Killing Kirshner (A Psychological Suspense Thriller) (8 page)

“I got this in my mailbox,” she mumbled quietly.

“I know. What do you have to say for yourself?” Kirshner questioned.

“I’m not sure what this is about,” she responded.

“You and your friends cheated on my examination, or did you already try to forget what you did?”

“Professor Kirshner, we did not cheat. I have never cheated on anything in my whole life,” she said with her sweet, southern accent.

“Martin. Your last name is Martin and you’re from Charleston?” he asked.

“Yes, I lived there my whole life before I came here,” she answered.

“Your mother isn’t Bobbie Martin?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s still practicing there?”

“Yeah, you know her?” she asked.

“Many years ago, but, let’s get back to your examination. How do you explain that you and your four friends had nearly similar answers on all three of my questions?”

“We study together; we’re in a study group. We have been since almost the first day. We all studied real hard for your test, and I can assure you that none of us needed to cheat. We all knew the material so well. We …”

“Fine, you’re obviously not willing to sell out your friends, but chances are that one of the other four will be.”

“Professor, honestly, we did not cheat,” she pleaded.

“How can you be so sure, Ms. Martin, that none of your friends cheated?”

“I just know them. We studied forever for your exam because we knew it was going to be tough, and …”

“Enough, you can leave now, Ms. Martin. I will be in contact with you once I am done with my investigation, and I will let you know how I will proceed. Until that time, I suggest you keep our conversation to yourself. I will not be reporting this to the dean until I have finished with my investigation. Good day, Ms. Martin.” Kirshner stood up and opened the door.

C
hapter 34

After Kirshner questioned each of them, they all gathered back at Amanda’s dorm room.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” Abrams yelled.

“Y’all, he did not believe a word I said. He just kept looking at me waiting for me to crumble,” Amanda said.

“It’s over for us. If he really thinks we cheated and he goes to the dean, it’s over for us,” Sean said.

“He’s right. We will be thrown out of Miami University, and we will never be able to get into another law school. Our legal careers are over before they even got started,” Will said.

“We all agree that he did not believe us,” Jack said.

They all agreed. “But why does he think we cheated – because we had similar answers? We are in a study group together. Wouldn’t that explain it for the dean?”

“From what I hear, Kirshner has a lot of pull at the university. He is a flagship professor. Believe it or not, a lot of students come to Miami University because of his reputation. He gives this school a lot of clout, so, I’m thinking, if he says we cheated, the dean will go with it,” Will responded.

“We can’t just let this piece of shit ruin our lives; there’s got to be something we can do,” Abrams yelled.

“I say we go to the dean first and plead our case. What exactly is the process for a violation of the honor code? Amanda, do you have the student guide?” Will asked.

Amanda went into her bedroom and found the student guide on her bookcase. Unlike the rest of the group, Amanda actually read the student guide cover to cover. Will rubbed her hand as she pulled away and sat back down on the edge of the couch.

Will flipped through the book searching for the exact procedure for a violation of the honor code. “Here it is – accusations of cheating. Upon the accusation of cheating, the accused student will be temporarily suspended and will not be able to attend class. Within three weeks, a hearing will be held before five randomly chosen members of the tenured faculty and the dean. The accused has the right to legal representation.”

“I can’t go through all that,” Amanda cried.

“I think just being accused of cheating will end our careers, no matter what they find,” Jack said.

The five of them sat quietly for a few minutes. Finally, Abrams spoke up. “There’s just no way around it. We have to stop Kirshner from going to the dean.

C
hapter 35

Professor Kirshner sat in his office reviewing the five students’ examinations he suspected. He had gotten an anonymous tip that these five students had cheated on his exam. This was not the first time Kirshner had gotten a tip that someone had cheated in his class, but most of the tips had proven to be false – just a very competitive student trying to get rid of his competition.

So, Kirshner wanted to be sure that there was actual cheating and not one of his student’s little game to get the coveted “A” in his class. He glanced at his notes that he took from his questioning with each of the students. He made a photocopy of all five examinations and laid them next to each other on his desk where he began highlighting the similar sentences in each exam with a yellow highlighter.

