She glanced at the schedule for the week and noted that Ansel Shaver would be in by two o’clock that afternoon to take routine sensor readings for their four cephalopod test subjects.
Excellent. She could talk to him then.
* * *
She walked to the student center at one o’clock that afternoon to find something to eat. She settled on a chicken salad, the blandest of all midweek lunches but better than the dry-looking sandwiches.
She picked up the salad and stared at the clear plastic shell.
“We have a culinary school at this university.” A voice sounded beside her.
She looked up. The young man speaking to her looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember his name. “I know. We have an entire food science program too. It’s baffling that we can’t get better options.”
The man also took a boring chicken salad. “At least the dressing is okay.”
“I’d still be willing to be a test subject for the culinary school,” Katherine said. “As long as flavor was part of the study.”
“Agreed.” He put the chicken salad on his plastic tray and held out his hand. “You forgot my name, didn’t you? It’s Greg Hammond.”
“Yes!” He, like Kaylee, was another of Ansel Shaver’s grad students, but not one she usually saw at the Fred lab. “I knew you looked familiar, but I’m horrible with names.”
“If I had to see as many students as you do every day, I doubt I’d remember anyone.”
She waved a hand. “I don’t do well with my lecture classes, but there’s no excuse for not remembering someone who works so closely with Professor Shaver. I knew I’d seen you at the Fred lab. Is Professor Shaver your thesis advisor?”
“Yes. I fill in over at Fred occasionally, but I work at the behavioral science lab mainly. Though I’m also consulting with Alice Kraft in computer sciences on some things since my thesis has a tech focus, so I hang out over there too.”
“You’re a busy young man. Psychology and technology?”
“I want to focus on how data from wearable devices could potentially transform how mental health professionals evaluate patients.”
“That’s very interesting.”
“Yeah. I mean…” He shrugged. “Everyone lies, right? But our bodies don’t.”
“That’s definitely one perspective.” A cynical one. “Good luck with that.”
“Thanks. I’ll probably… see you around the Fred lab.”
“I’m sure you will.” She knew Ansel depended heavily on his grad students.
In fact…
If Ansel was running a clinical study, Greg could very well have been the one inputting names into the computer, especially if he was active at the behavioral science lab.
She couldn’t ask.
Could she?
Not directly, but…
Greg smiled and lifted a hand in a wave as he walked away. “Have a good day, Professor Bassi.”
“You too.” Should she? It was worth a try. “Greg?”
“Yes?” He turned back toward her.
“I was wondering if you’d heard about Justin McCabe.”
His eyes flickered for just a second; then the young man’s face settled into a careful mask. “I think everyone’s heard about him.”
“Did you know that I was actually at the gym that day?”
His eyes went wide. “I hadn’t heard that part.”
You’re lying. Why would he lie? To avoid the appearance of listening to gossip? That was a definite possibility.
“Yes, it was a strange experience.”
Whatever Greg had been thinking, the blank expression fled, and warmth filled his face. “I’m so glad you and everyone involved are okay.”
“Me too.” Greg had recognized the name, and she didn’t think it was because of what happened at the gym. “But you didn’t know him personally?”
“Who?”
You know who. “The young man who had the gun. Justin McCabe.”
“Not at all.” He held his tray in front of him. “I really need to get going, but I’m glad you’re okay, Professor Bassi.”
“Thank you.”
Greg hurried toward the register without looking back.
Interesting.
By the time she got back to the Fred lab, Katherine’s knee was aching, but she was looking forward to eating lunch at the front desk and listening to Kaylee and Denise, Maria Gatan’s grad student, chatter about their lives.
She sometimes wondered if she’d been wrong to skip the experience of motherhood. She enjoyed mentoring her students and had a keen appreciation for young people.
That said, she’d only really started enjoying her nieces and nephews when they got into double digits. That left a lot of diapers, drool, and unintelligible screaming to deal with until offspring became interesting.
Yes, better she’d skipped all that.
“Hey, Professor Bassi.” Denise and Kaylee both waved. “Did you have a meeting planned or something?”
She frowned. “Not that I know of. Did I forget something?”
“Oh.” Kaylee and Denise exchanged a look. “I hope we didn’t mess up.”
“What did you do?” All Katherine wanted to do was sit down. It was over a half-mile walk round trip to the student center for lunch; her knee was starting to swell.
“There was a lady here—”
“She said she was a friend,” Denise said. “So we told her she could wait in your office.”
Would Megan have stopped by the lab? That seemed improbable. “Was she tall and very blond?”
“No. Short with dark curly hair.”
Short with dark curly…?
Really?
“Huh.” Her mind flashed into a grey-tinged vision that appeared and disappeared just as quickly. Toni Dusi was sitting in the chair across her desk, cursing at the soda she’d just spilled on her pants. “Okay, thanks.”
Why did so many of her visions have to do with someone spilling a liquid? Was it that common?
The two young women were staring at Katherine with wide eyes.
“Did we mess up?” Kaylee asked. “I’m sorry. We should have called you.”
“Yes. Call me next time. But you’re fine. She is a friend of mine.” She was just throwing that word around willy-nilly, wasn’t she? “Please don’t worry.”
Kaylee and Denise’s expressions both relaxed.
Katherine walked back toward her office—apparently she wouldn’t be enjoying her eavesdropping today—and spotted a pair of legs in worn blue jeans parked across from her desk. Toni was muttering and wiping at her pants. “Stupid overinflated—”
“Spill something?” Katherine walked into her office and immediately handed Toni a wad of tissues. “Looks like it
