An Imperfect Spy by Amanda Cross

wasn’t a mole.”
    Kate looked down at her hands in her lap.
    “All right,” Blair said, “don’t spell it out. I don’t blame you. There are times when even I wonder what I really believe. And despite your fine talk about crossing the line, if Nellie hadn’t died under that truck, I might have crossed back. Well, I might,” he insisted as Kate shook her head. “But I never believed in that accident. I’d walked with her enough, she was a real New Yorker, she knew New York drivers, she would never have stepped out into traffic that way. But who can really tell? She may have been upset, preoccupied. Anyway, I couldn’t shut my eyes to the fact that she was causing a lot of questions to be asked around here. A few of the students, many of the women and some of the men, were not being as docile as they used to be. And let’s face it, since her death those few students have reverted to their previous form.”
    “And,” Kate said, rising, “I must allow you to revertto your previous form as a proper attender of faculty meetings.” For a moment Blair seemed about to say something, but Kate left before he could decide exactly what to say. I’m getting into my detective mode, Kate said to herself; that’s easy to see, but what am I detecting? She decided, since she was here, to call on Harriet.
    The secretarial room was in full operation, with male faculty standing around making demands, and women scurrying here and there. Only Harriet, seated at her desk, retained a firm, unshakable demeanor. She greeted Kate formally, assuming, for any faculty observing them, that Kate had come with some manuscript to be dealt with. “Take a seat, Professor Fansler,” Harriet said without so much as a blink.
    “No rush,” Kate answered, doing as she was bid.
    Eventually the men cleared out, the women went to work, and Harriet approached Kate.
    “Is there a women’s room near here?” Kate asked.
    “Certainly,” Harriet said, rising. “I’ll show you.” And together they left the room, to regroup amid the sinks and stalls.
    “What, ho?” Harriet asked when they were there.
    “I wanted to ask some questions about Nellie,” Kate said. “I know you weren’t here when she was, but I can’t very well ask anyone who was.”
    “Not even Blair?”
    “Not more than I have already. I believe him,” Kate said, “I really do. But I want a more unbiased report. What have you gathered?”
    “Not a damn thing.” Harriet washed and dried her hands. “Did you know that handling paper dries your hands? It was news to me, but I’ve come to believe it. The only thing I wondered about was if the police had checked alibis. You know, where were all the members of the faculty when she went under the truck? You’ll never guess the answer.”
    “Let me try. Not one of them was anywhere that could be firmly established.”
    “Correct. Except for Professor Abbott, who was at the dentist, testified to by the dentist, the hygienist, and the receptionist. They might all have been in cahoots with him, but there were also other patients there who remembered him. Being black in most white surroundings makes him easily memorable, which must be beastly, but in this case was a benefit.”
    “The police told you all this?”
    “Well,” Harriet said, “I did rather misrepresent myself as a lawyer from another faculty. You needn’t look so dubious; I have been on a faculty and can behave as pompously as any male, if circumstances so require. I said there was worry in the legal academic community, did these lawyers have alibis, and so on and so forth. They didn’t tell me much, but they did tell me about the alibis, or the lack thereof. They also pointed out that this meant little; few people have alibis, and I understand that the possession of one always merits a closer look.”
    “Which Professor Abbott endured and passed?” Kate said.
    “That’s it. I had better get back to my duties. The women, who are bored to death with their