What? The laconic and naive Rusty grunts…
Mara makes a great point, but in Rusty’s world, everyone is an “Old Friend,” and by extension that included Becky. But readers of this strip (even in its current incarnation) would have recognized that Becky was no good… Sort in the Mata Hari sense of the word…
But again, Rusty also jumps to the conclusion that Professor What’s-his-Name is not in on this scam… Rusty, it is possible that even “Old Friends” can be crooks…
The Daily Trail 
Mara must be an Eagles fan, as Glenn Frey tells us in Lyin’ Eyes —
“City girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile”
Makes me wonder about the very stark contrast between her eyes in panels 2 and 4.
I’m sorry, truly I am, but in all honesty, if Rusty is supposed to be looking “better” these days – he really is not. He looks like he’s discovered meth, and I’m not even kidding.