Free Melanie Travis 06 - Hush Puppy by Laurien Berenson

wasn’t even locked, I don’t know what she was knocking for. She was all out of breath and agitated like crazy. I guess she just felt the need to make some noise.”
    “One of the students?” I asked.
    “She must be, I don’t know where else she would have come from.” Mrs. Plimpton frowned. “Though I don’t recall ever seeing her in the dining room. Usually I have a pretty good memory for faces. Maybe she’s new. Her clothes were kind of strange though.”
    “Strange?” I gulped.
    “Well, she wasn’t in uniform, for one thing. And though she was wearing a sweatshirt, she wasn’t in gym clothes either. I remember thinking, maybe that’s a costume for a play. Around this school, you don’t see many little girls running around in blue jeans.”
    The knot in my stomach grew. “Did she have short dark hair and big brown eyes?”
    “That’s right, she did. Do you know her?”
    “I’m afraid I do,” I said.
    Jane.

Seven
    By the time Mrs. Plimpton and I reached the bottom of the hill, Russell and Michael had disappeared, and Detective Shertz was waiting for us. I performed the introductions, then started to tell the detective about Jane.
    “Thanks for your help,” he said brusquely. “I can take things from here. I’d prefer to speak with Mrs. Plimpton privately.”
    “Yes, I know, but—”
    He held up a hand. My voice stilled.
    “I’m sure you’re interested in what happened, but my investigation will proceed much more smoothly without your interference.”
    “I wasn’t trying to interfere—”
    “Maybe you don’t understand, Ms. Travis. This is police business.”
    Any idiot could understand that. Of course, that was exactly what Detective Shertz’s patronizing tone implied: that I was an idiot who wanted to meddle in his case for no good reason.
    “Fine,” I said, aware that I had a tutoring session in ten minutes. “I’ll get back to my kids.”
    Predictably, all afternoon my students were full of questions. Mindful of Russell’s dictum, I merely said that there’d been an accident in the caretaker’s cottage and that the police were looking into it. They could have figured out that much by looking out the window, so I didn’t feel I was betraying any confidences.
    By midafternoon, much of the activity around the cottage had died down. The door was shut and padlocked. Though the building was festooned with bright yellow crime-scene tape, most of the police crew had moved on.
    That didn’t stop the rumors that had begun to circulate among the students, however. None of the stories approached the truth, but they did make for fascinating listening. If Russell had thought he could insulate the kids from what had happened, he’d better think again. In the absence of facts, they were busy concocting tales that were even more gruesome than the truth.
    As soon as I had a free minute, I headed over to the headmaster’s office. His secretary, Harriet, sat behind a desk in the small anteroom outside. Normally, she has the placid look of a Labrador Retriever with a full stomach. Today, her expression was pinched and wary. Like Russell, she seemed poised to expect the worst.
    “Is he in?” I asked when she looked up.
    Harriet nodded.
    “Do you think he can spare me a few minutes?”
    “I doubt it, the way things have been going today, but I’ll check.”
    Harriet stood up and walked over to the door, opened it, and stuck her head inside. Though Russell wasn’t visible from where I stood, I could hear their conversation clearly. He must have realized that, because a moment later he appeared in the doorway.
    “Is it important?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    He waved a hand, ushering me in.
    “Do you want me to hold your calls?” asked Harriet.
    “If it’s the detective, pass it through. Otherwise, take a message. If anyone else from the media calls, just tell them we have no comment at this time.”
    I followed him into the inner sanctum. Russell’s office was a large room, beautifully