The reporter didn’t say anything.

“Are you getting what I'm saying?" Lowell asked the reporter. "Maria didn't have to take the exams at all because she is very smart. Is that hard to understand? Are you that dumb?"

The reporter felt insulted.

It wasn't that she wasn't clever, but anyone in her shoes would find the whole situation bizarre.

In the student file, Maria got zero in all subjects. Who would have thought that she supervised students during an exam and graded their papers afterward?