Phi Beta Murder by C.S. Challinor Page B

arrival time, so she could relay it to Mrs. Sutherland.
    “Can ye be sure she’ll be on this plane?” his mother asked.
    “God willing. Unless she suffers a relapse.”
    “How is she?”
    “She seems stronger, both physically and mentally. But she really should see a specialist when she gets home.”
    “Heather has one lined up who was recommended by her brother. How is the weather in Florida?”
    Rex did not tell his mother he had barely had a chance to enjoy it. Not wishing to worry her, he had omitted to mention the case of the boy found hanging in his dorm, though no doubt she would find out about it soon enough once Moira was back in Edinburgh. “It’s sunny every day,” he told her, and assured her he would be in contact again at the end of the week.
    Aware he was running late and that there was little enough time before the memorial service to accomplish everything that needed to be done, he sped back to the university. Letting himself into Campbell’s room with his son’s spare key, he saw that his son had gone ahead with the plan. The desk had been moved and the grill was propped inside the opening to the air vent.
    Rex stepped from the chair onto the desk. Placing his head in the opening, he called out softly, the cold dry air carrying his voice up the chute. A string wound around a nail trailed into the darkness. He could not follow it. If he pulled himself into the shaft he might get stuck. Campbell was lithe and athletic. Rex wasn’t.
    He thought about posting himself by Dixon’s door, in case someone came to take the computer while Campbell was in the room, but decided that would only draw attention to them. He sat swiveling on Campbell’s chair, straining his ear for sounds from the ceiling. He gave the Enter key on the laptop a little tap, and the surf photo screensaver gave way to an essay question that Campbell was working on. Rex took a peek.
    “Many biologists claim the earth is not a living organism. However, I agree with James Lovelock that the earth is the largest living thing in our solar system. Earth is living, just like you and me.
    “All aspects of the earth have biotic traits. The oxygen in the atmosphere, which we breathe and exhale as carbon dioxide, benefits the trees, which in turn benefits us. The planet has water, which gives and supports life. Earth has many similar characteristics to living organisms. It even scars and bears wounds from the damage we have caused … ”
    His cell phone rang, interrupting his reading, and he fumbled in his haste to open it.
    “Dad, where are you?” Campbell asked in a hushed voice.
    Rex wanted to tell his son he was sitting at his desk, moved by the passion and poetry in his essay response. However, this wasn’t the moment. “I’m in your room. What did you find out?”
    “I reviewed the list of the last three hundred sites Dix visited. No history of access to any suicide site. R.J. could’ve downloaded the how-to instructions from his own computer and brought them with him. Dix accessed StudentSpace.com plenty, though. I saved his files on a CD-ROM. Now that they’re safely stored, I can use my WipeDrive 5TM program to erase everything off the hard drive. That way the college won’t be able to use any of the information against the Clarks if they decide to sue.”
    “Do it,” Rex said. “It’s a bit late for the college to be intervening now. They had their chance to close down the site before it all ended in tragedy. How long will it take?”
    “I’m doing it now.”
    “Make sure you leave everything in the room exactly the way you found it.”
    “Don’t worry. I even wore gloves to get through the vent.”
    “A real pro.”
    “Okay, the data’s been deleted. I’m closing down. See you in a few minutes.”
    Rex, unable to bear the suspense, took a stroll down to the second floor to make sure the coast was clear. Aiding and abetting a break-in was the most illegal thing he had ever done. He had not so much as run a red