“All right.” Teddy sits back and folds his hands on his stomach. “What should we know?”

“Twice I witnessed physical”—Ray shifts in his chair—“altercations involving Michael Williams. One was outside the house while I was on duty. There were several young men beating up another young man in the parking lot. I intervened, but the young man, the one being beaten, said it was fine—he was laughing, hysterically almost. The whole time the others were kicking him—in the ribs, the face—they were yelling at me to get back in my car, and the boy was laughing.” He shakes his head. “Michael asked for my name and department, like he was going to report me or something. I don’t know if he did, but I thought, the balls on that kid, you know? Here he was beating the living daylights out of some poor guy and he wanted my information.”

“So what did you do?”

Ray flexes his hands. “What could I do? I informed my supervisors and Student Life, but I don’t think they did anything.”

“What happened the other time?” Teddy asks.

“The other time?”

The fly’s still buzzing, and I glance up irritably.

“You said you witnessed two physical altercations involving Michael Williams.”

“Right, yeah, there was a second … occurrence.” Ray takes a long breath and stirs in his seat. “You have to understand … after the first incident—not immediately after, some weeks had passed since I reported it, but—I was told to stay away from Greek life. To keep checking university buildings, do my rounds, but to avoid frat row. Apparently, there’d been reports that I was”—his lips knit, and he looks away from me—“leering at the sorority girls. Driving by in my car. Sitting outside during parties. Making them uncomfortable. One report even said I was—”

I turn my body away as if to give him privacy, but he stares at a point above our heads.

“—masturbating in my car while the girls were sunbathing outside their house.”

“Were you?” I ask in a neutral tone.

A flicker of anger, but then, a sigh. Resigned, a little sad even.

“Of course not. I tried to talk to some of the brothers during the days after the first fight—the ones who were standing around, not participating or jeering the others on—about intervening when it got too violent. Framed it like if I knew they could be counted on, I wouldn’t have to drop by as much. Seemed like a win-win to me.” Bewildered shake of the head. “Then two girls called—different sororities—with more or less the same complaint. And I was told to stay away.”