Dr. Thompson managed to keep his cool until he was back inside the building, but that was as long as he could hold it, even in front of students. “That idiot!” he fumed, and not softly. “That fucking moron! That useless son of a bitch!” No one needed to ask who; it was clear he was talking about deRidder. “Why in hell would he want to do something like that? Now we’ve got to pack the horse shit back into the horse or we’re really going to look like idiots!”

It may have been his last statement that brought him back to his senses, or at least ended his rant, though it was clear that he could fire it up again at any time. “Susan,” he said. “I can’t have you just sitting on the phone. Find a student, any student, and have them do it. Tell them to take any calls but not say anything.”

“I can do it, Dr. Thompson,” Nick said.

“Good, you’re elected,” he replied. “I’ll modify what I just said since you were there just now. You can repeat what was said outside just now, but don’t add to it or embellish it. Stick to the facts, and as few of them as possible.”

“I can do that,” Nick said. “I’m just glad to help out.”

“Believe me, it’s appreciated. Susan, I’m going to need you upstairs. Get hold of Natalie, get her in here as soon as she can make it, we’re going to need an extra set of hands. I want to call an administrators’ meeting as soon as we can get a few people there. You, me, George Wilt.” He stopped to think, and added four or five more names.

“Let me at my phone,” she replied.

“Get whoever of them you can to my office in, hell, no more than half an hour and I’d prefer less. Use Natalie’s desk until she gets in, that way we can coordinate who we’ve talked to. And especially, get that goddamn deRidder, tell him it’s urgent. I don’t want to talk to that bastard right now, but I want him to explain in front of every administrator we can find what the hell he was thinking of.”

“I might have a hint of that,” she said, “but we don’t have time to cover it now.”

“We’ll find out,” the president said. “Chief, thanks for backing me up out there. We’ve got to sit down and talk about campus security, but later, not now, other than my saying you were right and I was wrong.”

Chief Bascomb had known campus security was too thin all along, but had been wondering the last hour if Dr. Thompson was going to see the light after today. Now it looked like he was. “Right, we can do it once we’ve got things more in order here. But I’ve got a question to ask.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“All we know about the shooter is his name, Kyle Reed, but I’m thinking from what he was heard shouting that he may have attended Hawthorne College. If we can get into his records we might be able to learn a little bit about him, like maybe a next of kin. Do you know where the Hawthorne College records are held?”

“We maintain them. It used to be done by one of the trustees of the old school, but he died a while back and his widow asked us to take on the job. They’re still on paper, over in the Dean of Students office.”

“It sure would be nice to get a look at them as quickly as possible.”

“Sure,” Dr. Thompson said. “Susan, I’m not sure who actually handles the files, possibly Dorothy Bennett. Get hold of her and find out. If she doesn’t handle them she’d know who would. I don’t want that goddamn deRidder involved at all or he’d screw that up too.”

When they got back to the room, the investigation was still in progress. Cody and a few others were there, doing what they needed to do. Dr. Thompson paused in his rant long enough to say, “Officer Archer, I need to speak with you for a moment.”

“What do you need, Dr. Thompson?”

The president let out a big sigh. “Look,” he said. “I was just informed outside that the Dean of Students suspended you as a student. If what I was told is correct, it was because he thought you were in violation of campus policy by carrying a firearm on campus. I will tell you right now that if he did indeed suspend you, that suspension is rescinded. You did well here today, and you don’t deserve to be slapped in the face for it. Keep your cool, and I’d ask you to not say anything to the press until we get a few things straightened out.”

“Thank you, Dr. Thompson,” he replied. “That’s the first I heard of it, though.”

“With any kind of luck it’ll also be the last of it. You did the student body of Southern proud today, and we are honored that we’re associated with you.” He turned and faced the other students in the room. “Jan, Jack, Laura, and miss, I don’t know your name …”

“Vixen Hvalchek.”

“Miss Hvalchek. The four of you also did Southern Michigan University proud today, and we’re going to have to find some way to thank you. Chief, you still want these kids to stay around for a while, right?”

“If possible.”

“Susan, call over to the bookstore, if they’re still open. They’re supposed to be but might not after all the ruckus. Get some T-shirts or sweat shirts over here for these girls to wear. When they are allowed to leave this building they’ll probably be ambushed by the press and we don’t want that to happen with just blankets wrapped around them. One for Jan, too, her shirt is bloody.” He turned back to Laura and Vixen. “That will do for now, but we’ll find some better way to thank you as soon as this is straightened out.”

“Thank you, Dr. Thompson,” Laura said. “I wanted to ask someone but everyone is busy doing important things.”

