In the Shadows (The Outsiders Book 1) (25 page)

“I’m Simone. What do you need?”

He scratched his head with his free hand. “Well, this is going to sound strange, but I came here from Chicago to visit my friend, Dave Martin. He invited me a couple weeks ago. But I can’t find him. He gave me an address, his grandmother’s house. I went there several times and no one is around. I finally talked to a neighbor who told me I should check with you. Said you might know where I can find them.”

“I wish I had good news for you. Something came up, and Dave had to leave unexpectedly. His grandmother left, too.”

“Oh, no. He must have forgotten to call me. Thanks. I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do now.”

“You could stay at Chateau de Reynier until he returns. It’s
just down the street from here.”

“Thanks. My taxi driver dropped me off in front of
the house. It didn’t occur to me to have him wait. I’m kinda stuck here.”

“Why don’t you sit and have something to eat? My employee will be here any minute
. After she arrives, I will walk with you to the chateau.”

“
Thank you. That would be wonderful. And I actually am starved.” He sauntered over to one of the tables, plunked his suitcase down on an empty chair, and sat down.

“How do you know Dave?” Simone asked.

“I’m sorry. My name is Greg. I’m his old partner from the police force. I’m on vacation, and I’ve been traveling around Great Britain and Europe. Dave and I send emails back and forth. He invited me to visit him if I had time before I went home.” 

“I thought you sounded American. How long
had you planned on staying?”

“That depends.” He flashed Simone a dazzling smile that transformed him into the most charming man she’d seen in a long time.

In the late
morning Kate met Dave at his hotel and from there they travelled together by train to Westglenn School north of Euston. They’d decided not to schedule an appointment because that might put the Headmaster on guard. Surprise could work to their advantage. Whether or not that was true in this case remained to be seen.

As they exited the Tube station, they discovered that the blue sky had
grown overcast with heavy clouds. A block from Westglenn the rain began pelting them. Kate covered her head with her handbag. They quickened their pace, practically running outright, and ducked inside the school building moments before pea-sized hail accosted the roof, windows, and neighborhood. Their rather wet and bedraggled appearance brought smirks from a number of students.

In the main building they
snagged one of the students and asked for directions to the Headmaster’s office. Dave and Kate waited inside the doorway while the Headmaster’s secretary talked to a young, nervous-looking boy. When he left, looking even more worried, Kate approached the secretary’s desk.

“May I help you?” she asked. She was a young woman with a friendly
looking face.

Kate introduced herself
. “We are here to speak with Headmaster Fowler.” The woman got up and went into another office, then returned in a few minutes. “Mr. Fowler can see you now.”

Fowler
, a middle-aged man wearing a navy blue suit and vest, stood up behind his desk and shook their hands as Kate introduced herself and Dave.

He
smiled and reseated himself. “Please have a seat. How may I help you?”

Kate explained why they were there.

His expression darkened, and Dave worried they might not get his cooperation. The phone rang. He excused himself to take the call, giving Dave time to study him and the surroundings. Fowler had brown hair, which was thinning on top. His face was pale, with deep wrinkles, likely a sign of his responsibilities and profession. The observation made Dave wonder how the scandal may have affected him personally. The man’s office appeared typical of what one would expect of a headmaster. There were two white walls that were accented with a couple of unimpressive paintings and two framed degrees. The other two walls were covered in a fine oak wainscot, perhaps worn a bit from the years, but impressive all the same. The headmaster’s desk was organized, but piles of paper spoke of many hours of work yet to complete. There was a photo on the desk, but as it was facing away, Dave assumed it was of a wife, kids, or perhaps other family member or members.

H
e hung up the phone a moment later and Kate said, “Could you tell us about your former employee, Maura Barrington?”

“She was an English teacher
, fairly new, still learning. This was her first teaching assignment. She worked here for four years.”

“
Was she a good teacher, a good employee?”

“
She was basically efficient. The children seemed to like her. Pupils in her class did well.”

Kate said, “Were you surprised when you heard the
rumors about an affair with a student?”

