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Shandra sat in Ryan’s kitchen staring out at the beautiful blue sky and wishing she were home, on Huckleberry Mountain. But with all that had happened, there was no way Ryan could get away and she felt obligated to stick around so he had someone to run ideas by.
It was nearly nine. She didn’t want to work on her pottery but was at a loss for what to do.
Ryan rarely slept in, even when he’d been out till early morning, but this morning, she had let him sleep and it appeared he’d needed it. Sheba woofed at the back door. Shandra padded across the kitchen to the door and let her in.
Shandra hadn’t awakened enough when Ryan came to bed to tell him about her dream. This morning, it had played over and over in her head, making her wish she could chase it away. But until she told Ryan about it, she wanted to keep all the details fresh in her mind.
To keep from dwelling on it, she began making pancakes.
“Good morning,” Ryan said, entering the kitchen.
“Good afternoon, sleepyhead.” She handed him a cup of coffee.
“I deserve that. I can’t believe I slept this long.” He sat down at the kitchen table and scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Did they find Rachel?” She continued making the pancake batter.
“Yes. She blackmailed Pawner into giving her the job.”
Shandra stopped scooping flour and studied him. “Blackmailed?”
“Her mother was the first person to file a complaint about Huntley and the first one to be ignored.” Ryan sipped his coffee.
“Is that why Rachel started that online group?”
“It appears so.” He walked over to the cupboard and pulled out two plates.
The batter hissed as she poured it onto the griddle. “Did she admit to Nancy’s death or why she lied to me?”
Ryan placed the plates and silverware on the table and stood by her. “She was in Coeur d’Alene by the time Ms. Tait was thrown off the roof. She lied to you because she didn’t want you coming around snooping at her computer.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “Your snooping may have broken the case open, once we get our hands on the chatting that went on in Miss Chevious’s chat room.”
She hoped that some good would come of her wanting to find the truth. “Did she say if she knew who actually killed Mr. Huntley?”
“No. And she’s too smart to point a finger at anyone she might have been chatting with. It would make her an accomplice.”
Shandra put four cooked pancakes on a plate and handed it to Ryan. “I had a dream last night.”
“Finish cooking those and come join me,” Ryan said, taking the plate to the table and grabbing the butter and syrup.
She poured four more pancakes onto the griddle. When they were cooked, she balanced them on the spatula and added the four to the pile on the plate. She sat down and told Ryan about her dream. “The more I think about it, I don’t think it was someone from Rachel or Nancy’s followers who killed Mr. Huntley. And I would bet that Nancy figured it out and that’s why she was killed.”
“Ms. Tait was ruled out as a suicide once the forensics team put together all the evidence. She was killed by a blow to the back of the head before she was thrown off the roof.”
Shandra shuddered. Did Nancy even suspect what was coming? A blow to the back of the head, the blow to Mr. Huntley was taken from behind him. The person had enough rage to kill but enough humanity to not be able to look their victim in the face as they did it.
“None of it makes sense. What are you doing today?” Shandra asked, poking her pancake with her fork.
“I’m going to try and piece together Ms. Tait’s movements yesterday and call on the teachers she may have had contact with.”
Shandra stopped her fork midway to her mouth. “And Mr. Pawner. Mr. Shepard said he saw him and Nancy arguing.”
“He’s at the top of my list.” Ryan finished off his breakfast and put the dishes in the sink. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going grocery shopping and then coming back and doing laundry.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not my favorite things, but I’m not feeling creative at the moment.”
Ryan stood beside her chair. He pulled her up into his arms. “I’m sorry we couldn’t go to your place this weekend. As soon as this is solved, and you are done volunteering, we’ll hide out at the mountain for a while.”
“I’m going to hold you to that promise.”
He kissed her and headed into the living room. She heard him put on his coat and pick up his backpack. The door closed, and she placed her plate of pancakes on the floor for Sheba. She already had plans to do an around-about trip to the store.
