'So Albert and you were roommates, and Kristina and Conni were roommates.'

'Yes, that's right. Can I have a glass of water? My throat is dry.'

Will went to get Jim water. Jim emptied the tall glass immediately. Without being asked, Will left and brought back a pitcher. While he was gone, Spencer and Jim did not speak.

Once Will sat down, Spencer resumed. 'When did you say you all met?'

'During freshman year.'

'How?'

Spencer could see Jim was struggling to keep calm. This is hard for him, Spencer thought. Am I beating a confession out of him?

'I don't know how we met,' Jim said at last. 'It's a difficult question.'

'It's a difficult question?' Spencer repeated incredulously.

'Jim, let me tell you something. That is not a difficult question.'

'Forget it, you don't understand,' Jim said, shaking his head.

'Explain it to me.'

'Listen, I don't know what this has to do with anything.'

Spencer turned and stared at Will, who said to Jim, 'You're upsetting my partner here, Jim. It's not up to you to decide what has to do with what. You're not forthcoming, and we're getting worried that perhaps you have something to hide.'

'I've got nothing to hide, I just ' He broke off. 'Look, I haven't been able to figure it out, okay?' he said. 'I had thought that I met Conni and Kristina and introduced them to Albert 'But...'

'But nothing. Freshman Thanksgiving, I saw Conni and Kristina coming out of the Alumni Gym. To be perfectly honest,' Jim said, clearing his throat, 'I liked Conni at first. She was smaller, more, you know, inviting. Kristina I thought she was out of my league, truthfully. She came outside in the bitter cold in biker pants and a spandex tank top.'

'You thought she was out of your league because she came outside in sports gear?' said Spencer.

'No, no,' Jim said quickly. 'Look, I liked her and everything. We started chatting walking back to Mass Row, where we all lived. I said I had a roommate, they giggled.'

'So, Jim, you seem to have a very good idea of how you all met, wouldn't you say?'

'You don't understand,' Jim said.

'Were you and Albert good friends?'

'Very good friends. We hit it off right away. We were great roommates.' His face was unable to hide the tension. He was biting his lower lip. 'Conni was very friendly. Kristina was funny, but not very friendly, you know?'

Spencer understood: Kristina had been too beautiful to be friendly to strangers.

Except for him. She had been friendly to Spencer. He felt himself biting his own lower lip.

Spencer knew that soon he would have to stop this line of questioning and go on to more grave matters, but for a few more minutes he wanted to imagine Kristina, wearing spandex shorts, giggling, alive.

'I was hoping to run into them again, and it wasn't long before Albert and I spotted them one morning at Thayer. They walked by with their trays. But this is the thing. Before I had a chance to wave to them, Albert did. They came over and sat at our table. Albert said, "Kristina, Conni, this is my roommate, Jim."'

'That was strange to you?'

'Well, he wouldn't be introducing them unless he had met them already.'

'It is a small campus.'

'Yes, I know. But he never told me how he'd met them. It was never very clear. Anyway. Albert and I became friendly with them, and soon ' Jim stumbled and stopped talking.

'And soon?' Spencer said.

Jim poured himself another glass of water, downing it before he continued. 'Conni and I kind of started going together.'

'Conni and you?'

'Yes.'

'And Albert and Kristina?'

'That's what I had thought. Wouldn't it be perfect if we could pair off like that.'

'But...'

'But... Albert and Kristina didn't hit it off.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah. I asked Albert about it one night, and he wasn't enthusiastic. "No chemistry" was what Albert said to me.'

Spencer could see every word was a struggle for Jim. 'So how did you end up with Kristina?'

'Things with Conni just weren't going as well as I thought.' Jim gulped and said, 'I saw that she was kind of smitten with Albert.'

Spencer nodded. 'I see. And he with her?'

'I didn't notice that. I saw them coming out of Baker together, going into Lou's together, talking, you know. She said they were just friends, but I could see she liked him.'

Spencer shook his head in disbelief. Kristina Kim was Jim Shaw's consolation prize. It was almost laughable.

'I thought Conni wasn't Albert's type, but what did I know?' said Jim. 'They've been together since then, and I think they got engaged or something during Thanksgiving. So you see, I didn't read the situation right.'

'No, no,' said Spencer. 'What did you and Albert do?'

'Nothing for a while. Continued as we were.'

'Must have been tough,' said Will sympathetically.

Jim nodded. 'Albert ended up moving out mid spring semester and rooming with Frankie.'

'And you started going with Kristina.'

'Yes,' Jim said in a tired voice.

'How's your present relationship with Conni?'

'Fine. We're friends.'

'What about Albert?'

'Fine, too,' Jim said quickly.

'So you're friendly.'

Jim paused. 'Less friendly,' he said and went no further.

'You had said Kristina wasn't your girlfriend. When did you break up?'

'Monday.'

'Monday before Thanksgiving?'

'Yes.'

'Monday, the day before she died?'

'It was actually Tuesday morning.'

'Tuesday morning?'

'I mean, like, early in the morning on Tuesday. She came to my room at dawn or something.'

Spencer relaxed slightly. He had had a brief vision of Kristina dying minutes after she had broken up with her boyfriend of three years. It did not look good for Jim.

'She break up with you?'

Jim shrugged and nodded, reaching for the glass. 'Things weren't working.'

Spencer wondered if one of Kristina's reasons, the tiniest, could have been Spencer himself. He'd never know now.

Will nudged Spencer under the table. 'May I?' he mouthed.

'Go ahead,' replied Spencer.

'Jim,' began Will, 'I spoke to a few people in Hinman Hall to find out about Kristina's whereabouts the night we think she died Tuesday and a couple of people told me you guys had a big fight in the lounge that night and you stormed out.'

'Oh, that!' Jim waved his hands dismissively, but Spencer noticed the hands were shaking. 'Yeah, we just said a few words. It was nothing, really.'

'Oh? The guy I spoke to said you were pretty mad.'

'Nah, I wasn't mad.' But Jim didn't offer more details. Spencer and Will exchanged glances.

'Jim,' said Spencer, 'maybe I haven't made myself clear earlier.'

'It was nothing, I tell you,' Jim exclaimed in an exasperated voice.

'Who are you trying to protect?'

'What? Nobody!'

'Are you trying to protect yourself?'

'I'm trying to protect nobody.' Jim's voice was loud, and he looked hot and uncomfortable.

'Jim, did you kill Kristina Kim?'

'No!' Jim exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

'Do you know who did?'

'No!' he exclaimed again, his face sweating.

Nodding, Spencer went on, 'You said you played cards last Tuesday. When you stormed out, what time was that?'

'Probably around eleven.'

Spencer looked at Jim's wrists. 'Wearing a watch, Jim?'

Pulling up his sleeves, Jim showed Spencer he wasn't.

'There wasn't a clock in the Hinman lounge?'

'No, it got busted months ago. I asked Frankie for the time.'

'After you left the lounge, where did you go?'

'Back to my room.' Jim swallowed very hard.

'Did you pack? Did you study? Did you call Kristina on the phone?'

'No, I... studied a little. I was tired. I don't remember. I think I went to bed.'

'And you never left your room at all for the rest of the night?'

Jim was silent for a very long time. 'No,' he said. 'I never left my room.'

Spencer stood up. 'Should I read you your rights and arrest you for killing Kristina Kim?'

'No, no!' Jim exclaimed. 'I didn't kill her. I'm telling you I didn't kill her.'