At the end of the day Delphine was walking to Lab C and wondering how the several experiences of the project were going. During her time out of the country she had little information about it. That dismayed her, but the blonde thought it was just another way her boss found to punish her for not agreeing to stay in the States during the Christmas break. She had sent him several e-mails requesting information on the investigation and Leekie only replied at her fourth attempt with a vague message that said things were going as predicted. Even if she, in some weird level understood his resistance in informing her, it still surprised her his reaction; Delphine didn't peg him for one to follow a personal vendetta at the expense of his professional work. She was an important part of the project; how is she supposed to do her work if she didn't have access to all the information?
Nevertheless, today she received an e-mail from her boss confirming that the regular meetings at the end of the day were to be continued as previously. So it was with curiosity about how the investigation had progressed during her absence that she arrived at the lab.
As soon as Delphine crossed the door her eyes instantly fixed Cosima's station, like a magnet. However, the professor was surprised to notice that the brunette hadn't arrived yet, nor had her partner. Wasn't she informed about it? Five minutes later and everyone has already arrived except for the two female students and the immunology professor was starting to get worried. At least Dr. Leekie didn't decide to come to the lab yet, which was good because he was still unaware of Cosima's miss, but was also causing Delphine to be lost about what she was supposed to be doing.
Shortly she heard the door open and instantly turned her head, but was faced with a cold stare from Alex and, when Delphine was expecting Cosima to follow, the student closed the door and walked to the work station she shared with the petit brunette. Twenty minutes in and still no sign of Cosima, leaving the Frenchwoman even more restless, which didn't improve when she saw the dean arrive to the lab.
"Dr. Leekie!" She greeted nervously. It was the first time she talked with her boss since she returned to the States.
"Dr. Cormier!" He acknowledged her. "How was your vacation?"
"Very good." She was not going to get into the details of her tense reunion with her family. "It was lovely to see everyone again."
"Yes, family is very important. " He said, but there was a distance in his voice, like he really didn't mean it, was just saying it because he knew was the appropriate response. The man was looking around the room, his eyes not really resting in a specific place.
"And you, Dr. Leekie? Did you get to see your family in the break?" Delphine tried to distract him, foolishly hoping he wouldn't notice Cosima's absence.
"No, I couldn't. I had to stay here, working on the project, as you know." He said coldly, but Delphine didn't see regret in his eyes, just detachment.
"Well, yes, but I thought you would at least spend the Christmas day with your family."
"I'm not close to my family." He quickly said before walking over to Cosima's station.
Well, Delphine could identify with that, but she never imagined spend a Christmas away from her family, no matter how estranged they were. But she didn't have time to think about that now, she was busy following Dr. Leekie's steps; he was already speaking with Alex.
The blonde approached them softly, trying to get a little of what they were saying, but the dean and the student were talking in a low voice. So she decided to go for a more direct approach. "Ms. Robinson, how was your break?" She asked. "Did your parents enjoyed Christmas in Minneapolis?"
"Yes, they were thrilled to spend a snowy Christmas for a change!" The younger woman replied.
"Really? Where do you usually spend Christmas?" Delphine never thought about Alex outside her own sphere, she really wasn't interested in what the student did unless it was something that interfered with Delphine's personal life. However, this conversation was a way to deviate the subject of Cosima's miss.
"We're from New Mexico, so snowy Christmas is really a rarity." Alex's voice its usually chirpy self.
"I see…" Delphine was fast running out of topics for the conversation. "So it was pleasant, then?"
"Yes, it was." She answered back, a little annoyance in the voice.
"Where's your partner, Ms. Robinson?" The dean asked the feared question.
"I don't know, haven't seen her today!" The student replied. "Which is a shame! I really wanted to speak with Cosima."
"Well, I'm sure she has a good reason not to be here." Delphine tried to ease up the tension.
