"What're you working on?"

"That murder case down in Carlson. And before you remind me it's not our jurisdiction, I'll remind you that-"

"I know, that's where Angie is." He leaned on the edge of Jarvis' desk, one hand fondling the pup who'd put her front paws up on his knee. The captain laughed. "She's been in that school for two days and hasn't solved the case yet? You'd better call the doctor and get her a checkup. There's got to be something seriously wrong."

"Very funny. Actually, she's determined not to work on this one."

Jarvis laughed along with his captain but knew the real reason Angelina hesitated to build the clue puzzle. Though she hadn't been physically injured in the accident a month ago, her mental scarring was more severe than his two-inch a.s.s crater. He wasn't a psychologist but knew there was some mega-conflict going on in her head. Solving puzzles wasn't something she did to pa.s.s time or to gain notoriety. An uncontrollable force inside her pushed her to a.s.semble pieces. It was as natural as eating and sleeping. Angelina Deacon had to fix things.

She laughed recently saying how weird it was that this affliction hadn't hit till she was in her fifties, but he pointed out that she'd always been that way. That was why she'd become a nurse. It just wasn't till her fifties when that her need transferred to crime solving.

What would happen now? Would she continue to stifle this urge? Maybe she'd go back to work in the hospital. All he knew for sure was, she couldn't continue holding things inside.

FOURTEEN.

"Evan, will you take me home?"

"It's almost time for school."

"I don't think I'm going today."

"You have to, we have a test in calculus."

He was right. She had to go to school, but the reason had nothing to do with calculus. Anyway, she needed to go home a while first. Needed a quiet place to think. "We still have an hour."

Evan did as she asked, pulling up in front of her house. "I'll pick you up at 7:15."

Kiana's mother was in the kitchen. She waved the note as Kiana came in. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were up to something sneaky."

With a sigh, Kiana dropped into a chair. "It's nothing like you're thinking. Evan and I are trying to find out who killed Gw-Ms. Forest." Seeing her mother's shocked expression she hurried to add, "I know it's dangerous but...there's nothing you can do to talk me out of it."

Now it was her mother's turn to sigh. She pulled out a neighboring chair and sat. She took Kiana's hands in hers. "I know what a determined young girl you are. Usually I applaud that. I also know the drive you feel to avenge your teacher's senseless death." She gave a small laugh. "I've never in your life been able to talk you out of something you've resolved to do. So, I won't try. I'll pray I taught you to be careful and sensible and then I'll ask you to promise one thing, to keep me apprised of what you do, where you go."

In light of all the things she could've said, it seemed a fair request. Kiana told her mother about going to the school, leaving out the part about luring Mr. Chalmers from his home. They shared a laugh over the neon green thong.

"Mom, do you know if Mr. Chalmers was ever married?"

"No. I don't know anything about him except what they printed in this morning's paper." She pushed the paper across the table for Kiana to read. Nothing interesting about him at all. But she could imagine the uproar it would create at school now that the news was out. She stood up. "I'm going to take a shower."

Kiana's mother stood too, took her head between her hands and kissed her forehead. "Be careful, daughter."

Kiana stood under the sharp needles of the hot water. For the first time in her life she considered staying home from school. The image of Mr. Chalmers as a murderer was hard to digest. Worse than that at the moment...she couldn't face Mrs. Deacon. Not after the embarra.s.sment of last night in the green room. Mrs. Deacon had specifically warned them to stay out of the case or they might get hurt. They had deliberately ignored her. And almost gotten hurt, or maybe even kidnapped. Or worse.

What might've happened if Mrs. Deacon hadn't shown up? How far would the janitor have gone to get hold of that picture? A better question, why did he want it? He didn't know who was in it. He only knew they'd found a picture.

How long had he been standing there, listening to she and Evan talking? What did either of them say that made him suspicious? She replayed the conversation in her head. The only thing she could recall talking about was that they were in school after hours. And then they'd discussed the ident.i.ty of the man in the photo.

So, why would a janitor be interested in that picture?

Because he was the man with his arm around Ms. Forest! Come to think of it, he did look like the guy. Kiana laughed. That would mean he and Ms. Forest were...

Not possible. Simply not possible. Mr. Chalmers had asked Gwen to marry him.

Maybe the janitor was her brother or cousin. No. If he were family, he wouldn't care if there were a picture of them together. But...if they had a bad relationship and the cops found the picture, then he might be suspected of killing her. No-wrong track. News about Gwen's relatives and their relationships would come out no matter what. Besides, that janitor acted more like a blackmailer than a brother.

Okay, think about the picture. It was old. Maybe twenty years old. So, probably he and Gwen weren't seeing each other right then. It could mean Mr. Chalmers found out and-well, so what if she and the janitor knew each other twenty years ago? What could it mean to anybody now? There had to be more.

