Schooled in Murder (25 page)

“I’d be pissed. I’d want to confront whoever it was.”

“And what would that accomplish?”

“I’d know who was trying to frame me. I’d know who to avoid. I could fight back.”

“How? What could you say?”

“I’d ask him why.”

Frank asked, “And if he told you he did it because he hated you, what have you gained?”

“The knowledge that an evil person knows I know they are an evil person.”

Scott said, “If they cared about that, do you think they would have lied in the first place?”

I thought about that for several moments, then said, “I guess not.”

Frank asked, “Could you stay calm?”

After another hesitation, I said, “I’d hope I’d be able to.” I glanced at Scott. “I think I could. Maybe.” Scott put his hand
on my arm for a moment. I said, “I’m not sure what would happen.”

Frank said, “All that lying trying to get you in trouble has actually been to your benefit. That many lies nobody can believe. They also have to be believable lies. Something odd is going on at that school.”

I said, “They’re frightened and frightening people.”

“Afraid of what?”

“I’m not sure. Looking bad?”

Scott said, “Their egos are caught up in their jobs to an unhealthy degree. They’ve got a passion for all the incorrect things in education. If they had that kind of passion for kids, I bet they’d be great.”

Frank said, “I’ll try to help any way I can. Conspiring against you is bad, but they’ve done nothing provable so far that I can arrest them for. They’re rotten, but so far, not criminal. I think it should make you very wary, but you are that already. If they were sane people, I’d tell you to sit down and talk to them.”

“I’ll be calling the union president tonight to fill her in. The shit is going to hit the fan. I’m worried for people’s physical safety. We’ve had two murders already.”

Frank said, “That assumes at least one of the people at the school committed one or both murders.”

“I assume they all could.” Unbidden into my imagination came a scene near the end of the movie
A Shot in the Dark:
Peter Sellers, as Inspector Clouseau, confronts all the suspects and attempts to explain the murder. It’s the best comic-crime-resolution scene ever. Then all the suspects get blown up with a bomb Clouseau’s boss planted in Clouseau’s car. It turns out all the suspects were killers except one who was a blackmailer. The one his boss suspected, who does not get in the car, was innocent. Frankly, at that moment the ending of the movie was a pleasant thought. All of the rotten
conniving people jammed into one car and getting blown up. An appealing picture. But sane adults don’t think these things. Well, actually, they do, it’s just that we don’t act on them. I wasn’t ready to go to jail for murdering any of these people. They weren’t worth it.

I said, “Did they find out anything about Eberson having an affair with a student?”

“They have no confirmation on that. The source says it was an anonymous tip and they’ve given it no credence. The husband went nuts when it was suggested. He seems to have genuinely loved his wife. Gault said the three older boys were in tears. The littlest one is still a baby.”

“That is sad,” I said. “Poor little kids.”

Rohde said, “Right now, we have nothing we can tell the family. We have no suspects.”

I asked, “Why did they take Mabel Spandrel to the police station that first night?”

“As far as I can tell, it was excessive zeal mixed with missteps by Spandrel. At first she said she had no witnesses to where she was. By the time they got her to the station, she had several witnesses.”

I said, “She lied and got the others to lie.”

“If she did, they were convincing enough. Gault and Vulmea couldn’t shake their story.”

“Who gave her the alibi?”

“I don’t have the names.”

“I know who,” I said. “Or I can make a good guess.” I told him the names.

He said, “I can try and check that for you. I can’t interfere with their case. Sometimes it was easier being a plain old detective.”

We discussed the argument I’d seen between Graniento and Spandrel and Abbot’s comment that it was a sharp disagreement of some kind but that she didn’t know about what.

I said, “Maybe they’re starting to turn on each other.”

Rohde said, “If there is some kind of conspiracy, maybe it’s starting to unravel. That’s actually kind of a lot of people to trust to keep their mouths shut. The more who know about something, the possibility increases exponentially of someone telling.”

I said, “We got rumors that Peter Higden gambled a lot.”

“Gault has that as well. So far we’ve got respectable bookies who never heard of Peter Higden.”

I added, “And the PE coaches were double dipping.” I explained.

Rohde said, “That doesn’t sound like a motive for murder.”

I said, “It’s a pattern of things done on the sly. Things that aren’t seriously illegal, or seriously immoral, just skating on the edge of getting away with–”

“Murder,” Frank said.

“Did they get any information about the hate notes Pinyon reported getting?”

“Nothing useful. Pinyon says he got them, but other people said he might have done them himself. I don’t understand these people.”

“Join the club,” I said.

Scott asked, “Did they get any results on what killed Eberson and Higden?”

Rohde said, “Yeah. Someone held that eraser in her mouth until she stopped breathing. It was wedged surprisingly far into her throat. Somebody was pretty angry, pretty strong, or both. Higden was run over with his own car.”

“Smart,” I said. “The killer was planning. No traces on his or her own car if Higden’s is used. But using his car brings up several more questions. How’d the person get in the car? If Higden was in the car, how’d the killer get him out of the car and in a position to be run over?”

“Those are the right questions,” Rohde said. “He was run over twice. The first time, they got his legs. He was still alive when they got his upper chest and neck.”

“My god, that’s awful,” Scott said.

“Hell of a way to die,” Rohde said. “But none of it gives us much of a clue to who did it. We’ve got lots of possibilities. Everybody here had a good laugh at the descriptions of the fights within the English department. Are these really adults? Teachers? What kind of idiot administrators are these that countenance that kind of shit?”

