by Helen Gray
“We stayed out of one another’s space as much as possible,” Jimmie said stiffly. “Between doing my job and avoiding her, I didn’t keep up with things going on around here.”
“So this means you don’t have any idea who killed her.”
Jimmie nodded. “That’s what it means. I don’t know much dirt. You’d have to ask someone like Rick Montgomery that kind of stuff—if you can find him.”
Toni frowned. Rick had been with the district several years when Marsha fired him in October. The reason was never made public, and Toni wasn’t sure where he was now. “Do you know why he was terminated?”
Jimmie shook her head. “I’m not sure. I just remember hearing him and Marsha arguing in the hall one day, and soon after that he was gone. When I asked her about it later, she just made some comment about him being insubordinate.” She paused and produced a sardonic grin. “He should have known better than try to play hardball with a pro.”
“Thank you for talking to me.” Toni rose and went to the door, but then stopped and looked back. “One more question. I don’t want to make you mad, but the police will ask this if they haven’t already. Can you verify where you were the evening of the twenty-first?”
“I sure can,” Jimmie snapped. “I drove to St. Louis and caught an eight o’clock flight to Chicago to join my family for Christmas.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your time.” She left the room, certain that Jimmie would not be returning next year.
Toni used her lunch time to take care of errands, hoping to get caught up so she could leave right after school. When her final class arrived, she was happy to see Jodi present—until she took a closer look at the girl. She wore heavy makeup, but no amount of camouflage could hide the ugly bruising around her left eye. That side of her lip was puffy and cut.
Other than the black eye and split lip, Jodi’s appearance was similar to the other female students. She wore hip hugging jeans and a short denim jacket over a long tailed print shirt. Large blue eyes in an oval face, with long straight hair that had been lightened, made an attractive picture. But the solemn mouth belied any happiness in the girl.
Toni didn’t want to ignore something that looked like a need for help, but she didn’t want to say or do anything that would draw unwanted attention to Jodi during class. She would speak to the counselor after school. Perhaps there was a reasonable explanation, and no reason to call the hot line.
Feeling helpless, Toni proceeded with the lesson on DNA fingerprinting. Here she was teaching a class involving crime-solving techniques, and she had no answers to a real crime right under her nose. Also, right there in her class sat a student she was sure was in some kind of trouble, possibly being abused. And she could do nothing about either.
When the bell rang, Toni removed her lab coat, gathered her things, and went to meet her boys. “Hey, guys,” she called as they met in the cafeteria. “Wait for me here while I see the counselor. I’ll only be a few minutes, then we’ll go home and have a real meal.”
Garrett’s eyes brightened. “Can we have homemade egg noodles? May we?” he corrected before Toni could remind him.
“Okay,” Toni agreed, unable to resist the little con artist.
“May we go up and invite Dr. Z and Jenny?” came from Gabe.
Toni considered for a moment. “It’s okay to invite them, but if the answer is no, you accept it and don’t make pests of yourselves.”
“We won’t,” they promised, grabbing their backpacks and racing down the hall.
When Toni entered the counselor’s office, Kelly looked up from her computer. “Jodi Garrison was in class today, but I’m worried about her. Did you see her?”
Kelly stopped typing. “You mean the black eye?”
Toni nodded. “Do you know what’s going on in that girl’s life? I’ve tried calling her parents about her absences, but I can’t get an answer.”
Kelly grimaced. “So have I. I saw the way she looked today, but I didn’t spot her until after lunch. This week’s history, so it’ll be Monday before I can talk to her.”
“If she’s here.” Toni gave an exasperated shake of her head. “I talked to Beth Price and learned that Jodi and Randy Owens broke up. So I assume that’s not who’s hitting her. I hate to think that a parent is doing it.”
“Same here.” Kelly reached for a pen and made a note on her calendar planner. “I’m documenting this now. Monday morning I’ll ask the nurse if Jodi has been to see her, and I’ll do my best to get the girl in here for a talk. Then I’ll ask Ken for advice.”
“Thanks. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
John and the boys were coming up the hall when Toni exited the office. “Can you come?”
“May we bring the puppy?” John asked, his mouth curved in a line of uncertainty.
Toni smiled. “Sure. The boys can play with him.” Some of Jenny’s students had given her a puppy for Christmas, a spaniel they had named Bingo. She and John were still trying to train him.
Once home, Toni tossed a load of laundry in the washer and put some chicken breasts on to cook. As she put the meal on the table an hour later, the phone rang. Toni deposited the hot dish she was carrying and snatched the receiver off the cabinet, sure it was John or Kyle. “Yes.”
“I haven’t asked the question yet,” came a short bark.
Toni paused a second as Buck Freeman’s voice registered. “So what is the question?”
“How soon can you get down here and talk to me?”
She recognized a mandate when she heard one. Buck might be a friend of the family, but he was also the head of law enforcement in this small town. “I’m just putting food on the table, and I’m expecting company.”
“Then come as soon as your company is gone,” he ordered, his sharp tone softening a bit.
