Murder of a Sleeping Beauty

between twelve-thirty and two o’clock. Probably closest to one o’clock.”

“Yes.”

“I have an alibi for those times.” Skye took her first deep breath since he’d accused her of the crime. “I was at the Thistle Creek Country Club for Lorelei’s funeral lunch. Several parents spoke to me, as did Charlie.”

Diverse emotions battled for prominence on the chief’s face—relief among them. “Give me those names.”

After she listed everyone she could remember speaking to, Wally said to the matron, “Escort her to the coffee room. Do not let her talk to anyone, including yourself.”

Skye’s relief was so great she felt a silly hysteria creeping over her. If her hands hadn’t still been cuffed, she would’ve saluted Wally. “Yes, sir.”

In the other room she sat staring at the coffeemaker and the soda-pop machine. Who did steal that report? She prayed it wasn’t Justin. If he did it, she was morally to blame. But if the witness was right, it couldn’t have been the boy. Who else would want the tox report—aside from the murderer, that is?

The dispatcher’s voice penetrated Skye’s thoughts. “The chief says to take the cuffs off of her and bring her back upstairs.”

Wally was slouched back in his chair, looking relaxed, when she entered his domain. He spoke to the matron. “Thanks for your help. You can go now.”

Skye fought to keep her voice normal. “So, do my alibis check out?” She wasn’t sure if he was in a better mood because he had cleared her or because he had found more reason to think she was guilty.

“Yes, lucky for you, you and your car seem to be quite memorable.”

“Can I go?” Skye asked, rubbing her wrists.

“Yes.” Wally leaned forward, appearing a little less confident. “Look, I know you’ve probably been snoo— investigating, so since I was wrong about you stealing the tox report, I’m going to give you one ‘get out of jail free’ card.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is your chance to fill me in on anything you’ve discovered that you think I should know, and it’s your chance to ask me some questions.”

She thought quickly. “In other words, you have diddlysquat on the investigation, and you want to see if I can give you a lead.”

He retained his newfound affability, but there was a distinct hardening of his eyes. “If that’s how you want to interpret my generous gesture, you’re free to leave.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Skye hated having to back down. She knew she was right about his motives, but May had taught her a long time ago not to bite off her nose to spite her face. Besides, Wally had just screwed up royally, and she wasn’t about to let him forget it. She smiled and said, “Here’s what I want: For every piece of information I give you, you answer a question for me. Deal?”

He nodded.

“Also, you call Homer and the superintendent, and tell them I’ve been completely cleared.”

He nodded again.

“Okay. Let’s see, what have I found out? One, Lorelei was far from the saint the teachers seem to think she was. Many students are not sad that she’s gone.”

“Anyone in particular?”

Skye frowned. She had to separate what the teens had told her during counseling, which she couldn’t reveal, from what she had overheard. “Zoe VanHorn benefits greatly from Lorelei’s death.” She couldn’t mention Frannie, as her revelation had been with the expectation of confidentiality. And she couldn’t mention Troy because she wasn’t supposed to know of Lorelei’s pregnancy.

“Interesting.” The chief made a note. “What’s your first question?”

“Were you ever allowed to search Lorelei’s room?”

“No, we’re still trying to get a warrant.”

“Okay, info number two. Mrs. Ingels and Linette both have reputations for being willing to do anything to win a beauty pageant.” Skye crossed her legs.

“That has no bearing on Lorelei’s murder. No question for you.”

Her lips thinned. “Be that way. How about Mrs. VanHorn? She’s bound and determined to have Zoe take over everything that Lorelei had. I’ve heard her threatening the director of the musical and Mrs. Ingels. And you may not realize how much money is involved with the pageants those girls compete in.”

“I’ll accept that as relevant. What’s your second question?”

“Have you searched Lorelei’s school locker?”

The chief sighed. “No, we’re still waiting for a warrant for that, too.”

“Third, I overheard a bunch of Lorelei’s closest girl-friends talking about the teacher she was sleeping with. I didn’t get a name because you arrested me at just that moment.”

“We didn’t have any hint of that.” Wally looked a little sheepish. “Too bad you didn’t hear who it was.”

“Yeah.” Skye decided it wasn’t a good idea to pursue that line of thought. “There are only so many male teachers, which narrows it down.” Skye paused, remembering what the little girl who cut off the other kid’s braid had said. “Or, maybe the teachers weren’t necessarily male, and not necessarily from the school. She had a lot of dance, voice, and drama teachers, too.”

“Very interesting. Question three?”

“How are people’s alibis holding up?”

“Without the results of the tox screen, we haven’t been sure how long whatever she was given takes to work. But according to the medical examiner, she could have been given the doctored drink at any time and consumed it hours later. That means no one has an alibi.”

Skye had one more question, but couldn’t think of anything else to trade. She tried passing speculation as information. “Last, the Ingels are a strange family. The little sister is spooky. She reminds me of the girl in that movie, The Bad Seed.”

“You think the little girl might have killed her sister?”

“No.” What she really wondered was if Mr. Ingels had been molesting Lorelei and then turned to Linette. But it would be irresponsible for her to suggest such a possibility without some evidence. “But maybe her parents think so. Maybe that’s why they’re fighting so hard for you not to search Lorelei’s room. Maybe they’re afraid there’s some proof.” Or maybe Mr. Ingels was hiding his own sins.

“Interesting, but pure conjecture. No question.”

“Okay.” Skye suddenly remembered her discovery during cheerleading practice. “How about this? That piece of tinsel you found in the gym the day Lorelei died—it’s probably part of a pom-pom.”

Wally made a note. “Thanks. Next question?”

“Did you ever find out what the bottle with the pill fragments originally contained?”

“No, we’ve looked in all the stores in Scumble River, Clay City, Brooklyn, and even Laurel. Nothing matches.” The chief stood. “I’m sending someone to Kankakee tomorrow.”

Skye got up, too. “Good luck finding out who stole the report. I assume another is being mailed—as we speak.”

“No. I just made Simon a copy of the one I received. The lab sends the reports to both of us.”

Damn! If she had known that, she could have used one of her questions to get the results of the tox screen. She tried the casual approach. “What were the results?”

The chief smiled, not fooled for a moment. “Sorry, you’ve used up all your questions for today.”

She didn’t bother to suppress her loud groan. Oh well, maybe his victory would improve their relationship.

CHAPTER 17

Keep a Watchful Lie

Considering everything, Skye felt surprisingly pleased as she went down the police- station stairs. True, being arrested had been a terrifying and humiliating experience, but now she and the chief were even. How could he remain ticked off at her after he had wrongly accused her of committing a crime? To add