Murder is Secondary: A Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery Page 2

  “I know,” said Mike. He shook his head as he often did when something seemed incongruous to him. “It’s killing me, but I guess there’s nothing we can do at this moment.”

  Chapter 7

  “Joey, what do you want for dinner?” Julie Martin called to her teen-age son from the kitchen. Joey was in the living room texting, and at the same time following the baseball playoffs on the news.

  “I don’t know. Something good.”

  Julie loved when her son gave her such clear direction. “I’ll make some spaghetti. We have leftover meatballs to go with it.”

  “Mom, come quick! Mr. Copland is on TV.”

  “Why is he on TV?” asked Julie. Joey jacked up the volume.

  “What? That’s crazy!” cried her son. “They’re charging him with sexual harassment. They’re taking him out of the classroom while they investigate.”

  Julie was clearly upset. Her feelings for Tank ran deeper than anyone knew.

  “What the hell? There has to be some mistake,” said Joey. The news was now showing Tank shielding himself with his sweatshirt. Julie’s heart broke for the man on the screen. He must be so embarrassed, she thought.

  “Aren’t you going to call him and make sure he’s okay?” said Joey.

  “He looks a little busy right now, but I’ll certainly try.” The news segment had finished. Julie’s heart ached for Tank, but she continued to get dinner on the table.

  It was already growing dark outside. As Julie was taking plates out of the cabinet, she heard a sound coming from outside the kitchen window. She felt her stomach drop to the floor. She inched the curtains apart and peeked outside. Wait. Was that movement she saw? When she looked closer, she couldn’t be sure. Julie had moved to Westbrook fifteen years ago and she still jumped whenever she heard random sounds breaking the country quiet. Joey came in and took a swig of Gatorade from the bottle in the fridge.

  “Is dinner almost ready? I’m starving,” said Joey.

  “Just a few more minutes.” Julie peeked through the curtain. “Was Amber at school today?”

  “Yeah. She’s strutting around spouting off about what her daddy the lawyer is going to do to poor Mr. Copland. I can’t stand her,” said Joey.

  “She was never one of my favorites either. Mr. Copland is so nice and this is so unfair.” said Julie. She pictured Tank with his deep-set eyes and strong hands. She drained the spaghetti and poured it into a serving bowl. “Can you put this on the table?” she asked Joey. She herself had lost her appetite.

  “Sure,” said Joey. He heaped a pile of spaghetti onto his plate. Julie was amazed at how much food her son could pack away while staying in such good shape. He certainly has his father’s metabolism, she thought. Despite scarfing down multiple helpings at every meal, Joey’s father had never had a weight problem. Luckily that was about the only similarity Joey had to his father.

  “Hey, did you hear all that noise going on outside today at school?” she asked Joey, changing the subject. “They started breaking ground for that new housing development they’re building next to the school. I hope they’ll be done with the bulldozing soon. It’s insane trying to teach over that noise.”

  “Yeah, I heard it.”

  “It’s going to be a long year. They’re working right outside the window in my classroom.” Julie cleared the table. As she was loading the dishwasher, she could have sworn she saw a light shining across the kitchen window. Again, she peered through the curtains and again she saw nothing outside. I must be imagining things, she thought. The parking lot was on the other side of her apartment building, so she knew she hadn’t seen headlights. Still, she felt an uneasiness as she finished up in the kitchen and sat down on the couch with her laptop. It’s been a while now, she thought. I have to learn to stop worrying. Everything is fine now and it will stay that way.

  Chapter 8

  “Have fun at the Poker game,” said Susan. Mike was getting ready to go out.

  “I will. It’s a good thing I happened to meet that real estate developer at work the other day or we’d be postponing our weekly games for a while. Jason’s colleague from the university is on a recruiting trip, so he won’t be there. We would have been out a player.” Jason was their daughter Lynette’s husband.

  “Who is this real estate developer?” asked Susan.

  “His name is Zachary Chichester. He came into the office looking for blueprints to the high school. He’s working on the new housing development and I guess they need to make sure the sewers and water pipes stay clear of each other, or that they don’t hit something they aren’t supposed to when they dig the foundations. Anyhow, he’s from New Jersey and he’ll be here in town for a while.”

  “Does he have a wife with him?”

  “No, he mentioned something about a wife, but he’s here by himself. He’s staying at Rocking Horse Ranch.”

  “Well, take these kale chips with you to Jason and Lynette’s. Here’s some hummus dip to go with it.”

  “Kale chips?” said Mike. “Jason doesn’t need kale chips. He’s enough of a ‘woose’ already, being surrounded by all those nerdy college professors every day. He needs man food––maybe some chili dogs and beer. Hey, are you going to work on the blanket you started?”

  “Yes, siree. It’ll be crib-size before you know it.” Susan gave Mike a kiss and locked the door behind him. She picked up her knitting but was soon bored. She wandered into the kitchen and remembered the can of Pringles she’d bought before they’d started their diet. She opened the canister and decided to try to help Tank out via some internet research. I wonder what sort of evidence Amber Bernstein’s father has, she thought. She decided to start by finding some background information on Amber’s family.

