by Gayle Trent
“I don’t know,” he said. “All the kids seem to like me.”
“Well, I know Sunny thinks the world of you, and she’s a good little judge of character. But we’re not talking about your fan club. Are there any teachers who act snotty toward you? Like they’re mad that the kids like you so well?”
“There are two who kinda give me the cold shoulder.”
I dug in my purse for a notepad and pen. “Give me their names.”
“Leta Thompson and Mike Shaw.”
After I jotted down the names, I asked, “Anyone else?”
Mr. Cole shook his head. “Not really.”
“You’re saying not really, but you’re thinking of one other person. Who is it?”
“Colby Jackson—he’s a student. He’s the only kid I’ve ever had any trouble with. He’s failing my class.”
“Sunny told me that if anybody didn’t do well in your class, it was because they didn’t care about their grades. She said you went out of your way to help your students.”
“I do my best, Ms. Crumb. But, she’s right. Some people don’t want help.”
That little Colby might be the very bird that set up Mr. Cole. I put a star by his name. “What about the janitor? Did y’all get along all right?”
“Yeah, I’ve never had any trouble with any of the cleaning staff.”
“Are you seeing anyone?” I asked. “Dating, I mean.”
He tilted his head. “You’re thorough, aren’t you?”
“Yes, indeed. Now please answer my question.”
“Look, Ms. Crumb, I can’t afford to hire a—”
“Then it’s good for you that I ain’t charging anything. Now, have you got a girlfriend or not?”
“No.”
“Good.” I stood. “I’ll see what I can find out.” I gave him a card with my phone number on it and asked him to call me if he thought of anything else I should know.
“Thank you for stopping by,” he said. “Tell Crimson I appreciate her concern.”
“Will do.”
I went back out and got into the car. First things first. I needed to call an emergency meeting of the M.E.L.O.N.S. That’s an acronym for Mature Elegant Ladies Open to Nice Suggestions, in case you didn’t know. Bettie Easton came up with the name, and I think it makes us sound like a bunch of old hookers. But we have little get-togethers every now and then, and the food is good, so I keep going.
Back in January, the M.E.L.O.N.S. were especially helpful to me on a case. Melvia, in particular, had a fondness for snooping. I figured I’d call a meeting as soon as I got home, to see what the other women might have heard about the incident at the school. All of our own children are grown, of course, but we’ve got grandchildren. And sometimes, mature elegant ladies can get riled up quicker over their grandchildren than anything.
When I called Bettie, who’s the unofficial leader of our group since she’s the one who came up with the whole thing, she seemed glad I was on the case.
“Brandon speaks awful highly of that Mr. Cole,” she said. “What time would you like us to come over?”
My wheels were spinning. I had a date with Coop at six o’clock. It was two now. “Do you think we could have everybody here by three?”
“That’ll be pushing it.”
“I know, but if there’s one or two who can’t make it—” I was thinking it wouldn’t hurt my feelings a bit if Tansie Miller didn’t come—“then we can fill them in on everything later.” I tried to act like the early meeting was for their benefit. “I know everybody needs to get home in time to make supper and all that.”
“All right, hon. I’ll see what I can do.”
“And while you call the members, I’ll put together some snacks.”
Chapter Four
Bettie was the first to get to my house. I’d put out some chips in a bowl—not just regular off-brand chips, these were those kettle chips—and I’d made some preacher cookies. I’d also thawed some chocolate chip cookies that I keep in the freezer for when Sunny drops by and has a hankering for something sweet. And I’d made a pitcher of sweet tea and a pot of coffee. I hoped that’d be good enough for everybody, but if it wasn’t, tough.
I’d let Matlock into the fenced backyard. It was a nice, mild day, and he enjoyed being outside.
Bettie wore white capri pants, a white-blue-and-red striped shirt, and denim espadrilles. She looked nice, and I told her so.
“Why, I appreciate that, Myrtle!”
She acted shocked to death that I’d paid her a compliment. I will admit, though, I can be a little stingy with them. But I feel like they ought to be earned.
