‘You bet. And discreet. Only those girls who were picked even knew about it.’
‘And I bet they were the smartest, prettiest girls in the college.’
‘Now you’re asking me to be immodest, Dr Zennor.’ She smiled. ‘Put it this way, I’m sure Vassar was careful to choose girls the men of Wolf’s Head would enjoy meeting.’
‘And inside? Did you see anything, anything that might be useful to me?’
‘There’s lots of wood panelling in there, I remember that. You know, honour boards listing past members, names painted in gold letters.’
James leaned forward. ‘And do you remember any of them, any names?’
‘I was a nineteen-year-old girl surrounded by some of the most eligible young men in America, Dr Zennor: I had my eye on other things.’
‘I need to see a list of past members.’
‘I might be able to help you with that.’
James exhaled loudly. ‘That would be excellent, Miss Lake. Really.’
‘But now I think it’s your turn to help me.’
‘Not yet, I’m afraid. I have a few more questions to ask first.’
‘Come on, this is not-’
‘What, fair? Perhaps not. But there are probably a hundred people in this town who could tell me about the Wolf’s Head Society. There’s only one who can tell you about the death of George Lund. Remember, I was with the lead detective on the case a matter of hours ago. So, another question.’
She raised her hands in defeat.
He cleared his throat, signalling as much to himself as to her, that he was getting to what mattered most. ‘I want to know what you know about the Oxford mothers and children.’
‘This is about your wife and child, right?’
‘Right.’
‘Well, they arrived here on July twenty-fourth. They-’
‘I’ve read your newspaper, Miss Lake. I want to know what more you know.’
She crinkled her brow, as if she was struggling to think of anything interesting. ‘I didn’t cover this story, so I don’t really know much beyond-’
‘Try.’
‘OK. I know they were invited by a few faculty members at Yale. It was their initiative. I know that it had to be arranged real quick, over a few weeks. I also heard that Cambridge said no.’
‘Cambridge? As in the university? Why would they say no?’
‘I have no idea. I just heard that they did. People were asking, “How come we’re only doing this for Oxford? Is Yale Oxford’s sister university? Will Harvard be hosting Cambridge children?” And the answer was no, Cambridge were offered but said no.’
‘How odd. And you don’t remember where you heard that?’
‘Just around.’ She lit another cigarette. ‘Oh, there is one other interesting thing.’
‘Yes.’
‘Both camps agreed on this plan.’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘You know, pro- and anti-war. Those who think we should join the war backed the Oxford rescue, saying it’s part of our historic ties to England and all that. And the anti-intervention people agreed, probably to show that just because they’re against the war doesn’t mean they don’t care what happens to sweet little kids.’
James resisted the desire to give her a brief lecture on why anyone who truly cared a jot about British children would be agitating to join the war this instant. Instead he asked, ‘Where did they go?’
‘All over. They’re staying with different families. People volunteered to open their doors. I heard there was one family who had their heart set on having a little girl and were shocked to receive four adolescent boys.’ She smiled at the thought of it.
‘And you didn’t hear anything about a mother with just one son, a two-year-old boy?’
‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t. I’m really sorry.’ What was odd about that last remark was that this otherwise unsentimental woman appeared to mean it.
Then she sat up straight. ‘Now it really is my turn.’
‘All right,’ James said, in a voice that suggested a reluctant concession. ‘But then we go back to past members of Wolf’s Head, yes?’ She nodded.
And so, as Dorothy Lake scribbled in her notebook, he ran through his meeting the previous day at the Dean’s office, the second encounter at Pepe’s restaurant, the rushed conversation over pizza and then the police visit this morning.
‘He also appears to have taken something from the killer,’ James said coyly, building up what he planned to be his big revelation.
‘You mean the pin in the cheek?’
‘Oh. So you know about that?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Of course. Why else would I have been sniffing around the Wolf’s Head? Come on, Zennor. Tell me something I don’t know.’
He contemplated describing the photographs he had seen in Lund’s bag. But he would not do it. Part of it was respect: why defame a dead man as a pervert, in the college newspaper of all places? But part of it was a more hard-headed calculation. He needed to hold something back, currency to be used later if needed.
‘I’ll tell you more if you tell me about these past members — and there’s something I need you to do for me.’
‘I have a better idea,’ she said.
‘What’s that?’
‘Why don’t we cut the deal-making and the horse-trading and just agree to work on this together? You need to get to the bottom of this and so do I. I can’t do it alone and nor can you. You help me, I help you. No more bartering. What do you say?’
‘I say that’s a much better idea.’
‘OK, then.’ She flicked through her notebook, finding an earlier page. ‘There’s only one document I could find that makes any mention of past members. It’s from an alternative college magazine that circulated a few years ago, before the Dean’s office shut it down. It was called Rebel Yale. Luckily the Sterling keeps everything.’
‘And you’ve seen it?’
‘I read it this morning. As soon as the editor got the tip-off about the link to Wolf’s Head.’
James leaned forward. ‘Go on.’
‘The formal group of Wolf’s Head alumni is called the Phelps Association. Named, I think, for Edward John Phelps, who went on to become ambassador to London, as it happens.’
James nodded. ‘OK, who else?’
‘All kinds of big shots. Politicians in Washington, lawyers in New York, professors, doctors, business tycoons, you name it.’
James sat back, trying to sift through what he was hearing. ‘And presumably Lund’s killer was one of them?’
‘No one else gets the pin.’
James furrowed his brow again. ‘These former members, the Phelps Association. Do they stay involved in the university in any way?’
‘There was something on this in the library too.’ She turned several pages of her notebook and began reading out loud. ‘“WHS” — that’s Wolf’s Head Society — “alumni have been central to some of the most significant changes in the life of Yale. The recently-established residential college system was the inspiration of former WHS member, the late Edward S Harkness, while it was another one-time bearer of the Wolf’s Head pin who in 1934 established the Yale Political Union”.’ She began speeding up, skim-reading as if looking for something else. ‘“Other innovations credited to WHS alums include the founding of the Elizabethan Club, as well as the composition of the unofficial Yale anthem-”’
‘Hold on, go back.’
‘“… in 1934 established the Yale Political Union-”’
