“That’s a good start.”

“THIS WEEKEND, THIS weekend . . .” Terry was having a hard time concentrating even with the double shot of caffeine. “Uh, starting on Friday?”

“Yes, tell me what you did on Friday.”

“I was in school.”

“How about Friday night?”

“I didn’t murder her. I loved her.”

“I believe you. This is just routine. Friday night, Lance.”

“Uh, Friday night . . .” He hit his head. “I had a game on Friday night. We won.”

“Congratulations. What did you do after the game?”

“Partied. Morse McKinley . . . that’s where most of the parties take place.” He cleared his throat. “The way it works is that Morse McKinley and Littleton are like one group versus Clarion, Duxbury, and Kneed Loft. I mean our swipe cards can get us into Morse McKinley’s gym facilities, but not into Duxbury. Most of the time, Morse McKinley students use Littleton facilities because we’re a smaller college.”

“A consortium within a consortium,” McAdams said.

“Yeah . . . I guess. We can still take classes at any of the colleges, but we’re allowed to take more classes at Morse McKinley than at the other three colleges. We still have to take a certain amount of classes at Littleton unless our major is a 5-C major, meaning you can take classes in your major across the colleges. Angeline wasn’t a 5-C, but she took a lot of classes at Duxbury because it’s the most prestigious of the colleges. She thought she was all that.”

Decker said, “Let’s return to Friday night after the game.”

“I told you I went to a party. There were like a zillion people who saw me.”

“And what did you do after the party?”

“Went back to my dorm room and fell asleep.”

“What time was that?”

“Around . . . four.”

“Did you go back alone or did you go back with friends?”

“I went back alone. I was pretty wasted and needed to sleep.”

“Did you swipe your card to get into your dorm?”

“Yeah, sure, of course.”

“So there would be an electronic record of it.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Check it out.”

“I’ll do that. What time did you wake up the next morning?”

“Late . . . twelve, twelve-thirty. I made it down to lunch . . . that must have been around one. I went back to my dorm and showered. We had an acting seminar at three until six. Afterward, I worked out for a couple of hours . . . then I had dinner at the dining hall . . .”

Decker and McAdams waited.

Terry rubbed his eyes. “Can I check with my phone?”

“Sure.”