Lyle, of course, encouraged him to proceed with his innovations and just ignore her. Randy took this to mean that he had carte blanche and it led to his plagiarizing her laboratory manual as well as the published texts and atlas of other authors.

Henry brought his attention back to the hearing just as Jane was asking Randy to explain how he had found the 'suspicious' critiques.

He answered, leaning forward toward her in his eagerness and excitement, "In looking through the student critiques I found these that didn't seem to be right. That is, the comments were not expressed the way a medical student would.

"I also saw that the handwriting was different. Not the way students write but like the handwriting of old people.

So then I went back and looked through other years for similar handwriting." He explained that he, Randy, had found all three SmurFFs which he had brought to Lyle and asked that they be sent to a doc.u.ment examiner because he thought these were written by Trenchant.

Responding to a very leading question from a.n.u.se, Randy agreed, "Yes, these evaluations had been very harmful to me in that they tended to undermine my confidence in my ability to teach radiology and could affect my reappointment."

Esther broke in, "Five evaluations out of nearly 200?"

"Well most of the 200 were pretty bad." Suddenly realizing how this sounded, he quickly amended, "You see, it was the kind of comments that tipped me off that they were not real student feedbacks. They didn't sound the same. She was making these kinds of comments to the students--exerting influence on them to write the derogatory remarks. That's what was undermining my confidence."

a.n.u.se brought him sharply back out of harm's way by asking if there had been trouble between him and Trenchant.

This opened a floodgate of accusation and crocodillian remorse.

He had no idea why she would be so resentful of him since he had gone out of his way to be nice to her. "Once, I even complimented her on the cute sweater she was wearing.

Instead of acting normally, she complimented me on my cute shirt.

Go figure!"

Pressed to answer what he thought might be her reason to sabotage him with fict.i.tious student evaluations, he lost it.

Although he had been carefully coached by both the chairman of NERD and the university attorney, all that training went out the window.

The mask slipped and his answer was pure, vitriolic, undiluted, vintage Randy.

Perhaps it was because he sensed a kindred spirit in Frank a.n.u.se.

"Well," sneered Randy, "you know broads, they get crazier than ever at that age and. . ."

Oh, G.o.d, thought Henry and nearly shouted, "It's getting late,"

over the rest of what Randy was about to say. "This would be a good time to adjourn for the day. All right?"

He glanced around quickly, stood up and was halfway to the door before anyone could disagree. d.a.m.ned idiot, he thought to himself.

He'd see to it that this boy got a talking to and had his priorities straight as well as his head before he came back the next day.

Henry kept his bad mood at bay with difficulty during the drive home by thinking only of his comfortable chair and a huge drink. . .or two before dinner. He had just entered the door and placed his briefcase on the hall table when his wife's voice floated down the stairs, jarring the h.e.l.l out of him.

"That you, Henry? Hurry up now and get dressed, we're due at the Bakers in half an hour."

Henry groaned. "Not tonight, s.h.i.t!" Then almost immediately, he recollected that the Bakers were giving a party and it was most important that he be present. No help for it, he'd have to bite the bullet. Casting a fond look at his Lazy Boy as he pa.s.sed the entrance to the living room, he ascended the stairs feeling like a doomed man mounting a scaffold.

"You look like death warmed over," his wife, Kate, announced caustically, as she met him at the top of the stairs.

You're no raving beauty yourself, Henry thought. Kate was an athletic, slender woman of forty-two. She neither thought herself beautiful or required that others did. Henry often lamented the fact that with all the money they had, she could afford to go to one of the many body shops and get some or all of her sagging flesh lifted, but Kate opted to live naturally and age gracefully. He was continually after her to at least wear makeup but she adamantly refused.

When they were married, Henry didn't mind the over a decade age difference between them. Kate was an exciting woman-- an exciting, rich woman. Her money had been the deciding factor in asking her to marry him and it was one reason he stayed married to her. The other was that he basked in the prestige her place in society lavished on him.

"Go on in and get your shower and hurry up. We're going to be late as it is."

"Oh, h.e.l.l, it doesn't matter if we're a bit late for this.

Everyone understands that I'm really busy with this d.a.m.ned hearing,"

Henry grumbled as he made his way to the ornate bathroom.

When he entered his bedroom a few minutes later wrapped in a towel, Kate called through the connecting door from her room to ask how the hearing was going. Her innocent question brought the whole disgusting mess back, along with the foul humor that went along with it.

Henry set down heavily on his bed. "What a day. You wouldn't believe the absolute stupidity of that NERD chairman and his little boy bad, Fecesi.

You'd think after all the trouble they took to have this hearing take place that they would at least be prepared. But no, Lyle couldn't even remember how many Smurffs were involved--two or three. As if that wasn't bad enough, he let that d.a.m.ned woman, Trenchant, tie him up in knots on cross examination.

"Then Fecesi testified. He's the guy that actually found these suspicious SmurFFs and I was told that he'd been well coached.

Mark and Lyle both had gone over and over his testimony with him.

The trouble is, the guy is the pits. A h.o.r.n.y, cra.s.s b.a.s.t.a.r.d if I ever saw one. He put on a world cla.s.s demonstration of constipation of the brain and diarrhea of the mouth.

If I hadn't adjourned the hearing when I did, there's no telling what else would have come out of that foul throat of his.

"Now, add to all of that, those stupid broads on the panel got teed-off at the doc.u.ment examiner and apparently aren't convinced now that Trenchant wrote those evaluations at all.

The only one I can depend on is Frank a.n.u.se." Henry buried his head in his lap and ma.s.saged it with both hands.

Kate looked at him without pity. "Serves you right. You and the rest of those sanctimonious b.a.s.t.a.r.ds trying to railroad that woman.

Seven SmurFFs, for G.o.d's sake--it's a greater crime to spit on the gra.s.s.

"As for Fecesi, he's got his brains in his crotch just like the rest of you. The only difference is that he doesn't pretend otherwise--he's a little too direct for you, isn't he?

"Since this whole thing started, I've had more people ask me what the real reason is for going after Diana Trenchant because they just can't believe the SmurFF c.r.a.p.

Everyone on campus knows the SmurFFs are a joke.

n.o.body, but n.o.body takes them seriously."

Henry defended himself vigorously. "Well, it is serious and the SmurFF thing is not all there is to it. That woman has been using her influence over the past three or four years to injure the other faculty in the radiology course," Henry defended himself vigorously.

"Influence? A lecturer with influence? Who did she influence, the dean? The Pope?"

"No. The students. That's why these guys in the course were so hurt by all this. Their yearly evaluation by the students--nearly all the student feedback for them, and the course they directed, were really bad.

And, it's her fault. She manipulated the students to write those bad critiques."

"Pshaw. She manipulated medical students? Since when?

You know, Henry, you can't have it both ways. You claim that your witnesses are stupid and loathsome, then blame Trenchant when the medical students agree with you."

"You just don't understand. She had a chance to resign and didn't take it. Now I'm the one in charge of giving her a fair hearing and I'm not getting any cooperation from the very people who want to get rid of her."

"Fair hearing, Henry? At Belmont, that's a contradiction in terms and you know it. Hurry up and get dressed.

I'll get the car and meet you out front."

THE HEARING - DAY 2

Chapter 14