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The back hallway is short and dark. There’s a bathroom on my right. Ahead, voices drift toward me, and I catch shadows moving in the light, like a school of fish beneath the surface of a pond. I stare at the vintage typewriters lined up on the windowsill. I didn’t know the dean was into those things, but it’s not surprising.
“…you to hear this,” Emilio’s saying. “In case there was any ambiguity.”
“I told you the last time, Emilio—”
“Just shut your mouth and listen before you make things worse. I’m not here to threaten anymore, Walt. I’m here to remind.”
Emilio uses the dean’s first name?
A shadow moves and it sounds like a recording’s playing from his phone.
It’s rough. At first, it’s mostly static noise. It takes me a second to understand it’s the sound of waves rolling against surf. I keep myself pressed against the wall, heart racing. I swear they’re going to hear me breathing. My heart must be louder than a thousand drums right now and air sucks into my lungs like it’s moving through a cheese grater. I close my eyes and force myself to calm down as I concentrate on listening.
In the recording, some voices come in and out of focus. It’s hard to understand what they’re saying, but I recognize both Emilio and the dean.
The dean sounds terrified. It’s like he’s been crying, like he’s pleading with Emilio. I screw up my face and inch closer, straining to parse the voices from the waves.
Emilio says, “I believe you, Dean Wotherspoon. I saw what happened.”
“She was screaming. Shouting. Attacking you.”
“I know that. She hit me. She tried to wrap her hands around my neck.”
“I just acted. I thought you were—”The dean’s voice fades as the waves smash. When he’s audible again, he’s clearly crying.“—to help, that’s all, and it was a mistake.”
“It was an accident,” Emilio agrees. “A horrible accident. We came down here to help her, but it’s too late.”
“I’ll be ruined of this gets out. My god, Saint Parras will be ruined. A student, Emilio. I never should’ve intervened. I never should’ve come out here today.”
“Nobody needs to know you were here.”
I can practically hear the dean thinking as the wave sound increases again. My head’s buzzing and it’s like there are crickets in my skull. A student, an accident.
Ruined if this gets out…
Her hands around his throat…
“Of course, there would be some strings,” Emilio’s saying like he’s answering a question. “I can hide this for you. I can make sure nobody finds out what happened. But you have to help me in return. It’ll be a partnership.”
“Help you? How am I supposed to—”The waves crash again, loud this time.“I can’t get involved in your activities.”
“Not involved. All you need to do is deflect.”
“Emilio, please, I can’t.”
“You killed her, Dean Wotherspoon. I watched it happen.”
Killed her. Killedher…
“It was an accident.” The dean’s voice is choked with emotion. “I grabbed her, pulled her away, and she tripped. She tripped and fell, I didn’t mean to, I tried to pull her back, but she fell, and now—”
“From my perspective, Dean Wotherspoon, it looked a lot like you pushed her.”
The waves crashed loudly.
I sink down to my knees, my stomach twisting. I think I might be sick. But if I throw up now, they’ll know I’m here, and what will they do to me to keep their secret?
They covered up one murder.
