Silent Partner

I got to Milton Frazier’s office by two. The Office Hours card on the door was blank. A knock produced no response, but the door was unlocked. I opened it to find the Ratman, wearing a stiff tweed suit and rimless half-glasses, hunched over his desk, using a yellow felt-tip pen to underline sections of a manuscript. The window shades were partially drawn, giving the room a sallow cast. Frazier’s beard was disheveled, as if he’d been picking at it.

My “Hello, Professor” produced a scowl and a wave of his hand that could have meant anything from Come In to Get the Hell Out of Here.

A stiff-backed chair faced the desk. I sat down and waited as Frazier continued to underline, using graceless slashing movements. The desk was stacked high with more manuscripts. I leaned forward and read the title of the one on top. A textbook chapter.

He edited; I bided my time. The office had beige walls, a dozen or so diplomas and certificates, double-stacked metal bookshelves over cracked vinyl flooring. No custom interior design for this department head. Lined up on one of the shelves was a collection of glass beakers- animal brains floating in formaldehyde. The place smelled of old paper and wet rodent.

I waited for a long time. Frazier finished with one manuscript, lifted another from the stack, and began working on it. He made more yellow marks, shook his head, twisted his beard hairs, showed no intention of stopping.

“Alex Delaware,” I said. “Class of ’74.”

He sat up sharply, stared at me, straightened his lapels. His shirt bagged; his tie was a hand- painted horror just ancient enough to have come back into fashion.

He studied me. “Hmm. Delaware. Can’t say that I remember.”

A lie, but I let it pass.

“I thought you were a student,” he said. As if that explained his ignoring me. Eyes back on the manuscript, he added, “If it’s an associateship you’re after, it will have to wait. I’m not seeing anyone without an appointment. Publisher’s deadline.”

“New book?”

Headshake. “Revised edition of Paradigms.” Slash, flip.

Paradigms of Vertebrate Learning. For thirty years, his claim to fame.

“Tenth edition,” he added.

“Congratulations.”

“Yes, well, I suppose congratulations are in order. However, one almost regrets obligating oneself to a new edition when the onerousness of the task becomes apparent- strident demands by commercially motivated publishers to include new chapters, regardless of the lack of rigor with which they are obtained or the coherence with which they are presented.”

He slapped the stack of chapters. “Enduring all this rubbish has shown me just how low standards have sunk. The American psychologist trained after 1960 hasn’t a clue about proper research design, nor the ability to construct a grammatical sentence.”

I nodded. “Damned shame when standards sink. All sorts of strange things start to happen.”

He looked up, annoyed, but listening.

I said, “Strange things like an unqualified attention-seeker making department head.”

The marker froze, midair. He tried to stare me down but his eye contact was spotty. “Given the circumstances, that’s an exceptionally rude remark.”

“Doesn’t change the facts.”

“Exactly what’s on your mind, Doctor?”

“How Kruse managed to bend all the rules.”

“This is in exceedingly poor taste. What’s your concern with all this?”

“Call me a concerned alumnus.”

He sucked his teeth. “Any complaints you may have had against Professor Kruse have been rendered moot by his untimely death. If, as you contend, you’re truly concerned about the department, you won’t occupy my time or anyone else’s on trivial personal matters. We’re all frightfully busy- this whole horrid affair has greatly disrupted the scheme of things.”

“I’ll bet it has. Especially for those members of the faculty who’d counted on all that Blalock money. Kruse’s death has put all of you in jeopardy.”

He put the marker down, fought to keep his hand steady.

I said, “With the rug pulled out from under you, I can see why you’d have to get that tenth edition rolling.”

Moving stiffly, robotically, he leaned back in his chair, trying to look casual but coming across deflated. “You think you’re such a bright boy, don’t you? Always did. Always barreling your way through everything-‘doing your own thing.’ ”

“And here I thought you didn’t remember.”

“Your rudeness jogged my memory, young man. I recall you quite clearly now- the precocious three-year man. In case you don’t know, I was opposed to letting you finish early, even though you completed your requirements. I sensed that you needed seasoning. Maturity. Obviously the passage of time alone hasn’t solved that problem.”

I moved to the edge of my chair, picked up the yellow marker and put it down. “The issue, Professor, isn’t my maturity. It’s the sorry state of your ethics. Selling the department to the highest bidder. How much did Kruse pay to have you step down and let him take over? Was it in a lump sum or monthly installments? Check or credit card? Or did he bring you cash in a plain brown bag?”

He paled, started to rise from his chair, sank back down and shook a wobbly finger at me. “Watch your tongue! Don’t be crass!”

“Crass,” I said, “is a quick-buck, mail-order stop-smoking scheme targeted at the sucker market. What kind of scientific rigor did you muster to come up with that one?”

He opened his mouth and closed it, moved his head and shoulders in a way that made his clothing seem to swallow him up. “You’ve no comprehension of the situation, Delaware. Not a whit.”

“Then educate me. What was the payoff?”

He swiveled away, stared at a thousand books, pretended to be studying the spine on one of the volumes.

“If you’re clogged,” I said, “let me prime your pump. Kruse funded your little stab at free enterprise- all the ad money, the printing, the manufacture of the tapes. Either his own money or he tapped Mrs. Blalock. What did it come out to- ten thousand? Fifteen? He spent more on his summer wardrobe. But for you it would be major venture capital.”

He said nothing.

“No doubt he was the one who suggested the con in the first place,” I said. “Ads in the back of the magazine that ran his column.”

More silence, but he’d gone pale.

“Add to that the nonstop flow of Blalock money for your academic research and it was a sweet deal for both of you. No more brown-nosing for grants or pretending to be relevant for you. And Kruse got tenure, instant respectability. In order to avoid wagging tongues and petty jealousies, he probably arranged some funding for the other faculty members too. All you rigorous researchers would be coasting- doing your own thing. Though I suspect the rest of the senior staff would be surprised to learn how much extra Kruse kicked back to you- make for a terrific staff meeting, wouldn’t it, Professor?”

“No,” he said feebly. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. My regimen for smokers is based on sound behavioral principles. Obtaining private endowments for research is a time-honored tradition. Given the state of our national economy, it’s certainly the wave of the future.”

“You were never one for the future, Frazier. Kruse shoved you into it.”

“Why are you doing this, Delaware? Attacking the department? We made you.”

“I’m not talking about the department. Just you. And Kruse.”