"Whitmore," Foss said. "Professor Whitmore, in the sociology department."
Mia looked at her.
"He recorded the conversation," Foss said. "The one last week, when Reese went to his office and made the grade situation explicit. He recorded it on his phone. Legal in Georgia, with one-party consent. He filed the recording with the academic integrity office 3 days ago." She paused. "He didn't tell anyone. He just filed it and waited."
Mia thought about Whitmore. The gray-templed professor with the folder pressed against his chest like a shield. Trying to hold his ground, with his voice steady and the effort visible in every word.
"He did it alone," Mia said.
"He did it alone," Foss confirmed. "He said later that he had been planning to do it regardless of anything else that happened this week. But I think watching what happened to you in the dining hall made him less willing to wait any longer."
Mia thought about that. About a man who had spent his career doing one thing correctly, grading on the work, and who had finally decided that was worth protecting. Not in a grand way. Not publicly. Just by pressing record on his phone and walking a form to the right office.
Small. Ordinary. Enormously important.
"Is Reese being investigated?" Mia said.
"The academic integrity office opened a formal process this morning. The university's relationship with the Hartwell Foundation is also under review by the board." Foss paused. "It's early. But it started."
Mia nodded. She thought about the Hartwell banner on the wall. She didn't look at it.
"And the video they posted this morning?" Mia said.
"That's the other thing," Foss said. Her expression shifted slightly. "One of the campus IT staff, a woman who was in the dining hall that Wednesday, pulled the unedited security footage from the system and posted it herself this afternoon. She filed a concurrent report with student affairs." Foss paused. "She said she'd been thinking about it all week. Watching what happened to you was what made her stop thinking and start doing."
Mia sat with that for a moment.
A woman she had never met. Someone who had been in the room when it happened and had said nothing, because most people say nothing at the time. And then went home and thought about it for 4 days, and decided that was not who she wanted to be.
"Did she get in trouble for pulling the footage?" Mia asked.
"No," Foss said. "Pulling security footage for a conduct report is within her job description. She was careful to do it the right way."