“I really am sorry about all this mess with Mr. Cole,” she said, as she dropped onto the sofa. “And right here at graduation too.”
Before I could put in my two cents, Delphine and Melvia came to the door. They had on blue jeans and t-shirts. Bettie had probably been working at the used car lot today—it belongs to her family—and that was why she had on her cute little outfit.
“Where’s Tansie?” I asked, as I followed them into the living room.
“She’s being stubborn and won’t come,” said Melvia. Tansie is Melvia’s older sister. “She said she wasn’t going to come running every time you asked her to.”
I shrugged. “No skin off my nose. Y’all come on in and get some snacks. Would you prefer iced tea or coffee?”
Melvia opted for coffee, and Bettie and Delphine asked for tea. I went into the kitchen and got the drinks. When I came back, I doled out the beverages—I had tea too, in case you were wondering—and got down to business.
“I reckon you’ve heard about Mr. Cole, one of the English teachers over at the middle school, getting caught with marijuana in his drawer,” I said.
Melvia’s jaw dropped. “Really? How’d they find it? Did one of them drug dogs go to sniffing at his britches?”
Bettie snorted. “His desk drawer, Melvia. Not his underwear.”
“Oh.” Melvia sipped her coffee. “I hadn’t heard anything about it. It could have been in his drawers as easy as it could’ve been anywhere else, I suppose.”
“Well, if it had been in his drawers, I wouldn’t be thinking he was innocent,” I said. “But Sunny has quite a penchant for this man, and she vows he’s been set up.”
“Brandon thinks very highly of Mr. Cole as well,” said Bettie, in that prim and proper way she has about her sometimes.
“What about Lenny?” I asked Delphine. Her grandson had attended the same middle school as Sunny and Brandon.
“I don’t believe Mr. Cole was teaching there during Lenny’s years of middle school,” she said. “I’ve never heard anything about him. I did hear that awful rumor, though. They were talking about it at the Tilt-A-Curl.”
The Tilt-A-Curl was the local hairdressing salon.
Melvia leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. “What’s our plan?” She was all about diving into some detective work.
“Well, I went to Mr. Cole’s house a while ago and had a talk with him.” I paced as I talked. “He has no idea how that marijuana got in his desk, but he says he puts his lunch in that drawer and opens it at least twice a day. He wasn’t allowed into his room until after the search, so whoever put that stuff in his desk had to have done so between last night and this morning.”
Bettie got a plate and put a handful of chips on it. “Reckon it could’ve been the janitor?”
“I asked him about that. He said he didn’t have any problems with any of the cleaning staff.”
“But that doesn’t mean one of them didn’t do it,” Melvia said.
Bettie was eating a chip when I asked if any of them had heard of a student named Colby Jackson, and she bristled like a boar’s hair brush. She could barely get that chip chewed and swallowed fast enough to speak her mind.
“I’ve heard of him. He’s the meanest young‘un I’ve ever seen. He picks on Brandon every chance he gets—or, at least, he used to.” She got a drink of tea. “We’d t
ell Brandon just to walk away and ignore him because that kid’s huge, and we dared Brandon to fight him. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out Colby failed a year or two since he’s so much bigger than the other kids.”
“He very well might’ve been held back a few times,” I said. “Mr. Cole said Colby was the only student he’d ever had any problems with and he’s failing class.”
“Then I’d bet you dollars to doughnuts Colby Jackson is the very bird who put that weed in Mr. Cole’s desk,” Bettie said.
“Lenny knows Colby’s brother, Jacob,” Delphine chimed in. “That boy stays in trouble. I don’t think they have a very good home life.”
“Colby Jackson,” Melvia said. “Sounds like he’s our prime suspect. Any other students who might have it in for Mr. Cole?”
“He didn’t say. But he mentioned a couple of teachers who aren’t too friendly with him—Leta Thompson and Mike Shaw. Any of you familiar with either of them?” I looked at Bettie, since I figure she’s more in the know than the other two. I was right.
