Jake drove her to her apartment, a few blocks farther away. It was a decent building on a tree-lined street, although the trees were bare, dead-looking against the gray sky. Her three-storied building was the tallest structure on the block, flanked by older clapboard houses, several of them converted into offices for various university organizations.

As Jake walked her to the building’s front door, Glynis muttered, “My car … it’s still on campus.”

“I’ll come over tomorrow morning and pick you up,” Jake said. “Phone me when you’re ready.”

“I … Have they appointed someone to take … take Arlan’s place?” It seemed to take a teeth-gritting effort for her to get the words out.

“Bob Rogers,” Jake said softly.

She nodded. “Of course. Bob. I’ll be working for him now.”

“Maybe you ought to take tomorrow off. Nobody’s going to mind.”

“No,” she said, as she reached into her coat pocket for her keys. “No, I’ll have to go in. I’ll need my car.”

“Take the day off,” Jake suggested, more strongly.

Glynis shook her head. “No! I have to drive up to Vernon. I want to talk to the police there.”

Jake saw that she had regained her self-control. Despite her grief and turmoil she was utterly determined. She had a purpose to fulfill.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll go with you.”

He walked up the steps with her to her second-floor apartment. It was a neat, no-nonsense place: sitting room, kitchen, bedroom. Everything tidy and clean. A slinky gray cat took one look at Jake and scampered into the kitchen.

Glynis went straight to the bedroom, pulling off her coat and letting it slip to the floor. She sat on the edge of the bed and curled into a fetal crouch and began quietly weeping again. Jake fidgeted in the sitting room, watching her through the open bedroom door, feeling helpless, useless.

He went into the bedroom, sat beside her, and put his arms around her.

“I loved him, Jake,” she sobbed. “He loved me. He was so gentle … so…” The rest was lost in tears.

He held her close and she buried her face in his shoulder. He wished that he could cry, that he could let all the remorse and loneliness inside him wash itself away.

Resting his cheek on her head he whispered, “It’s all right, Glyn. It’s all right. I know what it is to lose somebody you love. I know the pain.”

Jake realized he couldn’t leave her. Not like this. He held her close, felt her body shuddering from the sobs, held her until his arms ached. Until her crying finally stopped.

“I’ll stay here tonight,” he told her. “You shouldn’t be alone.”

Glynis looked up at him.