“Can’t imagine Charlie
with serious enemies. He’s a shy young man, always pleasant, eager
to please. Very smart, good insight into scientific problems. Works
too hard. Sometimes I think it’s unhealthy, the way young
professors have to put in such long hours for tenure. I imagine
that’s why things didn’t work out with Lorraine.”
“ Lorraine?”
“ His ex-wife. She’d been a
student here. Very hard-working herself, ambitious. Stayed on after
she earned her Ph.D. Tal was chairman then and he found a half-time
instructor job for her, but of course it was pointless in terms of
getting on with a career. So she finished up her research, got some
articles accepted, and went off to a position at Queens College.
Commuted back and forth on weekends for a while but apparently they
couldn’t make it work.”
“ Yeah, Nick and I have had
to do that occasionally. Hell of a way to run a marriage. The
divorce was amicable, though?”
“ Far as I know. Though
Charlie seemed very withdrawn for a while.” Anne peered
suspiciously at Maggie. “You’re not suggesting that Lorraine Fisher
engineered this whole thing from afar to get back at Charlie, are
you?”
“ Sounds ridiculous,”
Maggie admitted. “But you never know, some ex-wives are pretty
bitter. And since I’m working for the guy, I just wondered if there
was anyone who was angry at him, or would benefit somehow if he got
into trouble. What about his academic situation? Any
rivals?”
“ Chiefly Tal.”
“ Tal? They seemed the best
of friends this morning.”
“ Sure. The rivalry was
strictly intellectual. The big point of contention is what guides
the eye to the next fixation point.”
“ Oh, I remember them
joking about that. Charlie emphasizes the meaning, the hypothesis a
reader has about what meaning will come next on the page. Tal
emphasizes the physical stimulus on the page. Letters and
spaces.”
“ Right.” Anne smiled. “The
usual academic angels on the head of a pin.”
“ Sure. But with some
practical implications all the same. I mean, besides maybe helping
us understand how to teach people to read better, there’s lots of
grant money and other academic prizes riding on it.”
“ True.”
Sarah was tugging at
Maggie’s sleeve. Maggie bent her head toward the little girl,
nodded at her urgent whisper, and gave her another cracker. Will,
sitting flat on the floor, was crooning to his book. Maggie smiled
across at Anne. “So I was hired to help prove your husband was
wrong!”
“ To try to,” Anne said
with spirit. “He was assembling counter-evidence. Tal said this
latest study would hit right at the heart of Charlie’s theory.
Showed the importance of word shape over meaning.”
“ Really? Who knew about
this study?”
“ I don’t know. Tal only
analyzed it a couple of days ago. But I don’t think it was a big
secret.”
“ So someone might have
realized the problem it would cause Charlie?”
“ What are you suggesting?
That Charlie was framed because someone thought he had a motive
to—to—But that’s ridiculous!”
“ Maybe. But Charlie’s put
a lot of years into this study. If it collapsed now it wouldn’t be
a small thing.”
Anne nodded morosely. “So
maybe someone thought it would make a passable motive. But it’s
irrelevant anyway, right? Charlie was with you.”
“ True, but…. That’s a
horse, Will. Horse.”
“ Doggie!”
“ Well, have it your way.”
Maggie caressed the little boy’s shiny curls.
“ Silly Willy,” declared
Sarah scornfully.
“ No, not silly. He’s
labeling sets, Sarah. Just hasn’t subdivided it between horses and
dogs yet. Charlie was with me, yes,” she continued without breaking
stride, “but no one knew he would be. So the killer might have
chosen to frame Charlie because there was a kind of motive and
because it was easy to get Charlie’s memo book and drop it there to
point the police in the wrong direction.”
“ I see.” A sensible plan.
Would
with serious enemies. He’s a shy young man, always pleasant, eager
to please. Very smart, good insight into scientific problems. Works
too hard. Sometimes I think it’s unhealthy, the way young
professors have to put in such long hours for tenure. I imagine
that’s why things didn’t work out with Lorraine.”
“ Lorraine?”
“ His ex-wife. She’d been a
student here. Very hard-working herself, ambitious. Stayed on after
she earned her Ph.D. Tal was chairman then and he found a half-time
instructor job for her, but of course it was pointless in terms of
getting on with a career. So she finished up her research, got some
articles accepted, and went off to a position at Queens College.
Commuted back and forth on weekends for a while but apparently they
couldn’t make it work.”
“ Yeah, Nick and I have had
to do that occasionally. Hell of a way to run a marriage. The
divorce was amicable, though?”
“ Far as I know. Though
Charlie seemed very withdrawn for a while.” Anne peered
suspiciously at Maggie. “You’re not suggesting that Lorraine Fisher
engineered this whole thing from afar to get back at Charlie, are
you?”
“ Sounds ridiculous,”
Maggie admitted. “But you never know, some ex-wives are pretty
bitter. And since I’m working for the guy, I just wondered if there
was anyone who was angry at him, or would benefit somehow if he got
into trouble. What about his academic situation? Any
rivals?”
“ Chiefly Tal.”
“ Tal? They seemed the best
of friends this morning.”
“ Sure. The rivalry was
strictly intellectual. The big point of contention is what guides
the eye to the next fixation point.”
“ Oh, I remember them
joking about that. Charlie emphasizes the meaning, the hypothesis a
reader has about what meaning will come next on the page. Tal
emphasizes the physical stimulus on the page. Letters and
spaces.”
“ Right.” Anne smiled. “The
usual academic angels on the head of a pin.”
“ Sure. But with some
practical implications all the same. I mean, besides maybe helping
us understand how to teach people to read better, there’s lots of
grant money and other academic prizes riding on it.”
“ True.”
Sarah was tugging at
Maggie’s sleeve. Maggie bent her head toward the little girl,
nodded at her urgent whisper, and gave her another cracker. Will,
sitting flat on the floor, was crooning to his book. Maggie smiled
across at Anne. “So I was hired to help prove your husband was
wrong!”
“ To try to,” Anne said
with spirit. “He was assembling counter-evidence. Tal said this
latest study would hit right at the heart of Charlie’s theory.
Showed the importance of word shape over meaning.”
“ Really? Who knew about
this study?”
“ I don’t know. Tal only
analyzed it a couple of days ago. But I don’t think it was a big
secret.”
“ So someone might have
realized the problem it would cause Charlie?”
“ What are you suggesting?
That Charlie was framed because someone thought he had a motive
to—to—But that’s ridiculous!”
“ Maybe. But Charlie’s put
a lot of years into this study. If it collapsed now it wouldn’t be
a small thing.”
Anne nodded morosely. “So
maybe someone thought it would make a passable motive. But it’s
irrelevant anyway, right? Charlie was with you.”
“ True, but…. That’s a
horse, Will. Horse.”
“ Doggie!”
“ Well, have it your way.”
Maggie caressed the little boy’s shiny curls.
“ Silly Willy,” declared
Sarah scornfully.
“ No, not silly. He’s
labeling sets, Sarah. Just hasn’t subdivided it between horses and
dogs yet. Charlie was with me, yes,” she continued without breaking
stride, “but no one knew he would be. So the killer might have
chosen to frame Charlie because there was a kind of motive and
because it was easy to get Charlie’s memo book and drop it there to
point the police in the wrong direction.”
“ I see.” A sensible plan.
Would
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