Jupiter’s ranch.
Despite the ruckus, I caught tidbits of conversation as the faculty traded places. Thus neither I, nor my purpose, needed any introduction as round two of the faculty took their places in the Command Center. Things went about the same. Most people were friendly, some were not, some even offered me part of their lunch.
Yadda, yadda, yadda—we got to know each other. I was crazy to actually like Dr. Yates, Miriam Jilton was a great teacher, everyone agreed she was having an affair, no one knew with whom, and last but not least, everyone inquired as to my wedding date.
I was beginning to think I was wasting my time, when it dawned on me the guy sitting beside me was a gym teacher. Unlike the other male teachers, he wore a polo shirt, no tie.
I dove in. “Were you the other chaperone on Saturday?” I asked, and he put his sandwich down.
“How do you know?”
“I know the person who called 911 was a gym teacher.” I gestured to his orange shirt with the purple CHS embroidered on the chest. “Sorry, but that shirt has gym teacher written all over it.”
Bless his heart, Mr. Polo Shirt laughed out loud. “Guilty as charged,” he said and held out his hand. “I’m Jason Bell. And yes. I’m the one who called the cops. But that doesn’t make me a killer.”
I assured Mr. Bell I knew that and asked what he could tell me about the dance.
“Jason’s already gone over it a million times.” That was the Ms. Cordial of this group, a Spanish teacher. “He was just doing his job. Cotillion duty is hard enough without this kind of harassment.”
“Would you shut up?” Jason said. I am happy to report he was speaking to the Spanish teacher. “No one’s harassing me, okay?” He turned to me. “Everything was normal. As normal as it gets at these things.”
“What’s normal?”
“The guys were trying to look cool, the girls were trying to look sexy. Standard cotillion stuff, right down to the couple hiding a six-pack under their table, which I confiscated.” He shrugged. “Nothing unusual.”
“Miriam Jilton was killed,” I said.
“Well, yeah. That was unusual.”
“So when did things start getting unusual?”
Jason gave it some thought. “When we were lining the couples up for the photographer. I was keeping an eye on the boys, and Miriam was on hairdo patrol with the girls. Everyone was out-of-control nervous.” He glanced around the table. “Trevor Ploof was threatening to puke.”
All the teachers groaned, and a math teacher informed me Trevor threatened to puke on a regular basis.
“Try having him in biology lab,” the black guy across from me said, and several people got up to trash the remains of their lunch.
Jason turned back to me. “That’s when Miriam got a phone call.”
I sat forward and asked what he had heard.
“Not much since I was busy with Trevor. But I distinctly remember Miriam saying, ‘She’s fine! Would you stop worrying?’” Jason shrugged again. “She must have raised her voice, because it caught my attention.”
“She said ‘She’s fine,’ not ‘I’m fine?’” I tilted my head. “Who was fine?”
“I have no idea. I was too busy getting Trevor to the boys lavatory. And that’s the last I saw of Miriam.”
“Alive,” the black guy corrected him.
“Alive,” Jason said and stared at the beige table.
***
Who was fine, I wondered as I meandered my way back to the office.
“Something wrong?” Officer Poleski asked, and I jumped ten feet in the air. He seemed happy to have startled me, but at least he held the office door open.
“Has anyone seen my friend Karen?” I asked as I entered.
Jodi informed me Karen and the janitor were down in the gym discussing the basketball court. “The floor needs re-varnishing over the summer, and Jack wanted Karen’s advice.” She addressed the cop. “Why don’t you go see how they’re doing?”
He was reluctant to leave, but Jodi persisted, and he finally got the hint.
She
Despite the ruckus, I caught tidbits of conversation as the faculty traded places. Thus neither I, nor my purpose, needed any introduction as round two of the faculty took their places in the Command Center. Things went about the same. Most people were friendly, some were not, some even offered me part of their lunch.
Yadda, yadda, yadda—we got to know each other. I was crazy to actually like Dr. Yates, Miriam Jilton was a great teacher, everyone agreed she was having an affair, no one knew with whom, and last but not least, everyone inquired as to my wedding date.
I was beginning to think I was wasting my time, when it dawned on me the guy sitting beside me was a gym teacher. Unlike the other male teachers, he wore a polo shirt, no tie.
I dove in. “Were you the other chaperone on Saturday?” I asked, and he put his sandwich down.
“How do you know?”
“I know the person who called 911 was a gym teacher.” I gestured to his orange shirt with the purple CHS embroidered on the chest. “Sorry, but that shirt has gym teacher written all over it.”
Bless his heart, Mr. Polo Shirt laughed out loud. “Guilty as charged,” he said and held out his hand. “I’m Jason Bell. And yes. I’m the one who called the cops. But that doesn’t make me a killer.”
I assured Mr. Bell I knew that and asked what he could tell me about the dance.
“Jason’s already gone over it a million times.” That was the Ms. Cordial of this group, a Spanish teacher. “He was just doing his job. Cotillion duty is hard enough without this kind of harassment.”
“Would you shut up?” Jason said. I am happy to report he was speaking to the Spanish teacher. “No one’s harassing me, okay?” He turned to me. “Everything was normal. As normal as it gets at these things.”
“What’s normal?”
“The guys were trying to look cool, the girls were trying to look sexy. Standard cotillion stuff, right down to the couple hiding a six-pack under their table, which I confiscated.” He shrugged. “Nothing unusual.”
“Miriam Jilton was killed,” I said.
“Well, yeah. That was unusual.”
“So when did things start getting unusual?”
Jason gave it some thought. “When we were lining the couples up for the photographer. I was keeping an eye on the boys, and Miriam was on hairdo patrol with the girls. Everyone was out-of-control nervous.” He glanced around the table. “Trevor Ploof was threatening to puke.”
All the teachers groaned, and a math teacher informed me Trevor threatened to puke on a regular basis.
“Try having him in biology lab,” the black guy across from me said, and several people got up to trash the remains of their lunch.
Jason turned back to me. “That’s when Miriam got a phone call.”
I sat forward and asked what he had heard.
“Not much since I was busy with Trevor. But I distinctly remember Miriam saying, ‘She’s fine! Would you stop worrying?’” Jason shrugged again. “She must have raised her voice, because it caught my attention.”
“She said ‘She’s fine,’ not ‘I’m fine?’” I tilted my head. “Who was fine?”
“I have no idea. I was too busy getting Trevor to the boys lavatory. And that’s the last I saw of Miriam.”
“Alive,” the black guy corrected him.
“Alive,” Jason said and stared at the beige table.
***
Who was fine, I wondered as I meandered my way back to the office.
“Something wrong?” Officer Poleski asked, and I jumped ten feet in the air. He seemed happy to have startled me, but at least he held the office door open.
“Has anyone seen my friend Karen?” I asked as I entered.
Jodi informed me Karen and the janitor were down in the gym discussing the basketball court. “The floor needs re-varnishing over the summer, and Jack wanted Karen’s advice.” She addressed the cop. “Why don’t you go see how they’re doing?”
He was reluctant to leave, but Jodi persisted, and he finally got the hint.
She
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