“Don’t think what you’re doing isn’t important,” he replied. “And what’s more, what you say to the press the next few days is even more important. All I’m asking is that you tell the truth as you saw it.”

“No problem,” Vixen told him.

“Good. Chief, I’ve got a spare pair of sneakers up in my office that should fit you. I’ll have someone bring them to you here so you don’t wear holes in those socks you have on. Susan, Nick, let’s get going. We’ve got things to do and we need to get doing them now.”

“Chief, one more thing,” Susan asked. “Do you think you can have these kids available for the four o’clock press conference at Tottenhaven Hall?”

“I’ll make sure they’re there.”

*   *   *

Much to Summer and Alan’s amazement, there was an animated discussion in Reverend Fowler’s car as he drove them back to the Spearfish Lake House. The reason both Summer and Alan were amazed was that they pretty much thought of Christians as being the enemy, and their work on Witches versus Christians had only hardened their beliefs. But Reverend Fowler’s friendly discussion was not what they expected at all!

There were still police cars and ambulances up the street when the Reverend stopped his car in front of the house. “We really thank you for the ride,” Summer told him. “And really, for your interesting thoughts as well.”

“No big problem,” Reverend Fowler smiled. “But I have to say you’ve gotten me thinking about several things, and after what happened this morning and talking to you I can see I’m going to have to rewrite my sermon for tomorrow.”

“Well,” Alan laughed. “I’m afraid we can’t help you much with that.”

“Yes, you can,” Reverend Fowler replied. “I’ve always had an interest in other people’s religions, why they feel the way they do, the traditions, and things of that nature, and I would like to talk to the two of you about it a little more. I find I don’t know much about Wicca, but from the little bit you’ve told me I’ve learned a lot.”

“Sure,” Summer was surprised to hear herself saying. “We don’t go searching for believers, but instead prefer to let them come to us.”

“At my age you’re not likely to convert me, young lady,” he grinned. “But that’s not my point. I don’t know much about what happened in the shooting today, but one thing is clear to me, and it’s that the shooter was filled with hate. Hate for what Hawthorne College has become, of course, but obviously hate for others who don’t believe the same things he did.”

“To the extent that I’ve thought about it, I believe you’re probably right,” Summer replied. “I do know that many Christians hate Wiccans for not sharing their beliefs.”

“Sadly true,” Reverend Fowler smiled. “And it has gone on far too long. There have been far too many wars fought over people hating other people’s religions, and they are still going on today. But I prefer to believe in a God of love, not a God of hate. Despite all the words that have been written over the years, I believe that to be true.”

“In essence, Wiccans feel much the same way, that the Goddess is love personified,” Summer agreed. “At least that’s true in our branch of it, but it would not surprise me if others don’t feel the same way. Wiccans … well, we’re even more splintered than Christians, if such a thing is possible.”

“Now we’re getting near what I was thinking about,” the Reverend said. “I’ve got some work to do, but my sermon tomorrow will be about love and tolerance of others who don’t share our beliefs. Just because we have different beliefs does not mean we have to hate each other. When I saw the two of you praying to your Goddess for the intercession to save your friends, I was struck by the similarities between us, not the differences. So, with your permission, I’d like to use that and the incident on campus today as the basis of my sermon.”

“Sure,” Summer replied. “I have no problem with that.”

“Me, either,” Alan said, and added, “You don’t need our permission though.”

“Now I’m going to shoot the moon,” Reverend Fowler continued. “I would also like to introduce you to my congregation tomorrow as an example of fellow believers in love, not hate.”

*   *   *

Weekends being what they are, Susan had only mixed luck in tracking down people from the list Dr. Thompson had thrown at her so casually. He could see she was having trouble with it, and helped her make some of the calls. After much effort, by the end of the half hour Dr. Thompson had declared, only the two of them were in his office, along with George Wilt, the Admissions Director, Sharon Presley, the Housing Director, and Larry Bestwick, the Maintenance and Services Director.

All of them were waiting when deRidder came into the president’s office. “You wanted to see me, Dr. Thompson?” he asked.

“Yes,” the president replied, obviously trying to hold his anger in check, though those who knew him didn’t think he’d keep it for long. “After the trouble this morning we have a few things that need to be straightened out. We’ve had some problems this morning, which put the name of Southern Michigan University in front of the world, and there was a chance to do it and give some positive spin to it.”

Dr. Thompson paused for a moment, willing himself to hold his temper but not managing it very well. “At least we had a chance to do it before some idiot administrator ran off at the mouth and managed to make us look stupid beyond belief. Charles, what in the hell were you thinking about?”