His highlighter flew across the pages, highlighting several sentences on each of the pages. He shook his head and a smile came to his face, as if he actually enjoyed catching students cheating. This was not the first time Kirshner actually had a student cheat on his exam. Back in 2008, Kirshner gave one of his famous mid-term examinations. Although most professors used a proctor to administer the exam, Kirshner insisted on proctoring the exam himself. Once the exam was over and the students had exited the room, Kirshner was about to leave when he saw a small piece of paper on the ground.

His eyes lit up as he unfolded this small piece of paper; he was amazed at how small the writing was, but it was still large enough for him to make out. It was a miniature outline of Criminal Law. He stuck the note in his pocket and went back to his office. He laid the small piece of paper on a copy machine and blew up the writing as much as he could.

At the beginning of his next class, Kirshner wrote an outline on the board. This was the first time he had ever written anything on the board. Once he was finished, he gave the students a chance to write down the outline; he walked around the room peeking at every student’s notebook, comparing the handwriting to the small cheat sheet. He moved through the classroom with delight searching out the guilty party. Finally, he came upon the perpetrator – Kevin James.

Kevin James was a tall, lanky 23 year old that did a great job in blending into the classroom. He often avoided Kirshner’s harassment by never drawing any attention to himself. He dressed very plainly in pale colors, his hair was short and neatly styled, and he spoke in a very monotone voice. In fact, the only thing that Kirshner remembered about Kevin James was his boring monotone voice, which is probably why Kirshner never called on him, he did not want to suffer through the boring dribble that would come out of Kevin’s mouth.

Kirshner put his hand on Kevin’s left shoulder; Kevin looked up to see who was touching him. “I know it was you,” Kirshner said to Kevin and then walked to the front of the classroom. Kevin knew that he had lost the cheat sheet but he did not know where. He prayed that it had fallen out of his pocket in his apartment, but now he knew Kirshner had it.

Kevin waited for everyone to leave the classroom and approached Kirshner; his hands shook as he walked toward Kirshner standing at the podium.

“I’ll need your notebook,” Kirshner said.

“No, you won’t, I admit that I cheated. I’m not going to drag this out,” Kevin mumbled.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Are you clear on what this will mean?” Kirshner asked.

“I understand. Do what you have to do,” Kevin answered as he walked out of the classroom.

“Oh, I will, Mr. James. I will,” Kirshner said.

He was delighted; after years of teaching, this was the first time he had ever caught one of his students cheating. He felt a strong sense of accomplishment. Kevin James admitted he cheated to the dean of the law school and was expelled from Miami University.

Now, Kirshner had five students to nail for cheating. He stood up and looked at the five copies of the exam booklets. They were covered in yellow, and he was thrilled. What made it even better was that Bobbi Martin’s daughter was one of them.

C
hapter 36

On Saturday morning, the group of five sat in the empty lobby of the law school in disbelief at what had transpired yesterday. If Kirshner reported his cheating suspicion, their very short legal careers would be over. For these five students, there was no second prize or plan B. They all had dreamed of becoming attorneys – and that was it. They would not settle for anything less.

“How long do you think it will be before he goes to the dean?” Jack asked.

“He told me that he was planning on talking with him Monday morning. So, we have two more days of being law students, and then that’s it,” Sean responded.

“We have to talk to him. We have to convince him we did not cheat,” Amanda cried.

“Amanda, you know as well as I do that we are not going to change this man’s mind. Didn’t it seem like he enjoyed it? Like he was dying to catch somebody cheating so he could throw them out of his class?” Abrams whispered as a student walked by.

Will sat quietly reading a newspaper that Amanda gave him. She gave him the paper every morning and would always circle the articles with a pink pen that she thought Will would be interested in.

Jack rubbed the stubble of hair on his face, deep in thought. “There is no way out. We are screwed. The question is, are we just going to sit back and let this piece of shit who has loved making our lives miserable destroy us or are we going to stop him?”

“What are you suggesting?” Abrams whispered.

“We have all been thinking it. Hell, we have been planning this since we started the asshole’s class,” Jack mumbled.

