Bobby rose. “I would like to add another accusation.” His voice quivered with outrage. “He hacked into my computer and deleted all of my term papers, all of my class notes, everything. I don’t know how I’m going to pass this semester without that stuff!”

I stood. “I don’t have the slightest idea what he’s talking about.”

“You admitted it to me!” Bobby snapped.

“I never said I hacked into your computer,” I replied evenly. “As I recall, Bobby, I simply gave you some friendly advice about not leaving your computer on when you weren’t using it, if you were connected to a wireless network. Advice, I might add, all of you would be wise to take.”

“My files are gone!” Bobby spluttered. “You—you—”

“Do you have any evidence to back up your accusation, Brother Dunlap?” Chris asked.

“Well, no.” Bobby’s face reddened. “But—”

“Then the accusation will not be added to the current charges,” Chris cut him off.

“Brother Morton, I would like the record to show that Brother Dunlap slandered me maliciously.” I bowed my head. “And that is the cornerstone of my defense—that all of this is a malicious and mean-spirited attempt by certain brothers to drum me out of the brotherhood. I have evidence I will present to the Executive Council of this conspiracy, and will prove to you that the mastermind behind all of this doesn’t even have the courage to accuse me himself, but rather is such a coward that he got these three brothers”—I waved my hand at them—“to do his dirty work for him, and that his motivation is not a concern for the brotherhood and its reputation, but rather a personal—and I might add, incredibly spiteful—vendetta against me. I would also add that this is most definitely conduct unbecoming in a brother of Beta Kappa and reflects very poorly on the brotherhood as a whole.”

A smile played at the corner of Chris’s mouth. “Go on, Brother Valentine.”

“Thank you.” I smiled back at him. “This entire hearing has come about because of a video that was circulated electronically to all the brothers. I do not deny that I am in the video. I do not deny that the video is of me having sexual relations with another man, in the steam room of my gym, Body Quest Fitness Center. And I will further stipulate that perhaps such conduct is contrary to the code of honor all Beta Kappas are held to. However, this video was shot without my knowledge and circulated in an attempt to get me expelled from Beta Kappa.” I cleared my throat. “What happened in that steam room was an error of judgment on my part—I freely admit that. But what one of us has not made an error of judgment? Who hasn’t done something that possibly was a violation of our fraternity standards? The difference is that mine was recorded without my knowledge and then circulated. If these charges are allowed to stand, and I am expelled, this sets a dangerous precedent for our chapter. Any brother with a grudge against another can simply record the first brother doing something, file charges against him, and get him expelled from the brotherhood, starting an incredibly vicious cycle, pitting brother against brother. Is this what any of us want? Is this what we want Beta Kappa to become?” I unzipped my backpack and removed the first folder. I handed each member of the Executive Council a piece of paper. “I would like to enter this document into the record. It’s a copy of the blueprint of the floor plan of Body Quest Fitness Center. I have highlighted the location of a peephole in the wall between the storage room and the steam room. This is how the video was recorded, and an employee of Body Quest, named Robby Mackey, did it. I was able to trace the electronic signature on the video back to Mackey’s cell phone. Mackey, if necessary, is willing to stand up in a court of law and state that he made the video at the instigation of Chad York.” I got out another file and passed out another piece of paper. “This is a copy of an e-mail from Brother Chad York to Brother Bobby Dunlap. It was Brother York, who has been sexually intimate with Robby Mackey, who convinced him to record me any time I was in the steam room, hoping I might do something indiscreet. Once Brother York had the video, he immediately e-mailed it to Brother Dunlap. Please note the text of the e-mail—where Brother York instructs Brother Dunlap to circulate the video to the entire brotherhood and states, ‘For obvious reasons, I can’t do it myself. ’ ” I turned and looked at Bobby, who’d gone white. “As we all know, it was Brother Dunlap who sent the video to everyone. I would add that the video was also sent to the manager at Body Quest. The other person on the video is my trainer, Jay Collins. As a result, Jay’s employment was terminated, and the gym attempted to terminate my membership as well.”

“You said attempted,” Craig Yamamoto pointed out. “What happened?”

“As Jay Collins was an innocent victim of this vicious vendetta against me, I purchased the gym and fired the employee who shot the video, and the manager.” I shrugged. “I have also reinstated Jay’s employment. I could not, in good conscience, allow him to have his life destroyed by the machinations of Brother Chad York.”

“You bought the gym?” Rees whistled from behind me.

“Yes. I bought the gym,” I answered him. “As the brotherhood is well aware, my parents are very wealthy. What the brotherhood does not know is I have a trust fund of my own, worth approximately one hundred million dollars, and that money is mine to do with as I please. And I was very pleased to spend several hundred thousand dollars to right this wrong. I would like the record to show that correcting this injustice done to Jay Collins by Chad York was very expensive for me to do.” I folded my arms. “And yet I am the one who stands accused before the brotherhood of conduct unbecoming to a brother, as Chad York intended all along.”

Chris cleared his throat. “I think we’ve heard enough,” he said, “and now the Executive Council will—”

“I’m not finished.” I cut him off. I took another file folder out of my bag and passed out another printout. I closed my eyes. “Let the record show this document is a list of several brothers of Beta Kappa, the title of a term paper, the class it was for, and the instructor.”

“What is this?” Tim Haas asked.

I smiled. “As you will note, Brother Haas’s name is on the list. Also on the list are two of my accusers, Brothers Benson and Davidson. This, as Brothers Haas, Benson, and Davidson are very well aware, is a list of term papers turned in by the brothers named as their own work, when the truth is the papers were written by me.” I turned and looked at Rees and Brandon, who were squirming in their seats. “Just like video recordings, Microsoft Word documents have an electronic signature. Someone who knows what to look for would be able to determine the computer those papers were originally written on, which can easily be proven to be mine. The university takes a very dim view of cheating—as does the national chapter of Beta Kappa. The students on that list will be expelled, and no other university would allow them admittance. I also believe the National Chapter would demand they be expelled from the brotherhood—and might even launch an investigation into this chapter, as would the university. It is entirely possible the scandal would result in our charter being pulled and the house shut down.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Rees blustered. “You’d be expelled, too.”

God, this was so easy. It was all I could do not to laugh. I’d hoped someone would bring that up. “Do you think I care?” I turned and looked at him. He was slouched down in his chair and wouldn’t look at me. “I have a trust fund worth nine figures. My parents are worth over half a billion dollars. I don’t need a college degree. I don’t need to work a day in my life. Sure, at first my parents would be disappointed in me, but once they found out the whole story, why I exposed this to the world, they would be proud.” I reached into my backpack and retrieved the last file. I passed out the final photocopies. “Let the record show I have passed out one final document.”