"Whatever reason, she should've said something." Alex said, her eyes narrowing just a little. "Not showing up without warning doesn't seem appropriate, especially after staying away from the project for over two weeks."
"How is everything, by the way?" The professor took the opening to change the subject.
"Two of the experiences had to be shut down during your absence." Dr. Leekie answered. "I'll give you the reports in a minute." He was moving to the main desk.
Delphine followed. "Which?"
"It's in the reports." He simply said. "You've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Yes, but I wish you had sent them to me during the break." The blonde tried to stay calm. "I did request it in one of my mails."
"I'm going to get them from my office." He was moving to the door. When he opened it the dean was faced with a startled young man with a closed fist, clearly getting ready to knock on the door. "Yes? May I help you?"
"I…I…" Delphine extended her neck recognizing Scott's stuttering.
"Scott?!" She said, not able to contain her surprise.
The male student stepped inside the room. "Dr. Cormier!" He said after a sigh of relief.
"Can I do anything for you?" Dr. Leekie's imposing voice persisted, making Scott redirect his attention to the man.
"Oh, I'm just here to warn that Cosima…hmm… Niehaus, will not be attending today's meeting." He was moving around the dean, so his back was turned to the immunology professor.
"And she couldn't come herself to let us know?" Dr. Leekie was obviously not enjoying Scott's dance around him.
Delphine had to look down in order to contain a laugh; the young student's personality clearly conflicting with the dean's. In doing so, something in the hands of the student, which were behind his back, caught her attention. He was shaking vigorously a little piece of paper between his fingers. After a while the Frenchwoman figured it was something for her. She tried to hold it, but, somehow, it fell to the floor. Scott turned immediately, his eyes widening when he realized that Delphine wasn't able to get it, which allowed the dean to move and get a glance at Delphine, who in an automatic move placed her foot on top of the piece of paper.
"Well, if she could have come here to inform us, I'm sure she would have stayed." Delphine said, so her boss wouldn't notice the rapid movement of her foot.
"Yes." The older man agreed. "But she could have called."
"She didn't have your numbers and since I was in the neighborhood…" Scott was little more relief after noticing the woman's presence of mind.
"Ms. Niehaus could have warned her partner. I'm sure she has her number." The dean insisted.
"Yes, well that I don't know."
Scott knows how to play dumb when he needs to. "What matters is that we know." Delphine was fighting to alleviate the tension. "Tomorrow we'll talk with her."
"Yes, we will." He answered back. "Thank you." He said to the young student, dismissing him.
Scott was fast leaving the room. The professor smiled gently, but when she noticed Dr. Leekie looking at her she closed her face. "The reports?" She reminded him.
"Right!" He said, taking his leave.
After being sure no one was looking at her, Delphine bended to get the paper that was still under her high heel. Opening the carefully wrapped paper she read a message from Cosima, telling her to meet her and an address the Frenchwoman didn't recognize. Odd! Why didn't she text me? Quickly stuffing the paper in her pocket.
When Dr. Leekie returned with a stack of papers under his arm, Delphine was making her usual round. And after everyone was done and Dr. Leekie told her that they should've a meeting to go over the project, Delphine excused herself based on the fact that she wanted to read all the reports before getting into details about its evolution. The dean complied; it made sense.
The GPS announced she had arrived at the destination and Delphine turned off the car, finding a place not far to park. Making sure she was in the right building she rang the bell, looking with a raised eyebrow at the intercom's camera. The door was opened with the typical buzzing sound. She took the elevator and when the doors slid open, she was faced with Cosima's smile.
"Good, you made it!" The student said, moving her body to make room for the professor to enter. "I'm glad Scott's mission was a success!"
"Barely." Delphine laughed lightly remembering what happened in the lab.
"Who would have thought he would make such a great spy?" Cosima was laughing as well, while shutting the door behind her.
"Cosima, what's going on? Why are we here?" The Frenchwoman started to go over her list of questions. "Why didn't you go today? Why couldn't you text me?"
