A Trace of Crime by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Blake Pierce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2017-10-20T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Keri pulled up in front of the school at 10:45 a.m. She sat there quietly for a moment, wondering whether the clearly deranged person who’d taken Jessica was in one of the classrooms on the seemingly pristine campus.

Mags had agreed to drive the two girls to the group homes so Keri could head straight here. Neither said much for the rest of the drive back but the hug they shared before parting ways was intense. Keri could feel her friend thanking her with the tightness of her squeeze.

“Drinks are on you next time,” Keri had said when they pulled apart. Mags nodded but said nothing. It was a rare occasion when Margaret Merrywether was left speechless.

Keri shook the pleasant memory from her head and focused on the task at hand. There was a potential kidnapper in the school and it was her job to find out the facts.

She walked to the main office, zipping up her jacket against the chill in the air. Ray and Jamie Castillo were waiting. When she stepped inside, they filled her in.

“Our suspect is Justin Hensarling,” Ray said. “Thirty-one years old. He teaches 6th grade history. Jessica is in his third-period class. CSU found a partial print on the iron-on school logo on her gym shirt. They didn’t think to check the clothes at first because they don’t usually maintain prints. But Edgerton noticed the logo and had them try.”

“Why are we so suspicious about a print on her shirt?” Keri asked. “Couldn’t it be inadvertent?”

“It’s possible,” Ray said. “But the girls only wear gym uniforms during gym class. And he doesn’t teach gym. His classroom is clear across campus. There’s no reason his print should ever have come in contact with her shirt.”

“Fair enough,” Keri said. “Let’s meet Mr. Hensarling.”

“Okay, so how do we want to handle this?” Castillo asked. “If he’s our guy, he might get suspicious if the principal asks him to come to the office. We don’t want him losing it in a classroom full of kids.”

“Good point,” Keri said. “Is he married?”

“Yes,” Castillo said, looking at his file. “For three years.”

“Okay,” Keri said, pausing for a moment to think before launching into her plan. “We have an office assistant go to his classroom and ask him into the hall because he has an urgent message from his wife. When he steps out, we’ll be there waiting to escort him to a secure area.”

Ray and Jamie nodded, and moments later, the principal agreed to the plan on the condition that they stay out of sight. She didn’t want to freak out the kids. And if it turned out there was an innocent explanation, she didn’t want her teacher’s reputation injured because he was seen being interrogated by uniformed police officers.

They agreed and the assistant led them to the classroom. Castillo waited in an exterior hallway while Keri and Ray positioned themselves on either side of the classroom door, out of sight.

The assistant, clearly nervous, knocked on the door and opened it.

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