Authors: Mark Richard Zubro
A few intense and fierce minutes passed.
I was in the shower when he came into the bathroom. I thought he was going to shave. He pulled the door slightly open.
“You were talking about a Belutha Muffin last night?”
I stopped shampooing my hair. “Yeah. I talked with her at her house last night. She's one of the pains in the asses of the opposition.”
“Not anymore she's not. She's dead.”
He'd been listening to an all-news radio station. We couldn't find a report on any other station or a repeat of what he'd heard. I called several friends including Kurt, but they had heard nothing. Everyone was in a rush to get to school for the first institute day. I hurried myself. At the door I kissed Scott and told him I loved him. He pulled me close and grasped my shoulder with one hand and my butt with the other. He squeezed them both.
It poured rain for the entire forty-five minutes it took to drive to work. By the time I stepped onto the pavement in the parking lot, a fresh breeze was blowing and the sky to the north was clearing. Cool after the rain. It was heavenly.
The parking lot of the Benjamin Harrison High School was crowded with the cars of teachers from all over the district. I saw emergency vehicles clustered around a distant door. They were parked on the newly sodded back lawn.
Inside, the school glistened and gleamed. The tile shone. The walls were that massive cinder block so many schools are built of now. The yet-to-be-blemished walls were painted a pale yellow. The glass in the windows sparkled. The air-conditioning puffed merrily away.
I spotted Kurt. He was surrounded by a group of teachers. I joined them. The number one topic of discussion was Belutha.
Numerous voices shared theories and wild rumors.
“I heard she committed suicide.”
“No way. I heard she had her throat slit in one of the johns.”
“I saw the emergency vehicles out back,” I said. “It happened here?”
“Yes,” three people said.
“Where have you been?” Kurt asked.
“I just got here. Who has real information?”
One of the group offered, “I heard she had a doughnut stuffed in her mouth.”
“Is that significant?” I asked.
“It's what I heard.”
“A custodian found the body this morning.”
“She'd begun to decompose.”
“The custodian or Belutha?” I asked.
“Probably both,” Kurt said.
“Well, that's what I was told.”
“She wouldn't begin to decompose so soon,” another one commented.
Kurt took me aside. “Beatrix is pissed at you.”
“About what now?”
“Just about everything, I believe. I'm supposed to holler at you and get you in trouble.” He laughed. “I gave her a big hug, and we're best friends.”
“Fat chance.”
Carolyn Blackburn swept by with the president of the school board and the two detectives Baxter Dickinson and Leonard Rosewald. The school board president was talking rapidly.
I knew who I had to find. Georgette. On the first institute day the secretaries usually had folders and name badges to pass out for all the teachers from their buildings. I found her with only three folders left. She gave me a distraught look.
“You've heard?” she asked.
“Yes. What can you tell me?”
She glanced around. She motioned me into the nearest room. Maps of the world covered one wall, and copies of old front pages of newspapers from famous days in history were on another. Must have been a social studies room.
Georgette was pale and trembling. “I can't believe this. They can't accuse Meg of this, can they?”
“Did you talk to Meg?”
“Last nightâbefore all this. The poor dear is totally upset. We only talked for about thirty seconds. It was as if she couldn't wait for me to get off the phone. I was just trying to be kind.”
“I'm sure she didn't mean to be rude. This is probably the worst thing that's ever happened to her.”
“Oh, I understand. She's been through hell. I hope they leave her alone. I want the old Meg back.”
I wondered if that would ever be possible.
“What happened to Belutha?”
“I don't know everything, but I know more than most.” Georgette obviously loved being the center of mystery and intrigue. “I had to be here early and I talked to Robert Tusher. I do not like that man. When I'm near him, all I can think of are venomous snakes.”
“Did he find the body?”
“No, one of those community service kids did. Tusher had to be here first to open the school. One or two other custodians and a couple of those working delinquents came in at the same time. I don't like having those teenagers around. They're criminals, you know.”
