Free Schooled in Murder by Mark Richard Zubro Page B

assholes are going to pay.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “Talk to them.”
    “That doesn’t sound lethal.”
    “How the hell do people just lie like that?”
    “They did. They aren’t the first ones. They won’t be the last. They’re desperate.”
    “I thought that closeted stuff was on its way out.”
    “Less so than we thought, I guess. Although the lies in this case might have more to do with that Benson guy being married. Two-timing, gay or straight, does have a way of making a guy reticent.”
    “Yeah, well, their butts are going to be in a sling.”
    “Will they be fired?”
    “I’m not sure how the cops are going to handle it. I don’t know if they’ll tell the administrators. I don’t think the making out had anything to do with the murder. The cops aren’trequired to tell the administrators anything about their investigation. It might depend on how well the administrators know the cops.”
    “They didn’t seem to. They came to you for help.”
    “I don’t know.” I bit into the sandwich, thick with condiments. I dipped one end into a small bowl of hot olive salad to absorb some of the oil, took another bite, then grabbed a spoon to pick up some of the olives. Comfort food.
    After I finished chewing, I said, “What I don’t get is why Peter Higden is dead. That makes no sense. Of course, the first murder already made no sense.”
    “And what was he doing under your car?”
    “Not much.”
    “That is a very old joke.” “And not a very good one.”
    More chewing and almost a smile. Another swallow, more soup, some spicy olives. I said, “Two suckups die. The most logical suspicion has to rest on the old guard.”
    “Did you see Jourdan again after you two talked?”
    “No. The cops will have to be around again in the morning. By the time we left almost everybody was gone, and it was late. They can’t very well roust everybody out of bed in the middle of the night.”
    “Gault and Vulmea?” Scott said. “I wouldn’t put it past them. They seemed to be willing to push efficiency to the point of tediousness.”
    “We’ll have cops swarming around the school tomorrow. At least it’s a teachers’ institute day so there won’t be any kids.”
    “Who benefits from those two dying?” Scott asked.
    “I’m not sure anybody does. The old guard cannot be assured of nonsuckups being hired. In fact, it would be the other way around. A younger teacher might be appointed to fill Eberson’s position, but murder for such a nothing job? Ican’t see how anyone would benefit. Certainly, it’s not someone who’s obvious.”
    Scott said, “If it was, there wouldn’t be a mystery.”
    “Don’t be snarky. It’s obvious to the killer. Not to us.”
    “One killer?” Scott asked.
    “Got to be,” I said. “Two dead bodies and it happens to be coincidental? The first one is obviously murder. You don’t cram an eraser down somebody’s throat accidentally.”
    “It had to be somebody strong,” Scott said.
    “Presumably. Or at least someone who surprised her. Before she realized what was happening, it was too late.”
    “Or he hit her first, then crammed it in.”
    “Or she, let’s not discriminate. Lots of women in the department. The second one could have been explained as an accident up to the point where the body was under my car.”
    “Maybe it was a hit and run,” he said. “It could have been thrown from where it was hit and landed there.”
    “More likely someone was trying to frame me and dragged it there. Then Benson and Frecking lying. That strikes me as at least partly a frame-up.” I shrugged. “I’m not sure what this all means.”
    “The police didn’t say who they believed, you or those two guys.”
    “I was lucky Frank Rohde called and that our lawyer showed up.”
    “What are you going to do tomorrow?”
    “I’m going to talk to Benson and Frecking. If I believed in beating the shit out of lying fucking assholes, they’d be at the top of my