Keyed in Murder

by Helen Gray

  “This is way overdone,” Toni said to her principal during lunch in the cafeteria.

  He eyed her across the table, his expression grim. “It’s better to be overdone, and safe, than sorry. As determined as someone seems to be on hurting you, he might be bold enough to find a way to get to you inside the building. It could be a parent.”

  The very idea chilled Toni. She blinked against the threat of tears that so many people cared. She let out a whoosh of air and spoke to the staff seated at the table. “You all are impossible. But super. Thank you.”

  Tuesday was a repeat of the chaperoning. Toni felt restricted and wanted closure. She wanted something to happen—killers and criminals brought to justice—an end put to the dreadful situation. This state of affairs couldn’t continue indefinitely.

  At the end of the school day, she and John left their rooms at the same time and walked to the foyer together to meet Gabe and Garrett. Since Jenny worked in a different part of the building, she would meet John at their car. As they and the boys exited the building and headed to the parking lot, Toni heard her name called from behind them. She turned to see Patsy Brower hurrying to catch up to them. They stopped and waited.

  “I meant to catch you at your room before you left,” Patsy said breathlessly when she caught up to them. “But I got tied up on the phone and didn’t get away from my desk on time.”

  “Why don’t we go on to my van? It’s close,” Toni said, stepping aside so other faculty members could pass them.

  Patsy nodded. “That’ll keep us from getting trampled, and be more private,” she added in a softer tone.

  “Since Jenny’s waiting for me, I’ll wait in the car with her until you’re ready to go,” John said.

  “He didn’t need to leave,” Patsy said as he walked away. “I know the two of you work together on this case as well as school.”

  “He knows I’ll fill him in if you tell me anything relevant to the crimes. What do you have?”

  Patsy pulled her coat tighter around her and shivered in the wind that was growing stronger. “First, I want you to know that the police did come and talk to Norm, but we accounted for every minute of his whereabouts during the time Ray Fillmore was killed. They’ll check everything we said, of course. But I’m not as scared this time. I’m mad.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Toni said sympathetically.

  “What I really wanted to tell you,” Patsy continued quickly, “is that Allison and Brian were talking over the weekend, and Brian said there’s an older guy in town that he thinks is at the head of the student gang. By older I think he means thirteen or fourteen, or maybe even fifteen. He heard a boy refer to someone as the Hangman. Then, later, he said he overheard someone else whisper the name Theo, but he never heard any last name. Brian thinks this Theo lives near the school and transferred here this year. He doesn’t know his grade, but the guy is supposed to have a couple of middle school lieutenants who carry his messages and threats for him.”

  “Thank you so much for telling me this,” Toni said.

  “I know it’s vague and just hearsay,” Patsy apologized.

  “I’ll pass it on to Buck and let him work at making sense of it. I’ll also tell him I think Brian should have the kind of safety precautions I’m getting.”

  Patsy nodded. “I appreciate that. I have to get back to my desk.” She turned and hurried away.

  Once Toni had been escorted home, she called Buck and relayed what Patsy had told her.

  “Thanks for that much,” the chief said. “I’ll do some checking and alert the middle school principal to put a close surveillance on Brian Brower, and the Simmons boy,” he added.

  The next morning during her second hour class, Toni received a call from the secretary asking her to meet Ken in his office as soon she could get there after the bell rang as. It wiped out her free period again, but she assured Pam she would be there.

  When she walked into her principal’s office, Coke in hand, Toni found Buck present. Judging by the empty coffee cups on Ken’s desk, they had spent considerable time in conference. Hopefully they had reached some worthy conclusions.

  “I think your information was good,” the chief greeted her. “Sit.”

  Toni did, curiosity making her antsy. “It was Patsy’s info.”

  Ken tapped a finger on the folder before him on his desk. “We have a transfer student who fits the Brower boy’s story, but that’s all we have. There’s no proof.”

  Buck shifted in his chair. “I’m going to do some more checking, see what we can find in the kid’s background besides his so-so academic record and poor attendance that Ken has just shared with me.”

  “And I’m going to talk to each teacher who has Mr. Theo in class,” Ken said. “We’re going to watch him like a hawk.”

  “May I ask his last name?” Toni asked.

  “Theodore Lynch.”

  “Hangman,” she whispered to herself.

  “Some nickname,” Buck growled. “But I’m guessing we’ll find it’s what he went by in Chicago before he transferred here. I’m sure you know this needs to be kept under your hat while we form and follow a game plan. But we thought you deserved to know we think we’re making progress.”

  “She’ll want to tell John Zachary,” Ken cautioned the chief. “He’s been working those fingerprints with her, and has been her sidekick in previous sleuthing.”

  “Okay, but that’s all.” Buck grabbed his hat and left.

  When Toni arrived home from school, Kyle’s truck was there. So John waved, backed out of the drive, and went on home.

  “The timing is terrible,” Kyle said as she and the boys were putting their coats away in the foyer closet. As she entered the kitchen, he put the chicken tenders he had removed from the freezer in the microwave and started them thawing.

