“Has he ever done this before?” asked Bishop, trying to coax some information out of her.
“Yeah. A couple times. He’ll show up, eventually.” As she said that, she began to close the door.
“Wait!” pleaded Ron. “Would you please have him call the school as soon as he shows up?”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied as she began to close the door again.
Bishop stopped her by asking, “Ma’am, would you mind giving us your name and number so that we can call you if we happen to see Ed first?”
She hesitated for a moment, then rattled off her first name and her number.
Before either one could say, “Thanks, Amy,” she shut the door with more force than necessary. When Bishop got in the car, he found a piece of paper in his pocket and jotted something down. He had learned that making mental notes didn’t always work. He had to make some concessions as he got older.
As they made their way back to school, Ron pulled up to the drive thru window of a fast food joint. “Mike, want anything?”
“No thanks, Ron. I just had lunch not too long ago.” That was true for Ron as well, but it didn’t stop him from picking up a double cheeseburger and a soda. With his order in hand, he got back on the road, eating as he drove. Bishop wasn’t sure if one could get a ticket for eating while driving, but he need not have worried. The burger and the soda disappeared in short order. As a bachelor, Ron ate out more often than not. Amazingly, he never seemed to gain weight.
Jennings and Bishop shared their impressions of the conversation that had just transpired. Neither man was too impressed with Amy. They both realized that there was a lot that they didn’t know about Ed Cooper. How thoroughly had the school vetted him before hiring him? Ron knew that Sister Pat would be less than pleased when they reported that they had been unable to locate their wayward custodian. How could she have the pleasure of verbally ripping him to pieces if they couldn’t locate him? There was a slim chance that he had turned up at school, but if he had, someone would probably have alerted them to that fact.
Bishop mulled over some questions. Did that trailer belong to Amy or to Ed or to both? Why didn’t she seem very upset by his disappearance? Did she know where he was? Did she stand by the door because Ed was actually inside? Was it possible that someone else was inside? Did that motorcycle belong to Ed? If so, why did he take a bus to work? If it didn’t belong to him, did it belong to Amy or to someone else? Unfortunately, their drive across town had raised more questions than it answered. As Ron dropped Bishop off at the school’s main entrance, Bishop had just enough time to pick up the key to the auditorium from Terry and meet his incoming class. Thoughts of Ed Cooper’s whereabouts and his odd meeting with Amy would have to wait.
Chapter Two
As Bishop headed off to class, Jennings briefed the other two administrators on his drive out to Ed’s trailer and his brief encounter with Amy. Neither Sister was pleased with the lack of progress in locating their recently hired and soon-to-be fired maintenance man.
“Looks like you just wasted your time,” said Sister Pat in her typically condescending manner. “Maybe it’s time to call the cops.” Sister Ann gave her a puzzled look. “Cops! What for? Cooper may have botched the striping job, but that’s not much of a criminal offense. Think of the bad publicity we would get.” She rolled her ideas heavenward.
It was obvious that Sister Pat had not given that consequence a thought. “Bad publicity! No way! That’s the last thing we need!” She looked at Ron as if he was the one who had suggested calling the authorities. She flicked her wrist at him as if she were swatting a fly. As far as she was concerned, there was no reason for Ron to remain in the principal’s office. He made no move to leave. Instead, he directed a few questions to Sister Ann.
“How much did you know about Ed when you hired him? Did you know that he had a problem with alcohol? Did you check any of his references?”
Sister Ann’s eyes narrowed as she folded her hands tightly. She clearly did not appreciate having her judgment questioned by a subordinate. Rather than admitting that she had failed to do due diligence before hiring Ed, she began a vigorous defense of her actions.
“You know very well that when Duane Davenport quit without giving notice, I was in a tight spot. Jack made it clear that he wanted me to hire a replacement right away. When Debbie in the cafeteria told me that she knew a guy who was looking for a job, I knew my prayers had been answered. I had him come in the next day. He seemed okay, so I hired him on the spot.” What Sister left out of her explanation was the fact that Ed was willing to work for minimum wage and no benefits.
Ron realized that there was no point in dwelling on the past. The more immediate issue was locating Ed. “Why don’t we take a look at his job application? We might find some helpful information there.”
Sister Pat glared at Ron. “Weren’t you listening? Sister said she hired him on the spot. I entered his basic information in the computer, gave him an application, and told him to return it as soon as possible. It’s not my fault that he never did.”
Ron didn’t respond to Sister Pat’s feeble attempt to deflect criticism from herself and her cohort, Sister Ann. As he got up to leave, Sister Ann said, “By the way, Ron, there’s something else I want you to investigate.”
“Sure, what is it?” He had a feeling that this was payback for questioning her judgment.
“When Jack barged into my office this morning, I was in the middle of a meeting with a young lady, Alyssa Franklin. She came back while you were out. It seems that someone has taken $80 from her gym locker. I want you to find out who did it and get her money back.”
Rather than promising more than he might be able to deliver, he simply said, “I’ll look into it.”
Feeling the need to add her perspective, Sister Pat shook her head in disbelief. “Stealing in a Catholic school? What’s wrong with people these days?”