What if the janitor found out Ms. Forest and Mr. Chalmers were seeing each other? Their relationship was supposed to be a secret, but secrets had a way of squeezing out. Maybe he found out and 1-was jealous, 2-wanted her back, 3-threatened to tell the school board. Would they care? What was the worst that could happen? Maybe, to keep their jobs, Mr. Chalmers and Ms. Forest would have to get married. Big deal since they probably would've anyway.

So, where did that leave things? No place at all.

What if, that janitor didn't come to the office intending to clean it-the place sure didn't look like it was cleaned very often. Maybe he'd come to destroy clues. Which made Kiana's decision easy: she would go to school and tell what happened last night. Who to tell? The police maybe. Although Mr. Reynolds said they should come to him. Then there was Mrs. Deacon, famous for solving crimes... If not for the fiasco of last night, and the resulting embarra.s.sment, she'd be the perfect one to speak to.

Kiana had just stepped off her front walk when Evan's motorcycle putted around the corner. She smiled, knowing he deliberately appeared each morning to drive her to school. She unclipped the helmet from the rear of the seat, settled her backpack firmly on the seat rest, then climbed up behind him.

Usually some sort of music blared in the helmet headphones. The genre differed every day, from cla.s.sical to rap, but it was always there, and loud. Today, no music. And Evan didn't shout his usual greeting. Something was wrong. Had another teacher died? Kiana never watched the news, but if something like that had happened, surely her mother would've said something. When Gwen died, she begged Kiana to remain home from school. Another death would surely have resulted in her being physically forced to stay home.

Could his mood be mimicking her fear of facing Mrs. Deacon? She was about to ask when he spoke for the first time. Kiana had to struggle to hear the words through the helmet microphone.

"We need to talk. There's something I need to tell you."

He flicked on the turn signal and leaned left into the park, where the town held gatherings and kids came to play on the enormous slides and swings. He got off the bike, removed his helmet and placed it on the seat. He waited for her to climb off, set the kickstand then walked away. The stuff on his mind must be important. He forgot to take the key from the ignition. And he forgot to wait for her. He always waited.

Kiana dropped the keychain in her pocket, then hung the helmet on the backrest and followed. By now, Evan sat sideways on a red plastic rocking horse. Kiana selected a yellow dinosaur nearby and sat sideways too, her rear end squished into the small, curved area.

"You okay?" Evan asked.

She nodded.

"You're thinking Mr. Chalmers killed Ms. Forest."

Kiana shrugged. Not an I-don't-care gesture, it was one that said he was right.

"I was thinking the same thing. All the way to the coffeeshop. That's where I went for the last hour. But you know, Kee, I don't think he did it. He really cared about her."

She gave a weary nod.

"I think we have to tell the police about the lighter fluid." When she didn't respond he added, "Or at least tell Mrs. Deacon." Seeing Kiana's hesitation he added, "Something I just thought of, maybe somebody's storing it there-to use at a later time."

Kiana rocked on the too-small dinosaur. n.o.body else visited the park but a lot of people hurried along the sidewalk. Traffic would soon grow so heavy it would bog down at the intersection. No doubt they would be late for school.

"I told my mother we were investigating."

"You sure that was a good idea?"

"Yes. She asked that we let her know where we'll be from now on. Best somebody knows where to find us if something goes wrong."

Evan watched the traffic too, but his mind was obviously elsewhere. When he finally spoke, his words were hard to understand since he pretty much faced the other way. "About a month ago, I saw something." When Kiana didn't react, Evan seemed disappointed. But he went on, "What I saw... It might have something to do with Ms. Forest's murder."

Now he had her full attention. Though she said nothing. Evan didn't need the plat.i.tudes. If he had something to say, he would, even if she asked him not to. To hear better when he did speak, she swung a bit more in his direction on the plastic dinosaur.

"I went to the auditorium. I was early to meet the band to work on the music score. n.o.body else was there. I mean the guys; none of the guys were there. Ms. Forest was though. I heard her in her office. She was yelling."

Kiana couldn't keep her brows from lifting at this news. Ms. Forest was one of the calmest, most under control people she knew. Nothing, not even a battle between two bullies, brought a reaction.

"At first I only heard her voice," Evan went on. "I listened. I couldn't help myself from being worried-because of the shouting. I could only understand a few words now and then. Things like: 'do that to you' and 'think like that'. At first I couldn't hear the other person answer. I imagined them as shocked as me that she was yelling. I pictured them cowering against the wall."

Kiana smiled. That was exactly how she'd pictured things going too.

"Then Ms. Forest said, 'why did you have to do this here-at school?'" Evan gave a nervous laugh. "I guess I kept going closer because all at once I realized I was standing near the office door." He gave a rueful smile. "That explained how I could suddenly hear whole sentences."

"I would've peeked through the keyhole to see who was in there."

Evan grinned. "I tried. The door doesn't have one. She had to be talking to an adult-I figured it was a teacher because those aren't the kind of things you say to a student. It had to be a teacher, right? Few other adults would be in school right then."

"Didn't you say the final bell had rung?"

"I didn't say that. I said I was early for meeting the guys. But yes, the final bell rang about twenty minutes before that."