  “What are you talking about?” Toni asked.

  He turned to face her. “I have to be gone the next two nights. I’ve already called and talked to your parents. They’ve decided to come and stay here with you. They think that’ll be better for both you and the boys.”

  “I hate this,” she said in exasperation. “Too many lives are being disrupted.”

  He hugged her to him. “I believe the police are going to settle it soon,” he said, a note of surety in his voice that gave Toni hope.

  “It can’t be over soon enough,” she declared.

  *

  Thursday passed slowly.

  Friday morning, students arrived to class amidst a buzz of conversations about a big fight in the middle school earlier that morning. Toni didn’t catch the details, only that some students had been suspended and arrested. She had her hands full trying to keep everyone’s attention on class work.

  During third hour she went by Ken’s office to see if he would tell her what was causing such a stir, but he wasn’t there.

  “All I know,” the secretary told her, “is that he left his office first thing this morning with Ryan Prewitt.”

  Toni returned to her room, more riddled with curiosity than ever.

  She had to wait until lunch time for enlightenment. While seated in John’s classroom eating their sandwiches, they heard a tap at the door. Ken stepped inside, his expression hard to read. He seemed agitated, yet strangely satisfied.

  “We’ve had a gang incident,” he began, not bothering to take a seat. “Some students, as you’ve probably been hearing, have been apprehended. The police are interrogating individuals and getting answers from a few of them. I’m on my way to have Pam notify our entire faculty that we will join the middle school faculty in the gym right after school for a meeting. At that time, we’ll provide what information we can and try to answer questions. I was passing your rooms and decided to stop in and give you a heads up because of your personal involvement.”

  Toni heaved a huge breath of relief. “Thanks. This sounds like what I’ve needed to hear.”

  He gave them a little wave and left.

  The buzz in the gym that
afternoon was as strong as it had been among the students all day. A portable podium and two chairs were positioned on the floor in front of the bleachers.

  The middle school principal opened the meeting. Somewhere in his thirties, Ryan wore a dark suit that was as pristine as everything he wore, but his sandy hair didn’t look quite as neat and tidy as usual.

  “Cooperative efforts between our police department and school district have led to a crackdown on gang activities,” he announced, eliciting applause.

  “Six students have been suspended,” he continued. “They’re minors, so their names should not be released to the public. But their identities are certain to be known among students and faculty, and therefore much of the community. There are the initial six apprehensions at this point, but there may be more as the investigation continues.”

  A hand shot into the air. “What happened this morning?”

  “Before classes began, a trio of students confronted another trio in front of a classroom, and a fistfight broke out. We’re not sure exactly what started it, but there’s definitely a rivalry between the two trios of boys. Our resource officer broke up the fight and contacted the police department. The boys have been interrogated, and will be questioned further in an effort to gain more details about the gang activities. A surveillance video is also being reviewed and witnesses interviewed. I’ll let Mr. Douglas add something now,” he said, stepping aside.

  Ken took his place at the podium. “The gang that formed this school year basically involves middle school students, but the leader who started it is a freshman.”

  Gasps came from teachers.

  “Theo Lynch has ties to a gang in his previous school, from which he was suspended last spring. He moved here during the summer to live with his grandmother, and subsequently met some of our students at the park and around town. He enrolled in our high school this fall, and proceeded to start his own gang. We think he recruited his lieutenants during those weeks before school started.”

  More gasps.

  “Do they just go around beating up students for the pure fun of it?” someone asked.

  Ken shook his head. “The motives for beatings are not always the same. The police have already gotten one or more of the gang members to admit the reason for some beatings. Gang recruitment can be voluntary or involuntary. One boy was beaten because he refused to join. Another was beaten simply as an initiation rite. After students join, they’re forced to perform initiation acts, and then more acts follow. Are there any more questions?”

  A hand lifted and the teacher was acknowledged.

  “Is suspension the only punishment being used?”

  “The leaders are being charged with mob action, disorderly conduct, and assault. Because we have a board policy that prohibits any sort of gang-like activity, the board is pushing for expulsion of some students, at least through the remainder of the current school year.”

  “How can we keep this from happening again?” another asked.

  “Mr. Prewitt and I are drafting a letter to send home to parents about the situation. Since this is a new problem for us, we’re also drafting a two-pronged approach stressing both prevention and discipline. One part is keeping the lines of communication open, particularly with students who show signs of gang involvement or vulnerability. We must offer them an alternative.”

  Ryan joined Ken at the podium. “Often these students are seeking a place to belong, a place where they fit. We must work hard to make them feel they fit in and can succeed.”

  “The second part,” Ken continued, “is to make sure students know the consequences of gang activity, and that the school will not hesitate to involve the police.”

  Ryan spoke again. “An important point we have to get across is that we won’t tolerate such activity. If they commit a crime at school, they will be caught and arrested.”

  As they exited the gym and headed to the lobby, Toni breathed easier. Now that the gang leader had been arrested, maybe life would be calmer—at least at school. As she met her pair of escorts, she remembered that she needed some items from the store. “I hate to be a bother,” she said apologetically to John and Jenny, “but I really need to run to the grocery store. I’m out of milk and almost out of bread.”

