Ronnie was also worried about how the other kids would treat her. She hadn’t made any secret of her crush on Chase, and now he was considered the prime suspect in a bloody murder. Ronnie didn’t know if that would make people ostracize her—or treat her like a celebrity. Neither possibility was all that appealing.
High school was a gauntlet that had to be run, Phyllis thought as she walked inside. Sooner or later, everyone was made fun of for something. It was how you dealt with such things that determined what sort of person you were.
Frances Macmillan’s door was open, and Frances was at her desk when Phyllis walked by. She stood up quickly, causing Phyllis to pause.
“Have you heard anything?” Frances asked as she came over to the door. “About the murder, I mean?”
“No, there haven’t been any new developments over the weekend, as far as I know.”
That wasn’t strictly true. Phyllis had confirmed her suspicions about Chase’s real identity, and she knew more about Ray Brooks’s background than she had. But she wasn’t going to share those things with Frances, especially since she wasn’t sure what any of it meant yet.
“I talked to Tom Shula when I came in. He’s had some pressure from parents—and the school board—to ban dances and other fundraisers in the future. I think that’s just crazy. The dance didn’t have anything to do with Mr. Brooks being killed. That might have happened anyway.”
Phyllis cocked her head and was about to say that she wasn’t sure about that. If not for the dance, Brooks probably wouldn’t have been at the school on the evening of Friday the Thirteenth. And more than likely, his killer wouldn’t have been, either.
Pointing that out to Francis wouldn’t help matters, though, so Phyllis just said, “I hope Tom doesn’t decide there won’t be any more dances. I know the students enjoy them.”
“He said he’d take it under advisement, but he hasn’t made up his mind yet. I just wish this whole thing would go ahead and blow over. Maybe it will if they arrest that boy they took in for questioning and he’s convicted.”
“What if he’s not guilty?” Phyllis asked.
Frances frowned. “Do you really think that’s possible? I mean, they took him out in handcuffs. Surely they wouldn’t have done that if they didn’t think he killed poor Mr. Brooks.”
So the security guard was “poor Mr. Brooks” now. People’s perception of him would probably improve since he was murdered. No one liked to speak ill of the dead.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Phyllis said, but then she noticed that Frances wasn’t really paying attention to her anymore. Instead the other teacher was looking along the hall with a cool, unfriendly expression on her face.
Phyllis turned to look as well and saw Amber Trahearne coming toward them.
“I’ll see you later, Phyllis,” Frances said. “I have work to do.”
“Of course,” Phyllis murmured as Frances went back into her classroom and closed the door. She knew that Frances was leaving because she didn’t want to have to speak to Amber. The murder might have distracted everyone, but nobody had forgotten the rumors about the alleged affair between Amber and Chase Hamilton. Any teacher who carried on with a student was going to be a pariah, at least among many of the faculty.
Phyllis might well have felt the same way, if she hadn’t known the truth about Chase Hamilton. Amber didn’t know about that, she reminded herself. As far as Amber was concerned, she had crossed a line she never should have.
Amber summoned up a smile, though, and Phyllis returned her friendly nod.
“Hi,” Amber said. “I hope you’re doing okay this morning, Phyllis.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Amber looked a little surprised by the question. “Because . . . well, I mean . . . you’re the one who found the . . . the body . . .”
Phyllis’s answer was a little more casual than she really felt. “It’s not the first time, I’m afraid. But I’m all right. I was pretty shaken up Friday night, but I kept busy over the weekend and I’m fine this morning.”
Kept busy trying unsuccessfully to solve Ray Brooks’s murder, she thought.
“Well . . . good. I’m glad to hear it. Because I have a favor to ask of you, and I really hate to, especially under the circumstances.”
“What sort of favor?” Phyllis asked.
“You know we’re having a math meet Saturday.”
Phyllis nodded, even though she hadn’t actually known about it.
“We always have parents and some of the other teachers volunteer to help out, and I’ve, uh, had quite a few of them get in touch with me the past couple of days and say that they can’t come after all.”
Phyllis wasn’t surprised. Between the murder and the scandal involving Amber and Chase, there were bound to be people who didn’t want to volunteer for another school event, especially one Amber was sponsoring.
“I’m afraid I don’t know anything about helping at a math meet,” Phyllis said. “My son wasn’t on the math team when he was in school.”
“But you do know about food,” Amber countered, “and I really need someone to be in charge of the hospitality room. We provide breakfast and lunch for all the other coaches and the volunteers who work at the meet. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you could make something for breakfast and maybe some desserts for lunch, and kind of supervise things . . . Well, it would just be an enormous help, that’s all.”
Even though Phyllis wished Amber hadn’t asked her, she couldn’t stop her culinary instincts from kicking in. She said, “I suppose I could make some breakfast casseroles. I know Carolyn has a good recipe.”
“We’ll have people bring donuts, too, but not everybody wants sweet stuff for breakfast, so casseroles would be great. And maybe some cookies or something to go with lunch. We always order a giant deli sandwich for the main part of the meal.”
Amber was right: it was a lot to ask. Something else occurred to Phyllis.
“I suppose you’ve already talked to Sam?”