"Then it's possible it was somebody from the outside. It's not like the school is in lockdown. Anyone could walk in the door near the gym without being seen. You don't have to go past the office."

He said, "I don't think-" but Kiana kept talking. "You are right though. Odds are, it was a teacher." She leaned forward on the dinosaur. This was exhilarating and frightening all at the same time. "What did you do?"

"I-" now he actually blushed, "ducked into that closet near the office. I had to see who was fighting with Ms. Forest. I no sooner pulled the closet door shut-well, almost shut-when something smashed against the wall. Sounded like gla.s.s and it shook the closet wall."

"Someone threw something."

"Probably that paperweight-you know, the one with the Rocky Mountain snow scene in it-from her desk."

Kiana nodded. She'd wondered where that paperweight had gone. Just a week ago, she asked Gwen about it. Gwen said she took it home.

"Then what happened?"

"That's when the other person finally spoke, but the voice was low I couldn't understand what they were saying."

"Could you tell the person's s.e.x?"

The word s.e.x seemed to throw him a minute and he faltered. Kiana held in a smile.

"I had the idea the person was trying to calm her down," Evan said. "But she wasn't about to let it go. She said, 'This is the worst thing anyone's ever done to me.' The other person seemed again like they tried to talk. Their words got cut off by something else smashing against the wall."

Kiana was shocked. This was so not like Gwen she had to ask, "Are you sure it was Ms. Forest you heard?"

Evan gave a dismal nod. This had to be hard for him. He held the teacher in such high esteem he had to have battled with this information for weeks.

"Why didn't you tell me all this sooner?" As soon as the words left her mouth she knew the answer. She wouldn't believe such behavior came from her beloved Ms. Forest. "Never mind. Finish the story."

"Well, all at once the office door opened. I had left the closet door open a couple of inches so I could hear. I tried shutting it but first I couldn't get hold of the doork.n.o.b and it jiggled. I thought-"

"Evan! Who came out of the office?"

"Ms. Forest. I was so surprised I almost fell out of the closet. I guess I thought the other person would run out first. Anyway, she was crying. See, that's part of the reason I couldn't tell you. Besides you, Ms. Forest is the strongest person I know."

Kiana disagreed with the first part of his statement-about she, herself, being strong-but Gwen Forest definitely was the strongest person Kiana knew.

"I thought about following. You know, to make sure she was all right. But there wasn't any blood or anything that said she'd been hurt, so I waited in the closet-to see who else came out. Seemed like forever. My feet started to fall asleep, and my left arm felt like-"

"Evan!"

He sucked in a breath. "Sorry. Anyway, I waited. And waited. Twelve minutes-I checked it on my watch-pa.s.sed and no one came out of the office. I got scared thinking... Well, I hate to say it but I thought maybe Ms. Forest k-killed the other person. Not that she would. Especially in her own office. I just..." He raked the fingers of his right hand through his hair leaving cowlicks in the s.p.a.ces between his fingers. "Anyway, the guys had arrived. I could hear them out in the auditorium, setting up. So, I had this bright idea to come out of the closet and pretend I was looking for Ms. Forest, to ask a question, you know? I was just opening the door when the one to the office opened."

"Kiana! Evan! Hey, you two, what're you doing?"

The new voice made Evan slide off the rocking horse. Kiana groaned and jerked her head around.

Dalton, one of the guys from Evan's band, stood three feet away. "You guys're gonna be late for school," he said.

Evan pretended to be surprised. "Man, we lost track of time. Come on, Kee, let's go." He pulled himself erect, straightened his shirtsleeves and grabbed her hand.

Back at the cars, Dalton asked, "Kiana, would you mind driving Evan's bike? He can ride with me, there's something important I have to tell him before we get to school."

"Can't it wait till we get there?" Evan asked. "Kee and I were in the middle of a discussion."

"Ev, this is really important. Almost life or death."

Kiana doubted it but wordlessly turned and got on the motorcycle.

FIFTEEN.

Angie spent the morning helping a cla.s.s of freshmen write dialogue for a show they would put on in spring. Then she worked with a cla.s.s of young actors preparing for a performance of A Christmas Carol they'd perform for the Christmas program.

After that she strolled to the teacher's lounge for lunch. The room was bright and sunny, a nice break from the windowless office at the other end of the building. Four teachers were just leaving. Angie introduced herself then handed them tickets to the Sat.u.r.day show. Friday night, much of the crowd would consist of parents and relatives, so it would be nice to have the support of a familiar group for the second night's show.

Left alone, she made a fresh pot of coffee. While it brewed she wandered around the room. It was the first time she'd been in a teacher's lounge. In school she always wondered what teachers did here. The place wasn't anything more than a glorified studio apartment with sofas, a television, and a kitchenette, which took up most of the s.p.a.ce.

On one wall were labeled cubbyholes. Surprisingly, the lower right box had her name on it. There were two notes inside. The first message was written on a yellow lined sheet of notepaper and folded in half.