Schooled in Murder (27 page)

“But I don’t want to be in charge. Never have. Never will.” I tried the abrupt topic switch tactic. “Who did Spandrel get to lie about where she went after the meeting? You?”

“How dare you?”

“I figure it could have been the usual triumvirate of you, Towne, or Bochka, but more likely one of the teachers.” “Her alibi is perfect.”

“Then why didn’t she have it set when the police first questioned her?”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m in charge, remember? I know everything. How do you and Spandrel get people to lie for you?” “We don’t lie.”

“It’s one of your most used administrative techniques.” “How dare you?” Graniento said. “No one speaks to me like that.”

I said, “I just did.”

“And gets away with it. That’s insubordination.”

“Actually, I’m kind of tired of going over that with you.” I reached into my union files. Graniento hadn’t reached this drawer yet. I pulled out one of the files. “Here’s a copy of the page from the school code with the relevant section which defines insubordination circled in red.” I tossed it on top of my desk.

“Insubordination is what I say it is,” Graniento said.

“No,” I said, “it’s what legislators, attorneys, judges, and the state school board say it is. You don’t have much say in the matter.”

“I do in this district.”

I asked, “I don’t remember when I’ve ever seen you here at school this early, much less being in this corridor anytime before nine o’clock. Did you come by to help Spandrel spy this morning?”

Graniento said, “I’ve never spied on anyone. No one I know has spied on anyone.”

“Why not come in over the weekend to do this? You people don’t know I come in early?”

“I wasn’t here to spy.”

“Or you’re not as organized as you think you are? Or you’re lazy? Or not too bright?”

“Insults may not be insubordination, but they are inappropriate.”

I asked, “Why did Spandrel imply to the police that Eberson was having an affair with a student? What does that gain her?”

“I’m sure she did no such thing.”

I said, “It would divert suspicion if she needed suspicion diverted. And why would she need to divert suspicion? Unless she’s a killer.”

“Mabel Spandrel is an excellent administrator.”

“What were you and she fighting about at the football game just before halftime?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I said, “Can you really keep this many plots and lies going at the same time? You remind me of a juggler who’s trying to keep flaming swords in the air. I can’t imagine you’ll be able to keep going indefinitely. You’ll drop one.”

He said, “You’ve got no proof of any of this.”

The door banged open. Meg stomped up to the desk. “Would you like chapter and verse, dates and times?” she asked.

“Were you listening to us?” Graniento demanded.

“Yes,” Meg said. Daring him to make something of it.

Graniento said, “You have nothing to say in this, librarian.”

Meg said, “I do believe the tone you just used implied that being a librarian is something less than a dignified thing to be.” She drew herself up to her full height. She jabbed a finger at him. “You listen to me, you overstuffed piece of shit. You need to look in the mirror at your own incompetence. Two people have died at this school. Two teachers. I may not have liked them, but the atmosphere around here is poisonous. That poison comes directly from you and your cohorts. You should not be near children. You should not be near a school building.”

“We’ll deal with you later,” Graniento said.

“You can ´deal with’ me whenever you like,” Meg said. “You aren’t what I care about in the world. Your judgments are not the ones in this world that are important to me. You are slime. People have been murdered, and you’re down here spying. You’re sick.”

Teresa Merton entered the room. Behind her was Riva Towne, the superintendent. Merton came and stood next to me. She asked, “Is there a problem?” She glared at Graniento.

“What’s going on?” Towne demanded.

I said, “Graniento was in here spying and trying to access pornographic sites on my computer so he could claim I had done so. He was going to use it as an excuse to fire me.”

Towne said, “Pornographic sites? This is an outrage. There will be an investigation.”

I said, “Look at the computer.” She did. I pointed. “Watch. See these.” I called up the firewalls and the time recorder. “No inappropriate sites have been accessed, although someone tried to get to them. This keeps track of everything on the computer. I have a witness from where I was when Scott dropped me off to when I ran into Georgette in the hall and to the time I arrived here.”

Towne said, “You can’t have.”

I pulled out my cell phone. I held it up. “This has been on the whole time.”

“It’s illegal to record conversations,” Graniento said.

Merton said, “While you are actually right about that, Mr. Mason is not saying he recorded you. He’s saying he has a witness who heard everything. The phone records will also have the time that call began. Someone trying to put pornographic sites on a teacher’s computer to get them fired is a serious charge.”

