Will and Spencer exchanged glances. 'You consider,' Will said, 'Jim Shaw ranting and raving and then storming out pretty normal, do you?'

Albert scrunched up his face as if trying to remember and then said, 'Oh, that.' He emitted a short laugh. 'That was nothing. He just got a little excited. It happens.'

'Over what?'

'I really can't recall,' said Albert. 'Something silly.'

'Did it have anything to do with you and Frankie?'

'Me and Frankie?' Albert was incredulous. 'Nah. Nothing, I'm telling you. Everything was fine.'

'I see,' said Spencer. 'What was the situation with you going to see Frankie and Frankie not knowing you were coming?'

For a moment Albert blanched. 'Oh, that,' he said slowly. 'Yeah. He must have forgotten we made plans. I went to see him and he wasn't there.'

'Jim said Frankie was studying with Conni, but that Kristina clearly seemed to think you should've been with Frankie.'

'Yeah,' said Albert. 'It was all very perplexing.'

'Perplexing for who?'

'For me. I had no idea what the fuss was about.'

'There was a fuss?'

'No, nothing dramatic' Albert smiled. 'Nothing for the papers, detective.'

'I don't want it for the papers,' retorted Spencer. 'I want it for me.'

'Of course.'

'I don't get it. Why would Kristina care whether you went to see Frankie, or not see Frankie, or anything at all about your whereabouts?'

'I don't know. That's why it was just so perplexing.' There was that smile again. It was beginning to annoy Spencer.

Albert said, 'I had run into her on campus earlier that Tuesday and told her I was going to see Frankie. She just wanted to know what happened.'

'So what was Jim so upset about?'

'He didn't seem that upset.'

'No? That's not what some other people said.'

'Well, he didn't seem that upset to me.'

Will nudged Spencer. 'Okay, fine,' said Spencer. 'So what did you do after Jim left?'

'We stayed a few more minutes and then Kristina left.'

'And you and Conni?'

'We went to Conni's room to pack.'

'But you weren't there for the rest of the night?'

'No, we were tidying up Conni's room and I realized I needed to pack myself if we had a prayer of leaving the next morning, so I told her I'd be going up to my room for a while.'

'What time was that?'

'About midnight, I guess.'

'And you went to your room?'

'No. I went down to the lounge for a minute. We'd forgotten our jar of change there. I picked it up and then went upstairs.'

'And then?'

'I packed, listened to some music, and then went to say good-bye to Kristina.'

'What time was that?'

'About twelve-thirty, twelve-forty, I guess.'

'What time did you leave her room?'

'I don't know. About ten to one, maybe.'

'Very late.'

'Yeah, it was pretty late.'

'And then?'

'Then I went downstairs to the lounge again.'

'Why?'

'To get myself a beer.'

'Was anyone else there?'

'Yeah, this kid Tim. He's a good guy. He was watching Die Hard. It had started at twelve-thirty. So I grabbed a beer and talked to him a little and watched the movie with him. Then I left to go to the bathroom and went upstairs to Conni's room,' Albert paused. 'The door wasn't locked, but she wasn't in her room. So I went back to the lounge. The kid had fallen asleep, but I woke him up. Told him he was missing a good movie. We sat for a while, watching. I drank my beer. Then Conni came in, looking for me.'

'What time was that?'

'I don't know. Let's see, the movie was more than half over. Maybe quarter to two. Yeah, about then, because by the time we got back to Conni's room it was two A.M.'

'Where did Conni say she'd been?'

'She said,' Albert drew out slowly, 'that she'd been looking for me. I said I'd been in the lounge. She wanted to know why I didn't come back to her room. I said I did but she wasn't in, so I had gone to watch the movie for a little while.'

'How long was she out looking for you?'

'She said about half an hour.'

'Half an hour?' Spencer exchanged glances with Will. 'That's a long time.'

'I know.'

'Where did she say she was looking for you?'

'She didn't say. I didn't ask.'

