A hidden door to a secret lab. It sounded like something from a fantasy game or a mystery movie. Certainly not real life. Yet here it was. As the implications sank in, Calvin and I had the simultaneous impulse to get the heck out of there. Leaving the light on, we exited the way we came and shut the narrow door behind us.
Back in the dark closet, I removed the latex glove I’d snagged and stuffed it in my purse. We were about to push our way out of the closet, when we heard a noise on the other side. We stood stock-still, listening. Had Bart returned?
Then the door swung open. A flashlight beam lit up our surprised faces.
“What are you doing in there?” boomed an astonished voice. It was Terry, the maintenance man.
Calvin grabbed ahold of my hand and stepped out of the closet, pulling me with him. “Just having a little fun,” he said with a laugh. “Sorry, man.”
“Professor Foxheart?”
“Hi, Terry,” said Calvin. “How ya been?”
“Uh, not bad.” He squinted his eyes, bewildered. “I thought you left.”
“I did. Just back for a visit.” Calvin lifted our clasped hands. “I was showing my girlfriend around. This is Sierra.”
“Hi,” I said, feeling as off-kilter as Terry looked toward me.
“Hi,” said Terry, scratching his head.
Calvin adopted a more serious demeanor. “I guess you heard about Professor Lowry.”
Terry nodded. “Yeah. I was sorry to hear it. What happened?”
“Don’t know, exactly. Hey, do you know if his office has been cleaned out yet?”
“I don’t think so. The dean said to leave it alone.”
“Good idea. It’s just that … well, it’s not a big deal. But there was a book of mine that I left in there. My name’s in it, but I’m afraid it will get lost whenever the office is cleaned up. Do you suppose I could take a quick look?”
I watched Calvin with fascination. It was amazing how easily he lied. In fact, I almost believed him myself. Maybe he had left a book in Lowry’s office. Then again, he’d told a few fibs the first time I met him. The guy should have been an actor. Yet, in spite of all that, I realized I still trusted him.
Terry hesitated, then shrugged. “I guess it would be okay.”
We followed him out of the lab and down the hall to Lowry’s office. Calvin’s eyes darted about, but we didn’t encounter anyone else. Outside the professor’s door, Terry pulled out his key ring and fitted a key in the lock.
“Thanks, man.” Calvin put his hand on the small of my back and gently pushed me into the office. “I think we’ll close the door, so we don’t draw any attention. This will just take a minute.”
“Oh, okay,” said Terry. “Sure.”
Calvin flipped on the light and closed the door. Then he went straight to the computer. While he booted it up and logged on, I looked around. It was a typical professor’s office, with walls of books and stacks of paper. Two guest chairs faced the simple desk in the center of the room. Although a high window let in a fair amount of natural light, there were only two plants: a succulent and a potted cactus. I randomly pulled out a couple of books and opened the covers, at least making a pretense of looking for “Calvin’s book.” In truth, my mind was still reeling about all the poppy seeds we’d found.
Where had they come from? Who was responsible for the secret lab? I felt sure Lowry and his students must have something to do with it. After all, he was the head of the Botany Department. And if he’d become addicted to poppy tea, that could explain his careless behavior the past few months. It could also explain the urgency with which he’d wanted to be alone in the bathroom with his canteen, and his relaxed appearance when he came out.
I closed the plant book in my hands and returned it to the shelf. The answer wasn’t in here. Sitting in one of the visitor chairs, I thumbed through some of the papers on the desk. They included student essays from the past semester, multiple copies of the itinerary for the summer field trip, and some junk mail. Nothing about a bulk poppy tea enterprise.
I looked at Calvin, who was typing rapidly on the keyboard. “Is there anything interesting on the computer?”
He made a face. “Not so far. I knew the password to log in—he gave it to me way back when I was a grad assistant and never changed it. Unfortunately, I don’t know the password to access his emails.”
“What about the student directory?”
“It should be in here somewhere.”
I checked the time, confirming what my empty stomach was telling me. It was almost noon. I stood up again and walked around to join Calvin on the other side of the desk. There was only one drawer. Nudging him to move over, I pulled it open. It contained only pens, paper clips, and similar desk items.
Calvin sat up straight. “Bingo! I found Benji’s address. Now I need something to write on.”
I grabbed one of the trip itinerary sheets and handed it to him. “Write on the back of this. No one will miss it.”
A minute later, Calvin shut off the computer and the light, and we slipped out of the office. Terry was gone. Wasting no time, we hurried down the hall, hopped on an elevator, and left the building.