Ron waited until he got back to his own office to shake his head in disbelief as well. “What’s wrong with those two?”
***
When Bishop arrived at the auditorium entrance, his Advanced Placement English class of sixteen students was waiting for him. With the grueling AP Literature and Composition test completed in early May, Bishop gave his students a chance to work on a group project. It was a chance to demonstrate their knowledge of the course material and to present their work in a fun yet meaningful way.
Bishop provided guidelines, but it was the responsibility of the group to design and implement the project under his supervision. In the years since he had started this tradition, most of his classes had done an outstanding job. Very infrequently, a group disappointed him. One year, a group of students could not agree on a project. They decided to split into two groups, each preparing a different project, neither one very successful. However, they learned some important lessons about working in groups, meeting deadlines, and the necessity of compromise.
This year’s group had decided to present scenes from Hamlet but with a twist. They included a few characters from other works that they had read during the year. For example, Hamlet’s famous soliloquy was to be delivered by Holden Caulfield from Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. “To be a phony or not to be a phony/ That is the question.” It was a wacky concept, but they loved it. After the group had written a script, they worked on casting, costumes, and props. With just a couple of weeks left, they had asked permission to do some rehearsals on the stage. They needed some practice with the curtains, lights, and sound system. That was the reason that Bishop met them at the auditorium.
Bishop sat in one of the front row seats, observing the feverish activity of the group, offering suggestions, and answering questions as needed. Since the class was only fifty minutes in length, the students understood that there was little time to be wasted. Everyone seemed to be on task until Bishop noticed Bill Delehanty grab the handle of a trap door near the back of the stage. The veteran teacher jumped to his feet as he shouted, “Bill, don
’t fool around with that door!” The last thing he needed was to have someone get hurt. His warning was too late. Bill had fully extended the door, and Andrea Wolinski, who had walked over to see what Bill was doing, started to scream hysterically. Everyone rushed to her side. As the girls sought to comfort Andrea, Bishop moved Bill away from the door. He looked down into the opening where a wooden ladder led to a storage room below. At the bottom of the ladder lay the lifeless body of Ed Cooper.
***
Although shaken by the discovery, Bishop took control in a firm voice. He directed all of the students to leave the stage and take seats in the auditorium. Some of the girls began to weep as Andrea told them what she had seen. Bishop closed the trap door as Bill remained frozen to the spot where he was standing when Andrea started screaming. Although the young man still didn’t understand why, Bishop did.
“The handle was sticking up,” Bill said, trying to explain what caused him to pull the door open.
“Everything’s going to be all right, Bill. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He put his arm around the young man’s shoulder and led him down the steps of the stage to join the others. Andrea’s screams had turned to soft sobs as the girls tried to comfort each other. The guys huddled around Bill, speaking in muted tones. Surprisingly, no one had taken out a cell phone to call or text the news. As he watched over them, he took his own cell phone from his jacket pocket and punched in the school’s number.
“Good afternoon. Holy Trinity High School. This is Terry. How may I help you?”
“Terry. This is Michael. I’m in the auditorium with my AP class. We found Ed Cooper. He’s dead.”
“What? Oh, my God! I don’t believe this!”
“Listen, Terry! This is what I need you to do.” He then gave her some specific instructions.
Within minutes, the school’s crisis team was mobilized. Sister Ann, Ron Jennings, Sarah Humphries and Eric Redstone, the school’s guidance counselors, and Margaret Foster, the school’s nurse, arrived on the scene. Bishop’s primary concern was the students. Sister Ann suggested that all of the students be taken up to the guidance office where they would have a chance to recover and receive any assistance that they might need. The students were still dazed as they left accompanied by the guidance counselors and the nurse.
Sister Ann sat quietly in one of the auditorium seats with her head in her hands. Perhaps she was praying for Ed. Bishop paced from one end of the stage to the other. He was lost in a flashback to another Monday earlier in the school year when he had found the dead body of a colleague.
Ron joined him as he paced. “Are you sure he’s dead?”
Bishop looked at Ron but didn’t reply. Of all the questions that had been running through his mind, that certainly wasn’t one of them.
“I mean … well, you know, if he was intoxicated, and all indications are that he was, then he might have just passed out.”
“No, Ron. He’s dead. His arms and legs are at an odd angle, his eyes are still open, and there is blood on the floor near his head.” As an afterthought, he asked Sister Ann, “When was Ed supposed to leave last night?”
She looked up at the two men. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” she said more to herself than to them. “Earlier this morning, I wanted to find that man so that I could fire him for his incompetence.” She shook her head in disbelief at the sudden turn of events. “Now, he’s dead, and everything else seems so pointless.” It was an odd remark coming from a nun.
Bishop waited a moment to see if she was going to continue. She stared at the back of the stage where the trap door was located. Just as Bishop was about to repeat his question, she said, “He was supposed to leave at 9 p.m. We agreed on that time so that he could catch the last bus.”
