Free An Indecent Death by David Anderson

other women didn’t like her much. With the younger staff members, was it jealousy, do you think? She was a good-looking woman, after all.”
    “Yes, partly, I would say. Sarah got along well with the men, to put it mildly, and I’m sure a lot of the women didn’t appreciate it. And the Bitchin’ Crew had a field day with that. You could see them whispering in the halls and you just knew it was the latest gossip or rumour.”
    Lori asked, “Lynn, was she involved with anyone? Any of the teachers?”
    “With one of our staff? Well, there were stories… I can’t say for sure, though. She didn’t tell me anything like that.”
    “What stories?” asked Lori.
    Lynnette frowned. “There’s always gossip at a school, you know. I told you that already. Sometimes it’s all that keeps us from going insane with all the ridiculous stuff that’s happening in education these days. So, people standing around talking about other staff members, that’s pretty common.”
    “And?” Lori was leaning forward.
    “I don’t like to repeat all this junk. There were several men at Elmdale who were interested in Sarah. I mean, she liked teasing, and you would often see her up close and personal with one of the guys. I don’t blame them, well most of them…” Her voice trailed away. “There were stories that she had been caught in the storage room with one of them, or in the change room with another. I thought most of it was just silly tales, but now that this has happened, I’m not so sure.”
    “Lynn, do you think Sarah was acting like this when she was still with her husband? Or was it only since she separated from him?”
    “Good question,” said Lynnette thoughtfully. “I can’t say for sure, of course, but I think it’s only been in the last year or so. Her clothing now, she’s always dressed a bit provocatively, but she seemed to have taken that to a different level since the separation.”
    “And do you think her husband knew about her behaviour with the men here at school?” asked Lori. “Because if he did, then that would surely have made him angry, wouldn’t it?”
    “I don’t know that,” said Lynnette. “But I don’t think he knew. I think she would have mentioned it if he did.”
    “Hmm. I’ll need the names of these men, Lynn.” Lori had her notebook out and her pen poised, ready to write.
    “I know.” Lynnette sighed. “Don Musjari. He’s a fifth-grade teacher. Kevin Callaghan. He teaches third grade. The vice-principal, Mr. Deans. Bill Deans. They all liked her, I know that. How much they liked her, I’m not sure.”
    “Three of them! She seems to have been a busy girl. And she never told you about any of these men?” Lori was surprised by all the men who seemed to have been circling around Sarah Noonan, like planets orbiting a sun.
    “No, she didn’t. And I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking her. So I don’t know how much is fact and how much is rumour.”
    “Did she have a steady boyfriend? Did she talk about anyone from outside of school that she was seeing?”
    “No.”
    Lori thought of a course she had taken at Police College. The title was Behavioural Psychology, and the instructor concentrated on what motivated criminals. There had also been a section on victims and their behaviour. Lori remembered a lively debate on how much responsibility rape victims had for what happened to them. It was one of the rare occasions when she allowed herself to come out of her self-imposed shell. She passionately attacked a couple of male recruits for suggesting that some women asked to be raped because of the clothes they wore. She was thinking about that now as she pondered Sarah Noonan’s school life as described by Lynnette Cranston.
    “Lynn, why do you think Sarah dressed and acted as she did?”
    Lynnette looked troubled. “I don’t know. I just…don’t.”
    “And why did you like her when nobody else seemed to?”
    “I don’t know… I guess I felt sorry for her, partly. But