“Of course.” Amber smiled. “And he didn’t let me down. He’s going to be in charge of the proctors. I asked him if he thought you’d be willing to help out, too, but he said I’d have to ask you about that.”
Sam knew better than to speak for her, but Phyllis knew that since he was volunteering, he would like it if she did, too. For a moment, she mulled it over. To be brutally honest, she didn’t particularly like Amber, but she wasn’t going to sit in judgment over the young woman, either.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Amber said into the lingering silence.
“You do?”
Amber’s expression was serious now as she said, “You’re trying to decide whether you want to be associated with a tramp like me.”
Phyllis shook her head. “That’s not at all—”
“No, it’s all right, I understand. I did a really stupid thing. I was in kind of a bad place. I’d just dumped Ray—may he rest in peace—and Chase and I had become friends and . . . well, he just seems older than he really is, you know. When I was around him and it was just the two of us, it was easy to forget that he’s a student. Too easy.” She stood up straighter. “But that’s over and done with, and it’ll never happen again. If it winds up costing me my job in the long run, then so be it. But I don’t want it hurting those kids who practice for hours and hours for a meet like this.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help,” Phyllis told her. “Especially if I can get Carolyn and Eve to pitch in, too. If they’re willing, we can take care of the hospitality room for you.”
A hugely relieved expression appeared on Amber’s face. “That’s great!” she said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, Phyllis. I’ll be in touch with you during the week to coordinate everything.”
“Have you been in touch with Chase?” Phyllis ventured to ask.
Amber drew in a sharp breath and said, “No. Absolutely not. The last I saw of him, he was being taken out of the school in handcuffs.
I’ve heard rumors that the sheriff’s department didn’t hold him, though.”
“That’s what I heard, too,” Phyllis said.
“They must not have enough evidence to charge him yet.”
“Do you think he did it?”
“I don’t know what to think,” Amber said. “Around me, he was always so gentle and kind. But there’s a dark side to him, as well. If there wasn’t, he wouldn’t hang around with those other kids who are his friends. They’re not good kids. I hate to say it, but they’re just not.”
Phyllis nodded, and Amber brightened again.
“I’m going to just look ahead,” she said. “There’s been enough bad things. This is the first meet of the year coming up, and I want to see what our team can do.”
“These math team kids . . . they really get up early on a Saturday morning and come to school to take a test?”
“Four tests,” Amber said. “Number sense, calculator, general math, and science.”
“They do this for fun?”
“Yeah. And some of them are really, really competitive, too. If they do well, there are some good scholarships they can get for college. It can help a lot if you’re good enough to qualify for the state academic meet in the spring.”
“I didn’t know about any of that.”
“Just wait until Saturday,” Amber said. “You’ll see. It’ll be fun!”
Chapter 28
As far as Phyllis could tell, Chase wasn’t at school that day. She didn’t see him in the halls during any of the passing periods or in the cafeteria at lunch. Alan Riley and Jason Duncan were holding court at their usual table with their circle of friends, but Chase wasn’t with them. Phyllis wondered if he had “dropped out”, which wouldn’t be difficult to do since he wasn’t actually a student there to begin with.
When she got home that afternoon, she brought up the subject of volunteering at the math meet to Carolyn and Eve.
“What’s a math meet?” Carolyn asked. When Phyllis explained, Carolyn shook her head and added, “We didn’t have such things in elementary school.”
“I remember them,” Eve said. “I know there was always an academic competition in the spring. The journalism department always participated in it, and I certainly remember hearing about the math and science and computer teams. I didn’t realize that the meets went on all year, though.”
“Technically, they’re just practice meets for the district, region, and state meets later on, I suppose,” Phyllis said, “but the students and coaches who participate seem to take them very seriously. I told Amber I’d help, and I was hoping you two wouldn’t mind lending a hand as well.”
“I don’t know this Amber,” Carolyn said with a frown, “but from what I’ve heard about her, I don’t like her.”
“And you know I’m not a cook,” Eve added.
“You wouldn’t have to cook anything,” Phyllis told her. “You’d just have to be there to make sure everything gets put out on the tables and refill things that we run out of.”
“Well, I suppose I could handle that.” Eve thought for a moment, then asked, “Are any of those math team coaches single men?”
Carolyn rolled her eyes while Phyllis shook her head and said, “I don’t have any idea. But I suppose they could be.”
“I’ll do it,” Eve said.
“Oh, all right,” Carolyn said. “It’s something different, anyway. I love retirement, but it can get a little monotonous.”
Sam and Ronnie came in a short time later. Ronnie immediately put her backpack down and asked Phyllis, “Did you solve the murder today?”
Sam said, “I told you, I reckon we would’ve heard about it if that had happened.”
“I’m afraid Sam is right,” Phyllis said. “It’s not that easy or simple.”
Eve said, “You have to admit, dear, you’ve made it look that way at times in the past.”
“Maybe, but this one has me stumped.” Phyllis didn’t like to admit that, but it was true. Her thinking had hit a brick wall. “I may have to sit back and let everything percolate for a while.”
“What does that mean?” Ronnie asked.
