Hopscotch Homicide (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 16)

Hopscotch Homicide

by

Kathi Daley

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by Katherine Daley

Version 1.0

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

This book is dedicated to the gang who hangs out on my Kathi Daley Group page and helps me to work through a whole lot of decisions.

I also want to thank the very talented Jessica Fischer for the cover art.

I so appreciate Bruce Curran, who is always ready and willing to answer my cyber questions.

Special thanks to Joyce Aiken, Pamela Curran, Vivian Shane, Joyce Moser, Kay Hutcherson, and Janel Flynn for their contribution of recipes for
Hopscotch Homicide
.

And, of course, thanks to the readers and bloggers in my life who make doing what I do possible.

And finally I want to thank Randy Ladenheim-Gil for the editing, my sister Christy for her willingness to always lend an ear, and my husband Ken for allowing me time to write by taking care of everything else.

Come for the murder, stay for the romance.

Buy them on Amazon today
.

Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery:

Halloween Hijinks

The Trouble With Turkeys

Christmas Crazy

Cupid’s Curse

Big Bunny Bump-off

Beach Blanket Barbie

Maui Madness

Derby Divas

Haunted Hamlet

Turkeys, Tuxes, and Tabbies

Christmas Cozy

Alaskan Alliance

Matrimony Meltdown

Soul Surrender

Heavenly Honeymoon

Hopscotch Homicide

Ghostly Graveyard –
October 2015

Santa Sleuth –
December 2015

Ashton Falls Christmas Cookbook

Paradise Lake Cozy Mystery:

Pumpkins in Paradise

Snowmen in Paradise

Bikinis in Paradise

Christmas in Paradise

Puppies in Paradise

Halloween in Paradise –
August 2015

Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery:

Romeow and Juliet

The Mad Catter

Grimm’s Furry Tail

Much Ado About Felines

Legend of Tabby Hollow –
September 2015

Cat of Christmas Past –
November 2015

Seacliff High Mystery:

The Secret

The Curse

The Relic

The Conspiracy –
October 2015

Road to Christmas Romance:

Road to Christmas Past

Note to reader,

This book contains a story within a story. I struggled with whether to insert the chapters that are written from Phyllis’s point of view into the Zoe Donovan story chronologically, or to simply include them at the end as a separate short story.

I realized that I would have fans who would prefer each of these approaches. Some of you don’t want the Zoe narration interrupted by Phyllis’s thoughts, and others will appreciate knowing what’s going on behind the scenes in Phyllis’s world in a chronological manner.

What I decided to do is to include the chapters by Phyllis at the end but to insert hyperlinks that will take you to the side story and then return you to the point at which you veered away when you’re done with that chapter. Readers who prefer this approach then can flip back and forth between the two points of view and experience the story in chronological fashion.

When you get to the first hyperlink there will be additional instructions that you can choose to either follow or ignore if you’d prefer to read the extra chapters as a separate short story.

For any of you who are simply not interested in Phyllis’s life at the Academy, you can simply skip those chapters. There won’t be any clues pertaining to the murder in these chapters that aren’t provided elsewhere.

I hope this approach works for everyone.

Hugs to all my awesome Zoe fans,

Kathi

As I sat on one of the blue hard plastic chairs outside Principal Bower’s office, I couldn’t help but flash back to the numerous occasions on which I’d waited on this very chair as a student at Ashton Falls Elementary School. It’s not that I was a bad kid per se; it’s more that I was an enthusiastic and opinionated child with excess energy to expend.

For my first few years of school, the principal at Ashton Falls Elementary was an easygoing and forgiving man named Principal Reinhold. When I was in the fourth grade, Principal Reinhold retired and Principal Bower took over. I know he was young and wanted to prove himself as a leader, but if you asked me, he had been needlessly strict. It was almost as if he were looking for an excuse to call my dad or give me detention.

Of course there
was
that time when I slipped Buster Grogan’s pet snake into Principal Bower’s desk drawer. That hadn’t been nearly as amusing as I’d anticipated it might be. And I had to admit that the back wall of the administration office did still bear the small hole I’d accidentally created when I rammed Dizzy Wheeler’s go-cart into it. I still blame Dizzy for that accident. He could have warned me the go-cart had no brakes.

In retrospect
,
perhaps I hadn’t been a model student, but I wasn’t nearly as bad as Scooter Sherwood had been years ago when he’d first lived in Ashton Falls. His mother had died when Scooter was in the second grade, and his father went off the deep end and basically left him to his own devices from that point forward. When he was in the third grade Scooter cut school more often than he attended, which no one seemed to mind because at least that way he wasn’t terrorizing the student body.

My new husband, Zak Zimmerman, had been asked to babysit Scooter the summer between third and fourth grade, which he’d done as a favor to me to help facilitate the peaceful resolution of a dog bite incident. Zak had grown fond of Scooter during their time together and ended up taking him under his wing. He’d arranged for Scooter to go to a private boarding school for the fourth grade. He’d done well in that environment and had caught up academically.