“Should we pick up some lunch?” I asked, when we reached the car. “Or should we track down Benji first?”
“Let’s go by his house. I’ll offer to buy him lunch.”
“Ooh, good idea.”
At least, it would have been a good idea if Benji were home. When we knocked on the door of his unit, in a row of identical shabby-looking student apartments, no one answered. After waiting a few minutes, we decided to grab some takeout Chinese food from a nearby restaurant and come right back. Once we returned to the apartment complex, we parked in one of the angled parking spaces facing Benji’s front door. We tucked into our lunch with one eye out the window.
“I feel like we’re on a stakeout,” I said, around a mouthful of fried rice.
“More like an ambush,” said Calvin. “Based on his avoidance of my calls, I have a feeling Benji doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“So, what’s the plan here?”
He shot me a sheepish glance. “Um, I don’t really have one.”
“What? No plan?”
“I thought I’d rely on my good looks and charm?”
I snorted. “And then what?”
“I don’t know. I figured when I could talk to him, face-to-face, I’d convince him to open up. I’ll just ask him to tell me whatever it is he’s been holding back.”
I raised a doubtful eyebrow. I supposed it could work. After all, Calvin could be persuasive. He’d gotten Terry to let us in Lowry’s office. Still, this was too important to leave to chance. The kid could easily blow us off, and then what? It was already growing late, and I needed to return to Aerieville. We had only one shot.
“How about if I talk to him first?” I suggested.
“You? But he doesn’t know you.”
“Exactly. He’ll have no reason to run away when he sees me.”
“But what will you say? You—” Calvin broke off, his eyes directed at the sidewalk. “Oh man. Here he comes.”
“Wait here,” I said, setting my takeout container on the dash. “Just give me a minute.” I hopped out of the car and moved toward the sidewalk.
The boy heading my way was thin and scruffy-looking, with ripped jeans, shaggy brown hair, and long sideburns. He carried a backpack over one shoulder and had earbuds in his ears. I had to wave at him to get his attention. Startled, he removed the earbuds.
“Are you Benji?” I said with a smile.
“Yeah?” he said uncertainly.
“My name is Sierra. I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute. It’s about some of your classmates.”
He edged toward his apartment, giving me a look that said, Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it.
I decided to take a chance. “It’s about the poppy seeds.”
The color drained from his face, but he played it cool. “What poppy seeds?”
“The ones in the lab. I know all about it. And pretty soon so will everyone else.”
Benji bit a fingernail. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, Benji,” I said, taking a step closer to him. “The jig is up. But if you answer my questions, I’ll leave your name out of the report.”
He frowned. “You’re a reporter?”
“I’m conducting an investigation,” I said, which was essentially true.
Benji removed his backpack and dropped it at his feet. Then he slumped his shoulders. “What do you want to know?”
I motioned for him to sit at a faded picnic table in the shade, and I sat across from him. Taking a deep breath, I tried to exude a confidence I didn’t really feel.
“What did Professor Lowry have his students doing for him?” I asked, as if I knew for sure that there was something. “Were they making poppy tea to sell it? How did that work?”
“Lowry was a fiend,” Benji said bitterly. “A shark. A criminal.”
I was momentarily stunned. I’d guessed right?
A car door opened, and we turned to see Calvin step onto the sidewalk. He sauntered toward us with his hands in his pockets.
Benji widened his eyes. “Professor Foxheart?”
“It’s okay,” I assured Benji. “He’s cool. He works for me.”
Calvin shot me an incredulous look, which I couldn’t help returning with a smug smile.
“Go on, Benji,” I said. “Why was Lowry a shark and a criminal?”
Benji shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start. He had all these schemes he was involved in, and he used students to do the dirty work.”
“What kind of schemes?”
“Like selling grades, for one.”
That was unexpected. Calvin seemed surprised too. “You mean he made students pay for better grades?”
“Yeah. If a student was failing, he’d try to find out if they were willing to pay for a better grade. He also purposely graded some students harder and pressured them to give him money. If they couldn’t pay, he taught them how to hack into the school’s computer system and sell tests to other students. That was a different scheme.”
Calvin and I exchanged another look. Lowry was even more corrupt than we had imagined.
Now that Benji had agreed to talk, he didn’t hold back. He seemed relieved to unburden all his knowledge. “Lowry was devious,” he continued. “He preyed on students barely hanging on, in terms of grades and finances. Once they were involved, they couldn’t report him without implicating themselves.”
“Were these students the ones known as Lowry’s Leaders?” I asked.
