You can check with him. It was a legitimate academic event designed to showcase recent PhD work. Dr. Mercer was invited to participate along with five other recent graduates. But you did attend with the intention of confronting her.
I considered this carefully. I attended because I wanted to see if she could defend work that I largely wrote. When she accused me publicly of spreading lies about her, I responded. Everything I said was true and can be documented. You claim you wrote her dissertation.
I claim I wrote most of it. The research was hers. The ideas were hers, but the actual writing, analysis, and structure were mine. I have drafts, emails, and notes to prove it. Detective Callahan leaned back in her chair.
Mr. Mercer, can I ask you something off the record? Sure. Why didn't you expose this 3 years ago? Why wait until now?
I thought about how to answer that. 3 years ago, I was hurt and angry. I wanted to get away from the whole situation. But when she showed up at my apartment accusing me of arson, claiming I was sabotaging her career, I realized she was never going to take responsibility for her own failures. She was going to keep blaming me for everything that went wrong in her life.
So, you decided to prove your point. I decided to let her prove my point. All I did was show up and ask her to explain her own work. She's the one who couldn't do it. Detective Callahan closed her notebook.
For what it's worth, I don't think you burned down her house. Your alibi is solid, and frankly, you don't seem like the type What type is that? The type who commits arson. You're more of a long-term strategic thinker. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.
After our meeting, I drove to Julian's office. It was time to have a conversation with Dr. Hughes about his role in this mess. Julian's office was exactly what you'd expect from a department head trying too hard to impress. Leather-bound books he'd never read, expensive furniture and diplomas covering every inch of wall space.
He looked up when I knocked on his open door, and his face went pale. Nathan, I What are you doing here? Hello, Julian. Mind if I come in? He glanced around nervously as if looking for an escape route.
I'm very busy. Perhaps we could schedule this. Won't take long. I entered and closed the door behind me. I just wanted to chat about a lease.
I don't think that's appropriate. Really? Because 3 years ago, you thought it was very appropriate to sleep with my wife while she was writing her dissertation using work that I was doing for free. Julian's face flushed red. I don't know what you're implying.
I'm not implying anything. I'm stating facts. You had an affair with Elise. You knew she was getting help with her academic work, and you approved a dissertation that you knew she didn't write. That's not The dissertation committee approved her work based on its merits.
Its merits? Julian, you were sleeping with her. You think anyone's going to believe your evaluation was objective? He stood up abruptly, trying to assert some authority. I think you should leave.
I think you should sit down and listen. I remained seated, forcing him to either sit or loom over me awkwardly. He chose to sit. Here's what's going to happen, Julian. The university is going to investigate Alisa's dissertation.
They're going to find evidence that she didn't write it, and when they do, they're going to ask how it got approved. The committee The committee relied on your recommendation as her adviser. When they discover you were compromised by a personal relationship, what do you think happens to your career? Julian's hands were shaking slightly. What do you want?
I want the truth about the affair, about the dissertation, about everything. I can't. My wife, the divorce proceedings are going to be a lot messier when this comes out anyway. You can get ahead of it by being honest, or you can wait for the investigation to uncover everything. Julian stared at his desk for a long moment.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this. What wasn't the affair? It started after she'd already begun the dissertation. I didn't know you were helping her until later. When did you find out?
About 6 months before her defense. The writing quality was so much higher than her coursework. When I asked her about it, she said you were helping with editing. And you believed that? I wanted to believe it.
The work was good. Really good. And I I cared about her. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
What happened after the divorce? Julian's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. She expected us to be together, to get married after my divorce was finalized, but it wasn't it wasn't that kind of relationship. What kind of relationship was it? It was convenient for both of us.
She got attention and support for her work. I got companionship. And when the convenience ended, I tried to let her down gently, but she didn't take it well. She started showing up at my office, calling my house, making scenes at department events, stalking you. I wouldn't use that word.
What word would you use? Julian was quiet for a moment. Desperate. Desperate enough to burn down her own house for attention. He looked up at me sharply.
What? The house fire, Julian? Who do you think said it? I The police said it was arson, but I assumed you assumed I did it just like Elise wanted you to assume. Are you saying she I'm saying Ely is very good at making herself look like a sufferer when she's actually the perpetrator.