“Okay,” I said. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” I wasn’t going to argue. If the college for some reason had a problem with this, I would deal with it later.

I had an inspiration. I found some of the cotton gloves I used to handle rare books and offered her a pair. She accepted them with a nod, and then we moved the boxes from my office down to the storeroom.

Diesel, very curious about where we were going with the boxes, followed us back and forth until we completed the move.

“Since we’re here,” I said, waving a hand to indicate the storeroom, “why don’t you have a quick look at some of the contracts? That would answer one question pretty quickly.”

“Meaning you want to know, so you want me to do it right now and tell you before these boxes are removed.” Kanesha didn’t smile, but I could have sworn she was the tiniest bit amused. That was a surprise.

“Well, yes,” I said.

“Go get the inventory and the box of disks, and I’ll stay here,” Kanesha said. “I’ll have a look at the contracts.”

I nodded and went back to my office to retrieve the inventory. Diesel remained with Kanesha. He was prowling around the boxes as I left the room. I thought Kanesha might object. She ignored him, however.

I came back with the box of disks and the inventory. “The contracts are in box twelve,” I said. “I looked already.” I set the box down on the floor.

We both turned to hunt for box twelve. Kanesha spotted it first, at the bottom of a stack of four. I helped her move the three on top, and she pulled box twelve out of the way.

“It’s pretty light,” she said, frowning up at me.

She squatted down and removed the lid.

It was empty.

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-SEVEN

If I could have crawled into that empty box and pulled the lid over me, I would have. Kanesha’s expression was implacable enough to stop a charging rhino in its tracks.

She stood after replacing the lid on the box. She walked out into the hall, and I fancied I could see the anger in every step she took. She turned and waited for Diesel and me to join her in the hall.

“Please lock the door,” she said.

When I had done so she held out her hand for the keys. “I’m sorry,” I said as I complied.

She didn’t respond. Instead she walked down the hall to my office, unlocked the door, and stood pointedly by the door. Diesel followed me as I went down the hall and into the office.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said. “I’ll return your keys then.” She headed for the stairs.