She walked to it and saw that the door was shut and sealed off with police tape.
Riley stood there, suddenly feeling horribly curious.
What did it look like in there right now?
Had the room been cleaned up since shed last seen it?
Or was Rheas blood still there?
Riley was seized by an awful temptationto ignore that tape and open that door and walk right inside.
She knew better than to give in to that temptation. And of course the door would be locked.
But even so
Why do I feel this way?
She stood there, trying to understand this mysterious urge. She began to realizeit had something to do with the killer himself.
She couldnt help thinking
If I open that door, Ill be able to look into his mind.
It made no sense, of course.
And it was a truly terrifying ideato look into an evil mind.
Why? she kept asking herself.
Why did she want to understand the killer?
Why on earth did she feel such unnatural curiosity?
For the first time since this whole terrible thing had happened, Riley suddenly felt really afraid
not for herself, but of herself.
CHAPTER SIX
The following Monday morning, Riley felt deeply uneasy as she slipped into her seat for her advanced psychology class.
It was, after all, the first class shed attended since Rheas murder four days earlier.
It was also the class shed been trying to study for before she and her friends had gone to the Centaurs Den.
It was sparsely attended todaymany students here at Lanton didnt feel ready to get back to their studies just yet. Trudy was here too, but Riley knew that her roommate was also uncomfortable with this rush to get back to normal. The other students were all unusually quiet as they took their places.
The sight of Professor Brant Hayman coming into the room put Riley a bit more at ease. He was young and quite good-looking in a corduroy-clad academic sort of way. She remembered Trudy telling Rhea
Riley likes to impress Professor Hayman. Shes got a thing for him.
Riley cringed at the memory.
She certainly didnt want to think she had a thing for him.
It was just that shed first studied with him back when shed been a freshman. He hadnt been a professor yet, just a graduate assistant. Shed thought even then he was a wonderful teacherinformative, enthusiastic, and sometimes entertaining.
Today, Dr. Haymans expression was serious as he put his briefcase on his desk and looked at the students. Riley realized that he was going to get right to the point.
He said, Look, theres an elephant in this room. We all know what it is. We need to clear the air. We need to discuss it openly.
Riley held her breath. She felt sure she wasnt going to like what was going to happen next.
Then Hayman said
Did anybody here know Rhea Thorson? Not just as an acquaintance, not just someone youd sometimes run into on campus. Really well, I mean. As a friend.
Riley cautiously put up her hand, and so did Trudy. Nobody else in the classroom did.
Hayman then asked, What kinds of feelings have the two of you been going through since she was killed?
Riley cringed a little.
It was, after all, the same question she had overheard those reporters asking Cassie and Gina on Friday. Riley had managed to avoid those reporters, but was she going to have to answer that question now?
She reminded herself that this was a psychology class. They were here to deal with these kinds of questions.
And yet Riley wondered
Where do I even begin?
She was relieved when Trudy spoke up.
Guilty. I could have stopped it from happening. I was with her at the Centaurs Den before it happened. I didnt even notice when she left. If only Id just walked her home
Trudys voice trailed off. Riley gathered up the nerve to speak.
I feel the same way, she said. I went off to sit by myself when we all got to the Den, and I didnt pay any attention to Rhea. Maybe if I had
Riley paused, then added, So I feel guilty too. And something else. Selfish, I think. Because I wanted to be alone.
Dr. Hayman nodded. With a sympathetic smile he said, So neither of you walked Rhea home.
After a pause, he added, A sin of omission.
The phrase startled Riley a little.
It seemed oddly ill-suited to what Riley and Trudy had failed to do. It sounded too benign, not nearly dire enough, hardly a matter of life and death.
But of course, it was trueas far as it went.
Hayman looked around at the rest of the class.
What about the rest of you? Have you ever doneor failed to dothe same sort of thing in a similar situation? Have you ever, shall we say, let a female friend walk somewhere alone at night when you really ought to have walked her home? Or maybe just neglected to do something that might have been important to someone elses safety? Not taken away somebodys car keys when theyd had a drink too many? Ignored a situation that might have resulted in injury or even death?
A confused murmur passed among the students.
Riley realizedit was really a tough question.
After all, if Rhea hadnt been killed, neither Riley nor Trudy would have given their sin of omission a moments thought.
Theyd have forgotten all about it.
It was hardly any surprise that at least some of the students found it hard to remember one way or the other. And the truth was, Riley herself couldnt remember for sure about herself. Had there been other times when shed neglected to look out for someones safety?
Might she have been responsible for the deaths of othersif it werent for sheer dumb luck?
After a few moments, several reluctant hands went up.
Then Hayman said, What about the rest of you? How many of you just cant remember for sure?
Almost all the rest of the students raised their hands.
Hayman nodded and said, OK, then. Most of you may well have made the same mistake at one time or another. So how many people here feel guilty for the way you acted or the thing you probably should have done but didnt do?
There was more confused muttering and even a few gasps.
What? Hayman asked. None of you? Why not?
One girl raised her hand and stammered, Well it was different because I suppose because nobody got killed, I guess.
There was a general murmur of agreement.
Riley noticed that another man had stepped into the classroom. It was Dr. Dexter Zimmerman, the chairman of the Psychology Department. Zimmerman seemed to have been standing just outside the door listening to the discussion.
Shed had one class with him the semester before lastSocial Psychology. He was an older, rumpled, kindly-looking man. Riley knew that Dr. Hayman looked up to him as a mentoralmost idolized him, actually. A lot of students did too.
Rileys own feelings about Professor Zimmerman were more mixed. Hed been an inspiring teacher, but somehow she didnt relate to him the way most others did. She wasnt sure exactly why.
Hayman explained to the class, I asked Dr. Zimmerman to stop by and take part in todays discussion. He should really be able to help us out. Hes just about the most insightful guy Ive ever known in my life.
Zimmerman blushed and chuckled a little.
Hayman asked him, So what do you make of what you just heard from my students?