He didn’t answer right away
, seeming to think about it. “She was attractive. Probably too attractive.”

“Why do you say that?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes she seemed a bit too friendly.”

Kate said, “Was she ever romantically involved with a school employee?”

Appearing uncomfortable, he said, “I can’t really answer that.” He put his hands together, steepling his fingers. “Let me make something clear. I believe in cooperating with the press. But these days one must always take into account public opinion. But there must be limits. I am sure you understand.”

Kate nodded. “
Of course, our apologies. If it’s acceptable, we would like to speak with a pupil, Penny Miller. We understand she was Jared Raybourne’s former girlfriend.”

“
I’m afraid that is out of the question. Our pupils have already been questioned by police and that was difficult enough. I’m sure you understand.”

“We’ll be discreet and-
—”

“I really can’t allow that. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He began shuffling papers around on his desk.

“Mr. Fowler, if I may, what does your governing body think about Jared Raybourne’s murder?” Dave asked.

Fowler’s hands froze in mid-air as he looked at Dave.
“This is something no school wants.”

“Has it hurt the school’s reputation?”

Fowler rubbed the top of his head. “Parents were shocked, of course. It hasn’t been easy reassuring them. Our students are perfectly safe here. Security is tight.” He nodded and looked at them seriously. “I would like that stressed, please. This did not take place on school property nor during school hours. This is a safe place.”

Dave thought about their arrival in the building. They’d walked right in and no one had stopped them
or questioned them. “Does your governing body believe Jared’s murder was connected with their investigation?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Dave said, “With the allegations of an affair, the board was going to conduct a hearing to find out whether it was true. Some people believe Maura Barrington killed Jared to keep him from testifying at that hearing.”

Tight lines formed around Fowler’s mouth.
He didn’t speak for a minute, then he said, “I don’t have anything more to say. Now, if you don’t mind . . . .” He gestured towards the door.

On their way out, Dave st
opped at the secretary’s desk. “Could you tell us what time school lets out?”

“Three-thirty.”

“Thanks. Is there a restaurant or café nearby?”

“Yes. Bailey’s Café is
just round the corner. Further on, there are several cafés.”

“Is
Bailey’s popular?” Kate asked.

“
I suppose with teenagers, anyway. It can get pretty noisy, though, in the late afternoon.”

Dave and Kate
made their way to Bailey’s and found a booth. Dave went to the counter and ordered coffees. When he returned to the table, Kate asked, “What did you think of Headmaster Fowler?”

“He was certainly
very nervous and defensive.”

“I suppose that’s understandable
,” Kate said. “The scandal happened on his watch. That can’t be good for a man in his position.”

Dave nodded.

They talked now and then while eating lunch. Afterwards, they read newspapers as they waited for school to let out. Dave set the alarm on his watch for a quarter past three, giving them plenty of time to get back to the school before dismissal time.

When students began trickling out of the building at three
-thirty, Dave and Kate were on the scene asking if anyone knew Penny Miller. Several knew her, but they didn’t know where she was. As the crowd thinned out, a boy pointed to a girl with long dark hair, coming out of the front door.

Walking up the steps, Kate asked,
“Are you Penny Miller?”

“Yes.” She pushed hair out of her eyes the way Dave had seen Maurelle do on
numerous occasions.

“I’m Kate Hill, a journalist. This is my associate, Dave Martin. We’re investigating Jared
Raybourne’s murder and were hoping we could talk to you.”

Penny’s blue eyes
also reminded Dave of Maurelle’s, though musing that Penny’s eyes lacked Maurelle’s sparkle and allure. Catching his mind wandering, he chided himself.

“Yeah, whatever.
”

“Perhaps we can talk
for a few minutes at Bailey’s Café. Do you know the place?”

She nodded.

They walked to the café and took a seat in the same booth where they’d sat earlier. Dave bought three coffees and carried them to the table. They had decided in advance that Kate would ask the questions.

Kate asked, “How long did you and Jared date?”

“I dunno, maybe four months.”

