Page 72 of Echoes of a Silent Song
But maybe he was working some good out of it after all.
Dad turned.“Blair, didn’t you ask Mr.Nelson for a recommendation letter when you applied to Whitehall?”
“You’re right.I did.”Memories rose up within, painful and confusing.“Of course I did.I told him my piano teacher thought I should apply there, and he never said a word about having gone there himself.Y’know, come to think of it, he didn’t even write my recommendation.Both my piano teachers did, and I asked him as well, but he said he was on a composition deadline and didn’t have a moment to spare.”
“I remember how upset you were when you came home.”Dad patted Blair’s hand.“You’d been counting on a recommendation from him.”
“It never occurred to me that he’d say no.”Blair tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.“I wondered if I’d done something to upset him.”
“But if Vic got accepted and didn’t go, or went but didn’t graduate ...”Callum leaned forward.
Keira nodded.“Then he might have had a very good reason for not telling you he had connections there.”
Dad tilted his head.“Maybe the best thing Vic could’ve done for you in that moment was not associating his name with yours.”
Wow.She’d never thought about it as possible protection.What would have happened if she’d gone to Whitehall?Maybe she didn’t truly want to know.
But what had happened with Vic and Whitehall?Why wouldn’t he have mentioned being accepted there?
Callum cleared his throat.“This isn’t the first time we’ve caught Vic in—well, maybe not a lie, but definitely an omission of truth.”
Keira perked up.“Oh?”
“He told me he didn’t know Iris at all,” Callum continued.“But the yearbook showed them together.When I asked him about it later, he said they’d dated briefly.”
“And my grandmother caught them kissing in the library.”Keira pursed her lips, then turned to Seth.“Are we rolling right now?”
“We don’t have to be,” Seth replied.“Want me to shut it off?”
“Would you, please?”Keira smiled her thanks, then turned back to the group.“Okay, here’s the deal.My reporter instinct is going crazy right now.Vic Nelson knows more about Iris than he’s letting on, and I think the two of you especially should be on your guard.”
Blair glanced toward Callum in alarm.“Are we in danger?”
“I don’t know,” Keira replied.“They ruled Iris’s death a suicide.The police officer who responded to the call passed away in 1992, and his report is pretty bare-bones.Iris’s parents said she’d always been a little odd, and she was being treated for ‘anxiety,’ which was what they called depression back in the 1960s.But while having depression raises one’s risk of dying by suicide, it’s obviously no guarantee.”
“Iris’s work doesn’t seem like that of a suicidal person.”Callum leaned forward, hands on his knees.“From a compositional perspective, it seems hopeful.Like it’s striving for something.Heading toward something.”
“Maybe there’s a chance it wasn’t suicide,” Keira said.
“Wait, do you think Iris was murdered?”Callum asked.
Blair’s head spun.“And that Vic did it?”
Keira held up her hands.“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.It’s just a theory.But I am a little suspicious.”
“Do you think we need to call the police?”Dad asked.
“Unless someone does or says something threatening, there’s nothing they can do,” Keira replied.“But just to be on the safe side, until we know for sure what’s going on, I’m not going to air this story yet.”
“What are you gonna tell the boss?”Seth asked.
Keira waved a hand.“That if Iris was murdered, then this is a much bigger story than anyone thought.”She reached into her bag, pulled out two of her business cards, and handed them to Callum and Blair.“If you find anything else, or think of anything else, call me.”
Blair rose along with her.“I’ll walk you out.It’ll give Callum time to get ready for class.”
As soon as they were through the choir room door, Keira turned a conspiratorial glance toward Blair.“So ...you and Callum, huh?”
“What about me and Callum?”
