Chapter 2

Seeing that nothing I said got through, Quinn Whitney's face darkened too.

He put on a look of deep disappointment and scolded me.

"Leah Henson, with this many people watching, you really have to make a scene? How did I ever end up teaching a student with no respect for her elders!"

By all rights, my thesis winning an award should have been good news for Whitney.

So why go out of his way to hint in front of everyone that I'd copied it?

I frowned, unable to work out what they were after with this whole performance.

But the way things looked, pressing him further wouldn't turn up anything useful.

So I simply switched off the voice recorder on my phone.

At that, Whitney visibly let out a breath.

Before he could get another word in, though, he watched me dial 911.

"Hi, yes. My thesis appears to have been stolen and published somewhere else without my knowledge, which violates my rights. Yes, that's right, I have people here who can testify. I'd appreciate it if you could get to the scene as soon as possible."

The moment I finished, Whitney snatched the phone right out of my hand.

His face went a dark, liverish red, the veins standing out on the hand gripping my phone.

"Leah Henson, are you out of your damn mind? You call the police over something this small?"

A flash of guilt crossed Professor Norris's face too, but he steadied himself fast.

He stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and gave a light cough.

"Young people shouldn't act on impulse like this. Whatever the issue is, we can discuss it privately. With this many people watching, blowing it up won't do you any good."

He was only saying that to give himself an easy way out.

But I had no intention of handing him one.

"Professor Norris, Professor Whitney, you two are respected senior faculty of our law school, so I'm sure you both know this. If what you're saying is true, then whoever infringed my copyright can face up to three years in prison."

"But if the two of you are lying, then..."

I paused on purpose, and under Whitney's nearly murderous stare, I went on: "Then the two of you are spreading slander, which carries criminal liability all the same."

By the time I finished, Whitney's and Professor Norris's faces had gone black as the bottom of a pot.

They probably never imagined things would get to this point.

If they backed off now, it would confirm they'd made the whole thing up.

But if they insisted they'd seen this thesis before and couldn't produce a shred of proof, that was still slander and troublemaking.

Unless, of course, they could conjure up out of thin air a thesis that had already been published and was identical to mine.

I turned to Professor Norris and said, unhurried:

"And Professor Norris said a moment ago that my regular coursework was all copied. When the officers get here, I hope he'll be ready to produce evidence for that too."

Professor Norris's fingers clenched until the knuckles cracked.

His face was grim, and there was something cold and venomous in the way he glared at me.

That look said he'd happily swallow me whole.

Whitney opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something, but I gave him no chance at all.

I turned and bowed to every student in the auditorium.

"You all heard what Professor Whitney and Professor Norris just said, I think. When the officers arrive, I hope you'll be willing to testify for me. Thank you, everyone."

The auditorium had been quiet, and the second I finished, it broke into noise.

Plenty of students spoke up, saying they'd testify for me.

And with that, Whitney and Professor Norris were well and truly cornered.

I wanted to see just how they planned to get out of this.