Scooter was now living with Zak and me as he was getting ready to enter the fifth grade at Ashton Falls Elementary. Apparently, given Scooter’s colorful past at the school, I needed Principal Bower’s permission to re-enroll him. Which was why I was sitting on this particular hard blue chair in the first place.

“Principal Bower will see you now,” the petite young secretary, whose name I learned was Penny Waller, announced.

I smiled at the woman as I stood up and headed toward the closed door separating the principal’s office from the reception area. I hate to admit it, but my palms were sweaty and my heart pounded just as it had when I’d approached those doors all those years ago. What was there about being summoned to the principal’s office that could send even the most confident adult into nervous jitters?

I knocked on the door and was greeted with instructions to come in. I slowly opened the door and poked my head inside to confirm that I’d actually heard what I was certain I had.

“If it isn’t Zoe Donovan.” Principal Bower smiled. “Do come in.”

So far so good.

“I hear congratulations are in order. How is that new husband of yours?”

“He’s good. Thank you for asking. I hear congratulations are due to you as well.”

Although Principal Bower was in his midforties, he’d married the twenty-eight-year-old first grade teacher two years ago, creating quite the controversy at the time.

“Yes, my wife had a baby over the summer. We had a boy. Denver. He’s two months old as of tomorrow.”

“I bet he’s adorable. I hear he looks just like you.”

“Actually, he does. I got out my old photo album to compare and it looks like we could be the same baby. So what can I do for you today?”

“I’m here about Scooter Sherwood.”

Principal Bower frowned. “I thought he moved.”

“He did. But he’s back. He’s living with Zak and me. I came in to sign him up for school, but I was told he was on academic probation, so I need your permission to re-enroll him.”

Principal Bower got up from his desk and crossed the room, where a row of file cabinets covered one wall. He opened one of the drawers and removed a file. A very large file. He returned to his desk and opened the cover of the manila folder.

“It says here that Scooter missed ninety-six days of school the last year he attended Ashton Falls Elementary. Since there are only one hundred sixty-eight days in the school year, I’d say that’s fairly significant.”

“It is a lot,” I agreed. “But his mom had just passed away and his dad was basically AWOL. The poor kid was left to his own devices much of the time. But I think you’ll see Zak has had a wonderful influence on him. I can assure you that he won’t miss school unless he’s actually ill.”

Principal Bower continued to look through the file. “In addition to the absences, he has a thick disciplinary file. I’m assuming you can likewise assure me that Scooter won’t be putting dead fish in his teacher’s desk or super gluing action figures to the whiteboard?”

I fought a smile. Dead fish. That was a classic.

“I promise. Scooter is a different kid. Give him a chance to let him prove it to you.”

Principal Bower made a tent with his fingers as he considered my request. I could tell he was hesitant, but I also realized he probably didn’t have a reason to keep Scooter out of school given the circumstances.

“I understand you’re opening a school of your own.”

“Sort of,” I confirmed. “We have plans to open the main campus of Zimmerman Academy next year. This year we’re opening the Academy on a part-time basis. We’re starting with a small student body who’ll attend either middle school or high school in the morning and then come to us in the afternoon for academic enrichment.”

“I understand you’ve admitted several Ashton Falls Elementary School alumni, including Chad Carson, Harrison Ackerman, and Abby Peterman.”

“Yes. Harrison will be attending as a seventh grader and Chad and Abby as high school students.”

“Chad is a bit of a goof, but I believe he’ll do fine, but Abby and Harrison have discipline files almost as thick as Scooter’s. Are you sure you want to take them on?”

“Yes. Zak and I are aware of their academic and behavioral histories.”

For those of you who may be unaware of their backgrounds, fifteen-year-old Abby Peterman is a video game–playing superstar who is outspoken, confident, and friendly. Her mother was sick for a number of years, so she had to help take care of her younger sister and three brothers, creating a situation in which she missed school frequently. After her mother passed away, her sister and two of her brothers had gone to live with an aunt, so it was just her dad and her thirteen-year-old brother at home with her. Like Scooter, Abby had begun cutting class after her mother passed and hadn’t been living up to her potential.

Harrison Ackerman, Hacker to his friends, was a computer genius who had as much potential as any of the other techno kids in the school Zak and I hoped to cater to. Like a lot of really bright kids, he’d been bored in the public school system and had tended to use his time to get into trouble. Given the heavy focus on technology in Zimmerman Academy’s plan, we were certain the brown-haired, brown-eyed boy, who had hacked into the public school’s records and changed everyone’s grades, would thrive in his new environment.

“So about Scooter …” I said.

