An Unhealthy Attachment by Jacqueline Vick

Author:Jacqueline Vick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Classical Reads

23

By the time Father McAllister dialed the last parent on his list, he had his spiel memorized. The same questions came up over and over. Is my child all right? How did it happen? Why did the school let it happen? Which teacher? And not necessarily in that order. Once they realized that there wasn't any danger, they focused on any possible inconvenience.

Jesse Molina’s mother, Ms. Kincaid, asked intelligent questions. He could see where the girl got her journalistic instincts.

“Do the police have any suspects?” she asked.

“I’m afraid they aren’t taking me into their confidences.”

“But do you think her death was school-related?”

He thought what she really wanted to know was if the killer was still on the school grounds. “I don’t know, but I really can’t see it having anything to do with Miss Allen’s classes or her relationship with the teachers or students. In all honesty, I think the students are perfectly safe.”

“But you don’t know.”

“I’m not handing out guarantees, if that’s what you’re after.”

“No. Of course not. It just seems so…odd. I can’t see a deranged stranger wandering through the building and killing the first person he ran into, can you?”

“That’s far-fetched.”

“Which means it had to be one of the parents, or a staff member. It—it couldn’t be one of the students. That would be too—no. It couldn’t be.”

McAllister assured her that wasn’t even a consideration. “Can you imagine one of the girls—pardon me, young ladies—breaking free of their parents long enough to make it to the front steps, let alone enter the building?”

She laughed. “You’re right. Thank you.”

Frank Blazer used the phone call as an opportunity to take a jab at McAllister.

“Apparently Religious Ed didn’t stop someone from committing murder.”

McAllister pretended to misunderstand him. “Are you suggesting the killer is one of the students?”

“No. No. Of course not!”

McAllister smiled as Frank Blazer abruptly ended the call.

When Kirk Graham answered the phone after McAllister made it through a firewall of three secretaries, his crisp tenor held the careful manners of a businessman who didn't want to commit until he fully understood the proposition. McAllister explained the incident, answering questions as they were fired at him, and then waited for an expression of concern over the daughter's mental state. For all the man knew, Cami was cowering in the corner of her locked dorm room, fighting off hysterics.

“Will classes continue as normal? Because it wouldn't be convenient to bring Cami home right now.”

“Classes will continue with minimal interruption, except for the need to get a substitute art teacher.”

“Of course.” His response implied a dislike for the obvious. By the time McAllister hung up, he wondered what Mrs. Winters would have to say about Kirk Graham.

As if his thoughts had summoned her, his secretary stood in his doorway and announced a visitor. Detective Pool moved past her and at the last minute closed the door behind him. She pushed the door open and asked, “Do you need me?”

The priest looked a question at the detective.

“Father and I are just going to have a friendly conversation.

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