'So what did you do after she found you?'

'We went upstairs to her room. I stayed there. The next morning we left for Long Island.'

'Did you see Kristina at any time after ten to one a.m. Wednesday?'

'No, uh-uh.'

'Did you see her Wednesday morning?'

'No.'

Spencer was itching to talk to Conni.

He asked Will to fingerprint Albert and take a hair and blood sample.

'I want to speak with Frankie. Where does he live?'

'One of the frat houses. Phi Beta Epsilon. At the very end of Frat Row. Past the President's House. But you won't get him he hasn't come back yet.'

Spencer perked up. 'Hasn't come back yet? Why?'

'I don't know why.'

'Isn't this exams time?'

'Yeah.'

Thoughtfully, Spencer scratched his face. 'Where's home?'

'Don't know. Boston, somewhere.'

Spencer felt there was something there, he just didn't know what. Something.

'One last question, Albert. Did you kill Kristina Kim?'

'No!' said Albert immediately and emphatically. 'She was my friend.'

'Do you know who killed her?'

'No, certainly not.'

Spencer and Will both nodded.

On the way out, Spencer said to Albert, 'Two days ago we had a missing-dog report here. Some mutt went missing for a few hours and his mistress, a ninety-two-year-old widowed woman, went crazy.'

'Oh, no,' said Albert. 'Was the dog found?'

'Yes. Dead,' replied Spencer. 'But isn't it a shame that Kristina didn't belong to a ninety-two-year-old lady?'

Spencer was tired, and his tone with Conni was brusque. Will was silent. After Conni told Spencer she was from Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, he sat for a long time staring into his notebook, pretending to be reading his notes, but he was thinking about Kristina. She had told him her former roommate was from Cold Spring Harbor. Spencer remembered because he was a cop, and also because he was from Farmingville, Long Island.

A chasm the size of China separated Cold Spring Harbor from Farmingville, though the two towns were only twenty-five miles apart.

Spencer told Conni where he was from.

Farmingville, she said, her eyes pretending to be lost in thought. 'I think I heard of that. Is that somewhere near Route One-ten?'

Not even close, Spencer wanted to tell her, shaking his head. You're near Route 110. 'You're thinking of Farmingdale.'

Ah, yes, she said, giggling. 'Silly me.'

Conni tried to engage Spencer in a conversation about Long Island: when was he back there last, did he miss it, what brought him to Hanover? But Spencer had already shut off this bubbly girl. He needed to get to the big stuff.

He let Will ask Constance how long she'd known Kristina, how was it being roommates with her, did Conni know anyone who might not like Kristina or wish her harm.

'No,' Conni said, with her head bobbing, her painted eyebrows twitching, trying to smile as pleasantly as possible. 'No, she was very well liked. Everybody liked her. Everybody. She was very likable, you know.' Her face contorted a bit, and she added, 'You couldn't help but like her. And she was beautiful, too.'

His face tensing, Spencer wanted to agree that from what he knew of Kristina, she did indeed seem very likable. And very beautiful.

'I know some girls used to be jealous of her. But we all forgave her for her looks once we got to know her, she was so sweet.' Conni paused. 'I know some girls used to talk about her behind her back, you know, catty, like. Why doesn't she brush her hair more, or why doesn't she put a little makeup on.'

'Jealous, yes, but not enough to kill her over, I would think.'

Conni's eyes opened wide. 'You think someone killed her? I don't believe it, I don't. Not here, not at Dartmouth. Why? I think it was an accident.'

Spencer eyed her carefully. 'You think so, do you? What do you know about it?'

Stammering, Conni said, 'Nothing. Just what you told me.'

'I told you very little.'

Conni bent down to scratch her leg. She did not look at Spencer or make a comment. There is something she knows that's making her itch with worry, thought Spencer. Jim wouldn't look at me, Albert looked straight at me, and Conni is itching.

'Constance, when was the last time you saw Kristina?'