Luke and Oscar came up with a plan on their way to the dining hall. Now that they knew that Mrs. Heckler was killed with a St. Benedict’s scarf—Oscar’s St. Benedict’s scarf—they knew that the killer was someone in the St. Benedict’s community and not the Southborough Strangler. This meant in all likelihood they knew the killer. Therefore, they decided to make a list of suspects and go through each one until they got the killer to confess. With the police focusing on Oscar, they wouldn’t be looking elsewhere. It was up to them to do it.
At breakfast they huddled at a corner table in the enormous dark wood-paneled dining hall, replete with vaulted cathedral ceilings and stained-glass windows. Over puffy Connecticut bagels and wet scrambled eggs, they took out a spiral notebook to jot down their list of suspects.
Old Mrs. Heckler (librarian): She was ditched by her husband for a sexier version. Must be bitter. Most likely jealous. Was in the woods with big dog. Possible that Oscar left his scarf in library, and she nabbed it.
Dean Heckler: Why not? His wife was probably cheating on him, and she was in the woods with another guy; maybe he got fed up, esp. because he’s a tough guy. Possibly CIA. Also, husband usually prime suspect.
Mr. Tadeckis: Weird. Hangs out in woods all the time. Is creepy and could be one of those psycho guys who keeps women in caves and cuts them up after feeding them dog food for weeks.
Mystery Dude: The guy who was arguing with Mrs. Heckler in the woods. Was clearly pissed that he was blown off. Who was he? The last person to be seen with her, and they were fighting. Weird voice thing.
Pippa: Offed her best friend. Had those missing minutes in the woods.
People to think about: Mr. Hamaguchi: Why is he so upset over Mrs. Heckler’s death?
Also, female teachers were not fans of Joanna Heckler. Something to consider.
That was it. Luke had told Oscar everything that he knew, including his interaction with Mr. Tadeckis and all of the stuff he had learned about Pippa. Oscar gave Luke a told-you-so look and reminded him that he knew that girl was a “sneaky Brit” from the start. They broke up the list and decided they would have to go through each of their suspects and find the killer. It had to be someone on the list.
“Who do you think it really is?” asked Luke.
Oscar examined the list. “I don’t think Pippa is our killer. Maybe she’s killed in the past, but realistically…with us up there, it was too risky. And how would she even know Joanna Heckler would be in the woods that night? Not to mention, I can’t see a motive.”
“Should we cross her off?”
“Leave her on for now. Why not? If anything, it helps us to be more cautious.”
“Yeah, and in any event, it’s always better to eliminate suspects than add them,” said Luke.
“Exactly. You never know.”
Luke glanced again at the list. “I think the mystery dude is key. He was pretty heated that night.”
“Yeah.”
“And Dean Heckler clearly had motive.”
They both stared at the piece of paper, deep in thought. “I still feel like we’re under surveillance,” Luke said.
“Obviously. I’m sure we are.”
“In fact, last night when I was in the library, I could swear someone went over to my computer and checked out what I was looking at.”
“We should burn this list,” said Oscar.
“Totally.”
“Hey, guys.”
They both looked up. It was Kelsey. She was holding her breakfast tray, although it didn’t look like anything was on it other than a ceramic coffee mug.
“Hey, Kelsey,” said Luke. He discreetly shut his notebook so she wouldn’t see the list. He could tell by the awkward way she was standing there that things between her and Oscar probably weren’t going so well.
“What’s up, Kels?” asked Oscar, barely feigning concern.
“Are you holding up okay?” Luke asked, a little too enthusiastically, as if to cover Oscar’s lack of it.
“Mind if I sit here a sec?” Kelsey asked nervously. It was rare to see Kelsey by herself. Usually she was surrounded by several friends.
“Of course,” said Oscar, sliding down and giving Kelsey his seat across from Luke.
Kelsey looked around anxiously then sat down. She flipped her long hair over one shoulder and took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m really freaked out…”
“Don’t worry, Kelsey,” said Luke. “No one knows we were out there in the woods. You don’t have anything to be worried about.”
“It’s just…” she began, but then trailed off.
“What is it?” asked Oscar.
“I don’t know… I mean, if anyone found out, they would have the wrong idea,” said Kelsey.
“Is this about Matt?” Luke asked. Kelsey’s boyfriend, Matt, had graduated last year. Luke had heard they were still sort of together, although Kelsey hadn’t been acting like it lately. “Look, no one wants anyone to find out about you and Oscar. We all know you have a boyfriend,” said Luke, shooting Oscar a look. Oscar simply shrugged.
