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Professor Said Mathematicians Failed 50 Years — But Truant Freshman Girl Cracked It in Class

Professor Said Mathematicians Failed 50 Years — But Truant Freshman Girl Cracked It in Class

Chapter 29

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Walter set down his cup, his hand trembling more now. "I will tell you this much," he said slowly. "Your grandfather was the most brilliant mind that ever walked through the doors of this university. Brighter than anyone in Kimber Hall. Brighter, certainly, than the man who is currently teaching your class.""Ridgeway," Ren said quietly.Walter didn't answer directly, but he didn't need to."Not everything written in that old report about your grandfather was true," he said instead. "That's all I can say for now. But I promise you this, Ren: the truth doesn't disappear just because someone locks it in a drawer. Sometimes," he added, quieter still, "it just waits for someone brave enough to open it.""Will you be brave enough?" Ren asked. "Tomorrow, I mean. At the hearing?"Walter looked at her for a long moment, something moving behind his tired eyes: fifty years of silence weighing against whatever came next. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "I've been a coward about this for half a century. That's not a habit a man breaks easily, even when he wants to.""I understand," Ren said, though disappointment sat heavy in her chest, harder to hide than she would have liked."I don't think you do," Walter said gently. "But I hope before tomorrow is over that you won't have to."He walked her to the door himself, slower than he probably needed to, as though trying to make the moment last a little longer than it wanted to.Ren left his house as the sun was setting, her mind spinning with questions she still had no answers to. She didn't know yet what Walter Simmons had promised, or to whom, or why fifty years hadn't been enough for him to break that promise. But she knew now, with a certainty that settled deep in her chest, that this wasn't only about a chalkboard or a hearing or a stolen notebook. This was about something much older than her, something that had been waiting patiently for half a century for someone to finally come looking.At the Wayside Diner that night, Roy Delaney noticed she wasn't at her usual station. He asked the other waitress, a young woman named Carla, where Ren had gone."She called in," Carla said. "Said she wasn't feeling well. Voice sounded pretty rough, though, not like a cold."Roy frowned. That wasn't like her; Ren hadn't missed a shift in almost a year. He waited until his coffee was finished, then walked two blocks to the small apartment Ren shared with Reese.Reese answered the door, surprised to see him.
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Professor Said Mathematicians Failed 50 Years — But Truant Freshman Girl Cracked It in Class

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