Lena asked, "They broke up because she didn't have enough time for him?"

Jenny nodded. "He's her first boyfriend ever. Julia was really upset." She gave Jeffrey a nervous glance. "She really fell hard for him, you know? She was sick, like, with grief, when they broke up. She wouldn't even get out of bed."

Lena lowered her voice, as if to leave Jeffrey out. "I guess when you saw them in the library, they weren't exactly studying."

Jenny glanced at Jeffrey. "No." She laughed nervously.

Lena walked over, blocking his view of the girl. Jeffrey took the hint.

He turned his back to the two women, pretending to take an interest in the contents of Julia's desk.

Lena's voice dropped to a conversational tone. "What do you think about Ryan?"

"You mean, do I like him?"

"Yeah," Lena answered. "I mean, not like like him. I mean, does he seem like a nice guy?"

The girl was quiet for a while. Jeffrey picked up a science book and thumbed through the pages.

Finally, Jenny said, "Well, he was kind of selfish, you know? And he didn't like it when she couldn't see him."

"Kind of controlling?"

"Yeah, I guess," the girl answered. "She's from the sticks, okay? Ryan kind of takes advantage of that. Julia doesn't know a lot about the world. She thinks he does."

"Does he?"

"God, no." Jenny laughed. "I mean, he's not a bad guy-"

"Of course not."

"He's just…" She paused. "He doesn't like for her to talk to other people, okay? He's, like, scared that she'll see there are better guys out there. At least, that's what I think. Julia's kind of been sheltered all her life. She doesn't know to look out for guys like that." Again she paused. "He's not a bad guy, he's just needy, you know? He has to know where she's going, who she'll be with, when she'll be back. He doesn't like for her to have any time to herself at all."

Lena's voice was still low. "He never hit her, did he?"

"No, not like that." Again the girl was silent. Then, "He just yelled at her a lot. Sometimes when I would come back from study group, I would listen at the door, you know?"

"Yeah," Lena said. "To make sure."

"Right," Jenny agreed, a nervous giggle escaping. "Well, one time, I heard him in here and he was being so mean to her. Just saying nasty things."

"Nasty like what?"

"Like that she was bad," Jenny said. "Like that she was going to hell for being so bad."

Lena took her time asking the next question. "He's a religious guy?"

Jenny made a derisive sound. "When it's convenient. He knows that Julia is. She's really into church and all. I mean, she was back home. She doesn't go much here, but she's always talking about being in the choir and being a good Christian and that kind of thing."

"But Ryan's not religious?"

"Only when he thinks he can work her with something. Like he says he's real religious, but he's got all lands of body piercings, and he's always wearing black and he-" She stopped speaking.

Lena lowered her voice. "What?" she asked then, even lower. "I won't tell anybody."

Jenny whispered something, but Jeffrey couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Oh," Lena said as if she had heard it all. "Guys are so stupid."

Jenny laughed. "She believed him."

Lena chuckled with her, then asked, "What did Julia do that was so bad, do you think? I mean, to get Ryan upset at her like that?"

"Nothing," Jenny answered vehemently. "That's what I asked her later. She wouldn't tell me. She just lay in bed all day, not saying anything."

"This was around the time they broke up?"

"Yeah," Jenny confirmed. "Last month, like I said." There was worry in her voice when she asked, "You don't think he has anything to do with her being missing, do you?"

"No," Lena said. "I wouldn't worry about that."

Jeffrey turned around, asking, "What's Ryan's last name?"

"Gordon," the girl supplied. "Do you think Julia's in trouble?"

Jeffrey considered her question. He could tell her not to worry, but that might give the girl a false sense of security. He settled for, "I don't know, Jenny. We'll do everything we can to find her."

A quick visit to the registrar's office revealed that Ryan Gordon was study hall monitor this time of day. The agricultural wing was on the outskirts of the campus, and Jeffrey felt his anxiety build with every step they took across the campus. He sensed the tension coming from Lena as well. Two days had passed with no solid leads. They could very well be about to meet the man who had killed Sibyl Adams.

Granted, Jeffrey was not prepared to be Ryan Gordon's best friend, but there was something about the kid that set Jeffrey against him the minute they met. He had his eyebrow and both ears pierced as well as a ring hanging out from the septum in the middle of his nose. The ring looked black and crusty, more like something you would put in an ox rather than in a human nose. Jenny's description of Ryan Gordon had not been kind, but in retrospect, Jeffrey thought she had been generous. Ryan looked filthy. His face was an oily mix of acne and healing scabs. His hair looked like it had not been washed in days. His black jeans and shirt were rumpled. There was an odd odor coming off him.

Julia Matthews was, by all accounts, a very attractive young woman. How someone like Ryan Gordon had managed to snag her was a mystery to Jeffrey. This said a lot about the type of kid Gordon was, if he could manage to control someone who could quite clearly do a hell of a lot better than him.

Jeffrey noticed the kind part of Lena that had earlier worked Jenny Price was long gone by the time they reached the study hall classroom. She walked purposefully into the room, ignoring the curious glances coming from the other students, mostly male, as she made a beeline for the kid sitting behind the desk in front of the class.

"Ryan Gordon?" she asked, leaning over the desk. Her jacket pulled back, and Jeffrey saw the kid's eyes gave her gun a sharp glance. His lips stayed pressed into a tight, surly line, though, and when he answered, Jeffrey felt the urge to smack him.

Gordon said, "What's it to you, bitch?"

Jeffrey grabbed the kid up by his collar and duckwalked him out of the room. Even as he did this, Jeffrey was certain there would be an angry message from the mayor before he got back to the office.

Outside the study room, he pushed Gordon into the wall. Jeffrey took out his handkerchief, wiping the grease off his hand. "They got showers in your dorm?" he asked.

Gordon's voice was just as whiny as Jeffrey had expected. "This is police brutality."

To Jeffreys surprise, Lena gave Gordon an open-palmed slap.

Gordon rubbed his cheek, his mouth turned down at the corners. He seemed to size Lena up. Jeffrey found the look he gave her almost comical. Ryan Gordon was thin as a rail, about Lena's height if not her weight. She had attitude on him in spades. Jeffrey had no doubt that Lena would rip his throat open with her bare teeth if Gordon tried to push her.

Gordon seemed to understand this. He took on a passive posture, his voice a nasally whine, perhaps from the ring in his nose, which bobbed when he spoke. "What do you want from me, man?"

He held his arms up defensively as Lena's hand reached out to his chest.

She said, "Put your hands down, you pussy." She reached down into his shirt and pulled up the cross hanging on a chain around his neck.

"Nice necklace," she said.

Jeffrey asked, "Where were you Monday afternoon?"

Gordon looked from Lena to Jeffrey. "What?"

"Where were you Monday afternoon?" Jeffrey repeated.

"I don't know, man," he whined. "Sleeping, probably." He sniffed, rubbing his nose. Jeffrey fought the urge to cringe as the ring in his nose moved back and forth.

"Up against the wall," Lena ordered, pushing him around. Gordon started to protest, but a look from Lena stopped him. He spread his arms and legs out, assuming the position.