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a similar pace to Laurence
Mayfield. “My name’s Cherry Tucker. Are you with Line Creek PD? Actually, my grand d addy’s good friend is Sheriff Will Thompson. You know him?”
The officer smiled. “Sure, I know Thompson. Tell him Detective Daniel Herrera said
hey.”
“I sure will. Looks like you’re confiscating some evidence. Is this in relation to
the Maranda Pringle suicide?”
Detective Herrera pivoted and stopped in front of me. “What do you know about Maranda
Pringle?”
“Nothing, really,” I said. “I just started here yesterday and found out same as everyone
else. I’m going to do art work for Mr. Tinsley and he’s worried about the texts going
around.”
“Is he now?” Herrera’s face remained impassive, but I was tuned to cop behavior. I’d
just put Tinsley on a person of interest list. “Why’s that?”
“He didn’t say, but seems it’s common knowledge that Miss Pringle got a revealing text that might ’ ve pushed her over the edge.”
“Be careful with rumors,” said Herrera. “They often turn out not to be true.”
“Yes, sir. But what about in Pringle’s case? Did she get a text? Maybe if it was known
her suicide had nothing to do with the text attack, everyone will feel better.”
“Nice try . ” Herrera smiled. “I’ll tell you this. Pringle was a troubled woman. And don’t worry
about the text prankster. Probably some kid with his own issues.”
“Are you Line Creek boys using a code name for the anonymous texter?” I grinned. “I’ve
heard some creative codes used by the Sheriff’s Department.”
“If it was code, what would be the point in telling you?” Herrera chuckled and shifted
the computer.
“Mr. Tinsley calls him the Phantom, after the Phantom of the Opera . There’s some connection , but I’ve never seen the play.”
Herrera smiled. “I like that. The Phantom Texter. Don’t spread it around, though.
The kids will probably think it sounds cool and a mess of copycats will start.”
“Yes, sir.” I saluted him. “Speaking of copycats, you think there’s any connection
to the Ellis Madsen suicide last year?”
Herrera’s smile flipped to a scowl. “No, I don’t think there’s a connection. That
was a case of cyberbullying and a teen whose parents didn’t check her computer or
phone to see what was going on in her life. These parents are too concerned with respecting
their kids’ privacy and not enough for their safety.”
“Pretty bad, was it?”
He looked past me. The lines around his eyes and mouth tightened and lengthened. “No
one stood up for Ellis Madsen. She felt completely alone in those attacks. Her friends
abandoned her, fearing they’d get made fun of, too. Assholes , every one of them.”
“So, Miss Pringle’s text was completely different?”
He lost the far-off, pained gaze and settled his sharp, brown eyes on me. “Are you
this nosy with Sheriff Thompson’s cases?”
I laughed. “Pretty much. But I figure there must be something to this Phantom Texter
or you wouldn’t be confiscating computer equipment.”
“Didn’t say this had anything to do with anything. Maybe I like to carry around computers
for kicks.” He hoisted the hard drive to his hip and pointed to the office. “Go get
your building pass, hon’.”
“See you around, Detective Herrera.”
He smiled and trudged toward the front doors.
Herrera worried about copycats and called the Phantom a prankster. But he didn’t deny
that Pringle had gotten a message from the Phantom. I needed to know how many other
faculty members had gotten texts, too.
When I had finally stumbled through the theater wing doors with the proper identification
hanging around my neck, I found Laurence lying on a bean bag, reading a book. He didn’t
look up from the book, but pointed toward the far left set of doors. I pushed through
and found myself in yet another hall of doors. Some had gold stars.
Terra Wolf, Mercy May
Jennifer Collins Johnson
Louise Penny
Tamara Hogan
Mary Hanson
Roderick Gordon
Aimee Agresti
Dean Murray
Amy Malone
Katharine Davis