"Wow, wow… Wait!" The brunette's hands raised, moving about. "First you need to promise me you won't freak out!"
"Freak out?!" Delphine's mood was rapidly shifting. "Why would I freak out?"
"Just promise me!" The younger woman said again.
"I can't promise that if you don't tell me what's going on?"
"I need you to work with me here, okay?" Cosima was moving closer to Delphine, resting her hands on the taller woman's shoulders, looking up. "Just let me finish before you start making decisions. We're in this together, remember?"
"Cosima, just… Out with it!" The professor got out of the student's grasp and sat on the couch on the living room, where they were standing. Whatever it was, Delphine had the feeling she should be seated for this.
"Last night…hmm… Before you arrived, I was with Scott and basically kicked him out." She started.
"So? He seemed quite alright with it, even if he was a little spooked." Delphine interrupted. "But I think that was because he had to talk with Dr. Leekie."
"What?! I told him to ask for you!" Cosima puffed.
"Well, he hardly had any way around it, Dr. Leekie was standing right before him."
"Oh, my… Poor dude." Cosima was lightly moving her head left and right. But then returned to the main subject. "Whatever… That's not it! Well, it just so happens, when he was leaving he noticed…" She hesitated.
"Cosima!"
"Okay, okay… He noticed Alex standing on the other side of the street." Cosima finally said it.
"What?" Delphine was getting up. "Did she see me?"
The smaller woman approached her, hands on the professor's shoulders, a little pressure forcing her to sit back down. "That's the thing… He doesn't know. Since he thought she was there to see me, Scott left. We don't know if she stayed."
"Merde…" The blonde said under her breath.
"Yep, that about sums it up!" Cosima's answer. "You were with her today; did you notice anything different?"
"God, Cosima, I don't know! She was annoying as always, but I wasn't looking for any change." Cosima was nodding. A thought went through Delphine's mind. "Do you think she was there…expecting me?"
"I don't know… I don't know shit!" The student said exasperated.
"Merde!" The Frenchwoman repeated, this time with more conviction. "And you didn't think of asking her?"
"Oh, yeah… Hi Alex, did you happen to see Dr. Cormier arriving at my home, late last night?" Cosima said ironically. "Oh, why do you ask? What was your professor doing going to your place at night?" She replied herself, imitating the younger student's cheerful tone.
"This is no time for jests." The professor scolded. "But I see your point. However, you could have approached the subject more…discreetly."
"I know, but I wanted to talk with you first." Cosima sat next to her, now that she realized the blonde wasn't going to make a run for it. "See, that's what normal people do. They talk, they solve the problems together."
"Right, right… I get it." Delphine said, facing the brunette.
"Okay, so now you understand why I couldn't text you…"
"Hm-mh… If she was there on purpose then the only way she could have known…"
"Is by our texts!" Cosima completed.
"Don't you think that's a little…much?" The professor asked.
"Earlier you were willing to admit we were being followed!" The student pointed out.
"Yeah, which you immediately dismissed." Delphine stated. "I never liked that Alex chick." She added under her breath.
"I know." Cosima agreed. "Well, I never liked that Leekie asshole, so there…"
"We suck at this…" The Frenchwoman let it out.
"Yeah, maybe we should start to listen to each other's first instincts more often." Cosima laughed.
"I agree, but how do we know who's right to begin with?" Despite the information, Delphine's mood was lighting up, making her realized once more that she should've told her student about Leekie's knowledge from the beginning.
"Fuck, I don't know!" The younger woman got up. "But this is too much of a mindfuck to deal without a smoke."
"Do you carry pot with you all the time?" The professor was getting ready to criticize her for that.
"No, but I know where Mara keeps her stash." She was moving to one of the doors.
"So, this is her place?" Delphine asked.
"Yep, hers and Emily's." She got back to the living room, with a box in her hands. "They're in law school and won't get back until next week."