“That was just talk, man. We were all just blowing off some steam. None of us really meant what we said,” Sean stated.

Abrams spoke up. “I meant it. I hate him. After what he did to us in the classroom, and what he is about to do to our lives. If he was in front of me right now, I would wrap my hands around his neck and …”

“Abrams, enough! We are not going down that road,” Amanda interrupted.

“Well, what else are we supposed to do? You don’t have to be a part of it, Amanda.”

“Abrams, listen to what you are saying. Despite his flaws, he is a human being,” Amanda whispered.

Abrams sighed. “You’re right, sorry. I’m just so emotional. You have no idea the sacrifice I made by quitting my job so I could go back to school; it has been really hard on my family.”

Amanda touched his hand and gave him a smile. “Let’s go back to my room and we can talk about this. I’ll make everyone dinner and we can clear our heads a little. There has got to be something we can do.”

Will remained silent as the five of them stood up and headed out the door. He folded the newspaper and tucked it under his arm. The answer to their problems had been staring him in the face for the past few minutes. A strange smile came over his face. “It’s a perfect plan,” he thought. “Perfect.”

C
hapter 37

Amanda whipped together some pesto pasta and a nice Cesar salad. Although it was probably not enough to feed her four hungry boys, it would do for the time being. It was not long before Amanda had to boil up some more pasta to satisfy them.

Sean contributed some garlic bread from his dorm room. He ripped it into pieces with his hands, handing a piece to everyone. Sean shoved the bread into his mouth and took a large bite, “I thought you were going to lose it back there,” Sean said, gesturing to Abrams.

“Sorry about that; I lost it like you said. I just don’t know what the hell I’m going to do – not only am I not going to be a lawyer, now I have to pay for a semester at law school with money I don’t have.”

“Oh, shit, I didn’t even think about that. If we get thrown out, then the money we borrowed will be due. Isn’t that how it works?” Sean asked.

“I think we have about three months to repay the balance of the law loan,” Abrams responded.

“Fuck, I am screwed too. I don’t have $25,000,” Sean yelled.

Amanda’s face turned pale white. Jack, Abrams and Sean stopped eating and watched Amanda slowly fall apart. She ran into her bedroom, sobbing and slamming the door shut. Will did not move from the table. In fact, he barely noticed her running out of the room. They all looked at him, waiting for some reaction.

“Aren’t you going to see if she’s alright?” Jack asked.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I should,” Will said.

Will lightly tapped on her door and asked if he could come in. She did not answer. He walked in and found her on the bed, hiding under the sheets.

Jack passed a napkin to Sean. “What the hell are we going to do?” Sean asked.

“I was serious back there. I’m not going to let that bastard ruin us. We have all worked too hard to get here,” Abrams whispered.

“Are we talking about actually killing a man? Do you really think we could do something like that?” Sean asked.

“I think I might be able to,” Jack mumbled.

“Well, Amanda won’t have it,” Sean responded.

“Like I said before, she doesn’t have to be involved,” Abrams pointed out.

“No, if we do this, we do it together. It’s just like we have done everything. It has to be unanimous,” Jack insisted.

“Well, then, it’s never going to happen, man; she won’t be a part of this,” Sean argued.

C
hapter 38

Amanda stayed in her bedroom talking with her mother on the phone, who had called while Will was trying to console her. She talked with her mother at least once a day, assuring her that everything was fine and she was doing well. The only class she was worried about was Criminal Law because of the reputation of the professor.

Bobbi told Amanda that her law practice still was not doing well. Bobbi had recently taken on a very controversial client, and it hurt her business. The people in Charleston were very unforgiving, and Bobbi could barely find a few clients to represent. Bobbi felt extremely guilty that she could not pay for Amanda’s law school, but Amanda never gave her any grief about it. She filled out the loan applications and sent them off without even telling her mother. Amanda explained to her mother that she never expected her to pay for her law school. Of course, this was very far from the truth because Bobbi always paid for everything for Amanda. They only had each other. Amanda’s father was murdered when she was only ten years old. So, it had always just been her and her mother.