She nodded. “Mike Shaw is the band director, and I’m in band boosters. I guess he’s nice enough. I don’t know him all that well, though.”
“Would it be a problem for you to find out a little bit more about him?” I asked.
“Not at all. And I’ll see what I can dig up on that Colby Jackson and his bunch too,” she said. “I’d like to see him punished for this…you know, if he did it, I mean.”
“Yeah, I know.” And I did know. When somebody’s mean to one of your young‘uns, you hold a grudge.
“What’s Mr. Cole look like?” Melvia asked.
“Very handsome,” I said. “In fact, I thought that after all of this is said and done, I might do a little matchmaking between him and Faye.”
“Well, you’d better make darn sure he’s not guilty before you do that,” Delphine said.
“If he’s good looking, then there might be a woman involved.” Melvia nodded. “Maybe he was flirting with somebody’s wife, or he broke up with his girlfriend or something, and that brought on this retaliation.”
“I’ve thought about that too.” I told them he was single. “Or, at least, that’s what he told me. That’s not to say some woman out there doesn’t believe otherwise. I’ll put my ear to the ground and see what I can come up with.”
“I’ll help you.” Melvia was practically giddy with excitement. She’d got detective work in her blood, and now she was plumb addicted
“One other thing,” said Delphine. “It could be somebody after that teacher’s job. Good jobs are hard to come by these days, and somebody might know somebody they’d rather have teaching English than Mr. Cole.”
“Well, then, let’s enjoy these snacks and come up with a game plan for clearing Mr. Cole before graduation.”
Chapter Five
After all the M.E.L.O.N.S. went home and before I started getting ready for my date, I gave Sunny a call.
“Were you able to find out anything about who set up Mr. Cole at the school today?” she asked.
“No, but I went to see Mr. Cole, and he gave me a few good leads to run down. He told me to thank you for your concern, by the way.”
“Wait, Mimi. You went to Mr. Cole’s house?”
“Sure, I did. When have you known me to not take the bull by the horns?”
“What did he say when you showed up on his doorstep?”
“After I told him who I was and why I was there, he told me he couldn’t afford to hire a private investigator. So I said it was a good thing I wasn’t charging him.”
She laughed. “Tell me about your leads.”
“Do you know Leta Thompson and Mike Shaw?”
“Yeah. Ms. Thompson teaches math. Mr. Shaw is the history teacher and band director.”
“How do you feel about them?” I asked.
“Mr. Shaw is nice. Ms. Thompson is hateful. Nobody likes her.”
“Do you think either of those teachers could have it in for Mr. Cole?”
“Ms. Thompson has it in for everybody,” said Sunny. “Why? What did Mr. Cole say?”
“Only that those two weren’t friendly with him, so kinda keep your ear to the ground and see if you can pick up on any reason either of them would have a particular grudge against Mr. Cole,” I said. “How about Colby Jackson? What do you know about him?”
She groaned. “He’s the worst! Does Mr. Cole suspect Colby of planting those drugs? Because he’s just the kind of person who would do it.”
“Mr. Cole said Colby is failing his class.”
“Yeah, but Colby wouldn’t care about something like that. He’s already been expelled from one school for fighting. School’s not big on his list of priorities, Mimi.”
“Hmm. Wonder what is?”
“Who knows?” She huffed. “I think he’s just biding his time until he can drop out. I’ll let you know what I hear, and you keep me posted on any new information you come up with.”
“I will, sweetie. I’m seeing Sheriff Norville later on. I’ll pass these leads on to him too.”
“Gee, it sounds like you and the sheriff are getting kinda serious.”
Partly to change the subject but also because I already had matchmaking on the brain, I said, “Have you ever thought that your mom and Mr. Cole would be a good fit? You know, dating-wise?”
“Yeah, I guess. But not while he’s my teacher!”
“No, of course not. But he won’t be your teacher in a couple more weeks, will he?”