Graniento said, “I was not. I don’t know how those got there.”

My mind reeled at how outrageously blatant this lie was. Towne said, “I’m sure no one was trying to get anyone fired.”

I get saint points for not guffawing hysterically at this.

Meg said, “Graniento’s been threatening me, too.”

“I have not,” Graniento said.

I said, “I’m her witness.”

Graniento said, “You’d lie for her.”

I said, “Not all of us have turned lying into a lifestyle.”

Towne said, “This is too much.”

Merton said, “I agree.” She turned to Meg. “What did he threaten you about?” Meg told her.

Merton said, “And have you been making threats to Mr. Mason as well?”

“That’s absurd,” Graniento said.

“So why are you here?” Merton asked.

Stubborn silence from Graniento.

I said, “He was going through my desk as well as attempting to log onto the Internet.”

“I have a right to do those things,” Graniento said.

Merton said, “Is there a problem with Mr. Mason’s teaching?”

Graniento said, “Well …”

“Good,” Merton said, “because if there were, I’m sure you’d have it documented with dates, times, and specifics about what the problems are. And you’d have been documenting it for quite some time. And you’d have copies signed by him that show he received such data.”

“Well, no,” Graniento said.

Towne said, “He’s part of a murder investigation.”

“Have the police charged him with anything?” Merton asked.

“Well, no,” Towne said.

“Is he in any way a suspect?” Merton asked.

“He might be. Or might become one,” Towne said.

Merton said, “He might flap his arms and fly to the moon. He might do or become about anything. Come see me when you put ´might’ in his job description. My impression is that you have been trying to bully and intimidate one of my teachers and one of my staff. I’m here to tell you to back the hell off. If you are going to bring charges, do so, and we will confront them in the appropriate forum. You are both out of
line. If you don’t want unfair labor practices up your asses all the way to your eyebrows, you’d best stop.”

“We’ll be consulting our attorneys,” Graniento said.

Merton replied, “I’ll be happy to have mine call you.”

Noses in the air, the two administrators stalked out of the room.

Merton turned to us. “Actually, they’re going to have unfair labor practices up the ass anyway. I’m going to keep those two so busy, it will drive them nuts. They’ve got to learn to stop this. If I’ve got to slap them around every time, I will.”

“Good,” I said.

Merton said, “This is kind of early, even for them. If there are any more problems today, get word to me immediately. I’ll be speaking with the union attorney this morning.” She gave an evil cackle. “I love doing this to those assholes. I love it every time they screw up. I’m going to rub their faces in it. These assholes have lost every fight with the union since they started.”

“You’d think they’d learn,” Meg said.

“They haven’t yet,” Merton said.

Meg chuckled. We gave her quizzical looks. “They remind me of the scenes in
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
when the characters in the movie try to organize themselves. These administrators rival those people for inept-ness.”

I smiled. Merton gave a rueful chuckle. She said, “They are a sad bunch.”

We discussed the escort issue. Merton said, “The LD teachers have agreed to a rotating schedule to help you out. They and Morgan Adair should be enough.”

I thanked Merton for her help. She said, “I’ve got to get to class. Call me if there’s a problem.” She left.

Meg said, “You look exhausted.”

I sat down at my desk. “I’m not sure,” I said.

“Do you want to take the day off? They’ll get you a sub. You’re under enormous pressure here. What they’re doing is so sick and so out of line and so unprofessional. If I were a murderer in this building, Gracie and Higden wouldn’t be dead, those two would.”

37

Grief counselors flooded the building. They called the seniors down to the field house first. One of the administrators spoke to the entire restless assemblage. I didn’t hear sobbing until they announced it was time to go to class.

Grief counselors also came around to all the classes in the English department. Most of my kids looked bored.

My morning classes were reasonably normal. Good.

38

Two minutes after the kids left at lunch, Teresa Merton entered with Steven Frecking. He wore the same low-slung jeans that emphasized his crotch and the belt with the enormous buckle that said, “Look here! Look here!”

Merton said, “Mr. Frecking came to talk to me. Seems he has a bit of a problem. It’s part of what’s been happening, and I think you have a right to know.”

Frecking hung his head. He muttered, “I had sex with Peter Higden on Thursday.”

“You did what?” I asked.

Frecking snapped. “You heard me.”

Merton said, “And now you want legal help from the union?”