  “I need some things myself,” Jenny said. “Should we go in two vehicles or one?”

  “Let’s all go in my van. It’s roomier, and the boys will have more space to move around.”

  “That’s fine with me,” she agreed.

  “Me, too,” John added.

  “Gabe,” Toni called as they reached the lobby where the boys waited. “Call your grandparents and tell them we’ll be a little late.”

  He pulled out his phone, but hesitated. “Why?”

  “We’re going to circle around by the grocery store and pick up a few items, but it won’t take long. I just don’t want them to worry.”

  “Oh, okay.” He headed for the van, dialing as he walked.

  When they arrived at the curve in the highway to downtown, they discovered that a semi was stalled at the intersection, positioned halfway across the road. A police officer was directing traffic around it.

  “I guess we take the scenic route,” Toni said, veering to the right. She drove west about a quarter of a mile, turned left, and worked her way across town through residential streets.

  “I hope nothing’s seriously wrong back there,” John said from beside her. Jenny sat in the back with the boys.

  John and the boys waited in the van while Toni and Jenny went inside the store and quickly rounded up their needed items.

  On the way back across town, Toni turned onto their detour route. But when she had driven a couple of blocks, she impulsively slowed and looped over to the next street, the one that would take them past the Crawford home. John gave her a knowing look, but said nothing.

  When they rolled within a block of that house, an involuntary shudder passed through Toni. Still driving slowly, she glanced over at the two cars parked next to the curb. One of them was a silver Taurus, the other a dark blue car. The day she had come here to view the crime scene, a blue car had been sitting there.

  Where had that thought come from?

  Suddenly her mind locked in on the memory. That car had looked just like the one that tried to hit her in the church parking lot. What else was it that nagged at her?

  She drove on, while visualizing that speeding car coming toward her. It had happened so fast that she couldn’t recall a clear picture, but it suddenly came to her that something had glinted in the windshield in front of the faceless driver.

  Toni glanced in the rear view mirror to study the two cars she had just passed, trying to remember more about that car in the parking lot. Something had dangled from the rear view mirror, causing that glint. It had been one of those novelty items that people, for some reason she didn’t understand, liked to hang there. She squeezed her eyes to a slit for just a second, trying to get a better vision of what the shiny object had been.

  The picture that had begun to form earlier became clearer, and suddenly clicked. A round and gold colored object had also glinted in the windshield of the car she had just seen. Her heartbeat quickened. Realizing what the object was didn’t prove anything, but it gave her an idea where to start checking door locks.

  Chapter 20

  During supper, a meal that her mother already had started when Toni arrived home, Toni couldn’t stop thinking about the significance of the object in the window of that car. And how to be sure.

  “Are you?”

  “Huh? Oh,” she said, startled from her preoccupation. “What did you say?” She eased her death grip on her fork.

  Faye eyed her closely, as if reading her mind. “I asked if you’re ready for dessert. I brought an angel food cake, strawberries, and whipped cream.” Her favorite. Of course, her dad and sons enjoyed it as well.

  “Oh, Mom, you spoil me. Of course I’m ready.”

  “It’s my right,” Faye proclaimed matter-
of-factly, and went to get it.

  After dessert and loading the dishwasher, Toni slipped her phone into her pocket and went to the bathroom off the guest bedroom. She felt sneaky, but couldn’t ignore the force driving her. She closed the door and dialed John.

  “What do you have in mind?” he asked in greeting.

  “That’s a funny question,” she said softly.

  “Are you hiding?”

  “Yeah, I’m in the bathroom.”

  “I saw that look on your face when we passed the Crawford house.”

  “Are you ready for a little snooping?”

  “Will it be as eventful as some of your other adventures?”

  “I just want to check something.”

  “How soon should I pick you up?”

  “Any time.”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Toni entered the living room, gazing at her phone as if reading a text. “John and Jenny want me to go back to town with them,” she said to her parents. “Do you mind if I leave you and the brats for a bit?”

  “Sure, Quizzy,” her dad said, but then a skeptical look crept over his face. “You wouldn’t be up to something, would you?”

  A retired trooper, his antenna had risen.

  “I’m up to helping John run an errand.”

  “Don’t trust her, Grandpa,” Gabe said without looking up from the movie he was watching.

  Ignoring them, Toni went to the foyer closet and put on her denim jacket. As she grabbed her purse from the top of a chest of drawers, lights flashed in the encroaching darkness outside the window. Jenny’s shadowy form was barely visible beside John in their SUV.

  “Don’t get in trouble, Mom,” Garrett called as she went out the door. The temperature had dropped to a biting chill that made her lined jacket feel good.

  “Where are we going?” John asked as Toni crawled into the back seat. She didn’t offer to drive her van fearing it was too recognizable.

  “He tried to leave me behind,” Jenny said, looking back over the seat. “But I said I’m tagging along this time.”

  “I told her you wanted to snoop, and she said she refuses to visit us in jail,” John explained.