"And they don't mind about us being here or going over their things?" All this was very weird to Delphine, she was never that close to anyone in college.
"I asked them if I could use their place." Cosima was opening the box. "And this," pointing to it "we're friends and friends share in a time of need."
"I see." The older woman laughed.
"Do you want?" The student had finished rolling the joint.
"No, I think better while sober!"
"Suit yourself." Lighting up.
"Do you think your friends would mind if I smoke one of mine?" Delphine was already going through her purse.
"No, of course not." Cosima took a drag. "Okay, think!"
"Alright, well, if she's up to something, she's not alone." Delphine pointed out.
"Right! And my money is on Leekie."
"He seems like the most likely suspect." The professor remembered something from the party. Something that was kept in the back of her mind and was now resurfacing. "Dr. Leekie seems to know her father."
"What do you mean?"
"Like they were pals, first name basis, you know?"
"Oh, that's interesting!" Cosima was reaching for the laptop that was on top of the coffee table, seating herself on the floor. "I'm gonna to abuse my friends and use their computer and wi-fi." She was turning on the computer on her lap, waiting for it to come to life. "Okay, what's his name? Did you get it?" She asked after a while.
"Hmm… Dieu, what was it?" Delphine thought for some time. "It was common… Damn…"
"C'mon, chérie…" Cosima's encouragement came with a terrible accent.
"Oh, my… We need to work on your French!" The professor laughed. "Oh, wait! John, it was John. John Robinson!" She said triumphantly, but then her heart sank. "Damn… How many Johns Robinson do you think there are?"
"Yeah, I know…" Cosima was typing. "Too many… But we can't despair." Another drag.
"Right, let's go by stages." Delphine took a drag of her own. "They're probably the same age, more or less. Maybe they went to school together."
"Yeah… Let's see…" Hitting the keys fast, followed by clicks on the pad. "Okay, college is more likely! So alumni…" Delphine patiently waited for her student's response. "No, they didn't finish the same year."
"Broad the search! Try see if they were at any time together in the same college." The professor instructed.
After a while the brunette replied negatively. "No. And going back is not the answer, I doubt we can find any record of them, unless they were athletes, which doesn't seem likely."
"Try going forward! PhDs and whatnot…" They were running out of options.
But that didn't help them either, because Cosima didn't find any crossings between Dr. Leekie and any John Robinson. "Maybe we should try a different approach!"
"Yes, but which?" The Frenchwoman's mind was working full speed. "Dr. Leekie once told me he studied abroad, for one year." She said, remembering the ride home the night she went to dinner with her boss.
"Where?" Cosima asked.
"London!" This time the blonde didn't have to think for long. That night's events vividly marked in her mind.
"Okay, do you know which University?" The student was putting out her smoke.
"Afraid not!" Delphine replied, reaching for the ashtray.
"Right, no problem, I'll look." Then they were quiet for some time, the brunette's rapid fingers on the keys filled the room, while Delphine patiently waited. "Caught you!"
"You found him?"
"Yep, Dr. Leekie did one year at Imperial College Of London, studying Bioengineering in the Faculty of Engineering, while a John Alexander Robinson was also there studying Computing." Cosima's eyebrow raised.
"His middle name is Alexander? Really?"
"Yep, what a lack of originality!" The young woman scoffed.
"Right, must be genetic!" Delphine agreed. "He must be our man."
Cosima was still clicking. "Okay, he's from a little town near Albuquerque, where he lives with his wife and daughter."
"That's him! Alex's from New Mexico." The Frenchwoman was sure of it.
"How do you kno… wow!" The student's eyes wide open, staring at the screen.
"What?"
"He's loaded!" She explained.
"What do you mean loaded?"
"Loaded, rich, obscenely wealthy…"
"How?" Delphine resisted the urge to join her student on the floor, knowing that being so close to her would most likely make her lose her concentration, staying put on the couch.
After a few clicks, Cosima answered. "Software development company, started twenty years ago. One of the few that resisted the crash, it's very well positioned in the stock market."
