three oâclock that afternoon. Kaya and I were crouched inside the senior visual display window in the reception area outside Principal Schaefferâs office hanging the Yupâik masks when Tiffany and her parents were ushered in by Dottie Hen, Schaefferâs plump and frazzled secretary.
âIâm afraid Principal Schaeffer isnât here at the moment,â she explained breathlessly, âbut he said that you should wait in his office.â
âThatâs fine; we donât need to see him.â Chief Towers had his hand on Tiffanyâs shoulder. âWe just wanted to make sure that Tiffany wasnât penalized for her absences this week.â
âNo, certainly not,â said Miss Hen. âWe all know what a terrible ordeal this must be for your daughterâ¦.â
I stole a glance at Tiffany and the poor girl did look truly miserable. Her face was pallid except for two bright spots on either cheek, and her brown eyes were red and puffy. Between that and the unusually somber black dress she was wearing, she definitely looked like a woman in mourning. All she needed was a veil to complete the picture. Were the widowâs weeds really necessary? Theyâd only been an item for two weeks, max.
âMiss Kingston, hon?â Miss Hen interrupted my train of thought. Damn, had I been thinking aloud? But then she continued, âWhy donât you walk Tiffany to her class?â
As she and I walked along the hallway, the echo of Tiffanyâs heels clattering against the linoleum was the only sound. Just as it was starting to feel really awkward, she broke the silence.
âDid you know Duncan?â she asked softly.
âOnly superficially. We sort of moved in different circles.â
âBut you were there, right? I saw you with Beth and Craig.â
I nodded, wondering where this was going.
âYou know, he wasnât as drunk as everyone is saying,â she said, pushing her thick auburn hair out of her eyes and looking me in the face as if to see my reaction. I didnât really know what to say, but I stopped walking and waited for her to finish.
âHe
wasnât
,â she said again. âAnd he wasnât cheating on me. I know what everyone thinks, but he wouldnât do that. Somebody
has
to know what really happened. Thereâs more to this. Thereâs got to be.â
âOkay,â I said, not sure how to respond.
âHe was always honest. Thatâs the one thing you could count on with Duncan.â The word âhonestâ hung in the air as if it were Duncan himself staring me down, accusing me, haunting me. âHe even told me when Beth made a pass at him.â
âYou think Beth would really do that?â I said, thinking, not for the first time since that night, that maybe Kristy had been telling the truth after all.
âYeah, youâre not
surprised
are you?â she said with a withering look. Maybe she was smarter than Iâd given her credit for.
âNot exactly.â
âDid she tell you about it?â
âNo, but itâs not like Beth and I are friends or anything ⦠the opposite, actually.â She started walking down the hall again and I followed.
âEven if you were, I doubt it would be something sheâd want to advertiseâ¦.â She trailed off, but I sensed an unspoken question behind her words.
âWell, Iâm really sorry about Duncan,â I said lamely as we reached room 113, freshmen English. I wished I could tell her what I knew, but it was hazy, uncertain, and liable to drag me down just as Duncan had been pulled down into the icy current. My self-protective instincts kicked-in, and I walked away from the poor girl feeling as though I had betrayed her confidence. I proceeded back down the hallway feeling more alone than ever and with absolutely no one I could confide in. Not a soul.
When I got back to the office, Kaya and Tess were standing outside