What a Foolish Girl?

The same week the Editor of the Journal called Professor McElroy and congratulated him. "Your paper has collected a lot of attention. Many people are asking about its author. I think you should come out and claim it. Why have you chosen to be anonymous about it?"

Professor McElroy was excited. His eyes became wide with a glint of joy. The dream of going to America and working for a big firm like The Silver House was about to come to realization. He had heard that the company offered over $300,000 to its in-house consultants. With a smile he said, "Thank you for your wonderful words, but I would prefer to stay low for now."

The Editor thought what a magnanimous man the professor was. He really liked such people and so he replied politely, "It's your call. If you do not want to disclose your name, I respect that.

"Umm, I have a small request," McElroy added.

"Sure, tell me what you want from me," came a quick response.

"I am expecting some people to come and find me because of this research."

"Which people?" The Editor asked. He became suspicious.

Sensing his suspicion from his tone, the Professor said, "The people from the Company that is mentioned on the paper." He laughed. "What did you think? The FBI?" He laughed all the more loudly.

The Editor rubbed his forehead at his foolishness then chortled with the professor. "I am sorry, but I couldn't help wondering which people would come."

"It's okay, don't worry," the Professor commented in a condescending way.

"But what do you want me to tell them?"

"Give them my address, that's all." There was enthusiasm in his voice.

"Sure!" the Editor agreed. "That shouldn't be a problem. It would be my pleasure."

"Well, thank you," the Professor said and disconnected the call. He stood from his chair and walked to the window of his office. Drawing the curtains, he looked outside. Then he went back to his chair. He hopped from one foot to the other like a little child. He was so excited about the whole thing. He was not ashamed even one bit. Any day those people would come, ask for his address and then take him to America as his consultant. If the report had garnered so much attention in a week's time, he couldn't believe what kind of effect it must be causing to The Silver House management. Saliva pooled in his mouth. He swallowed it thinking about all the perks along with the salary the company would offer. His thoughts went to Dawn Wyatt and his mouth spread into a wide grin. "What a foolish girl?" he said aloud.

---

Dawn was extremely unhappy over the recent developments. She couldn't tell anyone about her trepidations. For two days she debated whether she should confront the Professor again or not. At one point of time she even thought of going to the Dean of the college.

That evening while playing a round of golf with her team, she talked about her spot tight situation with Elize. "Professor McElroy has taken my last year's report and published it anonymously under his account in the British Finance Journal. He cheated unabashedly and is quite egregious about it."

Elize gave her a bitter smile. She chipped to the green and said, "Dawn, this is a very common thing in the Universities and Colleges. You should be happy that he hasn't asked for sexual favors to get it published in your name and adding his name to that."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked while addressing her ball. In a hurry she topped the ball. It didn't loft and scurried to the bunker in front. "No!" Dawn cried. She hated bunkers. She hated her current situation.

"According to the rumors, Professors McElroy has done this in the past also but no student could come up against him," Elize explained. "You see that the rot and malaise is much deeper."

"This is wrong! The Dean should be notified," Dawn protested.

"The students never notify the Dean. Because if they will, the Professor would simply fail them in the next semester," Elize said in a very matter-of-fact voice.

Keeping her club in the bag, Dawn pressed her hand over her mouth as her eyebrows raised. "Fail?"

Elize shrugged. "So you have to choose whether you want to flunk the semester or you want to keep thinking about the report. Besides it is quite possible that by now your report must have been deleted from the Univs system." She walked ahead.

Shina was standing close by. She pursed her lips and said, "I am sorry to say but McElroy is kind of unpopular in that regard. Students don't complain because his wife is a cousin of the Dean, so… you can understand the rest. It is all very well organized. You cannot go against them, and if you do, you will face bad consequences," She patted Dawn on the back and joined Elize on the green.

Dawn's mind became numb. Her breathing accelerated. She watched the two of them taking a line for the putt. Grasping control of her emotions she took the sand wedge out of her golf bag and went to the bunker. Her shot was addressed with anger that came from her gut and the ball landed right in the hole.

Elize and Shina clapped with surprise written all over their faces. "Sandy par!" Shina shouted.

Next day Dawn attended all her classes and decided to meet the Professor during the lunch break.

----

Neal Perry investigated the matter thoroughly. He called the British Finance Journal's office to know as to who published the research, but they didn't divulge the details. A week later the article started gathering attention that could prove pretty detrimental for The Mink Corporation. Neal struggled to find ways to handle it. Just like a typical cold person, this wasn't fitting well with him. He was irate by the end of the week and decided to travel to England to put this to an end once and for all. He wouldn't have gone there if the report hadn't got the unusual coverage. A small TV news channel had given a very short exposure to it. Before it blew into anything major, Neal had to curb it or else Daryn would be very upset and that was something he couldn't afford to handle. The only person he was scared from, was Daryn. He flew to England two days later.

As soon as Neal landed on the airport, a car with two men came to fetch him. They had strict instructions – to go to the Editor's office directly. They were told that the man in the car didn't like to waste his time. Wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie, Neal looked so intimidating that the two men, who belonged to the underworld, flinched. No questions were asked.

Since the Professor had already asked the Editor to give away his name, he did that readily to the men who said that they were from The Silver House. The men were surprised seeing the Editor's readiness in sharing the name. He wrote the address on a paper and handed it to them. The men were prepared to threaten him but it wasn't even required. They smiled and left.

After seeing the address, Neal crushed the paper in his fist. The car dashed to the University.

---

The Professor had waited anxiously after the Editor had called. He thought there would soon be a call from the firm. Someone would definitely come to meet him. His restlessness increased by the minute. He would look at the research paper that he had so nicely saved. He had memorized everything in them by heart. However, no one called. No one contacted.

In the next two days, he had butterflies in his stomach. He couldn't wait any longer. He decided to call the Editor and picked up the phone to enquire when suddenly the door of the office opened and two men walked inside followed by a man in the black suit.

McElroy kept the phone on its cradle and looked at them with a jerk. "What do you want?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"Hello, I am Neal Perry from The Silver House."