Read Online Theodore Boone: The Scandal by John Grisham - Free Book Online Page A

school board had hired “independent investigators” to look into the “rumors” regarding cheating at East Middle School.
      
    The investigation was moving faster than the news about it. Dr. Stoop and her staff had, in fact, been suspicious not long after they had first seen the test scores. The improvements at East were almost too good to be true. However, they had accepted the scores, even said nice things about them, and really hoped there was nothing sinister behind them. Perhaps the scores were accurate and life would peacefully go on.
    But the anonymous letter had floored them. The fact that whoever wrote it had been bold enough to name names—Mr. London and Ms. Kovak—forced Dr. Stoop to start asking questions. The attorney, Mr. McNile, advised her to immediately hire investigators from outside the school system and get to the bottom of it. Then somebody—they would never know who—leaked the story to the newspaper reporter, and the scandal was in the process of blowing up.
    The investigators spent hours reviewing the tests. Their conclusion was obvious and simple: Yes, there were far more erasures on the eighth-grade tests than would appear to be normal. For example, in a typical two-hour exam on history, with fifty questions, the average test-taker would make five changes. He or she would erase the bubble for either
A
,
B
,
C
,
D
, or
E
, and fill in another bubble for the second, and correct choice, with a standard lead pencil. But for some of the eighth-grade exams at East, there were up to fifteen erasures. Late Thursday afternoon, the investigators met with Dr. Stoop and her staff and delivered the bad news. She told them to press on with all due speed. The reporter was calling and things could get out of control.
      
    On Friday, as Theo was hiding in the library and scanning the Internet for news, the principal at East asked Ms. Emily Kovak to please step into his office. Waiting for her were the two investigators. They were pleasant and courteous and said they just had a few routine questions. She was immediately terrified.
    The first investigator asked, “Did you return to the school on the Saturday after the testing was finished?”
    “Well, I’m not sure if I remember.”
    “It was only three weeks ago. Do you often come to the school on Saturdays?”
    “Occasionally.” She shot a frightened look at the principal, who was glaring at her as if she’d been caught stealing some kid’s lunch money.
    “Then try real hard to remember if you came here on that Saturday.”
    “I seem to recall that I did. Yes, the day after the tests were over.”
    “And what was the purpose of your return?”
    “I needed to pick up some homework to grade.”
    “I see. But the students had no homework that week, right? There’s no homework during the standardized tests, am I correct?”
    He looked at the principal who said, “That’s correct.”
    Ms. Novak’s shoulders sagged a bit, and she looked confused. She said, “It was some old homework that I had forgotten to grade. Where is this going?”
    “Were there other teachers here that Saturday?”
    “I don’t recall seeing anyone,” she said nervously.
    “Was Mr. London here?”
    She looked away, trying to appear as if she couldn’t remember.
    “Did you meet Mr. London and some other teachers here that Saturday?”
    She couldn’t recall. As the interview went on, she was able to remember less and less. The investigator never mentioned the possibility of changing test scores; that would come later. After half an hour, the principal asked her to stay in the room with him for a few minutes. The two investigators left and walked into the office next door where Mr. London was waiting nervously. The same questions were asked, the same denials offered. He, too, had a bad memory. But he was also rattled and did a lot of stuttering.
    It was obvious to the investigators that the teachers, if they had in fact worked together and changed test scores, had