“I know, and he would absolutely freak if he had any idea about that, but that’s not what I meant.”
Kelsey was nervous, and it seemed to be more than just concern that Matt would hear about her hookup with Oscar. “I mean that everyone knows how much I hated Mrs. Heckler, and if they knew I was out there in the woods when she died, and going to the bathroom alone and all, they’d get the wrong idea…”
Luke was floored. “Wait, what?”
“You hated Mrs. Heckler?” asked Oscar, confused.
“Didn’t you know that?” asked Kelsey, her brow furrowed. “Everyone knows that.”
“I didn’t know that,” said Luke and Oscar in unison.
Kelsey stared at them blankly. “Because of last year…my father…”
Both Luke and Oscar shook their heads no.
“I thought you knew. I thought everyone knew,” Kelsey said in disbelief. When Oscar and Luke kept shaking their heads, she continued. “Okay, last year during parents’ weekend my dad came. My parents are separated, so he came without my mom, which sucks, but anyway, he went to school here so he stopped in the alumni office to get some sort of form or something. It had to do with his reunion, and Mrs. Heckler was there and she was all over him. I am not kidding. She was touching him, and laughing with him, and telling him that she’s down in Maryland a lot for recruiting and could she hook up with him there. And when I got back to the dorm I screamed to everyone how much I hated her. But I didn’t want to kill her, I swear.”
Luke’s head was swimming by the time Kelsey finished her tirade. They hadn’t even considered Kelsey a real suspect, but here she was, supplying a motive. But Kelsey? There was just no way.
“Look, no one, no one, would ever think you did it, Kelsey,” Luke said.
“You’d be the last person anyone would suspect,” agreed Oscar.
“Really?” asked Kelsey, visibly relieved.
“Really,” said Luke and Oscar in unison. Oscar was a much better suspect, not that Luke was going to admit that to her.
“Okay, that makes me feel so much better. I was just worried after we talked in the music room, when you guys pointed out I’d been out there alone…”
“Don’t worry,” Luke said, although he noticed it wasn’t until Oscar nodded that Kelsey perked up.
“Great,” she said. “And about that other thing… Matt’s been texting me nonstop, and I would feel so bad if he heard anything about us, so…”
“Don’t worry,” Oscar said. “We’re cool.”
We’re cool? What was that? Jesus. Luke hoped Kelsey was serious about working things out with Matt, because if this was just a play to make Oscar jealous, things might get rough when she realized Oscar probably wasn’t interested in her at all anymore.
Suddenly, the noise in the dining room died down, and heads started turning toward the back of the grand room. Headmaster Thompson was walking past the enormous marble fireplace that flanked the west wall. He was followed by the chief of police and none other than Dean Heckler. No one had seen the dean since his wife was killed, so there was a palpable excitement in the air. What are they doing here? Luke wondered. The room was basically silent as the odd trio took their seats and began to eat their breakfast.
“Do you think he was craving the dining hall food so bad that he broke mourning and returned?” whispered Oscar.
Luke looked carefully at Dean Heckler’s face. He was serious and grim as he leaned in to say something to the chief. But that was nothing new; he was always serious and grim.
“That dude is no barrel of laughs. I wonder what Mrs. Heckler saw in him?” asked Luke.
“She was clearly disappointed, judging by the way she was all over my dad,” said Kelsey, folding her arms indignantly.
“Do you think they’re interviewing him?” asked Luke.
“I think this is our cue to head out,” said Oscar, who was in no rush to put himself in front of the police.
As they were depositing their trays and throwing out their trash, Mr. Crawford approached to do the same.
“How’s it going, guys?” he asked.
“What’s the deal down there, Mr. Crawford?” asked Oscar, motioning toward the back of the room.
Mr. Crawford glanced back at the headmaster and his breakfast guests. “I don’t know. I’m pretty much the last to know anything around here. Some days I think they still think of me as a student.”
Probably because you look and act like one, Luke thought. Instead he said, “I’d think Dean Heckler would take some time off. Are they making him come to work already?”
“I doubt that. But you never know how people process death.”
“Dean Heckler’s heartless. I can’t imagine he’s too broken up over it,” said Oscar.
“Now, now,” chided Mr. Crawford. “That’s not nice. The dean’s a good guy.” But he said it in that chastising tone of voice adults use on kids when they privately agree but can’t say so out loud.