“Me?” deRidder replied, not sure of what Dr. Thompson was talking about – but he could see that the president was angry indeed.

“Yes you! What in hell were you thinking of, first to expel Cody Archer, and then run off at the mouth about it on national television?”

“Archer was and is a danger to the students of this college,” deRidder replied, sure of his ground. “He’s a known killer, who murdered two citizens in the town I used to work in and somehow managed to get away with it. He was reported by several students to be carrying a gun in the Community Services Center this morning. A student carrying a firearm is a clear violation of several campus policies, so I expelled him.”

“You … fucking … idiot!” Dr. Thompson replied in a low but extremely serious voice. “Don’t you realize that Archer was the one who stopped that Reed character who was shooting innocent students this morning?”

“I hadn’t heard that,” deRidder replied, holding his ground. “But the fact remains that he was carrying a gun, and is a known killer, so the college is better off without him around. A loose cannon like that is a danger to the students here.”

“Jesus H. Christ, what did I do to deserve having a flaming idiot like you around?” Dr. Thompson replied, still semi-calm in that he wasn’t screaming at the top of his lungs, but obviously extremely upset. “Don’t you realize that Cody Archer is a police officer? He has every right to be carrying a gun and we have to be thankful he was. With any kind of luck, if that Simpkins girl does survive, Reed won’t have killed anyone, but if Archer hadn’t stopped him we could be talking body counts.”

“A police officer?” deRidder shook his head. “I can’t believe it. How could a killer like him be a police officer?”

“He’s been a police officer here since early in his first year on campus,” Dr. Thompson replied, still not shouting, but very, very serious. “I’ve known about it since shortly after he was enrolled here. Believe me, I have had discussions with the local police chief about Archer carrying a weapon on campus. I personally was opposed to it, but Chief Bascomb pointed out to me that he has a right to it.”

“But Archer wasn’t on duty,” deRidder protested, beginning to see the problem now.

“Archer was on duty,” the president informed him. “He’s been on intermittent plainclothes duty on the campus for some time and trying to keep a low profile about it. Hell, you should know about it because he was the first officer on the scene of that attempted rape the week before last. He was the arresting officer, for God’s sake, and he was plainclothes then, too. Are you trying to tell me you didn’t know that?”

“I knew an arrest had taken place but I haven’t seen a report of the details.”

“I don’t know how you could have missed it, it was on the front page of the local paper,” Dr. Thompson said ominously.

“I don’t read the local paper,” deRidder replied. “But if an incident like that took place on campus, I should have received a report on it. In any case, it doesn’t matter. Archer was in clear violation of the rules by carrying a gun on campus, at least with the information I had, and I took the necessary action.”

“You idiot,” Thompson said, clearly ready to explode now. “Do you have any idea what you did? Any idea at all? Even the anti-gun nuts are going to be calling Officer Cody Archer a hero for bringing a stop to what would have been a mass homicide with many casualties! And that’s the anti-gun nuts. Do you have any idea how high the National Rifle Association is going to blow when they find out about it? Not only do they have guns, they have one of the best public relations and lobbying efforts in the business. Somehow, through sheer fucking stupidity, you’re going to have both of them pissed off at us!”

“That doesn’t matter,” deRidder said, still sure of his ground – or at least defending his decision. “The fact remains that Archer is a known killer who murdered two citizens, and now after today he can carve another notch into the butt of his gun.”

By then, Susan had about all she could take, and she was fearing for Dr. Thompson’s blood pressure. He was red in the face, and clearly about to explode. “Dr. Thompson, Mr. deRidder,” she spoke up. “If I may clarify that statement.”

“Please do,” Dr. Thompson replied, realizing that Susan might be the voice of reason.

“In early December of 2007,” she replied calmly, “Cody Archer, then a high school student at Spearfish Lake High School, was on his way home from practice at a local firing range. He happens to be one of the best shots with a pistol in the state, and has won several state championships. On his way home he happened on two men raping a young girl, who happened to be one of his school classmates. He could see that she had been badly beaten and was near death. He attempted to notify the local police, but was unsuccessful, so in hopes of intimidating the two, he took the pistol he’d been using at the firing range, entered the room through an unlocked and open door, and called on the two rapists to stop and get off the girl. Instead, both the men reached for a shotgun that was lying on the floor. Archer fired a warning shot, and when the two didn’t stop, he shot and killed both of them. The local prosecutor ruled the killings justifiable homicide through self-defense and prevention of a felony involving great bodily harm.”

