been the one to find the chemical bombs, insist on talking to the wannabe mommies at the junior high, and magically speak Russian—not that Vassily had responded to one word of it.
Jackie had also changed the office locks and failed to give Skye the new key, which resulted in her being late for an important meeting. Skye had a slashed tire, a rope strung at her height in her assigned spot at A Ghoul’s Night Out, almost been run over, and had poison added to her cookies.
Not to mention the tricks that had been played on her in the haunted-house bathroom. Come to think of it, Jackie had been acting the part of Lizzie Borden, so it was probably her ax that had been strategically staged in the handicapped stall.
Could Jackie be behind all of it? And if so, why? Skye needed proof. A good place to start was Jackie’s background. And in order to look into her history, all Skye had to do was persuade her godfather, Charlie, aka the school board president, to get her Jackie’s personnel file. Piece of cake. Or not.
CHAPTER 23
Worlds Collide
“Please, please, please, Uncle Charlie,” Skye pleaded into the phone.
“No. I can’t let you see Jackie’s personnel file.” Charlie’s voice was firm.
“It’s a matter of life and death.”
“Now, Skye, you don’t really think that nice lady is trying to kill you.”
“Yes, I do!” Skye yelled, her patience wearing thin. “I told you, Simon found evidence my cookies were poisoned.”
“But not that she poisoned them. You admitted that anyone could have gotten into your office.”
“Please, Uncle Charlie, you’re the only one who can help me.”
“Well . . .”
“You’d do it for Vince,” Skye whined.
“No . . .”
“What do you think Mom will say when I’m murdered, and she finds out you could have saved me?” Skye played her trump card—Charlie thought of May as the daughter he’d never had, and he would do anything for her.
“What exactly in the file do you want to see?”
Skye thought fast. Charlie was weakening. She wanted to see the whole thing, but if she couldn’t, what was the most important part? “Did anyone check her references?”
“No.”
“You’re kidding.” Skye knew that the Scumble River School District didn’t set high standards, but still . . . “How could the board not check her references?”
“You have no idea what hiring is like nowadays.” Charlie’s voice bristled. “Say we do call the people she’s listed as references; no one will say anything negative because they’re all too afraid of being sued. The only thing we can find out is if she was fired or if she quit. And look at you; you were fired for doing your job—not because you did anything wrong. So calling is just a big waste of time. Jackie had a graduate school diploma and a school social worker certificate from the state of Illinois. That was enough.”
“I can see your point, but I still want to try to talk to the people she listed as references.”
There was a long pause before Charlie caved. “Okay. Give me half an hour. I’ve got to go over and get the file from Wraige’s secretary. Any suggestion as to why I might want it?”
“You’re the board president; order her to hand it over.”
After hanging up, Skye straightened her desk, packed her tote bag, and told Opal she wasn’t feeling well, so she was taking half a sick day.
When Skye arrived at the Up A Lazy River Motor Court office, Charlie handed her the list. “Here. I hope you’re happy,” he complained. “I had to agree to take Karolyn to the lodge dinner in order to get this without an explanation.”
“Thank you, Uncle Charlie.” Skye smiled to herself. So Karolyn wanted to go out with Charlie. That was extremely interesting, considering it was common knowledge that she was already boffing her boss. Maybe Dr. Wraige and his secretary had had a tiff.
Charlie shook his head. “I’m leaving for a doctor’s appointment. Lock up when you’re finished.”
“No problem.” Skye waved Charlie out the door. “Remember, don’t draw to an inside straight.” She knew his appointment was really a poker game.
Skye checked the clock. It was past two. Not bothering to take off her coat, she quickly took a seat at Charlie’s desk and pulled the phone toward her. Taking into account the time difference between Illinois and the East Coast, she was worried about catching people before they left for the day.
As she dialed the first number, a school district in New York, she crossed her fingers, hoping the personnel manager would be available. Luck was with her, but the person Skye spoke to stated that no one named Jacqueline Jennings had ever taught for them.
The next person Skye tried was Jackie’s internship supervisor. That woman said that Jackie had been a promising young social worker. When Skye questioned the use of the word
The last name on the list was that of a professor at the university from which Jackie’s graduate degree had been issued. He said that the Jacqueline Jennings he’d had as a student had been killed in a hit-and-run accident last December, a few months into her first year as a school social worker.
Stunned, Skye let the receiver drop into the cradle. The real Jacqueline Jennings had never worked for the school district listed on her resume, was ten years younger than the one in Scumble River, and was actually deceased. Something was definitely not adding up. It was time to call the police.
Wally listened to all Skye had found out, then said, “Interesting, but there’s no hard evidence, so about all I can do is drop around school tomorrow and talk to her. I haven’t met her yet, so I can use that as an excuse.”
“But she’s pretending to be a dead person. Stealing their identity.”
“Maybe. Or maybe there’s some kind of mix-up. We need more evidence before the police can get involved.”
Skye bit back a scream of frustration. “I’ll bet the fingerprints on my cookie package are hers.”
“Unfortunately, if she isn’t in the system, we can’t compel her to let us fingerprint her.”
“But she had to be fingerprinted in order for the school to employ her.”
“Yes, but those prints are only compared to the criminal database. They aren’t actually entered
Skye felt as if her head were going to explode. “How about if I get her prints on something and bring them in?”
“Even if they match, we can’t arrest her. Since you share an office with her, any halfway competent attorney would claim Jackie had merely helped herself to one of your cookies.”
“Crap!”
“Look,” Wally soothed. “I think you’re on the right track, but the question comes back to motive. Why is she doing this? If we could figure that out, it would help us build a case. Do you have any theory?”
“I have no idea.”
“Maybe when the school board looks into her background, something will give us a lead.” Wally paused. “If it turns out she really has stolen someone’s identity, we can charge her with that, and she might confess or let something slip during the interrogation.”
“ ‘Maybe.’ ‘Might.’ ” Skye’s voice had a sarcastic edge. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Wait for her to try to kill me again?”
“You’re right,” Wally agreed. “It’s probably not a good idea for you to be alone until we figure this out. I should have thought of that Friday night after we found out about Gloria. How about if you move in with me?”
She froze. This was not the way she wanted the next step in their relationship to come about. Besides, her