Just then, Jack Slater led several people into the auditorium. Sister Pat was having difficulty keeping up with Jack as they walked down the center aisle toward the stage, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t say something critical. “Do you mean to tell me that you never even looked down there?”
“That’s right,” Jack shot back. “I walked through here this morning looking for him, but I never thought about that room beneath the stage.”
Sister Pat gave him a condescending look of disapproval despite the fact that it was obvious that she had not thought of having someone check that area herself. She sat next to Sister Ann, although she met some resistance in squeezing her wide frame into the confines of the two armrests. As two EMTs and a police officer made their way onto the stage, the assistant principal gestured in their direction. “I suppose we’ll have to stay here until they remove the body. This really has put a crimp in my day.” Bishop looked at Jennings and rolled his eyes. Typical Sister Pat. No expression of sympathy. No concern for Ed or his family. No concern for the students who had discovered the body. She was one of two assistant principals, although no one had been able to determine exactly what her duties were. Having worked with the woman for many years, he shouldn’t have been surprised by her lack of tact.
***
Bishop shook hands with the officer and introduced him to the administrators as well. Officer Hollins had short curly black hair, blue eyes, and a square jaw. Bishop guessed that he was in his mid-thirties. “Let’s see what we’ve got here,” he said to Jack. As the door was lifted open, the officer got down on his hands and knees to get a better look. He grabbed a flashlight from his belt and cast a beam of light down on the body. The EMTs stood at a distance awaiting direction.
“This ladder is unusable. Is there another way down there, or do you have another ladder that I can use?”
Jack seemed shaken by his glimpse of the body of his co-worker. “You can get in that room from a door at the back of the building. I can show you if you want.”
“Please, lead the way.” Looking at the others, he advised, “Stay clear of that opening.”
When Bishop had first looked down into the storage area, he had noticed that the first rung of the old wooden ladder was intact, but the second and third rungs had given way. Something about that bothered him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
In a moment, the voices of Jack and Hollins could be heard.
“And you say that that door is usually locked?” asked the officer.
“That’s right, sir. It should be locked at all times, but as you saw for yourself, it was unlocked just now.”
“Whose job is it to lock that door?”
Jack swallowed hard, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Mine, I guess, but he was supposed to have made sure that it was locked before he left last night.”
“By ‘he’ I assume you mean the deceased?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Hollins knelt next to the body. He touched his neck and his right hand, and then closed his eyelids. He looked around the room in all directions, gripped the ladder that wobbled when he shook it, and then looked up to the top where the door opened onto the stage.
Bishop and Jennings were still standing there when Hollins and Jack returned. Hollins walked over to Sister Ann who stood up as he approached. Sister Pat, with some difficulty, also stood. “Well, Sister, it definitely looks like an accident to me. There’s a distinct smell of alcohol. If he were inebriated enough, negotiating that ladder would have been a challenge. A couple of rungs of that ladder just gave out, and his head must have hit that floor pretty hard. I think that he died instantly. I don’t think that he suffered.”
“Imagine getting drunk when he was supposed to be working! I guess he got what he was asking for!” No one responded to Sister Pat’s insensitive comment. Bishop had long ago ceased to be surprised by her attitude, but he was, nevertheless, disappointed in the way she represented the Sisters of the Holy Rosary.
“Someone is on the way to take photos and so on, but this is fairly routine. The EMTs should be able to remove the body shortly. I do need to ask a few more questions for my report.”
“Of course,” replied the Principal.
&nbs
p; “Who found the body?”
“I can help with that,” offered Bishop.
“My class was in the auditorium practicing for a presentation when one of the boys opened the trap door,” explained the veteran teacher.
Hollins had a small notebook and pen in hand. “Name?”
“Bill Delehanty, but I can assure you that he opened that door out of idle curiosity. The entire class was visibly shaken by the discovery.”
“What about next of kin?”
Sister Ann looked embarrassed as she admitted that she didn’t know much about Ed at all. She explained that she had hired him on the spot two weeks earlier as she was in a rush to fill that position. Unfortunately, he hadn’t returned the application that they had asked him to complete.
Ron told Hollins that he and the other school officials became concerned when they discovered Ed’s erratic striping of the faculty parking lot.
“I noticed that on my way in,” said Hollins. “I thought that maybe some of the students had pulled a prank.” As soon as he said that, Bishop started to wonder whether or not that might indeed be the case. Had they all jumped to the conclusion they preferred in assuming that Ed was responsible? Then the image of Ed’s lifeless body at the bottom of the ladder came back to him. There were splotches of yellow paint on Ed’s pants and sweatshirt. No students were involved.
Ron went on to inform the officer that when they were unable to locate Ed, he and Bishop had gone out to his place on Canary Road hoping to find him there. He gave him the name and number of the woman who had answered the door. He wasn’t sure if Amy was his wife or his girlfriend, but she was the one to contact first.
When some additional police personnel arrived, all of the Holy Trinity people except Jack left the auditorium to finish out the day, hoping to shield the students as much as possible from the disturbing events of that morning, thinking that the worst was behind them. That turned out to be incorrect.
Schooled in Deception: A Michael Bishop Mystery Page 2