Toni glanced at the time. It was six o’clock. “It’ll be an hour or so. Isn’t that too late for you to be in your office?”
“I’ll be here.” The click in her ear told her the conversation was over.
While she still held the silent phone, the doorbell rang. “Come on in,” she called, on her way to the stove for another dish.
“What can I do to help?” Jenny asked as she and John stowed their coats in the foyer closet.
“Nothing,” Toni answered from the kitchen. “It’s ready. Let’s go ahead and eat. Then we can visit.”
She debated whether to tell them about Buck’s call, because she didn’t want them to feel they had to rush away, or feel obligated to stay with her boys. Not wanting to take advantage of them, she decided to wait and tell John anything he needed to know in the morning.
Jenny carried the puppy into the kitchen. “Where should I put Bingo?”
“Put him in the utility room. He should be content there while we eat. And, no,” she said to the boys as they both started toward Jenny with their arms outstretched. “You may not play with him until after we’ve eaten.”
Disappointed, they took their seats at the table.
“When is Kyle due home?” John asked a half hour later as Toni dipped ice cream over banana slices and dribbled chocolate sauce over it.
She placed the sundaes on the table before them. “Not until next Wednesday. I kind of wish he was here so I could leave the boys with him in the morning. I’d like to see if I can find Rick Montgomery and ask him some questions.”
“Rick?” John’s look was one of surprise. “I heard he moved to Farmington and went to work at the prison. Do you think he knows something about our murder?”
Toni grabbed the last dish of ice cream off the cabinet and returned to her seat. “I’m not sure, but Jimmie mentioned him.” She related the conversation.
“I’m sure you can find him in the phone book,” John said. “As for the boys, drop them at our place. They can stay with us and play with Bingo.”
“Can we play with him now?” Gabe begged. “We’re done.”
“May,” Toni corrected automatically.
“All right.” She faced John again, frowning.
John raised a palm. “No, before you can even suggest it, we won’t accept payment for watching your boys for a little while.”
“But we might work a swap,” Jenny suggested quietly. “I’d like to go visit my folks next weekend, and Bingo gets sick in the car. Could we exchange some sitter services?”
Toni laughed. “You’ve got a deal.”
As soon as John and Jenny had helped clear the table and tidy the kitchen, they went home so John could grade test papers. It was seven forty-five.
“Get your coats, boys,” she said as Garrett turned on the television.
Both boys turned to face her in surprise. “Where are we going?” Gabe asked.
“Buck wants me to come see him. Bring your homework if you have any.”
“Can’t we stay here?” Gabe pleaded.
“I don’t know how long it will take, so I don’t want to leave you alone. Let’s go.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but closed it when he read the look on her face.
*
Toni parked the boys in chairs out front before going to Buck’s private office. When she entered, Buck sat back in his chair instead of standing and extending a handshake, as he normally would have done. His sharp gaze took in every detail of her appearance, as if looking for hidden secrets. Dark circles smudged below his eyes. She knew he liked her, but tonight she sensed that those feelings had been put aside. He was tough and competent, but he seemed to be calculating his approach with her.
“I have to ask you some personal questions. Have a seat.”
She obeyed. “What’s going on?”
He leaned forward on the desk and peered into her face. “Toni, I have to be blunt. We’ve been talking to school employees.”
She nodded, beginning to feel a bit unnerved. “I understand. You have to do your job.”
“During those interviews several staff members mentioned that you and Ken Douglas were still in the building after they left on the last day Marsha was seen alive.”
“That’s right,” Toni answered without hesitation. “He left about the same time, but he went out a different door than I did.”
“So, besides him, you were the last one to leave, other than Mrs. Carter.”
“I suppose so, but I didn’t actually see her. There was a light on in her office, and her car was parked outside. I already told you all this.”
His eyes narrowed. “I know. But humor me. There may have been some details missed. Don’t you find it odd that she was there so late?”
What was he implying? Toni went tense as cold prickles of fear inched through her. “No. She hung around all the time. She was paranoid, had to keep her thumb on everything.”
“Where were you that Thursday night at ten o’clock?” His tone became a growl.
Toni raised her chin. “I went home.”
He raked a hand through his thick white hair. “What did you do after you got there?”
She thought back. “I fed the boys and put away the science club’s box of decorations that John, Ken, and Lisa helped me take off the tree at school. Then I took a shower and spent the evening reading.”
He scribbled on his notepad and looked back up. “Where was Kyle?”
“Out of town. He had an extra run that week and didn’t get home until late Friday night. Are you accusing me of having something to do with Marsha’s death?” She hated sounding defensive, but couldn’t help it. “Surely you’re not serious. You really think I would ….”
He raised a hand in a signal for silence. “You know I have to cover all the bases, Toni. It was suggested that we talk to you.”
“Why? By whom?”
“Several people find it odd that you just happened to be up there at that body farm at that particular time and found the body.”