“So, Mr. C.,” said Kelsey, leaning in flirtatiously. All the girls were in love with Mr. Crawford. He had boyish good looks despite being in his late twenties, and he dressed like a student, in Patagonia clothing and baseball hats. He was of average height, slight, with blue eyes and dark hair, and had the chiseled features of a male model. Still, Luke wondered whether this was just another show put on by Kelsey for Oscar, to incite some kind of jealousy.
“Who do you think did it?” Kelsey smiled.
Mr. Crawford gave Kelsey a smile, as if enjoying the attention. “I’m flattered you think I know everything, Kelsey, but in this case I have no idea.”
“Hmmm. But do you think it was a crime of passion?” asked Kelsey, tipping her head to the side.
“Could be, but whenever I strangle my girlfriends, I try not to kill them,” said Mr. Crawford.
They laughed.
Suddenly Mr. Crawford’s demeanor got serious. “But seriously, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be joking about this. Who do I think did it? I have no idea.”
“Come on, you must have some theory,” prompted Kelsey.
Mr. Crawford sighed, clearly torn between whether he should be candid or assume his teacher role. The latter won. “Okay, only a theory. The Hecklers’ house is on the edge of campus by Route 443, so maybe someone came to her house first and then took her into the woods under duress? Why else would she be in the woods?”
Kelsey, Luke, and Oscar remained silent. They knew that Mrs. Heckler had not been taken into the woods under duress, but, of course, they couldn’t say anything.
“But do you think she had a boyfriend?” asked Luke.
Mr. Crawford frowned. “No. I didn’t hear anything like that.”
“Someone told me you said a student who worked in her office was under suspicion?” asked Oscar brazenly. Luke shot him a warning look, which Oscar ignored.
“I said that?” asked Mr. Crawford, incredulous. “I don’t think I would ever conjecture out loud about another teacher with a student. Not that I even think that.”
“Well, someone thought they heard you on the phone,” Luke said hastily.
“Am I being spied on?”
“No, no, I guess it was only a rumor,” said Luke. “There are so many of those going around.”
“Well, I don’t know any privileged information. I barely knew Mrs. Heckler. I might have said one word to her the whole time she’d been here. She wouldn’t even know who I was.” Mr. Crawford laughed. “I do feel a bit guilty though.”
“Why?” asked Luke and Oscar in unison.
“I was on dorm duty that night. And, look, I don’t want to scare you kids, but I heard something around two in the morning. So I went outside to check. Then I went back again at three. Something didn’t seem right.”
Luke and Oscar exchanged glances. Had Mr. Crawford heard them sneaking out?
“You shouldn’t feel bad, Mr. C.,” said Kelsey. “You had no idea. There’s nothing you could have done.”
Mr. Hamaguchi approached with his tray in hand. They had been standing and holding their trays, but Mr. Hamaguchi’s arrival prompted everyone to start moving down the line to dump their food and napkins in the compost bins.
“Kelsey, ready for frog dissection today?” Mr. Crawford asked.
“No! Mr. C., it’s so gross, I really don’t think I can do it.”
“It’s not gross, it’s fascinating,” protested Mr. Crawford.
He tossed his silverware in one bin and his plastic plate in another. “Dissection is one of the highlights of my class.”
“Don’t you think it’s mean?” asked Kelsey, getting rid of her plate and utensils. “These frogs are born and raised in captivity and then killed just so we can cut them open.”
“It is kind of cruel,” said Luke.
“Not at all,” said Mr. Crawford. “It’s the cycle of life.”
“I’m sure you’ll find it captivating,” interjected Mr. Hamaguchi. “Each of the frogs has been injected with dye so that you can see the different systems. There’s really nothing like the first slice.”
“I doubt it,” Kelsey said, making a sour face.
“I agree,” said Luke, stacking his tray on top of the pile at the end of the line. “Kelsey, time to visit the infirmary to convince the doctor to let us take a sick day.”
Luke, Kelsey, and Oscar said goodbye to the teachers and continued on toward Main Hall. The image of the frog, spending its entire life in a cage and awaiting its death, troubled Luke. He knew what it was like to be kept in a cage, not knowing your fate. He had dreamed of being liberated, but was also terrified of what would happen if he were. His hours were spent with a killer dog salivating for the opportunity to sink its teeth into him. Sure, science teachers think that the cycle of life is captivating, but try being on the other side of it.