~*~
Ryan had left orders at the station to have a deputy pick up Mr. Pawner for questioning this morning. When he arrived at the Sheriff’s Office, he found Mr. Pawner sitting in the lobby waiting.
“Thank you for coming in.” Ryan stuck out his hand to shake.
The principal stared at his hand a moment before shaking hands. “It didn’t sound like I had a choice.”
“You always have a choice but coming in and answering questions could help us discover who killed two of your teachers.” Ryan motioned for the man to follow him.
They walked down the hall to the interview room. He motioned for Mr. Pawner to enter. After the man was settled in a chair, Ryan said, “I’ll be right back. Would you like some coffee?”
The man nodded.
Ryan left the door open, to let the man know he wasn’t being held against his will. He dropped his coat and pack off in his office, grabbed the files on the two cases, and two cups of coffee out of the break room.
He walked back into the room and found Mr. Pawner texting. “Do you take it black or need cream and sugar?”
The man’s head snapped up. He focused on the cups and said, “Sugar, please.”
Ryan retraced his steps to the break room and brought back several packets of sugar.
Pawner opened two packets and drizzled the white crystals into his cup.
“The reason I asked you to come in is because I learned last night that you and Ms. Tait were arguing before she was thrown off the roof.”
The man’s gaze flashed from his cup to Ryan. “Thrown off? What do you mean? I thought she’d committed suicide.”
“The forensic lab says she was dead before she hit the ground. There wasn’t any hemorrhagic bruising where her body landed across a pile of snow, only abrasions. And she had been hit on the back of the head but landed on her face. There was also blood on the roof that didn’t match her blood type and was typed as a male. Someone else was up there.” He studied the man.
Pawner was chewing on his bottom lip. “We now have two murders at the school.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe it. Do you think it was the same person who killed both of them?”
Ryan couldn’t tell if the man was curious and worried or if he was trying to change the conversation from his confrontation with Ms. Tait.
“I think Ms. Tait figured out who killed Mr. Huntley.” He stared at the man. “I think she was telling you when Mr. Shepard saw you two talking.”
The principal shook his head. “She wasn’t telling me about who killed Huntley. She said she knew that Rachel was running some kind of chat room that praised bullying and put ideas into student’s heads.” He held up his hands. “I told her, I’d look into it, but she was adamant I should do something right then. I have to appear before the school board on Monday to tell them about Mr. Huntley, how I looked the other way, and I don’t have time to deal with something like an online chat.”
“Even if that could be what caused both the murders?”
Pawner’s gaze met his. “You think Rachel’s rantings could have caused the death of Mr. Huntley?”
“There were a lot of women and young girls hurt by his actions. From what I’ve gathered even their brothers, boyfriends, and fathers were up in arms over how you looked the other way. I’m surprised they didn’t string you up as well.” Ryan didn’t usually let his own personal bias come into the interview room, but having two sisters, he understood how vulnerable a teenage girl could be. And that the man had preyed on the teachers...And nothing was done to stop it. The man sitting in front of him could have done something but had let money sway him to ignore the complaints.
Pawner had the decency to nod. “Looking back, I would have done things differently. But it’s too late now.”
“So, for the record, you say Ms. Tait wanted you to do something about Rachel’s online chat group? That’s what you were arguing about?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where she went after she talked with you?” Ryan had been recording the whole conversation, he was also making notes.
“I assumed to her office.”
“You weren’t worried she was going to get into it with Rachel?” He studied the man across the table from him.
Pawner picked the cuticle on his left thumb. “I told her not to. That I would handle it. She wasn’t happy, but I figured she’d wait for me to do something.”
“Even knowing how little you did for the victims of Huntley’s harassment?”
The man flinched. “I was still her boss.”
“Do you know if anyone else saw her that afternoon?”
“You could look in her appointment book or ask Kathy, she had the office next door to Nancy.” Pawner picked up the coffee and downed it all in one long drink.
“Thank you for coming in.” Ryan stood and waited for the man to leave.
Once Pawner was gone, he opened the file and found Kathy Jones address. He planned to see her next and ask her if she’d seen Ms. Tait the day before.