Chapter 76: Getting It All Out in the Open

December 1984, Chicago, Illinois

On Sunday morning after breakfast, my usual call to Karin, and a call to Katt and Mikael, I dialed Doctor Bauer's home number. A woman answered and called him to the phone.

"Hi, Doctor Bauer, this is Steve Adams. I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I have some critical information about the cheating scandal that you need to know right away. I have a couple of people who will testify about what they know about it. One of them is from the University of Chicago, so if we can meet in the evening, that would be best."

"Let's meet today in my office. I was planning to be there this afternoon to work on a report. I'll call the Dean and see if he's free. He lives in Hyde Park, not too far from you. Be in my office at 2:00pm unless you hear from me."

I agreed, and after I hung up, I went to find Kara, Elyse, and Bert. He'd spent the night because he didn't want to run into Callie on campus. I let them know about the meeting and said that we'd leave around 1:20pm so that we had time to park, walk to the Stuart Building, and still be fifteen minutes early.

I picked up the phone and dialed Pete and Melanie's number. I figured I could get good advice from them on how to handle things. Melanie answered, and I explained the issue. She asked a bunch of questions which I answered.

"Well, I have exactly one partially complete semester of law school, but Rules of Evidence is one of my classes. This isn't a government thing because IIT is a private school, so the rules will be more lax, but basically, your best bet is to write out everything you remember and stick to exactly what you know. If you don't know or don't remember, don't fudge anything. Simply say that you don't know or don't remember.

"As for the threats that she made, I think you'll probably get some grief about making out with her, but if you really only danced with her and kissed, you should be fine. In the end, if it's as you say, it's going to look like she tried to seduce you and you backed out. Your friend's testimony that she threatened a false rape report will be huge. Otherwise, it sounds like you'll be fine. The fact that your friends will say that she offered them the tests is pretty damning evidence, though it would be tempered by the fact that Kara is your lover. I assume she is again?"

"Yes. And Elyse still is. Bert most definitely is not!" I chuckled.

Melanie laughed, "That's the ONE thing I can be sure about with you. You realize how dumb it was to kiss that girl, don't you?"

"Yes. I'm an idiot, but you've known that for years," I chuckled. "And I'll tell Doctor Bauer that straight up."

"Hang on, Pete's asking to talk to you. He's been listening to one side of the conversation."

"Steve?" Pete said. "If I understand what's going on, you're completely clean on this, but you made a foolish mistake. Make damn sure you tell whoever is investigating exactly what you did and admit your foolishness up front. That will disarm her claims. You need to make sure you get to them first, though. A free admission of a fault is the quickest way to deflect the kind of false claims she's likely to make. At least in a private hearing like this."

"Thanks, Pete. I already scheduled a meeting with the Department Head and the Dean for this afternoon."

"One other point, which I didn't hear Melanie say — if there is even the slightest chance that you think that you are under suspicion, get a lawyer right away. I know that you can afford one, and as smart as my wife is, she's only a first-year law student."

"It was nice knowing you, Pete," I chuckled.

He laughed, "She's looking daggers at me right now, but it's the truth, and she knows it. Don't mess around with this. You're going to graduate in a few months and you want to make damned sure that you do and that your academic record is clean. And you sure as hell don't want my friends at the Bureau to know about this."

"Oh God damn! Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the tip."

I thanked him and then sat down and wrote out a detailed description of everything that I'd done in the past week, leaving out nothing. I might take some lumps for the make-out session, but Callie was going to have a hell of a time claiming that I'd somehow orchestrated everything. I thought about what I might be able to offer as evidence and realized that I didn't have much in the way of concrete proof.

They wouldn't be able to use my lifestyle against me because I could show income from the sale of my business and the income from the union work I was doing. I also could show that the money to buy the house and upgrade the basement had come from my dad. I also couldn't imagine that the amount of money that had changed hands was huge, though I didn't know exactly how broad a scandal this was. Tech News had simply called the cheating 'widespread' without any numbers attached.

When I finished, I suggested that Kara and Bert try to remember the day or days that Callie talked to them, and do their best to remember exactly what had been said and what had transpired. They both sat down in my study to make their notes while I made lunch. After we ate, I let the other girls know that I'd be out most of the afternoon, and asked Katy to see if Jackie and Jamie wanted to stay for dinner.