“It’s how folks used to make coffee,” Sam explained. “Sort of a slow drip, drip, drip.”
Phyllis smiled. “That’s the way my thoughts feel right now. A slow drip.”
“Oh!” Ronnie said in exasperation. She picked up her backpack and headed for the stairs.
Once the girl had gone up to her room, Phyllis said to Sam, “I didn’t want to say anything while Ronnie was here, but I thought I might go over to Chase’s apartment again and tell him what we found out about Ray Brooks’s background.”
“Not a bad idea,” Sam said. “I’ll go with you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“I’ll take care of supper,” Carolyn said. “You two go on about your detecting business.”
“More like shot-in-the-dark business these days,” Phyllis said.
They took Sam’s pickup and drove over to the apartment complex where Chase lived. Phyllis didn’t know what vehicle he drove, so she couldn’t tell from the ones in the parking lot whether he was home.
But as Sam turned into the lot, she suddenly said, “Park here at the far end.”
He did what she told him, then said, “What’s wrong?”
“Those two boys getting out of a car down at the other end of the lot . . .”
“Yeah, I see ’em now,” Sam said. “Riley and Duncan. Good job of spottin’ ’em.”
“I suppose they want to know why Chase wasn’t at school today, too,” Phyllis said as she watched Alan Riley and Jason Duncan climb the stairs to the complex’s second floor where Chase’s apartment was located.
“What do you want to do now?”
“We’ll wait until they leave and hope it’s not too long.”
“Yeah, because I don’t want to miss out on whatever Carolyn is makin’ for supper.”
Riley and Duncan were at the door of Chase’s apartment. Riley knocked while Duncan brushed something off the front of the jacket he wore. The door swung open, but Phyllis couldn’t see into the apartment from where she and Sam were parked. She assumed Chase had opened it, because Riley and Duncan went inside and the door closed behind them.
Sam had rolled the pickup’s windows part of the way down, so a cool breeze blew through the vehicle, making it comfortable as they waited. To pass the time, Phyllis said, “I agreed to help Amber with the math meet this Saturday.”
“She told me,” Sam said with a nod. “I was glad to hear it, too. That way I know the food’ll be good in the hospitality room.”
“She said you’re going to be in charge of the proctors? I’m not sure I know what that is.”
“They’re the ones who give out the tests and watch the kids to make sure nobody’s cheatin’. She’s got a sheet printed up with all the instructions, so all I have to do is go over it with the folks who have volunteered for that job. Then I sort of just wander around and make sure there aren’t any problems. It doesn’t sound like a very hard job, so I figured I could handle it.” Sam grinned. “Best part about it, once the tests are finished, I’m done. I can go hang out with you and eat the rest of the time.”
She smiled back at him. “Those are your favorite jobs, aren’t they?”
“You got that right.”
Phyllis sat up straighter and grew more serious as she saw Chase’s door open again. The two young men came out. Jason Duncan paused and turned back to say something through the open door, then joined Riley in going down the stairs and back to the car they had come in. They got into the car and drove off.
Phyllis waited until they were completely out of sight before she opened the pickup’s door and got out.
Chase looked surprised when he opened the apartment door and saw the two of them standing there.
“This is your day for company, son,” Sam drawled.
“I guess you saw Alan and Jason leaving.”
“Th
at’s right,” Phyllis said. “We saw them come in, too. We arrived at almost the same time. That could have been awkward.”
Chase grunted. “I’m glad you were discreet about it.” He stepped back. “Come in.”
As Phyllis stepped over the threshold, she glanced down and saw several small pieces of broken blue stone lying just in front of the door. It looked like some sort of decoration that had been stepped on and broken. She would have picked up one of the pieces to study it, but Sam was right behind her and Chase was waiting for them to come in.
“I suppose people noticed that I wasn’t at school today,” he said as he closed the door. “That probably created a lot of rumors, like I was in jail or something. That’s why Alan and Jason came by. They wanted to know if I was still out—and if I was coming back to school.”
“Are you?” Phyllis asked.
“I don’t know yet. It’s really too early to tell if the operation is blown or not. But Jason was pretty clear about one thing: as long as I’m under suspicion, he doesn’t want me having anything to do with him and Alan. I’m bad for business. Not low-profile enough anymore.”
“And Jason Duncan calls the shots for the ring selling drugs?”
Chase laughed. “No, I don’t think so. He acts like he does, but he’s not smart enough. He gets his orders from somebody else. I’ve been trying to get him to trust me enough to let me in on who that is, but so far . . .” Chase shrugged and shook his head. “As long as they keep me at arm’s length because they don’t want any extra attention from the cops, I won’t get that information. Which is why it’s tempting just to chunk the whole thing. I don’t like to give up, though.”
Sam said, “I can understand that. I don’t like to be a quitter, either.”
“The sheriff’s department might get better results by pulling me out, waiting a while, and putting somebody else in. I’ll give it another day or two and try to figure it out.” Chase paused. “Is there anything I can do to help your investigation?”
“I don’t know,” Phyllis said. “We found out some things about Ray Brooks. Evidently, he wasn’t exactly the sort of man that everyone at school believed him to be. Or rather, he was, but there was more to him than that.”
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