Or the look on his face, which Hallie described as pure panic. But I could hear the alarm in his movements as he skittered back through the door and fled down the corridor, bumping loudly against a wall in his haste to get away. Blum immediately rose from his seat and shouted after him. “Lecht, what in the hell is going on? Are you ill? Come back here at once!” But the PhD student kept running until his footsteps were only a faint patter in the distance. I raised my eyebrows quizzically at Hallie. In answer, she took my hand and traced a question mark on my palm to signal that she had no idea either. Blum returned to his seat, grumbling. “The rudeness . . .” “What was that all about?” Hallie asked. “I haven’t a clue,” Blum said. “Except that the fellow is due to defend his dissertation in two days’ time. I’ve known some of them to get jittery beforehand, but not to such a degree.”