* * *
After talking with Sunny, I went upstairs, took a bath, and put on a flowy, short-sleeved, peach, floral print dress. I fixed my hair and makeup, and I put in my best pearl earrings. I finished up my ensemble with nude wedge sandals and decided I didn’t look half bad.
Cooper apparently thought I looked nice because when I answered the door, he gave a wolf whistle and said, “Look at you!”
I called him a flatterer, got my pocketbook, and we left. We were going to dinner and a movie in Bristol, and I was glad we’d have about twenty minutes to talk before we got to the restaurant.
“Have you had a good day?” I asked, as Coop backed his truck out of my driveway.
“I have,” he said. “A beautiful woman brought me a delicious batch of brownies, and I was the envy of everybody else in the sheriff’s department.”
“Did you share?”
“Yeah, I finally took pity on ‘em.” He grinned at me. “And how was your day?”
I had to be careful not to be too pushy. “My day was fine. I went by and visited with Mr. Cole to let him know Sunny was concerned about him.”
“My, that was thoughtful of you.”
“Thank you. I try.” I studied Coop’s profile for a few seconds before plunging on ahead. Was he teasing me or being serious? I couldn’t tell. “He mentioned a few people who might have a grudge against him.”
“Did he now?”
“He did. I’d be happy to pass those names along to you if you think they might help in any way with your investigation.”
“Lay ‘em on me.”
Was he just humoring me, or could he remember the names? I decided to err on the side of justice. “Leta Thompson, Mark Shaw—they’re fellow teachers—and Colby Jackson, one of Mr. Cole’s students.”
“Anything else?” he asked.
“Um…nope. That’s all I know. Hope it helps.”
That made him raise his eyebrows. But I sure enough dropped the subject and didn’t bring it up the rest of the evening. I knew what I was doing.
* * *
Bright and early the next morning, Tansie came over to see me. She’s Melvia’s sister, you know, and I figured her curiosity about the case had got the best of her after hearing Melvia talk about it. Either that, or she’d come to rake me over the coals for getting Melvia drawn into another case. Like it takes much to get Melvia on a case! Try keeping her off one. And, yet, in Tansie’s eyes, I was the one who’d led her sister down the road to perdition.
&
nbsp; There she stood on my front porch wearing her lemon-yellow, French terry track suit, looking like a big, blue-haired banana.
“Good morning, Tansie. What brings you by?”
“Well, I missed yesterday’s M.E.L.O.N.S. meeting, and I didn’t want you to think I was mad at you or anything.”
I hadn’t lost any sleep over her not coming to the meeting, but I clamped my mouth closed and kept that bit of news to myself. No sense ticking her off before I found out her real reason for being here.
I jerked my head toward the kitchen. “I just brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Want a cup?”
“I guess that’ll be all right.”
I turned and led the way. Tansie could follow me or not. She did.
Matlock was in the backyard, so I didn’t have to listen to Tansie go on about “wasn’t a dog that big an awful lot of trouble?” or “I bet a dog like that can sure make a mess in your house.”
I got us each a cup of coffee and put the cream and sugar on the table. We sat down and fixed our coffee the way we liked it. Then I sipped mine and waited for Tansie to talk. She hadn’t come over here for no reason.
Finally, she broke the silence. “Melvia told me that Mr. Cole thinks Leta Thompson might have it in for him.”
“Ms. Thompson is a person of interest in the case, yes. Why? Do you know her?”
“Yes, I know her. She and my daughter went to school together. Leta was a no good backstabber then. And I guaran—dang—tee you that if Leta had it in for Mr. Cole, then she’s the very one who planted that marijuana in his desk.”
Chapter Six
I sent Tansie off to see what dirt she and Melvia could dig up on Leta Thompson. I felt confident that Bettie was looking into Mark Shaw. She was also looking into Colby Jackson, but I figured two suspects might be too much for Bettie to handle. I decided to see what I could find out about Colby Jackson.
I set the cable box to tape The Young and the Restless, just in case I didn’t make it back home in time. That’s my show, you know. I never miss it.