Free Queen of Wands-eARC by John Ringo

commuters. That’s just FYI.”
    “Thanks,” Barb said. “Some of the information I need about them isn’t even in these files. The investigators talked to people who knew them, but they weren’t asking the right questions. I need to…talk to some of the same people.”
    “Most of them lived with their parents,” Kurt said.
    “And most of them went to school in the area,” Barb said. “I think it might be better ground to talk to people who knew them for a while but are less…disinterested than parents. I need to know who these guys really are, not what their parents want people to think they are. Were. Religious or atheist, subculture…”
    “Teachers?” Kurt asked. “Fellow students?”
    “Guidance counselors.”
    * * *
    Karen Gill was medium height with long, dark hair, a lined, tan face and bright black eyes. The guidance counselor’s office was small and cluttered, with the most notable feature being a large inspirational poster on the wall of a man standing on a mountaintop. The title was “Success,” and the inspirational quote was “Success means knowing who you are.”
    Barb was not much given to cynicism, but she wondered if the counselor considered her life a success.
    “Darren was not a natural student,” the guidance counselor said, sitting in her chair after ensuring her guests did not want drinks. “He struggled through his courses. I give him credit for his efforts in that regard.”
    “Ms. Gill,” Barb said carefully. “Darren is currently in long-term psychiatric care for attempting to eat another person. He is but one of seven recent cases of similar problems. We are trying to prevent a reoccurrence and, if possible, find what happened to him so that doctors may be able to give him a normal life. I’m afraid we really do need something besides ‘He was a nice boy and not a natural student.’”
    “I am an accredited psychological counselor,” Ms. Gill said, making a face. “Communications with my clients are privileged.”
    “Can you tell us anything that is not from a counseling session?” Barb asked. “Was he counseled frequently?”
    “As an alternative, we could come back with a court order,” Kurt said. “I’m not making a threat; I’m just saying if that would help…”
    “No,” the counselor said, sighing. “The thing is…I’m trying to balance my professional distance with my…personal distaste.”
    “Oh?” Barb said, raising her eyebrows. “For Darren?”
    “Yes,” Ms. Gill admitted. “I did counsel Darren on a number of occasions but never with much success. I won’t delve into those discussions absent a court order, and I don’t think I need to. The truth is, I counseled his…victims far more often than he.”
    “Victims?” Kurt said, pulling out a notebook.
    “Not physical,” Ms. Gill said, then shrugged. “Well, in two cases physical. Darren…Darren was a bully. From what I’ve gleaned from talking to his earlier counselors, he had been since he was a child. He was always picking on other children and intimidating them. We try to keep physical violence to the minimum in school, but kids learn early that if you stand up to a bully they don’t always back down. In two cases, when he was a freshman here, he got into fights. He was suspended for both. The second one, he was very nearly charged with assault. I call them fights but what they were were massacres. In the second case he beat a sophomore boy to the point I felt he should be sent to the hospital to be checked. The principal…overruled me on that, so he was treated by the school nurse. Jacob’s parents didn’t press charges when Darren was suspended.
    “He was somewhat larger than the majority of the freshmen, or even seniors, and very…well, he was just nasty. Mean as they come. Being more professional, Darren had anger management issues. But from the description of his actions on the news, his actions go so far beyond that, it is hard to believe.”
    “But he wasn’t