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Ryan dropped Shandra off at his house and promised he’d bring home something for dinner. He didn’t want to tell her he was headed to find out why Boyd Lange was limping when he left school on Friday.
He parked in front of the Lange house. All the lights were on, giving him the impression the family was home. Ryan walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.
A heavy step resounded on the other side and the door opened.
Mr. Lange stood in the doorway. “Detective.”
“I have a couple of questions for Boyd. I’m sorry if I’m intruding on your dinner...”
“We hadn’t sat down to eat yet. Come in.” Mr. Lange moved out of the way, and Ryan walked into the entryway.
“This way,” Mr. Lange said, waving a hand toward the living room.
Ryan entered. The two brothers were playing a game on the television.
“Boyd, the detective would like to ask you a question,” Mr. Lange said, motioning the young man to get up and come to them.
Boyd, cast a glance their way and slowly put the game controller down. He stood up, winced, and limped over to them.
“How’d you hurt your leg?” Ryan asked.
“Came down wrong on it in practice and sprained it.” Boyd lifted his jogging pant leg and revealed a bandaged ankle.
“Dr. Sprat says if he stays off of it, he’ll be able to play in next week’s game,” Mr. Lange added.
“Could you lift your pant leg a little higher. I’d like to see your shin?” Ryan believed the two, but he wanted to make sure he’d checked thoroughly.
Boyd glared at him but raised his pant leg. No scrapes or scratches.
“Thank you. Did you happen to see Ms. Tait on Friday afternoon?” He decided to ask not expecting anything of value.
“Yeah, she and the secretary were going at it.” Boyd let his pant leg drop.
“What do you mean ‘going at it’.”
“Arguing. The secretary gave Ms. Tait a shove.” The young man glanced over at the television where his brother played.
“Where and when was this?” Ryan pulled out his notepad.
“Last period. They were over in the corner of the multi-purpose room. I was going to the office for Mr. Timms when I saw them.”
“Did you see them on the way both to the office and back?”
“Just on the way there. The secretary must have seen me, because she came hurrying over. I don’t know where Ms. Tait went.” Boyd glanced at the television again.
“Thank you, Boyd.” Ryan let the young man get back to his game. He tapped his notepad. He needed to get back to the department and question Rachel Taylor before her twenty-four hours were up. If he didn’t find more evidence against her, he’d have to let her go.
“Thank you for allowing me to talk to Boyd,” Ryan said, shaking hands with Mr. Lange.
“We have nothing to hide. What were you looking for when you asked him to raise his pant leg?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s part of the investigation. Good night.” Ryan walked out the door and over to his vehicle. Inside the SUV, he texted Shandra. Dinner will be late. I have to talk with Rachel Taylor one more time.
I’ll get something. She texted back.
He wasn’t sure if he was relieved she was going to take care of it or worried that she would go talk to someone she shouldn’t. OK, he replied.
When he entered the sheriff’s office, his phone buzzed.
“Greer.”
“This is Lou at the forensic lab. I’ve been able to pick up the imaging that was deleted. I’m sending it to your email. And we sent you all the transcripts from the Rid the Scum forum. It’s interesting reading.”
Ryan had no doubt it would be. “Thank you.” He hung up and glanced at the time. Six-thirty. He had until one A.M. to talk to Rachel. He’d rather read through the transcripts and have seen the image from the surveillance cameras before he talked with her.
He should stay here and go through it all, but he wanted Shandra to look it over, too. Make sure he read it the same as she did. He did an about-face and headed back to his vehicle.
~*~
Shandra did a quick search of Ryan’s refrigerator and cupboards before making a list and heading to the grocery store. It was hard to cook at his house because he had so little. His schedule kept him away from home during most meals.
She pulled into the grocery store and stepped out of her Jeep. Sheba sat in the back seat, her nose sticking out the six-inch opening Shandra had left in the window.
“Be good,” Shandra said, and headed into the store. She had a list of items and grabbed a shopping cart.
She raised up from plucking a package of noodles off the shelf and spotted Mr. Pawner walking down the aisle pushing a cart. A woman walked on one side of him and a teenaged girl on the other.
“Ms. Higheagle, what a surprise,” he said, without any warmth in his voice.
“Mr. Pawner. It appears we both are shopping for dinner.” She smiled at the two women.
“Margo and Lucy, this is the famous potter who has been volunteering at the school.” The principal started pushing the cart as if to move on by.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Shandra said, noting the items in their shopping cart. Ice cream, pizza, bandages, and antiseptic cream.
She continued gathering her items and stood in line to check out. The Pawner family walked out of the grocery store together, but the women went to a fancy car and Mr. Pawner climbed into an older pickup.
He didn’t call them his wife and daughter, though that is what they appeared to be. She tucked that information away for later. Before getting into her Jeep, she received a text message from Ryan saying he was home.
She hurried back to his house and found him staring at an image on his computer.
“I’ll have shrimp fettucine ready in fifteen minutes, if you can make the salad.” She packed the two grocery bags into the kitchen.
