• Meet SDI Three o’clock.
• SDI Five.
• SDI Seven.
• Change SDI.
Who was SDI? Luke had spent the last two hours poring over Mrs. Heckler’s schedule in her Outlook calendar, and the only red flag was SDI. She’d entered it several times over the past few weeks, so it was clearly important. What did it stand for? Tariq had been no help. He didn’t think it had anything to do with alumni stuff, and was pretty much useless at offering suggestions. Luke dismissed him as quickly as possible, and they were both relieved to lose the other’s company. Tariq could be so spineless. All he cared about was doing whatever he could to get into Yale or Princeton. Luke, on the other hand, was determined to vindicate his friend. He wished he could put that on a college application.
What could it stand for? Was it the creepy-voice guy’s initials? Luke looked through the entire directory and found no one whose initials were SDI. He even reversed it, and there was one person whose initials were IDS, but it was Isabel Sanderson, a first-year, and Luke doubted that was who Mrs. Heckler was meeting up with. But it was clear that she didn’t want anyone to see her schedule. That was why she’d used the student computer. By 1:00 a.m., Luke was having trouble focusing on the screen, so he switched off the computer. He texted Oscar, asking to talk, but heard nothing. It was so frustrating to have this radio silence. He wanted to update Oscar on everything, see how he was doing. It was the first time he’d actually been at St. Benedict’s without Oscar, and it felt abnormal. Finally, exhausted, Luke fell asleep. Again he dreamed about Mrs. Heckler. She kept motioning for him to follow her, and he kept trying to catch up with her. He’d get close, so close he could almost touch her, but then she’d run away. When he woke up, he didn’t feel frustrated, he felt somehow hopeful.
* * *
“Hey, Luke,” said Kelsey. They were both in line at the dining hall, waiting for the orange juice machine.
“Hey, how are you?”
“I’m okay.” Kelsey glanced around to make sure no one was listening. Luke figured she was going to ask about Oscar, and predictably, she did. “So… How’s Oscar?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Haven’t talked to him.”
Kelsey flipped her hair behind her shoulder and took her turn getting juice.
“Well, to be honest, I’m actually glad he’s not here now. Matt’s coming down this weekend to visit, and it would just be awkward.”
“Yeah,” Luke agreed. He filled his glass, and they made their way back toward the junior area tables.
“I’d hate for Matt to find out and there be, like, a confrontation,” added Kelsey with another hair flip.
Luke shook his head with disbelief as Kelsey moved to the next table to join her friends. She was either delusional or a great actress. She had to have known Oscar had been pulling away. There’s no way he would have gotten into a fight with anyone over her.
When Luke sat down to eat, Pippa slid into the chair opposite him with her tray. He grinned, glad to see her. When this was all settled, he’d like to spend some time with her alone. Maybe take her out to dinner in town at Antonucci’s, just the two of them.
“Okay, give me the latest,” she said.
Luke filled her in on everything about the Outlook and the initials SDI.
“Interesting,” said Pippa, spearing a piece of French toast with her fork.
“I know.”
Suddenly there was a loud bang. Everyone was startled and glanced around the room. A first-year was standing there looking guilty; his tray and his entire breakfast were splattered all over the floor. At first, there was dead silence—everyone’s nerves were a bit shot since the murder. But when people realized what it was, they applauded. Kelsey and her friends immediately broke out in giggles while the red-faced first-year bent down to clean up the mess.
“That’s so cruel,” said Pippa. “I can’t believe Kelsey would laugh at someone like that and cause him further embarrassment.”
“What I don’t get is that she’s so upset about Mrs. Heckler flirting with her dad, and yet, she’s cheating on her boyfriend with Oscar,” Luke said, quietly so Kelsey wouldn’t hear him.
“True. Rather hypocritical, I would say,” Pippa agreed.
A thought occurred to Luke. He leaned out into the aisle toward Kelsey’s table. “Hey, Kelsey. What’s your dad’s name?” he called.
“Steven, why?”
“Nothing, just wondering,” said Luke.
Kelsey gave him a quizzical look, but Luke shrugged, and she returned to her friends.
Luke leaned in toward Pippa. “That’s got to be it!”
“What?”
“Kelsey’s last name is Ingraham. Steven Ingraham is her father. Those must be his initials, SDI, that were in Mrs. Heckler’s calendar! She must have been meeting him. Maybe Kelsey’s hunch was right?”
Pippa thought before she spoke. “Do you know whether her dad’s middle name begins with D?”
“I think it’s obvious.”
“Huh,” said Pippa.
Luke started to feel annoyed, like his great sleuthing work had been undermined. “What? You don’t?” he asked, pushing his tray to the middle of the table and folding his arms.
Pippa looked up at the ceiling as if she was thinking. “My guess is that SDI stands for Southborough Days Inn. She was probably meeting her lover there.”
Luke stared at Pippa, who stared back. And then a huge smile crept across his face. The Southborough Days Inn: a small, one-story, run-down motel on a tiny street off County Road 674 in the hamlet of Woodville. It was perfect. “You’re right.”
“I thought so,” said Pippa, putting a large bite in her mouth.
* * *
They had one hour between the end of Luke’s soccer practice and chapel to make it over to the Southborough Days Inn. Because Pippa didn’t play sports, she was able to call a taxi in advance and have it waiting outside the athletic center for Luke to hop right in.
“You smell,” said Pippa holding her nose.
“Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to shower.”
“Next time we’ll have to arrange our schedule to include mandatory bathing.”
“Shut up!” said Luke, punching her playfully. “Hey, did you sign us out?”
“Yes. I signed out with Ms. Chang in my dorm, and then I didn’t see Mr. Crawford, but Mr. Hamaguchi was coming out of Wilcox, so I asked him if it was okay if you and I went on a brief excursion.”
“And he was cool?”
“Yeah, he was sort of wondering why, but I told him your parents were coming up to stay because they were worried about the whole Mrs. Heckler thing, and we needed to find them decent accommodation because all the regular places were taken by the reporters who had come to town. He said okay.”
As the taxi pulled out of the athletic entrance on the school grounds, they could see the cluster of media trucks by the front gates.
“I wonder when they’ll get bored and move on,” said Luke.
“Are you mad? They love this stuff. Rich kids, beautiful corpse. They will never leave. Trust me.”
Luke felt bad. “Sorry. I guess you’d know.”
The taxi swept down the road, and they sat in silence for a minute, both of them glancing out the window. Rolling hills, now becoming shrouded in dusk, dappled the landscape. There were scattered houses, mostly split-level ranches with a few white clapboards thrown in, and a mixture of farms and old, run-down barns. They passed an old water mill that had long since been abandoned. “Southborough is such a depressing town.”
“Aw, come on, don’t you find it scenic?” Luke asked sarcastically.
“Not in the least. It’s very grim. There is nothing quaint or charming. It’s not even country, just impoverished suburb masquerading as country in order to make up for the lack of commerce.”
“You just hate everything in this town.”
Pippa turned and looked at him. “Not everything.”
Luke felt himself blush. He was intrigued by Pippa, whoever she was. It was odd. Here he was, searching for a killer alongside her while she had been accused of homicide back home. But he didn’t see how she could have done it. She was reserved, for sure, and not very emotive, but he felt it was more of a suit of armor with her. He believed she was actually very vulnerable. Once you cracked the tough exterior, there was a really nice person underneath. Not to mention smart, funny, and sexy.
“So, did you bring the student directory?” asked Luke after he realized he was staring at Pippa.
“Right here,” said Pippa, tapping her bag. “What’s our strategy?”
“I was going to wing it.”
Pippa laughed. “You’ll have to do better than that.”