Kara, Bert, Elyse, and I left the house as planned, and headed down to IIT. After parking in the nearly empty commuter lot, we walked across State Street, then across 29th Street to the Stuart building. We went to the 2nd floor where Doctor Bauer's office was located and went in. The door to his inner office was open, so I went to the doorway and let him know that we were there. He said he'd be ready for us as soon as Dean Stauffer arrived.

We waited about ten minutes until the Dean of Students arrived, greeting us quickly as he went straight into Doctor Bauer's office. After a few more minutes, Doctor Bauer called us into his office and asked us to sit.

"What do you have for us, Mr. Adams?" he asked.

"Kara Blanchard and Bert Townsend are both here to tell you that Callie Shepherd offered to sell them copies of chemistry and calculus midterm exams. Bert is also going to tell you about a threat Callie made. Elyse Clarke, from the University of Chicago, is here to witness what happened between Callie and me at my house last night. And I'm here to explain how this all came about."

"I'd like to hear from Miss Blanchard and Mr. Townsend first," Dean Stauffer said. "Miss Blanchard?"

"About a month ago, Callie Shepherd asked me if I wanted to buy copies of the chemistry and calculus midterm exams. She said that she had access to them, that she'd done this before, and it was perfectly safe. I turned her down and said I wasn't interested. I have an A in both classes and wouldn't need copies of the test, even if I was inclined to cheat, which I'm not."

"Did she tell you how much she wanted for the tests?" Dean Stauffer asked.

"No. I told her I wasn't interested and walked away."

"And why didn't you report that encounter?"

"I didn't want to get involved and didn't want to get anyone in trouble. And I also didn't know if she was telling the truth or not."

"Did you mention this to anyone at all?" he asked.

"Not until yesterday."

"Thank you, Miss Blanchard. Mr. Townsend?"

"Callie offered me the same thing. She told me that each test was $50 and came with an answer key. I told her that I wasn't interested at all, and that I was going to report her. She threatened me by saying she'd accuse me of trying to rape her if I said anything. I also saw her give what looked like test copies to another student and get money in exchange."

"And the name of this student?" Dean Stauffer asked.

Bert sighed, "Sorry, Steve. It was Charlie Johnson, Doctor Stauffer."

I blew out a long breath. She'd lied to me as well. That revelation really hurt, because she'd been the first person I'd chosen for my team and I was so confident than she hadn't been involved. I couldn't imagine Bert lying about it at this point. It appeared that only Bert was completely innocent, assuming that he was telling the complete truth.

"Mr. Townsend, was it your idea to have Steve as your character witness?" Doctor Bauer asked.

"No, that was Callie's idea. She told Charlie to do the same thing. She said that because Steve was your 'pet student', that would protect all of us."

Doctor Bauer smiled grimly, "I'm not sure 'pet student' is right, but he is the top in his class. Go on."

"She tried to seduce him last night, I guess as a way to control him, but his friends here, Kara and Elyse, intervened before he did anything other than dance with her, I guess."

I interrupted, "I kissed her as well. It's all in my document here." I lifted the printout up to show it.

"That was foolish in the extreme, Mr. Adams," Doctor Bauer said sternly. "But we'll talk about that when we get to you."

Bert continued, "I'm pretty sure that she was either going to use the sex against him or make the same threat she did against me. I didn't cheat, and I don't have copies of any exams, and I never, ever, thought Steve was involved in any way."

"How long have you known Miss Shepherd?" Dean Stauffer asked.

"Since Freshman orientation last year. We're both from Wisconsin and we kind of hit it off as friends. We both were invited to Steve's house by Charlie Johnson for the Saturday study group. Steve has helped me a lot. I know he tutored Charlie before he started working, but now he just helps people on Saturdays at his house for free."

"When did you know Miss Shepherd became involved in this?" Doctor Bauer asked.

"Last Spring. She had copies of the chemistry and calculus tests, and some others."

"Do you have any idea how she got them?" Dean Stauffer asked.

"Supposedly from a graduate TA, at least for the math test," Bert said.

