I said as I passed by Mr. Mercer. “Does your mother know what you’re up to?” he asked. “I wouldn’t go without her permission.” “That’s what I thought, but I had to check. You’re a good girl. Certainly not a thief.” His words stopped me in my tracks. What had he heard? “Fred—Dr. Banting—he told me what happened. The nerve of that old coot to blame you. He probably just misplaced those things in his office, then blamed it on the cleaning woman. I’ve always thought that man was plain stupid!” “But he’s a professor.” “I’ve been working around this university for the better part of forty-five years and believe me, the words professor and smart don’t always go together.” “They don’t?” “Educated and intelligent are different sorts of things. You wouldn’t believe the things some of these dodo birds do. Losing their keys, locking themselves out of their offices, getting lost—even falling down stairs. Sometimes I feel more like a babysitter than a security guard!”