  Well, Amber’s father checks out. He actually is a successful attorney and it doesn’t look like he’s been personally involved in any law suits, she said to herself. She licked the salt off of her fingers and googled Amber’s name next. She found nothing out of the ordinary. Amber Bernstein had organized a charity run, and her track and cross country times were on record.

  She took another stack of chips out of the can and turned her attention to Tank. Wait, what was his real first name? Something with a T…. Tony? No. Thomas? That was it. After searching a bit, she came across a newspaper article about a Thomas Copland from years ago. The headline was “Chemistry Teacher Charged with Sexual Harassment.” That certainly is interesting. Could there be any truth to that? she wondered. Then, quickly, she changed her mind, adding: What’s wrong with you? You know Tank better than that. Maybe she should ask Lynette to look into it. She dumped the last of the Pringle’s crumbs into her palm, finished them, rinsed off her hands, and called her daughter.

  “Lynette, I wanted to see if you could look into something. I googled Tank and found a newspaper article from quite a few years ago that said he was accused of sexual harassment once before.”

  “That’s not good, Mom, because now another girl in addition to Amber Bernstein has issued a statement against Tank. She’s a current student at Westbrook. Even though he was no doubt acquitted of the accusation in the past, it casts doubt on his reputation today. That’s three strikes.” Of course, Lynette wouldn’t divulge the new accusing girl’s name.

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  “If they can corroborate her accusation, then Tank will most likely be arrested and the case will go to trial. Don’t worry too much, though. This case sounds awfully contrived to me. It’s too convenient that all of a sudden there are two sets of accusations against him when for years there have been none. It will work out.”

  Susan wasn’t so certain.

  Chapter 9

  Joey stormed into the house, slammed the door, and threw his backpack and gym bag on the floor. “Mom, I’m seriously going to kill Amber with my bare hands,” he said.

  Julie came running out of the kitchen. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “I got a call from an admissions director at MIT dur
ing lunch today. Apparently, they had received a venomous letter saying that I cheated my way to the top of my class, and that I won the National Science Contest because I had stolen the idea from another student. Thank God the admissions officer didn’t buy it and called to warn me. I know it was Amber.”

  “That’s unbelievable! I bet we can bring charges against her for this,” said Julie.

  “I thought about it,” said Joey, “but remember her dad is a big shot lawyer and I bet he’d figure out a way to weasel out of it. Besides, I don’t have the actual letter. I’ll have to come up with another way to make her pay for this.”

  “You’d better call the other colleges you applied to and warn them that this might happen. Who knows what other trouble she’s stirring up?”

  “Oh, I will. She’s going to get what’s coming to her one way or another. I’m going to take a shower.” Julie heard the familiar sound of her son punching the bathroom door. She hoped he hadn’t put a hole in it again.

  No one is going to interfere with my son’s future, thought Julie. She rubbed her right hand over the scar on her left wrist as was her habit whenever she got upset. I did what I did in order to give Joey a shot at a wonderful life. That girl is some piece of work. First she goes after Tank, and now my son. Julie had grown fond of Tank Copland and hated to see him going through this. She thought about his warm smile, his clear blue eyes, and how he smelled like citrus and fresh cut grass. Stop, she thought. Don’t let yourself go there. You swore you’d never get involved in another relationship.

  Chapter 10

  Susan walked through the doors of the media center, determined to find out who else had made accusations against Tank. Surely there would be some clues here as to who she was. As she was shelving books, one of her very favorite past students, Carolina Rogers, walked in. Susan had just recently retired from teaching elementary school music and Carolina had been an enthusiastic chorus member back in Susan’s elementary school days. Carolina’s mother had been the principal of Westbrook Elementary (and Susan’s boss), until she was murdered during last year’s holiday concert. Susan had always been fond of Carolina, but after she solved her mother’s murder, she and Carolina became extremely close.

  Carolina didn’t resemble her mother at all. She had inherited her father’s olive skin and shiny black hair. Susan gave her a big hug and exchanged pleasantries. Maybe Carolina would have some information.

  “Carolina, what have you heard about this Amber Bernstein and the accusations she made against Mr. Copland?”

  “Probably the same things you have. She says he told her that in order to get an ‘A’ in his class, she’d have to work for it––and he didn’t mean by studying.”

  “Do you know any girls around the school who might be corroborating her story? Does Amber have any girlfriends?” asked Susan.

  “Not really. She had a good friend last year––until Amber slept with her boyfriend. That was quite a drama. Amber posted embarrassing pictures of the guy––drunk and in his underwear––all over Instagram the very next day. Wait. She’s been hanging around with that girl Peyton Meyers a lot these days. I don’t get that. Peyton follows her around like some kind of abused puppy dog.”

  “Peyton Myers?”

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I saw Peyton in here this morning. Look. That’s her over there making copies.” Peyton was a petite blond. She was dressed conservatively and wore her hair pulled back with a headband.

  Susan was getting a clear and consistent picture of Amber Bernstein. She would try to have a chat with Peyton Myers to see if she could garner any more information.