"I don't think I've ever heard of him." Delphine was searching her mind, but knew it was a fruitless exercise, it was not something she paid much attention to.
"No, me neither." Cosima said, still looking at the screen. "He seems to be very reserved about his personal life and the company develops personalized software for other private companies, some contracts with the government, but mostly privates."
"So, not the type you would find over the counter." The Frenchwoman shortened.
"Yep!" The student confirmed. "Well, if he and Dr. Leekie are pals, then I'm not surprised that Alex got a spot on the project."
"Yes, it makes sense now!" But the older woman was trying to wrap her head around it. "He must have a lot of influence over Leekie for him to put someone so incompetent in the project."
"Right! But remember that Alex was never left alone, I work with her and, when I wasn't there, you took over. Do you think her father puts money on the investigation?"
"I don't know. But it's not out of the ordinary, private companies are constantly sponsoring this type of projects." The professor clarified.
"Maybe, but what's the interest of a software company in genetics?" The question lingered on the air, while the brunette was opening again the small box. "How is the project going, by the way?"
"I don't know yet, have tons of reports to go over." Delphine raised her brow. "And don't you think you've had enough?" Pointing to the student's fingers which were already rolling another joint.
"Clearly not!" Licking the paper with a wink to the blonde and stubbornly putting the carefully rolled stick to her lips, lighting it up, a smile on her face. "We can go over the reports together."
"Not today, I don't think you're in the proper condition for it." The professor smiled back, but then lowered her eyes. "If Alex saw me…"
"I know, Delphine." Expelling a thick cloud of smoke through her lips. "We need to find out, in the meantime… I don't know what we could do."
"We'll find a way together, okay? Don't worry." Delphine was sure of it. "What we can't do is ignore it, like we did the last time."
"Yes! We found out about Leekie's connection with Alex's father…" The young woman's eyes were starting to turn lightly red. "When we work together we're like a super mega force!"
Delphine laughed softly; when Cosima was in a good mood it was contagious. "Do you think Alex knows where I live?"
"Hmm… Well, even if she didn't know, Dr. Leekie knows for sure, he has access to your employee sheet, so we must assume she does as well." Another drag. "And that sucks!"
"Yes, it does!" The professor really didn't like that perspective.
"I think we need to find another love shack." Cosima snorted and then started to cough when smoke was caught in her throat.
"You're high!" Delphine tried to sound austere, but the chuckle that escaped her lips betrayed her.
"Maybe just a little." Cosima smiled, giving one last drag, got up from the floor, after shutting the lid of the computer and put it on its place. She was moving to the couch, putting out the smoke on the ashtray. But she didn't seat on the couch, the smaller woman moved her legs so she would straddle Delphine, who had to look up to meet her eyes. "I've got a confession to make." Cosima whispered on her lips.
"Oh, yeah?" The blonde didn't know what to expect from that.
"Yeah." Her voice still low, creating a gentle breeze over Delphine's mouth. "The first time we had sex… I was a little high."
The Frenchwoman laughed, holding Cosima's waist with both hands. "Really?" Her head moving up, so she could kiss the brunette.
"Hm-mh…" Cosima hummed against her lips.
"Well, I was a little drunk, so…"
"Dr. Cormier?!" Cosima pretended to be insulted. "How irresponsible of you to drive while intoxicated!"
"I wasn't that drunk, just a little…" She paused for a kiss. "And I don't think I would've take you home if I was totally sober."
"Hmm… Well, in that case. I think I can forgive you." The brunette's hands found their way to the blonde locks, her finger tangling in them.
"I'm glad I did." Delphine's hands were now searching for the edge of the student's shirt, pulling it over her head.
"Yeah, me too." Cosima's voice already breaking, occupied with removing the professor's blazer, which was still on the lean woman's shoulders, kissing her deeply, getting ready for the turbulence that would follow.