five suspects is a number we can handle.”
“Well . . .” Sid said. “Maybe more than five.”
“Who did we miss?” I asked.
“The thing is, if there’s one thing I’ve learned while sitting in that locker, it’s that there are all kinds of people in and out of that school. The families and friends of every student, teacher, and admin person. Delivery people, repairmen, other schools’ teachers for meetings, sports teams and coaches from rival schools. Former students, former teachers. Other candidates interviewing for the job Irwin was trying to get.”
“And Becca has brought some of her theater friends to help with acting exercises and sets,” Madison added.
“Plus there are the male students,” Sid said.
“You told me it was a grown man,” I said.
“I
think
it was, but now that I’ve been around PHS so much, I’ve realized that some of those boys have awfully deep voices.”
“Coccyx! So much for eliminating people. Now our suspect pool includes most of the town.”
“Only men,” Sid said cheerfully. “Let’s try it from the other angle—now that we know who the victim is, that should help. I’ll go online to see what I can find out about Mr. Robert Irwin.” He gave us a big grin. “We’re making progress!”
I was surprised Sid was taking it so well. It seemed to me that our only progress was backward. Then I looked at it from his perspective. As long as we were working on the murder together, he was making a significant contribution to the family. That was what he’d been craving.
Of course, that meant that if we ever did find out who the killer was, part of Sid would be disappointed that he wouldn’t be helping anymore. Maybe a really big part of him.
16
M y Sunday was filled with comfortingly normal activities: grading essays, cooking meals to freeze for later in the week, and helping Sid take a hydrogen peroxide sponge bath. Okay, maybe cleaning a skeleton with hydrogen peroxide wouldn’t have been particularly comforting or normal for most households, but that’s how we roll at the Thackery house.
Madison had a science project with a looming deadline that kept her busy, and once Sid was bright and clean, he devoted his day to working on what he called the Irwin dossier, which consisted of all the information he could dig up about Robert Irwin. He only ventured out of the attic to keep us company at meals.
Monday was just as normal: no bodies found or missing persons reported. I got home at my regular time and found Madison already there, playing Mario Kart on the Wii while Byron watched.
“Excuse me,” I said, “but I seem to remember a no-video-game-before-homework rule.”
“I’m already done,” she said, waving the Wii controller around enthusiastically enough that I thought it safer to step out of range. “Rehearsal ended early because Becca had a dentist appointment, and I had a free period today.”
“How did that happen?”
“Mr. Chedworth is still out. I guess he must really have hurt himself. Samantha said she heard he was going to have to have surgery on his foot or leg or something. Word is that he won’t be able to come back to school for the rest of the semester.”
“Poor guy,” I said sympathetically, but then switched to practical-mother-of-a-college-bound-student mode to ask, “Why didn’t they get a substitute?”
“They got a substitute, but I don’t think he knows the material. All he did was tell us to read a section of the textbook, which took about ten minutes. After that, I did my homework, which is why—” She paused to put on enough speed to cross the virtual finish line. “Which is why I’m playing Mario Kart.”
“They are going to hire somebody who can actually teach the rest of the course, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know if they can. Samantha said her mother called to ask, and they’re not sure they’ll be able to find somebody so close to the end of the year. So the good news is that I may have a free
“Well . . .” Sid said. “Maybe more than five.”
“Who did we miss?” I asked.
“The thing is, if there’s one thing I’ve learned while sitting in that locker, it’s that there are all kinds of people in and out of that school. The families and friends of every student, teacher, and admin person. Delivery people, repairmen, other schools’ teachers for meetings, sports teams and coaches from rival schools. Former students, former teachers. Other candidates interviewing for the job Irwin was trying to get.”
“And Becca has brought some of her theater friends to help with acting exercises and sets,” Madison added.
“Plus there are the male students,” Sid said.
“You told me it was a grown man,” I said.
“I
think
it was, but now that I’ve been around PHS so much, I’ve realized that some of those boys have awfully deep voices.”
“Coccyx! So much for eliminating people. Now our suspect pool includes most of the town.”
“Only men,” Sid said cheerfully. “Let’s try it from the other angle—now that we know who the victim is, that should help. I’ll go online to see what I can find out about Mr. Robert Irwin.” He gave us a big grin. “We’re making progress!”
I was surprised Sid was taking it so well. It seemed to me that our only progress was backward. Then I looked at it from his perspective. As long as we were working on the murder together, he was making a significant contribution to the family. That was what he’d been craving.
Of course, that meant that if we ever did find out who the killer was, part of Sid would be disappointed that he wouldn’t be helping anymore. Maybe a really big part of him.
16
M y Sunday was filled with comfortingly normal activities: grading essays, cooking meals to freeze for later in the week, and helping Sid take a hydrogen peroxide sponge bath. Okay, maybe cleaning a skeleton with hydrogen peroxide wouldn’t have been particularly comforting or normal for most households, but that’s how we roll at the Thackery house.
Madison had a science project with a looming deadline that kept her busy, and once Sid was bright and clean, he devoted his day to working on what he called the Irwin dossier, which consisted of all the information he could dig up about Robert Irwin. He only ventured out of the attic to keep us company at meals.
Monday was just as normal: no bodies found or missing persons reported. I got home at my regular time and found Madison already there, playing Mario Kart on the Wii while Byron watched.
“Excuse me,” I said, “but I seem to remember a no-video-game-before-homework rule.”
“I’m already done,” she said, waving the Wii controller around enthusiastically enough that I thought it safer to step out of range. “Rehearsal ended early because Becca had a dentist appointment, and I had a free period today.”
“How did that happen?”
“Mr. Chedworth is still out. I guess he must really have hurt himself. Samantha said she heard he was going to have to have surgery on his foot or leg or something. Word is that he won’t be able to come back to school for the rest of the semester.”
“Poor guy,” I said sympathetically, but then switched to practical-mother-of-a-college-bound-student mode to ask, “Why didn’t they get a substitute?”
“They got a substitute, but I don’t think he knows the material. All he did was tell us to read a section of the textbook, which took about ten minutes. After that, I did my homework, which is why—” She paused to put on enough speed to cross the virtual finish line. “Which is why I’m playing Mario Kart.”
“They are going to hire somebody who can actually teach the rest of the course, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know if they can. Samantha said her mother called to ask, and they’re not sure they’ll be able to find somebody so close to the end of the year. So the good news is that I may have a free
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