Chapter 29Taggart checked the Boardroom one last time to see if everything was all right. A banner bore Rory’s name and a gigantic Congratulations! written in bold gold letters. There were also balloons, in the school’s colours of yellow and black, along with several streamers in the same shades. None of this was standard for the PhD defense parties, but Taggart could not help himself. It had all fallen into place too perfectly. Since Taggart couldn’t be at the defense itself, and Joseph, once actually confronted with his scheduling errors, had felt awful, he pretty much let Taggart do whatever he wanted this shift, anyway. It was the middle of August, and most summer classes were in exams. The bar had been dead most of the morning, so Taggart had tasked himself with going through the boxe