He grunted and followed her.
“What were you looking at?” she asked, unloading the bags and setting the salad ingredients by the sink.
“The surveillance footage. I think it’s a male. He definitely knew about the cameras. The person is wearing a hoodie and they held the prop between them and the camera while carrying it out and back in.” Ryan unwrapped the lettuce and washed it.
Shandra started water boiling and gathered her ingredients for the fettucine sauce.
“Could you tell if they were tall, short, anything on the hoodie that might help?” She worked on the main course as Ryan tore the lettuce and cut up other vegetables to go in the salad.
“Comparing him to the door frames, the person is closer to six foot than five foot. Which could be half of the males at the school. My nephew Bobby fits that description.” Ryan tossed the salad and placed the bowl on the table. He wandered to the cupboards and pulled out dishes.
“But you’re sure it’s a male?” Shandra still wasn’t convinced that Rachel didn’t have something to do with both murders.
“Yeah, it’s clear enough to see a male build. The hoodie isn’t loose...” He left the room and came back with his laptop. “In fact, the hoodie is a bit small.”
Shandra poured the cooked noodles into a strainer and stepped over to take a look at the computer screen. “I’m surprised it hides the person’s face so well considering how it rides up on his arms and waist.” She stared at the photo. “He’s wearing sweatpants.”
Ryan stared at her. “How can you tell that?”
“Look at the way they poof at the ankles. They have elastic. That makes them a sweat pant or athletic pant whichever you want to call it.” She returned her attention to the grilling shrimp and fettucine sauce.
When it was all ready, she tossed the noodles in olive oil, then the sauce, and topped it with the grilled shrimp. “Here you go.”
She placed the plates on the table and filled a glass with wine before sitting down.
Ryan closed the computer and grabbed a cup of coffee before joining her.
She raised an eyebrow. “Coffee. Does this mean you’re going back to the station after we eat?”
“After we eat and we both read the transcripts from the chat forum.” He twirled noodles onto his fork.
“You have the transcripts too?” This was going to be an interesting evening.
“Yes. I want you to read them and see if we both understand what Ms. Taylor was trying to do.” He held up a speared shrimp. “This is really good.”
“Thank you. It’s the quickest thing I know to make.” They continued eating and making small talk.
“I ran into Mr. Pawner at the grocery store. He introduced me to his wife and daughter. I think?” She still wasn’t sure about the dynamics of the three.
“Wife and daughter? From what I’ve uncovered he’s separated from his wife.” Ryan studied her. “You’re sure it was a wife and daughter?”
“He only introduced them by their names. Margo and Lucy. But I had the feeling they were a family until the women got in a fancy car and he got in an old pickup.” She still wondered over that. “I know families do meet in separate vehicles to do things together, but the vehicles were so...different. I don’t know.”
Ryan pulled out his phone and started texting.
“What are you doing?” Shandra raised her wine glass.
“I’m having dispatch run everything they can find on Russ Pawner.” Ryan finished texting, and they finished their dinner, saying little.
Shandra cleaned up the kitchen while Ryan made two copies of the transcripts. When she entered the living room with a cup of tea for her and coffee for Ryan, he was already reading the chat forum.
She sat down on the couch and began reading. Within ten minutes, her anger started to boil. “What is wrong with Rachel? She is getting half a dozen students worked into a vigilante frenzy.”
Ryan looked over at Shandra. He knew she’d be more emotional reading the transcripts. He’d read many things like this and worse in his law enforcement career. “You can stop reading.”
“No. I want to help. Did you notice, she barely conceals who The Scum is. Any student who walks through the Art Quad would know who she means. He was the only male teaching in the quad and she makes fun of his unbuttoned shirt and 70’s porn-star mustache. These kids weren’t even born then, and neither was she. How did they know what she was talking about?” Shandra set the papers down and took several sips of her tea to let her mind grasp the depravity that Rachel had shown her followers and then asked them to do her bidding. There were two, who appeared to hang on her every word and were eager to help her initiate justice.
Ryan pulled out his phone and dialed. “Lou, this is Detective Greer. That transcript I had you download. Can you find out who The Joker and Shade are in real life?”
Shandra found the two names. After reading their replies to Miss Chevious, she understood why he wanted to know who they were. “Did you see what Shade said about Nancy? I wouldn’t doubt that person had something to do with her murder.” Reading the malicious comments the followers of the group suggested as ways to get back at teachers, made her wonder that more “accidents” hadn’t happened around the school.
“I think I have enough to go have another chat with Ms. Taylor.” Ryan stacked his transcript papers and pulled a file out of his backpack.
A photo slipped to the floor. Shandra picked it up. It was the back of a naked young woman. “Why is this in the folder?”
“That’s one of the photos I found at Huntley’s place.” Ryan studied Shandra. “Why? Do you know this person?”
“I’m not sure, but it could have been Lucy. The girl I thought was Mr. Pawner’s daughter.”