Blair hopped out of the car, waving his thanks to the driver as he pulled his cell phone from his backpack. He dialed Rafe’s number as he made his way across the nearly deserted campus and plopped down on one of the stone benches near the lecture hall.

After explaining where he would be waiting and assuring the anxious young detective that he would stay put, Blair tucked his phone into his pack and withdrew his notebook, committing his observations and perceptions to paper before they had a chance to fade.

And this was the moment when his brilliantly devised and executed plan began to unravel. So caught up in putting his thoughts on paper, reliving the exuberance of the last few hours and satisfied with himself that his plan had succeeded, Blair failed to notice the harbinger of doom plastered on the student bulletin board directly behind him.

Rafe had met up with H at a small bar not far from the campus where they had spent the last few hours shooting pool and watching the Jags lose. Eager to cash in on Rafe’s seemingly easy brownie points with Jim, H invited himself along to collect and safely deposit their favorite trouble magnet back at the loft.

Easily spotting Blair sitting alone in the well-lit area outside the lecture hall, the two detectives made their way over to him, both men idly noting the lack of activity on campus.

 “Hey, Blair…where is everybody?” Rafe looked around, eyebrows furrowed, at the empty area. He thought there’d be more students still hanging around, discussing the lecture or making plans to go out. “How was the lecture? Was it as good as you were hoping?”

Blair had noticed the two men approaching and was just getting to his feet, stuffing his notepad into his backpack. He smiled at his friends, the telltale sign of his excitement evident in the characteristic bounce that had begun as soon they neared.

“Oh, man…it was totally unbelievable.” Blair stopped to gauge the interest level of his friends, trying to decide how much, if any, of his rehearsed ‘lecture summary’ would be needed.

Rafe was directly in front of him, trying to decide how much of his rehearsed ‘I’m really interested’ oh’s and ah’s would be needed.

H cut things off before any of it was necessary. “Ah, Hairboy? You might want to choose your next words veeeery carefully.”  He raised his eyebrows suggestively, looking from Blair to Rafe to a point beyond Blair’s right shoulder.

Rafe peered past Blair’s shoulder just as Blair turned his body to face the previously ignored bulletin board.

Posted on the large rectangle of plywood was the usual assortment of notices, playbills and books, etc. ‘For sale’ slips were tacked, stapled or otherwise pasted across the surface…some still neatly hanging, others beginning to shred around the edges from prolonged exposure to the elements.

Directly in Blair’s line of sight was the colorful poster that had piqued his interest two weeks earlier when it had first been posted. Splattered with abstract depictions of South American tribal masks and stylized representations of figures dancing to the beat of unseen musicians, the poster declared that Ranier University was proud to host a rare public lecture by the world famous anthropologist, Dr. Anthony Mason.

A narrow strip of white paper had been stapled diagonally across the face of the poster. In simple black letters that stood out in stark contrast to the rainbow beneath, it stated, to Blair’s dismay:

LECTURE CANCELLED

One didn’t have to be a sentinel to read Blair’s body language. It was obvious by the total cessation of movement that the cancellation notice came as a complete surprise to the young grad student.

“Hairboy…you are sooooo busted.” H shook his head in mock sympathy at the motionless youngster who was staring, mouth agape, at the traitorous words in front of him.

Rafe stared at the poster in disbelief for several moments. Then his gaze began to dart back and forth between Blair and the poster, his mouth wordlessly opening and closing, his right forefinger soon joining the rhythm, pointing first to Blair then at the poster as the realization hit him full force that he had been had.

“You used me…how could you do this to me? Jim is gonna kill me.”

Blair quickly recovered and decided he would be wise to once again stick as close to the truth as possible. “I went to a party instead…that’s all. No big deal, it’s just that, well, you know how Jim’s been lately, man, and I didn’t want to take the chance on him saying no.” The puppy dog eyes were turned up full force and directed first at Rafe, then H…for good measure. “Nothing happened…see, here I am all in one piece.”

Rafe turned desperately to H. “What are we going to do? If we turn him in and Jim punishes him I’ll feel awful. Even though he does deserve to be punished for this…” Rafe pinned Blair with a stern glare. “And on the other hand if we don’t turn him in and Jim finds out the kid lied and that we knew then we’re dead meat.”

“What do you mean we, kemosabe?” H was sniggering and chortling trying hard to not to break into all out laughter as he studied the stunned looks on the two younger men’s faces. “You’re his alibi, babe…I’m just along for the ride.” H clapped his partner on the back and offered only a small tidbit of support. “Good luck.”

Blair realized this had gone too far. These guys were his good friends and they had only been trying to help him out. He was responsible for his own actions, no matter what the consequences.

“Just take me home, guys. This mess is of my own making. I’ll tell Jim everything.”

Yes.

No.

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