Page 31 of The Perfect Accomplice

"Oh, that," he said. "We have a party starting at 9:30. I guess the social committee chairman realized that classic rock is like female repellent and decided to go with something that won't scare all the ladies away."

"Good call," she said. Even though the song was less objectionable, it was still overwhelmingly loud. She tried to block it out and focus on Reggie. "Why don't you tell me about this issue you're having?"

“Okay,” he replied reluctantly, as he rubbed his scalp. It seemed to be a self-soothing technique. “I got accused of cheating on a test this morning and I don’t know what to do.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she told him. “Can you give me some more details? The name of the class? Who accused you? That sort of thing.”

"Oh, right," he said, nodding. "The class is Stats—Statistics. It's my required math course for the semester. It was the final exam for the fall. I don't know who accused me. A little after the class ended, the T.A. texted me and told me to go to the professor's office. When I got there, they were both there, and the professor said there had been an accusation that I was copying off another student. He said that while it was being investigated my grade would be put on hold and I'd be temporarily suspended from all school-sponsored activities, including basketball."

“You’re on the school basketball team?” Hannah confirmed.

"Yeah," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I have a scholarship. The professor said the investigation would probably take at least a week. But we've got two games during that time. One is this Saturday in South Dakota. The other is a huge one against Santa Clara. They've only lost twice all year. I can't miss that game."

"I hear you," Hannah said, choosing her next words delicately. "Please don't take offense at this question, but we need to be really honest with each other before going any farther. Did you cheat on the exam, Reggie? I'm not judging you, but I need to know if you're trying to prove your innocence or just hoping to find a way to work the system so that you can play in these games."

Reggie looked at her, and his eyes were watery. "I did not cheat. I'm not an amazing student, but I'm decent at math. I had a 'B' going into the final and when I was done, I felt like I might have actually bumped it up a little."

"All right," Hannah said, leaning forward. "So you didn't cheat, but someone who remains anonymous claimed you did. I know that most of my classes have cameras in the classrooms. Do you know if that one does?"

“Yes, and I told the professor to check it, that he’d see I never looked at anyone else’s test,” he answered plaintively. “He told me that he would but that he’d never been in a situation like this before and getting access to the footage might take a while. I complained that it wasn’t fair to punish me without proof.”

“And how did he respond to that?”

“He said that if the accusation didn’t hold up, it wouldn’t impact my grade,” Reggie explained. “But I explained to him that it was about more than that. Once the coach gets the official word about this accusation and I get suspended—even if it’s retracted—I have to miss these games. Plus, the coach is old school. If he thinks I can’t be trusted, I’m going to fall out of the rotation just when I started getting some quality playing time.”

“What does that mean exactly, ‘fall out of the rotation?’” Hannah asked. She had a casual knowledge of basketball, which he’d just exceeded.

“It’s like this,” he said. “I’m only a sophomore, and Coach doesn’t usually like to play younger guys. But I managed to get into some games and play well, so he gave me more playing time. In fact, just last week, I was inserted into the starting lineup, which is a big deal. It means I get to play more minutes, score more points, and make a bigger contribution in general. But if this suspension holds up, even for a few days, I’ll be back to sitting on the bench.”

“And it’s potentially worse than that,” Finn added. “The coach might not play him at all because if Reggie is put into games when he’s academically ineligible, it could void any wins the team gets. The coach might decide it’s not worth the risk. Bigger picture, if Reggie’s name isn’t completely cleared, his scholarship might even be in jeopardy.”

“Okay, I get it now,” Hannah said. “So we’ve got a false accusation of cheating, which will almost certainly not hold up in the end. But in the interim, it could cost you a spot on the team in the short term, and maybe for good. Is that all right?”

“Yes,” both guys said at once.

“So,” she concluded, “the question we should be asking is: who benefits from you getting suspended?”

Both guys were silent. Hannah decided to prompt them.

“I’m assuming it doesn’t matter either way to the professor or the T.A., although we can never be sure of that,” she mused. “But I’m wondering, who was getting all that playing time before you started doing well?”

Reggie sat up straighter as he rubbed his head again.

"I took minutes from a few players, but I guess the guy it hurt the most was Marvin Jost," he said. "He was starting until I took his spot. He used to play about thirty minutes a game, but since I've been starting, he plays less than half that."

“How did he react to that?” Hannah wondered.

Reggie shrugged.

“He hasn’t said anything, but you can tell from his body language that he isn’t happy,” he said. “I can’t blame him.”

“Is Marvin Jost in your stats class?” Hannah asked.

“No, it’s an intro class, mostly underclassmen,” Reggie said. “He’s a senior.”

“Okay, are there any other teammates in the class, ones who might be friendly with Marvin?”

“Uh-uh. I’m the only basketball player in the class.”

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