“Why did you break up?”

Penny glanced down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. When she raised her eyes again, she didn’t look directly at Kate or Dave.

“He was nice and thoughtful when we first
went out, but he changed. It was almost like he’d turned into a different person.”

“When was this?”

“About two months after we started dating. His parents had just split up. He was angry about it. After that, I got scared sometimes being around him.”

“What did he do that scared you?”

“He would pick fights with me and with other people. He was moody and mean and suspicious. I saw him kill a bird once by smashing it with a bat, and he smashed someone’s mailbox with a shovel. He didn’t have a driving license, but he took his mum’s car out for a joy ride and made me go along with him. While we were out, he hit a dog and left it in the road. That’s when I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore.”

“Did he get angry with you over the break-up?”

Penny nodded. “He told his friends that he broke up with me because I was sleeping around. It wasn’t true.”

“Was he ever involved with any other girls here? Maybe a classmate?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Did Jared have any enemies that you know of?”

“He wasn’t popular. People didn’t much like him after he changed. But that doesn’t mean someone would kill him, does it?”

“Did you know the teacher, Maura Barrington?”

“Sort of. I was in one of her classes.”

“What was she like?”

“Nice. I liked her. Most of the kids did. She wasn’t strict.”

“Was she a good teacher?”

“She was all right. She made her classes interesting.”

Kate said, “Do you believe she had an affair with Jared?”

Penny shrugged. The door of the café opened and a group of kids walked in, laughing and talking. She stood up. “I gotta go.”

Dave and Kate watched her leave, then glanced at each
other.

Kate said, “Let’s split up, shall we?”

Dave nodded. He approached two teenage boys. One was a slender boy with eyeglasses and the other was an overweight pimple-faced boy. They were sitting at a table. After introducing himself, Dave asked if they’d known Jared Raybourne.

The slender boy,
who identified himself as Ray Wills, said, “Yeah, we knew Jared. Grew up with him.”

“
Were you still friends?”

Ray glanced at his friend
. He looked back at Dave and shrugged.

“Was he popular?”

“A lot of kids disliked him. ‘Course some of us admired him.”

“You admired him? Why?”

Ray stared at him as though he thought Dave was stupid. “Because he got to hook up with that teacher. She was fit. Worth dying for, you know?”

“What do you mean? Do you think she killed him?”

“’Course she did. If he’d told everything, she would have lost her job for sure. That’s what everyone says.”

Dave found another student, Jenny Hayes, and asked her
similar questions.

“I saw Jared and Ms. Barrington sitting together eating lunch one day
,” Jenny said. “Another time, they were whispering together in the hallway and looking, well, you know.”

“Couldn’t they have been discussing school?”

“He wasn’t in any of her classes. Besides, he was one of the best-looking boys in this school. Dreamy blue eyes and blonde hair. It’s not surprising that she would be attracted to him. I heard she wasn’t that much older than Jared.”

“Do you know Brittany Stevas?”

“Yeah, she’s in some of my classes.”

“Were she and Jared friends?”

“I don’t know.”

Dave looked around for Kate
. She was talking to a group of middle-aged women. Not wanting to interfere, he scanned the café for more students. Kate was now standing and preparing to move away from the women. He stood by and waited for her. “Any luck?” he asked.

She touched his arm. “Let’s go. We can talk on the train.”

It was late afternoon, approaching rush hour, and the train was already packed with bodies of all ages. Dave and Kate found two empty seats together near a young woman with three children, including a baby. Dave hoped the baby would sleep during the train ride.

As the train began moving, he said, “The
kids think she and Jared had an affair. They believe she killed him to keep him from testifying so she wouldn’t lose her job. His death didn’t help her in any way. She obviously didn’t kill him to save her job.”

Kate closed her newspaper. “She may not have gone there intending to kill him. Maybe she just wanted to talk him out of telling the board the details of their relationship. This is how I see it: They quarreled, she went to leave, he yelled after her, she got angry, went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, went after him, and stabbed him. A typical crime of passion.”