I wasn't about to argue with her.
“Each was told to open different rooms. This place is so new, they wanted everybody to be able to tour. I think they had photographers scheduled to be here from the local papersânow there is going to be a mob of them. Mabel, the secretary here, said they had calls from every news organization in Chicago and the suburbs. They are going to be doing some of those remote broadcasts âlive from the scene' in front of the school. There's nothing anyone can do to stop them.”
“Which kid found her and where and what happened?”
“Veronica Heskwith, a girl who is supposed to be a senior here, but has only enough credits to be a sophomore. She was sobbing in the office when I walked in.”
“Do you know anything about her?”
“She doesn't have a reputation as a troublemaker. I heard she just failed classes here, but did her juvenile delinquent activities outside of school.”
“What did she say about finding the body?”
“Nothing at the time. The poor girl just sobbed and sobbed. Mabel told me that the body was in the new library. Belutha had her head bashed in.”
“With a book?”
“I don't know.”
“Is there anything else you've been able to find out?”
“No. All these wild rumors are out of control. Don't people have any sense?”
“I guess sometimes not.”
“This is a tragedy.”
“Is school going to be canceled?”
“I don't think so. Carolyn is going to make a speech in a few minutes. She's supposed to explain everything to the staff when she talks.” Georgette glanced at the clock. “She's going to be starting in a few minutes in the auditorium. You should be there.”
I hurried out. Teachers were scattered in knots around the doors and in the hallway outside the auditorium. I looked inside. The room could seat at least a thousand people. The slightly less than three hundred teachers were joined by every employee in the district, bringing the total crowd close to five hundred, counting custodians, bus drivers, secretaries, clerks, and teacher's aides.
The room buzzed with talk. No one was on the platform, and events didn't seem to be anywhere near starting. I went in search of my liars Beatrix and Trevor.
I found Beatrix talking to Seth.
I said, “Beatrix, I need to speak to you.”
She gave me a dirty look. “I'm going into the auditorium.”
“You don't have to talk to him,” Seth said. “He's not going to be grievance chair or building rep after the election.”
“Seth, angel, dear, sweetheart, sit on it and rotate.”
His mouth gaped open at me.
“Beatrix, you need to talk to me right now, or I will find the nearest police officer and begin talking to him or her about you.”
“What about?”
“Now, Beatrix. We need to chat. In front of a crowd or in private?”
“I can come with you and be a witness,” Seth said. “You don't want him sexually harassing you.”
“He's gay,” Beatrix snapped. “I can handle any man, much less him.”
“Beatrix, let's not try my patience this morning.”
I looked back at the area around the auditorium doors. People were still milling about.
We stepped into an undecorated classroom.
“What do you want?” she demanded.
“Belutha told me you were meeting with people after the big fight at the PTA meeting. You told me you left. Now if Belutha told the police, they would have questioned you about it. Why did you lie to me and why didn't she tell the police?”
“The police questioned me.”
“And what did you tell them about having a meeting?”
She hesitated and her eyes shifted left and right.
“You didn't tell them about that meeting, did you?”
“Belutha is dead. She can't tell anybody anything.”
“Which means you had a reason to silence her, but why did Belutha keep silent?”
“Wait! I misspoke. What I mean is ⦠Well, so what if I met with him?”
“It's where you were,” I said, “and the timing of the meeting that make a difference. I'm sure the police are going to question me. I visited Belutha last night, and she told me, but not the police. I'm sure the police will find that interesting.”
“You can't prove what she said. You could be making this all up.”
“Now, Beatrix. You need to tell me the truth about what you did Monday night.”
“I ⦠I ⦔ She began to cry. “I ⦔ She reached in her purse and pulled out a tissue. “I met with Trevor after he met with Jerome. Then I talked with Jerome.”
She glanced up at me. This was news indeed. I'd assumed I'd been talking about only Trevor. She must have presumed Belutha had told me about both meetings. Which meant Belutha had held out on me as well. Being no fool, I hid my surprise.
