“Hey, you asked me to,” protested Edie. She turned to me. “I told her that if there was ever an excuse to be unprepared for class, she had it, but she wouldn’t listen. She’s such a workaholic. It makes everyone else look bad.”

I laughed, but the word workaholic reminded me of something. “Have either of you spoken to Gabrielle?”

Sara shook her head.

“Not since yesterday morning,” said Edie. “I got her on her cell and told her what had happened to Sara. But we haven’t heard from her since. We’re not sure where she is. There’s been no sign of her in the dorm. I don’t think she came back last night.”

“Really? I saw her yesterday afternoon.” I explained about Gabrielle’s visit to the recruiting suite the previous day, leaving out the details of our conversation.

“It’s weird,” said Sara. “I mean, for Gabrielle of all people, who’s so gung ho on the recruiting thing, to just disappear during the middle of Hell Week.”

“She’s been so stressed-out,” added Edie. “I’m hoping she didn’t just completely lose it.”

“Is she really that tightly wound?” I asked. That had been my impression, but Sara and Edie lived with her, and they knew her better.

Sara and Edie looked at each other for a moment. “She’s fairly-” began Sara diplomatically.

“Neurotic,” interjected Edie. “I mean, you went to HBS, Rachel. You know the type. She studies maniacally, networks frantically, and she’s jealous of anyone who seems to be doing well. As if other people’s successes detract from hers. She’s just completely out for herself. Frankly, I’m sort of pissed that she hasn’t at least called, much less come to see Sara. Although, she’s so competitive with Sara that she probably wouldn’t be much of a help right now. Sometimes I wonder if maybe she’s a little unstable.”

“She means well,” said Sara. “She’s just had a rough time of it.” Edie shrugged in response.

Judging from their comments, neither of them were overly fond of their roommate, but neither seemed suspicious of her, either. I was probably overreacting. I’d seen Gabrielle at a particularly bad moment. But Gabrielle knew Sara’s schedule. She had the opportunity. And yesterday, when I’d come into the room and Gabrielle had her back to me, I almost thought she was a man at first. The homeless man who’d witnessed the attack could have thought the same thing. And there’d been a hood on her long dark coat.

No, I was being stupid. There’d been plenty of high-strung, intensely competitive women in my business school class, but I was hard-pressed to imagine any of them actually physically attacking anyone else. Dreaming about it, yes. But actually doing it?

Edie interrupted my train of thought, looking at her watch and jumping up. “I need to go,” she said. “I’ve got a team meeting to get to.” She turned to me. “Did they make you do all of these annoying group projects when you were in business school?”

I smiled. “You mean the ones that are supposed to teach teamwork?”

“Uh-huh. They’re a total drag, and everyone always thinks he could do a better job on his own. Too many Type A personalities in one room.”

“I hate to break it to you, but it’s not that much better in the corporate world.”

“That’s depressing. Listen, Sara, I’ll stop by later, okay?”

“There’s no need, really,” protested Sara. “You’ve done enough already.”

“I’ll come by, anyhow. I’ll pick up some food and we can have a picnic dinner?”

“Well, I wouldn’t object to Pinnochio’s,” suggested Sara hopefully, referring to the small storefront a couple of blocks from UHS that was widely considered to make the best pizza in the Square.

“They haven’t turned it into a Starbucks yet?” I asked.

Edie laughed. “No, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.” She gathered up her coat and bag, gave Sara a hug and was out the door.

When I turned back to Sara, she was looking at me intently. “My grandparents told me about their conversation with you. Do you think Barbara’s really going to try to get Adam named CEO?”

“I hope not. Although, it would be good news in a way. If Barbara’s intent on getting Adam more involved with the company, she’s unlikely to sell her shares. But it does look like tomorrow morning’s board meeting is going to be a bit of a battle.”

Sara laughed. “I know. My grandparents are already gearing up for combat. I think they’re looking forward to it. Especially Gran.”

Combat with Helene Porter was not something I’d want to face. Mrs. Porter may have had the entire frail, ladylike image down pat, but our conversation that morning had made it clear that you wouldn’t want to get on her bad side.

“There might be some debate, but Barbara doesn’t own enough stock to wield as much power as it would take to get Adam appointed CEO. I don’t think you have anything to worry about on that front.”

“Were you able to find out anything about the movements in the stock price?”

“Are you sure you want to be worrying about any of this right now?”

“Well, it’s either worrying about this or worrying about why somebody wanted to hit me over the head with an oar.”

“Not much of a choice, is it?”

She smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“I looked into it,” I said, giving her a quick debrief on the research I’d done the previous afternoon but leaving out my visit to the Yahoo! message board. “There are definitely signs that somebody’s been buying up stock. Nobody’s reached the five-percent mark as yet, or he would have had to file a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I put in a request to get the names of the institutions and individuals who have been buying and selling. I should have it by the end of the day or first thing Monday.”

“Good.”

“And, as you well know, it would be hard for anybody to launch a real takeover without some assurance that they could obtain stock from you or Barbara. And we’ll figure out if any outsiders are accumulating stock and what their intentions are.”

“I’m looking forward to getting this resolved. I just wish I could be at the board meeting tomorrow. The doctors are being ridiculous about my staying here.”

“I’m sure they would rather be safe than sorry. You should relax. Rest. Focus on getting better.”

“Right, like I can do that with everything that’s going on,” she replied, with a rare show of sarcasm that I interpreted as a sign of returning strength.

I sighed. “Give it a try. I’m keeping an eye on things, and so are your grandparents and Brian Mulcahey. We’ll figure it out.” I hoped I sounded more confident than I felt.

She was quiet for a moment. Then she turned to me, a gleam in her eye, and changed the subject. “Tell me about dinner with Professor Beasley. He’s pretty cute, isn’t he?”

“What?” I felt my cheeks burst into flames. I wondered if blushing burned calories. At the rate I was going, I’d be down a dress size in no time.

“I’ve had a lot of phone calls today. One was from Professor Beasley, and he told me he had dinner with you last night.”

“Oh?” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. The way my cheeks felt, the chances of pulling off a poker face were remote.

“I didn’t realize you two knew each other from college.”

“Neither did I,” I admitted. “Not until I ran into him. When Edie sent me off to see Professor Beasley, he wasn’t what I expected to find.”

Sara smiled. “You were probably imagining the old guy from The Paper Chase.”

“Wouldn’t you? With a name like Professor Beasley?”

“Half the women on campus have a crush on him.”

“That’s not hard to imagine. They did in college, too.”

“He seemed very curious about you.”

“Really?” I asked before I could think better of it.

She nodded her confirmation. “Don’t worry. I sang your praises.”

I hesitated. “Did you mention anything about-”

“Your boyfriend? No. It didn’t really seem like any of my business. However, if things with Peter go belly-up, I think you have someone else waiting in line.”