“That’s a lame name,” Benji said. “But, yeah. Basically, Lowry targeted vulnerable students. When he found some who had no problem breaking the rules, he’d make them his soldiers, so to speak.”
I knew this must include Vince, Isaiah, and April. I didn’t even need to ask.
“Was this a recent thing?” asked Calvin. “He never approached me about any schemes like that when I was a student.”
“He probably thought you were too ethical,” said Benji. “Or he knew you didn’t need the money.”
I recalled Professor Washington talking about the scholarship recipients, and how many were poor and had come from rough backgrounds. I wondered if that made them extra vulnerable to their respected professor’s ill influence. It really was despicable.
“He must have been extremely careful,” said Calvin, apparently still in disbelief that all this had been going on under his nose.
I thought again about the secret lab. “What about the poppy seeds? It would take a lot of poppies to produce that many seeds, possibly over multiple seasons. That must have been going on for a while.”
Benji nodded. “There’s an experimental farm behind campus. It includes a huge field of prairie grass and wildflowers. Lowry sectioned off a piece in the middle to grow poppies. It’s pretty well hidden.”
“Why poppy tea?” I asked. It seemed like an odd choice. If he wanted to make money, why not just grow and sell marijuana?
“I think he fell into it by accident. He started drinking it himself. Then he got the idea to market it to students as a way to get high without getting caught or in trouble. And even though it’s not hard to make, he knew most people wouldn’t bother. They’d rather take something that was already prepared. He was like a what-do-you-call-it. A snake oil salesman.”
“So weird,” I murmured.
“And dangerous too,” said Benji. “I heard of a kid dying after drinking too much of that stuff. That’s when I decided I had to get out.”
“Good for you,” said Calvin. “That was brave of you.”
“Yeah, well, I finally wised up,” said Benji, without a trace of pride. “I realized Lowry was in it too deep to rat anyone else out. He’d only expose himself.”
“Maybe he realized it too,” I mused. “Maybe part of his odd behavior was paranoia.”
“I don’t know about that,” said Benji. “But I do know one thing: I’m not at all surprised that somebody killed him.”
We thanked Benji profusely and promised not to reveal his involvement with any of Lowry’s schemes. Back in the car, I told Calvin I was going to text Deena. “I feel bad for being gone so long,” I said.
“Actually, I have one more stop to make.” Calvin backed his car out of the parking space, and cranked up the air-conditioning. “It won’t take long.”
“Oh?” I figured he was going to say he needed to gas up his car. I was eager to hit the road, not only because I had work to do at Flower House, but also because I was looking forward to the drive. It was the perfect opportunity to talk things over and analyze the astounding discoveries we’d made.
Calvin didn’t say anything more. Instead, he drove slowly down side streets and through residential neighborhoods, bypassing at least one gas station along the way.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
A moment later, he pulled over in front of a small Tudor-style home and cut the engine. “Right here.”
“And ‘here’ is?” I couldn’t understand why he was being so vague.
“It’s my old place. I left a few things here I want to pick up.”
What? “You still have a house in Knoxville?” Would the surprises today never stop?
“Not really. My ex … roommate lets me keep some stuff here. I’ll be right back.”
Taking his keys with him, he strode up to the house and let himself in.
He still has keys to his old house? I didn’t know why this bothered me so much, but it did. I knew he had family in Iowa and some contacts here in Knoxville, but he’d never mentioned he still had some of his possessions here. And who was the so-called ex-roommate?
The longer he took, the more I stewed. Just when I thought I was getting to know the real Calvin, I find out he’s been holding back on me. It also felt like a slight to be left in the car, like a child.
Checking my watch, I decided I’d give him five more minutes. Then I was going to go after him. I’d offer to help. Yeah, that’d be a good excuse.
The five minutes were about to elapse when I heard the buzz of a small motor. Through the rear windshield I saw a powder blue Vespa speed up the street. It turned into the driveway next to the Tudor. As I watched, a trim-looking woman in leather pants climbed off. She removed her helmet and tossed her hair: long golden tresses that gleamed in the sunlight. With barely a glance toward Calvin’s beater, she walked up to the front door and went straight inside without knocking.
So this was the ex-roommate. Or had he meant to say “ex-girlfriend”?
By the time Calvin finally emerged from the house fifteen minutes later, I’d transitioned from angry-hot to angry-cold. I was in no mood to chat with him about the case or anything else. I didn’t even ask him what was in the box he stowed in the trunk.
Instead, I put on some music—classical this time. We passed the drive without speaking much at all, each absorbed in our own private thoughts.