meeting the principal

There was a minute of silence as Jake drove them to Downey High School, finally Sally said. “You don’t really think Cassandra killed her dad?”

Jake glanced at her, then focused on the road. “I really don’t know. I haven’t even met her yet.”

Sally sighed. “I just hope she’s alive.”

Jake pulled into the school parking lot. “Me too.”

Jake pulled into an empty parking space. The detectives got out and started towards the building he said. “What I can’t

understand is how no one else saw that person in the Zorro costume.”

“I know,” Sally replied. “That’s bugging me too.”

They reached the door. Jake opened it up and held it like a gentleman.

Sally stepped inside and began walking. “Do you think that maybe the culprit lived on the street and went inside their home. I mean, if I just killed someone, I wouldn’t be walking around in public.”

Jake closed the door and hustled to catch up with her. “At this point, anything is possible. Though I didn’t get any guilty reads from the neighbors we interviewed.”

Do you know where you’re going?” Silly said as they started down a hallway.

Nope,” Jake replied. “I went to Davis. How about you?”

“Actually, I grew up in Sacramento. I moved here shortly after my divorce.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“Well.” Sally glanced down. “I don’t really like to talk about it.” “That’s fine.” Jake suddenly stopped.

Sally stopped and turned around. “What is it?”

“I think were here.” Jake took a step towards a door and opened it.

Sally saw it said.”Office.” She followed Jake inside. There was a female with short light brown hair sitting at a desk typing on a computer. She looked up. “The school is closed.” She stated in a raspy voice.

Jake walked over and took his badge out.” Well, I’m Detective Stone.” He showed it to her. “And this is Detective Beaumont. We need to speak with the principal.”

The woman went wide-eyed as she looked at the badge. “Umm, Well.” she gulped. “Her office is down the hall.” She stood up. “Is everything okay?”

Jake put his badge back in his pocket. “We’d really like to ask her some questions.”

Sure.” The lady walked towards the door. “Follow me. I’ll take you to her office.”

The detective walked quickly. Once they were beside her, Jake said. “And what is your name?”

“Nikki Wheatly.” Her voice was shaky.

“And the principal's name?”

“Janet Mild.” She stopped in front of a door. The detectives quickly stopped beside her.

Here it is.” Nikki opened the door and motioned them inside.

The detectives stepped inside. Nikki stepped in next and closed the door. She walked over to a desk, picked up a phone, and pushed some buttons. “Yes, Janet. There are some detectives here

to see you... I have no idea. I didn’t ask them... Alright.” She hung the phone up. “She’s on her way.”

Jake noticed her face was red and her lower li was trembling. “are you okay miss Wheatley?”

“Oh yeah. I’m fine.” Her voice said she was nervous. “ It’s just when detectives come here to ask questions, it can’t be good.”

The wait for the principal was filled with awkward silence.

A minute later, the door opened, and a lady with long blonde hair entered the room. She was wearing black slacks and a red blouse. Her hourglass figure was easy to make out through her conservative clothes.

She walked over to the detectives. “Gentleman,” She glanced at Sally.”And, lady.”

“I’m principal Mild.” She shook Jake’s, then Sally’s hand. “How can I help you?”

Jake pulled his badge out. “ I’m Detective Stone. And this is my partner, Detective Beaumont.” He put his badge away. “We were wondering if we could get some addresses of a couple of students.”

Janet looked at him with her right eyebrow raised. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can give that out without their parents permission.”

“Well then, I guess you'd better call their parents.“ Jake said boldly.

“What’s this about?” Janet in a high-pitched tone.

“This is about a murder investigation,” Jake stated as a matter of factly. “Along with a missing student.”

Janet cringed. “Who? What? ” She began to rapidly breathe. She put a hand on her chest and took a couple of deep breaths.

“Look.” Jake started off. “I can’t get into much detail. But Cassandra’s father was killed last night. And now she is missing.”

Janet looked like she was about to faint. She took a couple of quick breaths. “That’s awful. “She looked at the detectives. “I’ll get those dresses right away.” She walked towards a cabinet. As she did, Jake could see out of the corner of his eyes that Nikki was staring blankly, like she was in a trance.

Janet opened the cabinet door. “What students are you looking for?”

Jeremy Norwood and Ally Hardwick.” Jake said. He paused a moment then said. “So what kind of student is Cassandra?”

“She’s straight A student. Always so friendly and outgoing.” Janet flipped through the folders. “She loved helping people. In fact, she even started tutoring students after school.”

“Well, that nice,” Sally said. “Do you know if she ever had any issues with her classmates?”

“Not really.” Janet pulled two files out of the drawer and stood up. She then got a look like she had an epiphany “You know what? Come to think of it. She had an argument with a student, Carol Kendrick one day.”

“Do you know about what?” Jake said.

“I didn't’ really hear the conversation. But rumor was that she was jealous that Cassandra was tutoring Mike. See. Mike was her ex- boyfriend.”

“Well, that’s interesting,” Jake said. “Tell me, did she tutor here on campus?”

“Janet shook her head. No. I mean, she asked me if she could, but I didn’t want to be responsible if anything happened.”

“Then how did you know she was still tutoring?” Jake stated aggressively.

You know.” Janet shrugged her shoulders. “You hear talk around campus. They said she was doing it at her parents’ house before they got home. “ Janet walked over and handed the files to Jake.

Jake gave her a disapproving stare.”And you didn’t think to tell her parents this?”

“I really didn’t think it was any of my business. Like I said, it was after school.”

Jake huffed and violently shook his head.

Sally stepped in between them and faced Janet. “So obviously, you’ve heard a lot of rumors. Were there any involving Cassandra outside of her tutoring?”

“Not that I recall.” Janet was beginning to sound stressed.

“Well, did you ever meet her parents?” Sally used a calm tone to try to keep Janet focused.

Janet nodded.”Yeah, we had about four parent/teacher meetings.”

“And what was tour impressions of them?” Sally could hear Jake breathing behind her. like he was upset or frustrated.

“Well, Camille was really kind. very charismatic.” She paused a moment. “I don’t really like to speak ill of the dead, but Mike was a bit.” She paused again. “He was just very intense. He had that holier-than-thou attitude.”

Fair enough.” Sally looked at Jake behind her, then faced Janet. “Alright, I think we got all we need for now.” We’ll let you get back to work.” She headed towards the door.

Jake followed her. At the door, he opened it up. Sally stepped out. Jake glared at Janet and shook his head before he stepped out and closed the door.