Chapter 3. The Superintendent

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TUESDAY NIGHT, 6:04 P.M.

“Thank you both for meeting me here at my home.  Enough people in the community know me to make meeting at your offices or in public too risky.”

“No problem, Mr. Young.  We understand the need for discretion.” Sean said.

“I hate these situations.  Absolutely hate them.  Three years ago we had something like this, except it was a male coach and a female student.  Horrible.  The fall-out was horrible and I just want to know if it’s coming.” Mr. Young paused and turned to face me, adding, “I’m not trying to sweep anything under the rug, not at all.  I would never turn a blind eye to something like this, but I don’t want to get the school board and the PTA in a frothing frenzy over nothing.”
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“It should be handled delicately.” I nodded.  I thought of how my parents would have reacted had either of us been involved in a similar situation when we were in school.

“The rumors about it are already starting.  That’s how it came to my ears.  One of my daughters overheard something from a friend–an insinuation that there was something going on.  I brushed it off because kids in high school are always looking for some sort of scandal.  But when a teacher came to me with some observations of the same teacher and student, I put in the call to your boss.”

“Let’s start with what your daughter heard.”
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“One of her friends said that a student, Elliott Foster, is always staying after class to talk with Claudia Abbott.  Miss Abbott teaches history for the tenth and eleventh grades.  She then implied that something illicit must be going on.”

“Did the boy brag about er…having relations with his teacher?”

“That isn’t what she heard.  By all accounts, the boy has very few friends and he keeps to himself.”

“And the teacher  who came to you?”

“Mrs. Gibson.  She said that she came in to ask Miss Abbott a question one morning before school started and she found Elliott with her, and they had jumped apart just as she walked in, as if they’d been hugging or something.”
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“Tell us about Miss Abbott.  What is her age, and how long has she been teaching?”

“She’s twenty-six, very young-looking.  In fact…” he broke off, rising.  “I’ll be right back–I should be able to show you pictures of them.”  He walked out of the room, and moments later returned with a yearbook.  Sean stood behind me to look at it over my shoulder, and I could feel his breath stirring my hair.

“She’s been teaching for three or four years.  She came to us with glowing recommendations from Riverview’s school district. She’s well-liked by most of the students, though she can come across as a bit stand-offish to the faculty.  She is very outspoken in faculty meetings.”
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“Would anyone have anything to gain from trashing her reputation?” I asked without looking up from the yearbook.

Mr. Young considered this for several beats.  “Nothing comes to mind, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to that thought.  As superintendent, I’m a level or two removed from the teachers.  If there are any personal quarrels going on amongst the teachers or if a student has an axe to grind, I don’t know about it until it’s already a problem.  I do know that nothing else about Miss Abbott has ever come up before.”

“What grade is Elliott Foster in?” Sean asked.

“He’s in tenth this year, so in that yearbook, he would have been in the ninth.”

Sean flipped to the picture and we studied the face peering out amongst the other young kids.
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“I just want to confirm–can we interview Mrs. Gibson and your daughter?”

“Yes, but my daughter is away for a cheerleading competition.  She won’t be back until Thursday night.”

“Then can you arrange for us to speak to her on Friday, sometime after five?”

“Sure.”

We spent a little more time talking with Mr. Young, discussing some of the strategies we planned to use in the course of the investigation, and promising updates as soon as we knew more.
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“I really hope this isn’t what it sounds like, but there’s no denying that Miss Abbott is attractive, and young.  I don’t know whether she has a boyfriend or if she’s dating.”

“We’ll be looking into that.” Sean said.  We took our leave and reported back to Rocca Investigations before taking a pizza back to Sean’s place.  We devoured it and relaxed on the couch with full bellies.
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“So…About Erica running for mayor.  Is this a good or bad thing?” I asked.  We didn’t have much of a chance to talk about it the night before.

“I have a hard time seeing it as anything but bad for us.” Sean admitted.  “I mean, if she wins then it could be good.  Maybe.  But until then it’s just going to be a problem.”

“How so?”

“Well, she’s pretty busy–enough that it isn’t always easy to get her full attention dedicated to the work she hands us.  I can’t see that getting any better as she’s actually running an election campaign.  What little use she is to us is probably going to dwindle to nothing as soon as the campaign is in full swing.”
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“Nick seems to think it will provide an opportunity to look into Donald Price’s affairs without him guessing our true motive.”

“Nick is being optimistic, but he has to know that Erica is going to be too distracted to be much help.  Besides, like you pointed out–Donald Price is going to be especially careful to keep anything hidden that he doesn’t want found out right now.  Nothing about Erica running is going to change that.”  He hesitated before adding, “And in fact, I’m a little afraid that it’s going to make it worse.  More dangerous for you.”

“Hey, I have you and Nick looking out for me–what can happen?” I smiled.
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“Plenty, baby.  Plenty can happen.”  His face had tensed with worry–tight jaw, furrowed brow.

“Look, instead of worrying over something that might happen, I think you should prepare for something that will definitely happen.” I said in a teasing tone.

“Oh? What’s going to happen?” The planes of his face relaxed a little.  He was letting me distract him and I was glad for it.

“I’m about to start kissing you, and it’s gonna be hot.”

“Do you think I’ll be able to handle it?” His voice had gone low and soft.

“Only one way to find out.”

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Authorial interjection: The cover was SO much fun to shoot, simply because it was a lot of fun to make them dance.  I haven’t had much chance to actually play the game, so some of the Late Night stuff is still new to me.   🙂

• April 10, 2011
• An Edith Prescott Mystery: Story 4
• 27 Comments