“What did you say to Jerome?”
“I met with him to pledge him my support. He was delighted and happy. He promised he would get me everything I wanted.”
“How is that possible, Beatrix? No matter how much you have gotten in the past, you've always wanted more. If you got this, you wanted that. If you were given something to shut you up, you found something new to complain about.”
“You don't have to be mean.”
“Did you promise Seth your support as well?”
“I try to talk to everyone.”
“You lied to me, Beatrix. Meg's in trouble and I'm going to make sure she's exonerated.”
“Where was Meg at the time of Belutha's murder?” she countered.
“I have no idea.”
“Well, you better find out. I heard she was around school last night.”
“That sounds like a stupid rumor. Who told you that?”
“I don't remember.”
I figured she was making it up. “Let's try remembering about Monday. Why didn't you tell the police about your meeting?”
“I didn't have to tell them. They never asked me about it. Belutha did call me last night and asked to meet with me.”
“What happened at that meeting?”
“I arrived at her house around eleven. She was gone. I didn't wait for her.”
“Kind of late to be calling.”
Beatrix burst into sobs. “You've got to help me, like you help Meg. I didn't kill either of them. You've got to help me.”
“Why?”
“Why would I kill Jerome? He'd just promised me everything I wanted. He said he'd file the grievance for me about the field trip. Something you wouldn't do.”
“Where did you meet with him?”
She hesitated, glanced at the door, and began sobbing in earnest.
“You met him in the library, didn't you?”
“Yes.” She pulled out several tissues and blew her nose. “I'm sure I wasn't the last person to see him alive. Other people were supposed to meet with him.”
“Who?”
“I know that Trevor was around. I talked with him myself. I did not kill Jerome or Belutha.”
“A possible meeting with Belutha and a definite meeting with Jerome, so far unreported. You sound like a suspect to me. I only have your word that he agreed to help you. How do I know that's true?”
“Because I told you.”
“Don't get startled here, Beatrix, but why should I or the police believe you?”
“You wouldn't tell them what I told you?”
“I might.”
She rounded on me. “But you visited Belutha. You said so earlier. The police will be suspicious of you, as well. You have as much to worry about as me. If you help me, I'll help you.”
“I'm not telling any lies for anybody.”
“You've got to help me.”
“After all the misery you've put me through over the years, why should I help you?”
“You're the union building rep. You've got to help.”
“Being union rep does not mean I am your slave, your secretary, or your knight in shining armor.”
“You're a beast.” She marched to the door and walked out.
In the corridor I saw teachers streaming toward the auditorium, so I headed there myself. I took a seat in the back with some other members of the English department. Up on the podium Carolyn's face was grave. The crowd hushed when she approached the microphone.
She welcomed us briefly. “You are all aware of the two tragedies that have occurred in the district. I am not free to discuss the case, but we are cooperating with the police. Frankly, I don't know much about their investigation. I would ask you not to speak to the public or the press about these events. It is likely that the press will try and trap you into an unfortunate statement. If someone wants to interview you, please direct them to call me. There is no need for you to be bothered by a reporter or to be concerned about your safety. We obviously need more than the current alarm systems and we are going to have a security firm in here. We will also be revising entrance rules and access. I guess we're a more urban school than we cared to admit. For today, we will follow the schedules you received in your folders. Your building administrators or department chairs have the information you need. As of now, school will definitely be in session tomorrow with a crisis team available for students or teachers who want to consult with them.”
Carolyn made a variety of other announcements. I looked in my folder at my schedule for the day. The faculty from Grover Cleveland had a meeting, immediately following Carolyn's remarks, with Edwina in this room.
After Carolyn reassured us and said some kind words for the departed, teachers from the other schools left the room. Edwina took the podium. She was given to delivering cheery pep talks on the first day of school. I sat through a half hour of her rambling in which she avoided mentioning the murders but was less perky than usual.