Doctor Bauer looked pained. That put it squarely on him, at least with regard to the math tests.

"Do you know if she was the main person involved?" Doctor Bauer said.

"No, I'm pretty sure she was working with a Senior she met when we first came to IIT. Well, he was a Junior then. I don't know his name, though, but I could identify him by sight."

"Thank you, Mr. Townsend. Miss Clarke?"

"I'm just here to back up Steve's story from last night in case Callie makes any accusations and to confirm that all he did was kiss her."

"OK. Then, Mr. Adams," Dean Stauffer said.

I handed both of them copies of what I had written and then talked them through everything. As Pete had advised, I was completely honest about what happened and took responsibility for behaving improperly, especially in light of my conversation with Doctor Bauer and Scott Bannerman the week before.

"I'm disappointed in your behavior, Mr. Adams. You, of all people, should have known better. Whatever Miss Shepherd did to entice you, you are still responsible for behaving in a mature, professional manner. Something like this in the work world could go horribly wrong. I'm hoping that you learn your lesson. There may be some fallout from this, depending on how things go. I assume you're willing to say all of this in a formal situation?"

"I put it in writing," I replied. "I have absolutely nothing to hide. I was stupid to kiss her, but beyond that, I have no involvement. I am, on the other hand, very upset about Charlie. I feel completely betrayed there. Scott's going to need to know, because she's an integral member of my team."

"Mr. Adams, do not say a word to her about this," Dean Stauffer said sternly. "If you do, then I'll bring you up before the disciplinary committee for interfering with our investigation. Is that clear to all of you?"

"Yes," we all said.

"I selected her to make the presentation for my team in Scott's class on Wednesday. What do I do?"

"At this point, nothing," Dean Stauffer instructed. "We won't finish gathering evidence to start any formal disciplinary proceedings before the end of the semester. I've heard nothing about cheating in computer science classes. Charlie?"

"Other than the usual plagiarism of programs that we see from time to time, no. And those are dealt with individually."

"Mr. Adams," Dean Stauffer said, "you get credit for bringing this to our attention as soon as you found out about it. I'll leave it to Doctor Bauer to decide what to do about your interaction with Miss Shepherd, if anything. It will stay within the department unless he thinks it necessary to formally report it."

"I'll take my lumps, Dean Stauffer," I said firmly. "I suspect it will all come out when Callie is brought up on charges before the committee. I was stupid."

"Off the record, you're a young, virile college student. These things happen. ON the record, they better never happen again. Understood?"

I noticed Kara and Elyse suppress giggles. I could tell by the way they made faces. I just hoped that neither Doctor Bauer nor Dean Stauffer caught that.

"Understood," I said firmly.

"Miss Blanchard, at some point you'll need to give a formal statement, but most likely you won't need to come before the investigation committee to testify. My secretary will be in touch. Mr. Townsend and Mr. Adams, you will have to appear and testify. In the next few days, you'll each receive a formal letter requesting that you appear sometime in the next two weeks. Miss Clarke, I have no authority over you. Your testimony would only be necessary if Miss Shepherd makes accusations against Mr. Adams."

"I'll do whatever I need to for Steve," Elyse said.

"Dean Stauffer, are either Bert or I under suspicion of any kind?" I asked.

"Not at this point. Obviously, if evidence surfaces that contradicts anything that either of you said, then that could change. Thanks, all of you. I need to speak to Doctor Bauer privately."

We all got up to leave.

"Mr. Adams," Doctor Bauer said, "please wait for me to finish with Dean Stauffer, so we can talk."

"Yes, Sir," I said.

The four of us left the inner office, and I pulled the door closed behind us. Bert let out a huge sigh of relief.

"All of you should avoid Callie," Elyse said. "Steve already told her that she's not welcome at the house. Charlie is a different situation, at least for now."

"No kidding," I said. "Do you know how difficult this is going to be? I want to replace her in Scott's class, but there's no way I can do that. She lied to my face! And I fucking believed her!"

"I hate to say this, but it won't be the last time someone does that to you," Elyse said. "Just be glad that Kara said something. If that had gone any further, you might be in very serious trouble. Will Doctor Bauer do anything?"