Page 17 of So Silent

“What would that be used for?” Faith asked.

“There are a lot of applications,” he replied, “from educational public address to security. Is that why you’re here? This is far from ready for field studies.”

“My partner will get their names and contact information,” Faith said, “They can leave. If we have any further questions for them, we’ll contact them later.”

“About what?”

“At the moment,” Faith explained patiently, “that conversation doesn’t concern your students. Why don’t you settle up with them, and then we’ll be happy to explain to you why we’re here.”

“It better be a damned good reason,” he said. “You’ve just compromised eleven months of research.”

“I’m sure you’ll see things from our side in a moment,” Michael said.

Gregory walked to a locked cabinet, muttering as he retrieved a cash box from the top. The blonde girl looked nervously at Turk, who continued to glare at the researcher. The young man put a protective arm around her, and she stiffened slightly and stepped away. Faith suppressed a smile at the boy’s reaction. You’ll be okay, kid, she thought. That girl doesn’t like you, but you’ll find someone who does.

Tate handed the two of them envelopes and said, “Don’t cash them until tomorrow.” He glared at the agents. “I didn’t expect us to be finished so soon.”

“That’s okay, doctor,” the girl said. “Thank you so much.”

She smiled at him, and Faith realized why she had no interest in the boy standing glumly next to her. She sighed and resisted the urge to pull the girl aside and explain to her exactly why sleeping with a professor was a bad idea. That was a lesson she’d have to learn on her own.

The two students left, and Gregory turned to the FBI agents and glared. “All right. Now you can tell me why you ruined my study.”

“Maria Gonzalez has been murdered,” Faith said.

Tate nodded. "That happened some time ago. We were all devastated. She was one of the university's most prestigious students. Why the hell are you here now?"

“Rebecca Wells was also murdered, Mr. Tate,” Faith said.

“Who?”

The man’s face registered confusion. Faith couldn’t dismiss it as anything other than genuine. “She and Miss Gonzalez participated in a research study for people with exceptional hearing ten years ago.”

He blinked. Then his eyes widened in shock. “Oh shit. I remember now. She was stabbed to death in her recording studio two nights ago, right?”

“It was very early yesterday morning, if we’re being specific,” Michael said.

“She was one of my subjects?”

“Yes. Ten years ago, you conducted a study for the University on the physiological differences between people with normal hearing and people with perfect pitch.”

He went from shock to understanding instantly. “I remember her now. She was in our music program. Freshman. She did this trick where she asked me to play thirty seconds of a song, then transcribed every note each instrument played. She got it perfect, down to the mistakes the band made.”

He sat and released a sigh. “Well, I know why you’re here now.”

“That’s good to hear,” Michael said.

With Tate sitting and clearly uninterested in escape, Turk calmed somewhat. He still kept a watchful eye on the researcher, but he didn’t growl or glare anymore. Michael walked back in front of him and sat. Faith remained standing. She still felt on edge even though she didn’t feel any sort of threat from Tate.

“So what can I do?” Tate asked. “How can I help?”

“Quite a change of heart,” Michael said. “What happened to ‘you assholes ruined my study’?”

“Well, you did,” Tate replied, “but I guess I understand why you didn’t make an appointment.”

“It’s generally not advised to make appointments to speak with suspects,” Faith confirmed.

“Wait, I’m a suspect?”

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