One Coffee With (26 page)

“That’s right,” said Sigrid. “Immediately after Professor Quinn and just before Professor Nauman, in came Albert Simpson, balancing his still unopened coffee cup on some reference books he was returning to that bookcase. Although he normally seems to have preferred tea, he had ordered coffee with sugar that morning, just like the other two, so there was no difference between his cup and the others. He set it down on the tray, put the books on the shelf and then picked up the
other
cup, which he probably poured down the nearest drain.”

“Poison in
both
cups!” said Lemuel Vance. “So it didn’t matter which one Riley picked. I guess old Bert was smarter than he looked.”

“Aren’t we all?” said Leyden.

C
HAPTER
22

W
ithout quite knowing
how it happened, Sigrid found herself riding down in the elevator alone with Oscar Nauman. Her awkwardness had returned, and she tried to cover it with a rude remark.

“I hope you have another pipe. That wad of adhesive tape looks pretty asinine.”

He ignored it. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Pick me up for what?”

“Dinner.
I’ve decided we ought to start fresh.”

“You’ve decided—” His gall left her speechless.

“Wear your green suit,” he said.
“The one with the purple and indigo blouse.”

The elevator doors slid open on the ground floor.

“You looked in my closet yesterday? How dare you! That’s invasion of privacy!” Indignantly she hurried to catch up with him as he strode down the hall. He held the door for her at the back entrance of Van Hoeen Hall where Detective Tildon waited with the car.

“Seven o’clock,” Nauman repeated.
“Green suit.
And leave your hair loose.”

“Be damned if I will!” she said angrily as she slid into the car beside Detective Tildon and banged the door shut.

Tillie looked shocked at her unprecedented display of emotion, but Sigrid ignored his curious face. Never had she met a man so willful, conceited and infuriating!

Even so, as they drove through the college gates, she found herself wondering if she could finish all the reports in time to stop by Anne’s apartment and hunt for those jade earrings.