7b2696c981e3d60fa8abbc841c83ccf4

Danny nodded.“So when she met Dave, she decided to put her hooks in the guy, and he let her. I guess he was looking for a woman like my mom—arm candy, if you know what I mean. To impress people at receptions and parties, that kind of thing.”

“So you’re saying your mom and Dave fulfilled a mutual purpose when they got married.”

“Yeah, like a business deal,” he said as he took a picture frame from the principal’s desk and studied it for a moment.

“So no great love lost between them?”

“Not exactly. Mom gets her kicks elsewhere these days.”

“What do you mean?”

The kid grinned.“I thought you cops were supposed to be smart, but looks like you haven’t figured that one out yet.”

“Figured what out?”

“Mom has been seeing this guy for some time. They spend most weekends together, some evenings, too.”

“And Dave knew about this?”

“Sure he did. Like I said, their marriage was just a business arrangement: money and a wealthy lifestyle for her, some great arm candy for him. Secretly I think Dave was never in love with my mom, but then I guess he’s not around anymore to tell us.”

“Your principal tells me that there have been some complaints about you stealing money from other kids?”

Danny challenged her with a big grin.“Is that so?”

“Yes, and there have been other complaints, too.”

“What complaints?”

“About bullying, and about you asking Dave to get rid of a member of his studio because he’s openly gay and married to another man.”

Danny’s smile fell from his face. “Look, all I said was that this guy Flint once came onto me, but of course nobody believes me when I say stuff like that, Dave least of all.”

“And are you surprised after the kind of behavior you’ve displayed?”

He shrugged and glanced down at his feet.

“So what about the guy your mom is seeing? Do you have a name for me?”

He looked up, and that cocky smile was back in full force.“You won’t believe me when I tell you, and he’ll probably deny it, but it’s true. I actually caught them at it once, out there in the parking lot, in her car. Of course they pretended like nothing was going on, but those steamy windows didn’t lie, Mrs. Kingsley.”

“So who is it?”

He held up the picture frame, which showed Adolpho Beblo with his wife and two kids, and he tapped the bald head of the principal.“This guy right here.”

Chapter 22

Odelia had gone in search of Adolpho Beblo and had found him fraternizing with one of his teachers in the teacher’s room. He seemed reluctant to sever what looked like a very amicable connection with a very pretty young female teacher but finally managed to drag himself away from her cornflower blue eyes and her ready laugh at his jokes and joined us in the cozy little nook where presumably teachers went totake a breather after having left the lion’s cage and gearing up to enter another one.

“Being a teacher must be a lot of fun, Max,” Dooley remarked as we studied a corkboard where dozens upon dozens of pictures had been pinned, depicting the kinds of extracurricular activities staff and pupils engaged in: stage performances of different plays and musicals, trips to such faraway places as the Grand Canyon, New York or even Philadelphia, and of course many soir?es, fundraisers and school raffles to collect money for the school. It all looked very spirited and lively and a lot of fun. Teachers were depicted dressing up in fancy costumes, pasted-on mustaches, dashing army uniforms and I thought I even spotted the principal dressed like a pirate. Ahoy, matey!

“I don’t know, Dooley,” I said. “I think it’s not as easy as it looks to teach a bunch of rowdy kids algebra, math or the basics of grammar.”

“But the fun times, Max—just look at them.”

I looked at them, and thought it did indeed look like a lot of fun to be part of this school’s community.

“And they even get paid to have so much fun,” said Dooley. He glanced over to Odelia, who was discussing her recent interview with Danny. “Maybe Odelia could be a teacher? I’ll bet it’s a lot more fun than being a reporter, or trying to solve all kinds of crime.”

“I have a feeling Odelia likes what she does, Dooley, and I doubt she has an ambition to become a teacher at this stage of her life.”

“She could teach these kids about sleuthing. And she could bring us into the classroom and we could tell them about our adventures.”

“Uh-huh,” I said dubiously, and decided to join the conversation and see if what was being said was of any interest to us. More in particular I was eager to find out what Adolpho had to say about Danny’s claim that the principal was engaged in some kind of illicit affair with his mom.

“Danny said that?” Adolpho asked, looking aghast.

Odelia nodded.“He says the affair has been going on for some time, and he thinks his mom was with you when his stepdad was killed. He says she definitely wasn’t home when he got back from his drive. Which as you can see puts her in a tight spot, since she lied about that.”