"They're here," his secretary said from the door.

He waved a hand. The secretary relayed the gesture and stood aside while four girls entered the room. They were Julie's friendsAlicia, Deirdre, Tia, and Annie. They had called earlier to ask to see him, to his relief. If he had been the one to call them, he would have been accused of tampering with potentially hostile witnesses. Now he was simply the Head of Mount Court being accessible to his students.

He motioned them to sit and perched on the corner of the radiator.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, as if he didn't know.

Alicia, the spokeswoman apparent, said, "We heard what happened this morning."

"How?" he asked, as if he didn't know.

"Julie told us. She said she wasn't supposed to, and she made us promise not to do anything, but she's really upset. She said you don't believe her. But we saw, Mr. Perrine."

He sat very still. "You saw what?"

"We saw her with Dr. Grace."

"Doing what?"

"They were hugging. It was at the hospital, right in front of everyone."

Noah might have moaned in disgust, if he hadn't had faith in Paige, who had faith in Peter. "What kind of hug was it?"

Alicia looked confused, clearly caught off guard.

"What do you mean?" Deirdre asked.

"Was it a friendly hug?"

"What other kinds are there?"

"There are passionate ones. Or desperate ones. There are relieved ones. And victorious ones."

"They were wrapped in each other's arms."

"Uh-huh," Noah acknowledged. "That's how I'd define a hug. What I want to know is what kind you saw."

"It was a hug," Alicia insisted, as though that made it all clear.

"Then perhaps there wasn't anything wrong with it," Noah pointed out.

ill hugged youremember when we all made it across Knife Edgeand no one thought anything amiss. Did you think I was coming on to you?"

Alicia colored. Quickly she said, "No."

"But you're sure that the way Dr. Grace and Julie were hugging suggested they were having an affair. How do you know? What did you see that suggested passion? Did they kiss?"

"Maybe later."

"Did you see them do it?"

"No."

"Did they hold hands when they were drawing apart?

Alicia sought the others' help, but they remained quiet. "No," she conceded, then added, "They couldn't do that. Everyone was watching."

"They were watching the hug, too. I take it that it was less suggestive than hand holding?

Pretty innocent, huh?" When Alicia didn't respond, he said, "Okay.

Let's talk about words. Did they say anything to each other at the time of this hug? Make any promises? Set a date for later?"

Tia said, "We didn't hear. We were on our way downstairs."

"Just because we didn't hear anything," Deirdre put in "doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"Yet you choose to believe that it did," Noah said.

"Because Julie says."

Noah drew in a deep breath and sat straighter. "Well, I say that Julie is in a whole lot of trouble and wants someone to share the heat. So she's fingering Dr. Grace, who is old enough to be her father and, by the way, has no trouble finding women closer to his own age. Why would he be interested in an eighteen-year-old?"

"Men always like younger women." Always?

"A lot of the time."

"Are you speaking from personal experience, Deirdre? Has Dr. Grace ever come on to you?"

"No."

"Or you?" he asked Alicia, who quickly shook her head. "Or you?" he asked the other two.

There wasn't a single nod.

"Yet you jump at the chance to say that he came on to Julie."

"She said he did."

"And you're her friends, so you're supporting her. That's a fine thing to do, assuming the case is a valid one. If not, your support is ill spent. If she's lying, you won't look so great. You'll be walking around here with egg on your faces, because if she's lying, the other kids will know. They'll know that she was fooling around with another student, or maybe with someone at home during fall break, who just happened to get her pregnant, and chances are they'll know who that boy is. Do you think he'll sit back and let Dr. Grace take the fall for him?"

"He'll get in worse trouble if he comes forward," Annie said, and immediately knew she had blundered. She shot a frightened look at the others, who tried their best to ignore her.

Noah didn't home in on her. If he couldn't get a name from the others, he might seek her out separately, but she was the most vulnerable of the bunch. He wouldn't put her on the spot. Not yet.

"The fact is," he said to the group as a whole, "the deed is done.

Julie is pregnant.