing marijuana to students and somehow managing to stay under the radar?” He mulled that over. Shook his head. “Seems like a stretch.”

“I agree. I stopped by after school and pulled out every acting trick I know to create the perfect opportunity for him to offer me some, but no go. He followed the counselor’s handbook to the letter.”

“You’ve only been on campus two weeks. He may not know you well enough yet to be willing to take a risk.”

“I came to the same conclusion. But I’ve been digging into his background. The divorce appears to have been acrimonious. Evans contested it, so they negotiated a six-month separation agreement. He may have hoped they could patch up their marriage. Didn’t happen. After the agreement expired, the divorce was granted on the grounds of an irretrievable breakdown in the relationship. His wife stayed in Syracuse, and he took the job here.”

“No trouble at his previous job?”

“None that I can find—but I thought the drug connection would interest you.”

Zeke leaned back. “He’s too new in St. Louis to be the lead man in this operation, and Syracuse isn’t a hotbed of cartel activity. There is a gang issue and drug trafficking there—primarily cocaine and heroin. A twelve-month investigation nailed more than fifty of the players two or three years ago. Marijuana dealing is much lower level, though.”

“He could be into more than that. The Stephanie connection may be just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Too bad he didn’t offer you weed. That would give us the grounds for a warrant to dig deeper into his personal data—and his computer.”

“I plan to try again on Tuesday.”

“You think Kayla could be wrong?”

“No. She’s smart and observant. I trust her judgment.”

“In that case, it’s worth another attempt. If you can fake a meltdown, he may take pity on you and waive any self-imposed timeline he has for offering new students drugs.”

“That’s my plan. I’m also going to touch base with the Syracuse PD, see if one of the detectives will have a chat with the ex-wife. She may know about any previous drug dealings. In view of their less-than-amicable parting, I’m not too worried she’ll tip him off to that conversation.”

“Are you thinking he may have been responsible for Stephanie’s disappearance?”

“It’s possible, if she threatened to expose him—but I think the odds of that are low. All he would have had to do is deny her charge. Unless she could produce proof of her claim, she wouldn’t get very far—and I doubt he’d hand over joints in front of witnesses. He’s too smart to be that sloppy.”