Temper rising, Toni had trouble speaking. She wanted to punch something—or someone. “You didn’t tell them about Garrett, did you?”
“Of course not,” he barked. “But I can’t ignore it when your name keeps popping up in interviews.”
“That’s bound to happen, since I … we found the body. But why would anyone think I would do such a thing?”
His brows drew together over a cool stare. “No one said you did it, but someone heard a conversation between you and your superintendent that wasn’t described as amicable.”
“When? Never mind,” she said as a flash of memory came to her.
“You remember it,” he said in an odd tone that didn’t actually seem accusatory. In fact, he seemed almost as puzzled as her. “Tell me about it. Did you like working for Mrs. Carter?”
“No, I didn’t. But neither did most of the staff. I was considering a job change. As were some others.” She didn’t want to name John.
Buck made another note. “Tell me about the argument you had with her.”
Toni’s head moved back and forth. “It wasn’t an argument.”
“Then whatever it was,” he said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Quit stalling.”
Toni clenched her hands. “All right. But I have to explain. It was more like being called on the carpet. There were a couple of issues.”
He waited impatiently.
“Back in May I made out a requisition for six microscopes. Then I wrote what I thought was a very polite, persuasive letter and put with it, explaining why I needed them for my classroom.”
“Which was?”
“To begin with, I only have eight, and I need more like fifteen, enough for classes of twenty to thirty students to be able to have one per two students. The eight I have are outdated and have scratched lenses and dusty internal workings that cause them to have a lot of play in them. They’ve already been refurbished more than once and need replacing. My budget for the year is only a thousand dollars, and new scopes cost seven to eight hundred apiece.”
Buck tapped a pen on the notepad. “Go on,” he prodded when she paused.
“Like I said, that was back in May. At the end of our second workshop day at the beginning of school in August, Marsha called me to her office and informed me that my requisition was being denied because there wasn’t enough money. She suggested that I have my science club and the student council, the two organizations I sponsor, purchase one or two microscopes each from their fundraising monies.”
An eyebrow arched, but he said nothing.
“I was steamed,” she admitted. “Their service projects are for charitable purposes. The science club recycles things and uses the money they earn to buy school supplies and Christmas gifts for needy students. The student council adopts a family from the community’s twenty neediest families project and provides at least one of the family’s listed needs and a gift for each child. Taking money from those organizations would be robbing from the poor to buy for myself.”
His mouth twitched ever so slightly at the fervor of her recital. “So you told her that?”
“I did.” Toni nodded vigorously. Then she clamped her mouth shut and sat back in the chair, arms folded across her chest.
“You said a couple of issues.”
She stared up at the ceiling until she grew calmer. “By that point Marsha knew I wasn’t a happy camper, so she hit me with a complaint for excessive copying.”
He frowned.
“Last year Marsha decreed that we can no longer make copies for ourselves like we’ve always done in the past. We now have to fill out a form, attach it to whatever we want copied, and turn it in for an aide to make the copies and keep a record of them.”
“Is it such a bad system?”
“I guess not. The major problem is that we’re expected to allow three or four days to get our copies.”
“So no last minute stuff, huh?”
“Which is a pain in the royal patoot,” she sputtered. “Sometimes we need things impromptu. But the reason my copying is excessive is because I don’t have workbooks to go with my forensics textbo
ok. I have to make all my own worksheets, quizzes, and tests and have them copied.” Her voice had risen again.
“I can tell you’re passionate about this.”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and rubbed the tight muscles in the back of her neck. “One of the first things Ryan did as interim superintendent was to shut down the copy system. He didn’t like it either. So does that make him a suspect?”
“Don’t get smart with me, Miss Toni,” he snapped. “So you were fuming when you left Mrs. Carter’s office that day.”
She gave him a meek grin. “Oh, yeah. I was so hot that I banged my fist on the wall as I turned the corner in the hallway. The custodian saw me. And I suspect the secretary heard the entire conversation.”
He neither denied nor confirmed the statement.
“I’m in the process of writing a classroom grant, but it may or may not get approved. And it won’t even be read until spring. I don’t know what my chances are of getting new microscopes for next year. Do I need a lawyer?” she asked abruptly.
“I don’t think that’s necessary. But I’d like to speak with your boys before you leave.”
She glared at him. “Only if I’m here in the room.”
“Go get them.”
She summoned Gabe and Garrett and sat silently as Buck asked them simple questions like what they each got for Christmas and commented about how much fun it must have been to have such a long break from school. Then he asked what they did the first night after school dismissed for the holiday. Both shrugged and told him they had stayed home with Mom and watched television, confirming Toni’s story.
“Go home,” he ordered gruffly, aiming the words over their heads at Toni.
Chapter 6
Saturday morning Toni dropped the boys with John and Jenny and set out for Farmington. John had found Rick’s number, called him for a chat, and found out where he lived. She hoped she wasn’t making a mistake in not calling and telling her former colleague she was coming—and that he would be home. But she felt that talking to him in person would be more helpful than a phone conversation.