I said, “It takes a special brand of stupidity. If I weren’t living it, I wouldn’t believe it.”

Scott asked, “When did Peter die?”

“Not long before you found him is all I know. Nobody saw Higden after he was questioned–or at least, if anybody saw him, they aren’t admitting it. So far, Gault and Vulmea are the last ones who admit to seeing him alive.”

I said, “I don’t think Gault and Vulmea killed him.”

“They’ve got alibis,” Frank said. “They were questioning everybody.”

Scott asked, “Is Tom off the hook?”

Frank said, “Yes. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be very careful. We found some interesting things when we searched their homes. Mrs. Eberson had an office in her home. The screensaver on her computer was a picture of Ann Coulter with quotes from her speeches superimposed along the edges.”

I said, “That homophobic, right-wing, Nazi bitch.”

“Eberson or Coulter?” Rohde asked.

“Both,” I said.

Rohde said, “One of the quotes said that she was just trying to be funny and outrageous.”

Scott said, “That has to be one of the most moronic and insensitive things anyone has ever said. That woman shows
nothing but stupidity and ignorance every time she opens her mouth.”

Rohde said, “Eberson obviously revered her.”

I said, “That is sick shit.”

Scott said, “These people hated you. This is all about you. These people are all homophobic pigs. Someone is trying to pin the murders on you. They lied about where you were. I’m afraid for you. Maybe you shouldn’t go back there.”

I said, “It’s their faction that’s dead.”

Scott said, “But it’s you they hate.”

I asked, “Is there really a sexual angle to this?”

“Gault and Vulmea think so,” Frank said. “We’ve got rumors and denials from several sources. Higden isn’t married and as far as we can find out was not dating anyone. He lived in one of those condos just south of the Loop in Chicago. You know, the new places. According to Gault, the parents didn’t seem to have a clue about their kid’s life. He didn’t have brothers or sisters. They didn’t know of anyone he was dating seriously. Eberson’s husband seemed genuinely confused and upset when they suggested the possibility that his wife was unfaithful. He claimed their sex life was fine and that his wife would never cheat. You told me one of the teachers confirmed that she was having an affair. Gault and Vulmea will have to check again.”

I said, “Some teachers were worried about being safe in school. I assume they are also worried about the kids being safe. We do have two unsolved murders.”

“You know, it’s odd. The administrators didn’t call us about that. We had to call them. We had reporters asking us questions about safety. We’re going to have a police presence at the school. Only one entrance is going to be available for the kids, one for the teachers. At the beginning and end of the school day there will be cops at all exits and entrances. Cops will be patrolling the halls. It’s a volatile situation.”

I asked, “Did the administrators say why they didn’t call?”

“They said they were trying to avoid publicity.”

“Avoid publicity?” Scott said. “Are they out of their fucking minds? Publicity? They’ve had two murders.”

Rohde said, “You’re not going to get an argument on that from me.”

Scott asked, “Are the police planning to tell the administration about Benson and Frecking trysting in the closet?”

“I’m not sure what Gault and Vulmea told them. As far as I can tell, what they were doing has nothing to do with the murder.”

I said, “I can’t imagine they did it. Who can make love after doing something like that? They lied about me, though–doesn’t that make them more suspect?”

“But Gault isn’t totally convinced yet that they’re lying and you’re not. It’s complicated. They’ve found more evidence of sexual activity.”

“There were more people in that storage closet?”

“I don’t know yet. Right now they’re checking to see if it’s old or new residue. Also, Peter Higden had fresh semen stains in his underwear.”

“I’m finding this hard to believe. They don’t need to get hotel rooms, they could just rent out a wing of the school.”

Rohde said, “I’ve seen some killers do some pretty insane things. But Benson and Frecking didn’t strike Gault and Vulmea as killers. From what they said and from your description, I agree.”

“Would their lying implicate them in a larger conspiracy?” Scott asked.

I shook my head. “It marks them as desperate and not too bright, but I’m not sure they’d be in on it with the administrators. Maybe.”

Rohde said, “Gault is an honest, hard-working cop. I’ve
talked to him and his partner a couple times. Vulmea doesn’t like you.”

“I don’t like him either.”

“Neither do I, but Gault is a good cop.”

As we got ready to leave, we thanked him. He said, “I’ll say it again: be very wary, very careful.”

35

We headed back to Chicago. As we drove, we talked. I said, “I have no idea what to do. I am completely stumped. Abbot is frightened out of her mind.”

“You’re not going to say anything to the other administrators?”

“I gave her my word, and I’m not sure how much good it would do anyway. If they know I’m onto their conspiracy, it could drive them to more desperate measures or further underground. If I can keep getting information from Abbot while they think I don’t know, that might be best.”

Scott said, “If one, some, or all of them are killers, then Abbot could be in danger if you told.”

I said, “I think every person at that school is in danger while that administration has anything to do with running the place.”

He said, “You could just quit. You don’t have to work.”

We’d had this discussion numerous times. Yes, he’s got plenty of money and high school teachers in Illinois don’t make bad money. I wouldn’t have to give up eating chocolate if I quit. But early in our relationship I’d sworn to myself
I would never live off Scott and his fame. I have my pride, and he seldom pushed it. At the moment he was trying to give me an alternative to a horrible situation.