  “Well, Carolina, if you hear anything else, would you give me a call? Mr. Copland is my husband Mike’s best friend and he’s been through a lot. I’m afraid they’re building a case against him and may be arresting him any day.”

  “I love Mr. Copland,” replied Carolina. “He was so kind to me last year when my Mom died. If I hear anything I’ll let you know. If anyone can help him, you can. You’re the best, Mrs. W.”

  Susan resumed shelving books. After a while, she worked her way towards the front desk and told Janet what Lynette had said. She knew Janet was witness to a myriad of student interactions, seeing as she was in the media center day in and day out. Susan believed she had to stop Tank from being arrested and the best way to do that would be to find the other student who’d lodged an accusation of sexual harassment against him and get her to confess that she was lying.

  “Well,” said Janet, “Amber certainly doesn’t have a lot of friends, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s holding something over someone’s head in order to get them to lie and back up her story. That would be very much in character for that girl.”

  “Something like what?”

  Janet thought about it for a few minutes then said, “Hmm, for example, something happened at the end of last year that really bothered me. Something didn’t seem to fit.”

  “What was that?”

  “There was a tight group of top students that used to come in and study everyday through their lunch time. They were always working on those advanced placement classes. Through an anonymous tip, it was discovered that some of the kids had been illegally using Adderall––you know, the drug for attention deficit disorder.”

  “And what was strange about that? I’ve heard that it’s becoming a problem in many high schools and colleges. The kids take it so they can stay awake all night and study. Whatever happened to coffee and Red Bull?”

  “Well,” said Janet, “it’s not the fact that they were using it. It’s the fact that of the five kids who were taking it, four got into big-time trouble, but one girl, Peyton Myers, never did. I probably shouldn’t be speculating, but after that, I began seeing Peyton with Amber––a lot. I had never seen them interacting before the incident. When they were together, it wasn’t how it usually is with teenage girls. They weren’t laughing, giggling, of taking selfies on their phones. They always seemed so serious together. Peyton seemed downright annoyed, maybe even scared of Amber.”

  “Do you think maybe Amber helped Peyton get out of trouble with the whole Adderall thing?” said Susan.

  “I think it isn’t all that far-fetched, but Amber wouldn’t have done that out of the goodness of her heart. She would have wanted something in return.”

  “Are you thinking maybe Peyton issued a statement against Tank and that she was being coerced into it by Amber?”

  “That’s my theory. I’ve been media specialist here for nearly thirty years and I’ve learned to read these kids. If not that, then something similar.”

  Susan agreed that this seemed quite plausible. “Janet, isn’t that Peyton over by the copy machine?”

  “That’s her. Smart girl, nice too. That guy next to her––that’s her new boyfriend. Talk about opposites attracting––that kid was arrested for breaking and entering last year. He has his own parole officer, can you believe it? Tough guy, barely passing his classes. I don’t know what Peyton sees in him.”

  “Maybe she thinks she can save him. You know how some girls think that with a little love and understanding, they can rescue these bad boys.”

  “Who knows? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the one who supplied the Adderall.”

  “This may just be the lead we’re looking for,” said Susan. She was determined to speak with Peyton Meyers and explore the relationship between her and Amber Bernstein.

  Chapter 11

  Julie locked the back door to her classroom and started for home. Wish I didn’t have to walk through all this dirt to get to my path. I’ll be glad when this housing development finally gets built. She didn’t live far and it was a good way of getting in some daily exercise. Besides, this way, Joey could uses the car after practice.

  The sun was low in the sky and the wind was blowing colored leaves from the trees. She knew that soon the time would be changing and she’d be walking home most days in the dark. Julie felt an uneasiness today. Her skin tingled as h
er mind jumped to the inevitable fear that she’d been living with these past fifteen years. Was she being followed? She heard a crunch as if someone was stepping on the dry leaves behind her on the path. She turned around quickly, but no one was there. She continued, quickening her pace as she walked toward home. She heard a sound and let out an involuntary scream. She had developed quite the startle reflex. The hair on the back of her neck felt prickly. It’s just my imagination, she thought.

  Ever since Joey had appeared on Sixty Minutes a few weeks ago, the old terror had begun haunting her. She tried so hard not to be seen on camera but at one instant, she had turned away from one camera just to find another staring her in the face. She was only on screen for a moment––but still. As she continued, she became more certain that she was being followed. She quickened her pace even more, then went into an all-out run, nearly losing her shoe in the process. Of course, today would be the day I forget my sneakers, she thought. And now it was starting to rain. Great. She’d left her rain jacket and umbrella in her classroom. Just a few more minutes and she’d be home. The sun continued to sink into the mountains, but Julie made it home before it grew dark. She locked the door behind her, caught her breath, and turned on the lights. Should she call the police? And say what? That she thought she was being followed home. She certainly couldn’t offer an explanation as to why someone would be stalking her. If it were a robber, or a rapist––both rare phenomena in this town––he surely could have caught up to her. No, she would just sound ridiculous. Maybe she was just imagining it after all. But what if she wasn’t? Maybe I’ll give Susan a call, she thought. Her daughter is a detective. Maybe she’ll come over and have an unofficial look around for me.