Read Online Are You Nuts? by Mark Richard Zubro - Free Book Online

Frank’s office. He wore the same brown suit he wore 90 percent of the time. I don’t know if he had just the one suit or whole racks full of brown suits that he kept in heaps on the floor so they’d all look equally rumpled.
    He said, “I hear and see you’re a big star now.”
    â€œYeah, fame is as much fun as being run over by a tank.”
    â€œThat happen to you often?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThat tank thing.”
    â€œOnly this year. You should try being famous.”
    â€œNo thanks.”
    â€œYou heard Meg Swarthmore’s been arrested?”
    â€œWho is she?”
    â€œLibrarian at the school. A good friend of mine.”
    â€œI vaguely recall who she is. What’d she do?”
    â€œNothing. They think she killed Jerome Blenkinsop, one of the teachers.”
    â€œWhat evidence do they have?”
    I told him about the purse, the fingerprints, and their dislike for each other.
    â€œI don’t know, Tom. It’s not my case. I’ll keep my ears open, but I can’t do much for her or you.”
    â€œI’m going to ask people questions.”
    â€œKeep out of the way of the detectives. None of them are nearly as sweet as I am.”
    â€œWho could be?”
    I knew he’d help me as best he could. If I went home, I suspected I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep. I was too concerned about Meg. I left and drove to the Frankfort Village Inn on La Grange Road in Frankfort to grab some breakfast, then hurried to school.

   5   
    It was eight in the morning and only a few teachers, custodians, and administrators were around. I walked over to Carolyn Blackburn’s office. Her personal secretary, Mavis Lukachevsky, announced me immediately.
    Carolyn said, “It’s awful about Meg.”
    â€œI was at the police station.”
    â€œHow is she?”
    â€œI couldn’t get in to see her. My lawyer is working on getting her out on bail.”
    â€œI was too busy calming down raving board members and hysterical parents last night to get a clear idea of what happened. The police wouldn’t tell me anything.”
    I gave her a brief outline based on what Agnes had told us. Carolyn shook her head. “I don’t picture Meg killing anybody. Why would she need to? What’s the point?”
    â€œI know Meg didn’t like Belutha. It seems Jerome was in Belutha’s and Lydia Marquez’s camp.”
    â€œThat’s news to me.”
    â€œWere you aware of any connection between those three?”
    â€œI hear much less than people imagine. As superintendent I avoid gossip. Most of the time it is inaccurate or, worse, outright vicious lies. Sometimes it is better not to know. What you can ignore as superintendent can be fairly important. I can picture Meg doing in Belutha.” She smiled briefly. “That actually might be amusing. I’ve seen them at meetings. Belutha tries to come across as sweetness and light, but there’s a lot of anger there as well, which everyone finally saw last night.”
    â€œI’m going to be talking to a lot of people about the murder. I have to prove Meg innocent or find the one who did it.”
    â€œIf I can help, let me know. Some of the folks who were at the meeting won’t be eager to talk to you.”
    â€œI understand that. I know I can’t make them open up.”
    â€œThe police could get annoyed if they think you’re interfering.”
    â€œI can handle that. Have you got time to tell me what happened last night?”
    â€œDefinitely. Do you know the outgoing president of the PTA, Louis Johnson?”
    I shook my head.
    â€œWell, at the beginning he ran the meeting. He didn’t seem to know what he was doing and things got out of hand very quickly. It was supposed to be a candidates’ forum. Questions were to be submitted from the audience and each candidate would answer them. First, they couldn’t agree on