“Okay,” Bower eventually decided. “I’ll allow Scooter to enroll for the upcoming school year, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on him. If the behavior issues reappear I’m afraid you’ll need to make other arrangements.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“After your husband donated the money for new playground equipment I don’t feel I can deny your request without at least giving it a try. I hope you’re right about Scooter. I’d like to see him back on track. He’s had a tough couple of years.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “he has. But he did really well last year, so I don’t think he’ll have any problem keeping up with his peers.”

“He’ll be entering the fifth grade, so his teacher will be Miss Maxwell. I’m going to ask that you set up a meeting with her before the first day of school to discuss Scooter’s unique background. It will be important that you’re on the same page.”

“I’ll do that. Is she here today?”

“I know there are several staff members on campus preparing their rooms for next week. I’m uncertain if Miss Maxwell is here today, however. You can find her in room B2. You can wander over to see if she’s here. And you might want to take a look at the playground equipment your husband donated as well.”

“Okay. And thank you. I really think Scooter is going to do just fine.”

“I hope so.”

I left Principal Bower’s office and headed to the B wing only to find that Room 2 was dark. The rain we’d been having the past few days had all but stopped, and B wing was at the rear of the campus, so I decided to head out the back door of the building to take a peek at the new equipment Zak had donated. The old stuff had been in pretty bad shape, so I was certain his donation was greatly appreciated, but I found it a little odd that he hadn’t mentioned it to me. I suppose it could have slipped his mind. I’ve found Zak is quick with his pen and tends to give away a lot of money on a regular basis.

It appeared that not only did the school have all-new playground equipment but the lot had been newly paved and the lines for the basketball courts, four square courts, and other games and activities had been newly redrawn. I stepped out onto the pavement to get the full view of the area. It was then that I noticed something I really wished I hadn’t laid out across the hopscotch course.

I let out a groan, took a deep breath, and hurried forward.

Shortly after Principal Bower had taken over at Ashton Falls Elementary he’d hired a new cook for the cafeteria: Mrs. Brown. While the food at the school had always been marginal, Mrs. Brown’s cooking was downright lethal. The kids who attended Ashton Falls Elementary School used to say that one day the lunch lady was going to kill us all with her hamburger gravy. It was a cruel taunt, and looking back, I’m sure we must have hurt the poor woman’s feelings, although you’d never know it by her almost military approach to food production and distribution. I wish I could say the slop we were served wasn’t really that bad, but to this day the thought of the grayish glob of lumpy gravy over equally lumpy potatoes caused my stomach to churn.

I’d often wondered why the woman didn’t try to improve the quality of the food she served. It made sense that she’d want to hone her skills to produce a more palatable product that would be received with less ridicule, but if you ask me, I don’t think she really cared. Everything about the way she approached her job and her life indicated she didn’t particularly like either cooking or children.

Over the years I’d heard students and parents alike threaten to get rid of her. There had even been a few formal petitions regarding the issue. But for some reason Principal Bower refused to fire her. I was prepared to send sack lunches with Scooter for the duration of his stay at the elementary school, but if I was seeing what I was afraid I saw, Mrs. Brown wouldn’t be serving her unappetizing meals to the kids at Ashton Falls Elementary this year.

I knelt down and felt for a pulse. There was none. I then called Sheriff Salinger and waited for the inevitable questions I was certain he’d have when he arrived.

Poor Mrs. Brown. I’d never really cared for the short and stick-thin woman who obviously didn’t eat the high-carb meals she’d forced on the youth of Ashton Falls. Still, as I stood near her lifeless body, I couldn’t help but feel a stab of empathy for the sour old soul who, by all appearances, had lived her life as an outcast.

“Did you see what happened?” Sheriff Salinger asked me fifteen minutes later, after he’d confirmed the woman wearing a white apron and a serviceable hair net was indeed dead.

“No. When I came out of the building I saw her lying here on the hopscotch course. I called you right away and have been standing here ever since, but no one else has come by.”

I looked around the surrounding area. With the steady rain we’d had all day the playground and the surrounding athletic fields were completely deserted.

“Looks like blunt force trauma to the back of the head,” I commented.

“Yeah. Maybe a bat or similarly shaped object.”

“I wonder what she was doing out here on the playground,” I mused.

Salinger looked down at the puddle of water she was lying in. “It does seem odd, given the amount of rain we had today. Hopefully we’ll get some additional information once the autopsy is completed.”

“Should we cover her until the coroner gets here?” Somehow it felt wrong to leave her exposed to the elements.

Salinger nodded. “I have a blanket in the car.” He handed me his keys. “It’s in the trunk. I’ll wait with the body.”

I took the keys and headed toward the parking lot. I was fairly certain that other than Principal Bower and his secretary, the campus had been deserted when I’d walked through. Bower had said there were other staff on the property earlier in the day, but it looked as if they had all left before I took my journey through the dark campus. I had to wonder when Mrs. Brown had died and, more importantly, why she was even on campus when there were no students to feed.