Murder of a Royal Pain

This afternoon Skye was in luck. When she stopped at the office to sign in, Fern Otte, the grade school secretary, told her that Hope’s class had just gone out for afternoon recess. Knowing that this would be Hope’s first break since lunch, Skye headed down to the teachers’ lounge.

Both the lounge and the faculty restrooms were located in the basement of the old building. Skye wound her way through huge rolls of construction paper, stacks of athletic equipment, and shelves of cleaning supplies. The mixed odors of sweat and ammonia made her sinuses close, and as she pushed open the door to the lounge, she announced her presence with a loud sneeze.

Hope had been facing a bulletin board at the back of the empty room, but at Skye’s disquieting entrance, she spun around. She clutched a Styrofoam cup to her chest, and a stream of coffee arced across the floor.

Hope and Skye each put their hand to their heart and said at the same time, “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Skye grabbed a handful of paper towels from the nearby sink. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She knelt to sop up the spattered liquid.

“Not your fault.” Hope joined her on the floor, wiping droplets that were out of Skye’s reach. “I’m a little jumpy since the murder.”

“Me too.” Skye got to her feet and threw the sodden mess she was holding in the trash can. “That’s actually what I wanted to discuss with you. I tried to get hold of you over the weekend, but you were never home when I called or stopped by.”

“After what happened Friday night, I wanted to get away for a while, so my husband and I decided to go visit his mother in Saint Louis.” Hope poured herself another cup of coffee. “I didn’t hear your phone messages until late last night when we got home.” She sat at the closest of the three long tables running the length of the room. “I figured you wanted to chat about the murder. Right?”

“That’s right.” Skye felt she and Hope were on friendly enough terms to come to the point. She had worked with Hope for several years, and helped her with a couple of problem students.

“I thought it was an uncommonly smart move on the part of the police department to sign you on as a consultant,” Hope said. “Although you solved several of their major cases, I’m surprised their male egos didn’t get in the way.”

“Thank you. It’s really sweet of you to say that.” Skye felt her cheeks redden. She wasn’t used to compliments. “I guess Wally is secure enough in his own manhood not to be threatened by my help.”

“Chief Boyd does seem like an extraordinarily easygoing guy.”

“Most of the time.” Skye smiled, then brought the conversation back on track. “Has Quirk talked to you since Friday?”

“No.” Hope’s brown eyes sharpened. “Isn’t he keeping you informed?”

“I’ve spoken with him,” Skye said carefully, not sure how much she should reveal about Quirk’s attitude toward her. “But he says he doesn’t need my help.”

“And Chief Boyd’s out of town.” Hope put together the pieces.

“Right.” Skye decided to be straightforward. “Wally’s told Quirk that I’m part of the team, but Quirk has other ideas.” Skye was counting on the fact that Hope was both levelheaded and not a gossip. “The thing is, I think he may be on the wrong track.”

“You think Annette might not have been the intended victim.”

Skye nodded.

“And you’re trying to figure out if one of the other witches was the murderer’s target.”

Skye nodded again.

Hope took a thoughtful sip of coffee. “Do you have any enemies?”

“A few parents aren’t too happy with me.” Skye shrugged. “But I find it hard to believe someone would try to kill me over a special-ed placement—beat me up, sue me, try to get me fired, maybe, but murder seems a little excessive.” Skye tilted her head. “How about you?”

Hope ignored Skye’s question and asked one of her own. “Have you checked out Nina Miles?”

“I talked to her Saturday, but she said there was no reason for anyone to want to harm her.” Skye looked at Hope intently. “Why? Do you know something about her?”

“Only that she’s a part of that same group of women that runs the high school Parent-Teacher Organization—the one that Annette and Evie were fighting to control.” Hope looked at the wall clock. “I’ve got to get going. Recess is almost over.”

“You never answered my question.” Skye followed her to the door. “How about you? Do you have any enemies?”

“Yes.”

“What?” Skye’s eyes widened. “Who?”

Hope took a deep breath. “You’ve got to promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“Except the police, right?”

“Only Wally.”

“But he’s out of town. How about Quirk?”

“No!” Hope turned, an edge of panic in her voice. “He’s the one I’m afraid of.”

As Skye got into her car after school, she couldn’t stop thinking about Hope’s final words before she stepped into her classroom: Quirk would love to see me dead.