“How would you know that?” deRidder sneered. “Were you there?”

“No, I was not,” Susan replied. “In fact, I was in Japan at the time.”

“Then how would you possibly have any idea of what you’re talking about? I was the superintendent of schools at the time, and I know that Archer shot two citizens in cold blood.”

By now Susan’s back was up, mostly through deRidder’s attitude. “Mr. deRidder,” she said icily. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, you’re some young graduate of this place who Dr. Thompson brought in to meddle in affairs that aren’t any of your business. If you were in Japan, how would you know about what happened in Spearfish Lake four years ago?”

“Mr. deRidder,” she said, even more coldly than earlier. “I can see you don’t remember me. But in your time in Spearfish Lake, did you ever run across a man by the name of Mike McMahon?”

“Yes, he was the local newspaper editor.”

“I happen to be his daughter,” she replied. “Although I was not present at the time, I know a good deal about the affair, partly through my father, and partly through talking with several of the parties involved, including Cody Archer and the local police chief, Charles Wexler. Quite clearly, I investigated that incident in considerably more depth than you bothered to do as superintendent of schools.”

“Now see here, young lady …”

“No, you see here, Mr. deRidder,” she said, staring him down. “In fact, Dr. Thompson, I know considerably more about the aftermath than that. Following the incident, Mr. deRidder, then the superintendent of schools in Spearfish Lake, attempted to expel Cody Archer from school. He was blocked by the fact that the incident happened off school property, outside of school hours, and the school had no jurisdiction. At the beginning of the next school year, Mr. deRidder managed to get a new principal to in fact expel Cody Archer anyway, in violation of several state laws. Archer’s father sued the school, and the school lost the judgment. The actual amount of the judgment is still pending but could run into seven figures, all because Mr. deRidder, in violation of state law, decided that Cody Archer was a danger to the students of the school.”

“But he was a danger to them,” deRidder said. “He was a known killer! I couldn’t take the risk that he’d just walk into the school some day and start shooting!”

“Dr. Thompson,” Susan said. “Every day we take the risk that an unknown fanatic could walk into this institution and start shooting. Today it happened. It is a risk we have to take unless we want to install very extensive security measures on the order of airline security. Cody acted responsibly and honorably, both today and when he rescued that girl. Mr. deRidder was the one who went off half-cocked without knowledge of the facts, both then and today. I might add that we have an extra reason to be glad that Cody took that action four years ago, and the girl he rescued that night is now Jan Archer. If the Simpkins girl does survive, it will be because of the actions she took today.”

“That’s all water over the dam,” deRidder said. “The fact remains that Cody Archer is a known killer, who now has been responsible for three dead, not two. I won’t let our students take the risk of having him around, and how he managed to become a police officer is beyond me.”

“Miss McMahon,” Dr. Thompson said. “Is what you’ve just said true?”

“It’s all a matter of public record,” she replied. “Dr. Thompson, I come from a newspaper family and I’ve worked around them since I was small. If I had an opinion not based on verifiable facts I would have stated that it was my opinion.”

“I thought so,” he replied. “Mr. deRidder, you may have a point, but the fact remains that you acted without full knowledge of the facts, and, if Archer was indeed in violation of university policy, you did not follow proper procedure in acting to expel him. The expulsion is rescinded, upon my order.”

“That’s preposterous! You’re willing to let a killer run free because of this?”

“Even if it was hair-splitting, we can’t let ourselves be made fools of by allowing some idiot to trash a young hero by running roughshod over the rules,” Dr. Thompson said. He turned to George Wilt and continued, “George, would you accompany Mr. deRidder to his office so he can remove his personal belongings, while making sure that any university property, including his computer or files don’t go with him?”

“Gladly,” Wilt said.

“You’re firing me?” deRidder said. “You haven’t heard the last of this.”

“Probably not,” Dr. Thompson smiled. “But I’d better not be hearing any more of it coming from you. For now, this matter is just an internal affair, but if you make one statement to the press I will give them chapter and verse about why you had to be severed from this institution. If I have to do that, any future employer will turn up yards of reasons for my action with the simplest Internet search, and you’re going to have trouble getting a job better than being a fry cook at a burger shack.”

Dr. Thompson shook his head and went on, “Charles, I had my doubts about you when you were hired and I hoped you’d grow into the job. I guess I was wrong on that. You just haven’t had the flexibility to learn about what we have here and why it is unique. You’ve had to be overridden several times because you haven’t learned and show no signs of being willing to learn. We can’t have that here. Now, good day, Mr. deRidder. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

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