'She's good-looking,' Samuelson said. 'Maybe she figured there'd be some way to broker a deal.'
'It's a thought,' I said.
Chapter 24
FAIRFAX HIGH SCHOOL is located at the corner of Fairfax and Melrose, not very far from CBS and The Farmer's Market down Fairfax, and excitingly close to the center of black lipstick and body piercing a little further east on Melrose.
The principal looked like a short John Thompson, black, about six-foot-five, and heavy. I introduced myself.
He shook hands. 'Arthur Atkins.'
He asked to see some ID. I provided some. He read it carefully.
'You are a private investigator,' he said.
'Yes.'
'Well you look like you can handle the job.'
'You look like you could provide firm guidance yourself,' I said. 'To rebellious teenagers.'
'We got school police with shotguns. They help me.'
'Are sock hops waning in popularity?'
'Waning,' Atkins said. 'You wanted to talk to me about Steve Buckman?'
'Yes.'
'You say he's been killed?'
'Yep.'
'How did he die?' Atkins said.
'He was murdered.'
'Jesus Christ,' Atkins said. 'What do you need to know?'
'Anything you can tell me,' I said. 'I'm just feeling my way around in the dark.'
'Aren't we all,' Atkins said.
'Was he a good football coach?'
Atkins paused a moment, thought about it, and decided.
'Not for us,' he said. 'This isn't the NFL. Any coach wants to win. But it's also about the kids. About learning to work hard, and achieve some selfcontrol, and respect one another and win with grace and lose with dignity and cooperate, and follow directions, and think on their feet, and, for crissake, to have some fun.'
'Buckman get any of that?'
'Got the win part, though not the grace part. Got the follow directions part, as long as they were his directions.'
'Did he leave voluntarily?'
'No. I fired him.'
'Any specific reason other than being a jerk?'
'I don't even remember the official reason. There always has to be one. But that was the real reason.'
'How'd he take that?'
'He said it was a racial thing. Said he was going to kick my ass.'
'Did he?'
'He figured he was a pretty tough guy,' Atkins said. 'Been in the Marines. Was a running back at Pacific Lutheran.'
'And?'
'I been in the Marines and played football.'
'Where'd you play?'
'SC.'
'Offensive tackle?'
'Very.'
'So what happened between you and Buckman?'
'I invited him to the office and offered him the chance to kick my ass.'
'He take it?'
Atkins smiled. 'No.'
'He have any kind of part-time job?' I said.
