Crowned and Moldering

All the anxiety over Cliff’s death had made me forget about Lily for the moment. But now I was unsettled all over again by the fact that Mr. Jones and Lily might’ve been a couple all those years ago. Unfortunately, I couldn’t share that news with Ms. Barney, because so far it was just a supposition I’d deduced from reading Lily’s notebook.

Once Ms. Barney and I had exhausted the subject of Cliff’s death, we kept our chitchat light, talking about what we’d done over the weekend and about school and the town and this and that. She insisted again that she pla

“I hope we can make that happen,” she said as we approached her office.

“Good morning, Ms. Barney.”

We both glanced up and saw one of the school secretaries standing by the door to the principal’s office.

“Hello, Helen,” Ms. Barney said.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Helen said, “but you have a phone call.”

“Who is it, Helen?”

The secretary was about to speak when the double doors at the far end of the hall were flung open and Eric, Tommy, and a small phalanx of cops came marching into the school.

Eric walked straight up to Ms. Barney and spoke in a low voice. “I’ve got a warrant for the arrest of one of your teachers. I’d appreciate if you would call him out into the hall and leave the students inside the room while we speak to him.”

Her face turned white, and I was afraid mine matched hers.

“Are you sure this is necessary while school is in session?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so.”

She walked him a few yards down the hall, away from the group of secretaries, who were watching everything from her doorway. “Who do you want to see?”

Eric lowered his voice. “Bradford Jones.”

Someone screamed behind us. We all turned and saw Helen, who had been following closely behind Ms. Barney. She quickly whipped around and raced back into the office.

And I knew the news would move faster than a bullet train around town.

“Eric, why?” I asked.

He pulled me to the side of the hall, where his men wouldn’t hear me freaking out. I understood that Mr. Jones and Lily had had an affair, but standing here in the light of day, with Eric about to arrest him, I just couldn’t believe that the teacher I admired and thought I knew so well could be a killer. “It’s impossible.”

Eric’s jaw twitched. “You don’t know that.”

“But I know him. And I refuse to believe he killed Lily.”

Ms. Barney approached us, looking very worried. She pointed down the hall. “He’s in room 124.”

Eric nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.”

I grabbed his arm. “Please, Eric. Don’t do this. He’s not guilty. He can’t be. He loved her.”

He looked down at me and frowned. “Sha

“What evidence? An old notebook? All that proved was that Lily had a crush on him, just like every other girl in school. But even if they had been together, it doesn’t mean he killed her. Don’t tell me you found his bloody fingerprints somewhere.”

Eric glanced around to make sure we weren’t being overheard. “Sha

I swallowed hard. “But he’s a good man. I refuse to believe he would hurt her.”

“He was her teacher.” Eric was speaking carefully, slowly, as he would to a very young child. Any other time I might have been insulted. “She was his student. They had sex. She told him she was pregnant, and he knew his career would be over if anyone found out.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe he was happy with the news. Maybe someone else was angry. What about Cliff? He was her boyfriend. Wouldn’t he be furious to know she’d been with someone else? I think that would drive him crazy. He’s always had a lot of rage boiling inside him.” I had a sudden thought. “And he was trying to blackmail Denise! Cliff must’ve found out that her husband was the father of Lily’s baby.”

“Those are all good points,” Eric admitted. “But the very fact that Cliff tried to blackmail Denise makes it even more likely that Brad Jones killed him.”

“That is so unfair,” I said. “Brad Jones is kind and thoughtful and . . . and squeamish! He could no more kill someone than fly to the moon.”

“If he’s i

I glanced up and down the hall at the gathered officers. Lowering my voice even more, I said, “You’ve come here with six police officers to drag Mr. Jones out in handcuffs. You’re treating him like he’s a mass murderer. It’s going to ruin his career. Can’t you at least wait until after school is out?”

“Trust me to handle this, Sha

I stared at him for a long moment and then nodded and stepped back. What else could I do? I couldn’t spin around on the floor and throw a temper tantrum and embarrass myself—and Eric—in front of his officers. But I wanted to, darn it. Because I knew Brad had to be i

Okay, I didn’t actually know he was i

Ms. Barney had been standing off to the side, and Eric nodded at her. She looked so unhappy, but she dutifully slipped into the classroom and closed the door. Thirty seconds later, she emerged with Mr. Jones right behind her.

“Thank you,” Eric said to the principal, who nodded grimly.

Tommy crossed the hall and stood in front of the classroom door, probably to keep any curious students from sneaking out.

Mr. Jones glanced from the police chief to Ms. Barney to me. “What’s going on?”

Eric pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket. “Bradford Jones, I have a warrant for your arrest in the murder of Lily Brogan.”

Brad stared at him in horror. “What? Are you serious? No! I didn’t kill Lily. I loved her. We were going to be married.”

“You can tell me the whole story down at the station,” Eric said quietly.

“The station? But I didn’t . . .” His gaze darted around the hall until he found me. “I swear I didn’t hurt Lily, Sha

“I believe you,” I said, and prayed I was right. But then I quickly brushed the doubts away. There was no way Brad Jones could ever hurt anyone. I was sure of it.

Brad stared at the handcuffs and straightened his shoulders. “Those won’t be necessary, Chief Jensen. I’ll go with you.”

Eric took a moment to decide the best way to proceed, then simply took hold of Brad’s arm and led him down the hall and out the door. Tommy and the other cops followed behind, and I, being no fool, joined them.

They got Brad seated in the back of the patrol car. The officer at the wheel had just started the engine when a silver truck careened into the parking lot and skidded to a stop. Denise jumped out of the cab of the truck and ran toward the patrol car, screaming, “No!”

Eric and another officer tried to waylay her but she was too quick for them. She grabbed the back-door handle of the car and tried to yank it open, but it was locked. “Let him go!”

“Ms. Jones,” Eric shouted. “Step away from the car.”

The driver jumped out of the patrol car and tried to pry her hand off the door handle, but Denise had adrenaline and panic on her side. He couldn’t budge her.

“Everybody step back!” Eric yelled, clearly a

Denise whipped around. “I did it! Arrest me. I killed Lily. I—I was jealous of her and Brad, so I killed her.”

Eric’s gaze narrowed in on her. “Ms. Jones, are you confessing to the murder of Lily Brogan?”

Her eyes widened in fear and confusion. “Yes. No. Yes, I did it.”

“Oh, Denise,” I said. “You didn’t kill Lily.”

“I did, too,” she insisted.

Eric nodded at the driver, who jumped back into the patrol car and took off before Denise could throw herself in its path.