Innocent in Death (In Death #24)(120)

“You’re just giving up?”

“It’s what we call ‘knowing when to fold.’ A couple of teachers aren’t going to get much more screen play anyway.” Casually, Eve crossed her ankles. “I can figure out how you did your mother. Can’t prove it, but I can get how you played it. You made the tea, you put in the pills. Did she know?”

Rayleen shrugged. “My mother tried to kill herself, and it’s terrible. I could be scarred for life. Daddy and I are going to need to go on a long trip, just the two of us, so I can adjust.”

“Then why’d she call you home first? Why did your mother call you back instead of just taking the pills while she was alone?”

“I guess she wanted to say good-bye.” Rayleen lifted her gaze, fluttered her lashes. And was smiling just a little as she worked up a tear. “She loved me more than anything.”

Already using past tense, Eve noted. Allika was gone in Rayleen’s mind. “That could work,” Eve agreed. “Come on, Ray, it must be infuriating for a smart girl like you not to be able to share what you can do with anyone else. I know about taking a life from both sides of it. You’ve got me cold, tied my hands. You win; I lose. But goddamn it, I’m curious.”

“You use very bad language. In my house, we don’t approve of bad language.”

“Screw that,” Eve said, and made Rayleen giggle. “Why’d you do Foster? I can, again, work out the how. You got the ricin from somewhere. Can’t track that, either, but you got it, dumped it in his thermos.”

“It’s called a go-cup,” Rayleen said primly.

“Right. You walked in when he had the outside class upstairs, doctored the drink. Then you got your friend to go down to class a few minutes early, so you could find him. Slick.”

“If you were right, you still wouldn’t beall right. You don’t know everything.”

“No, you got me. Why would you kill him? Did he try to hurt you? Did he try some sort of abuse? Touch you?”

“Please. That’s disgusting.”

“I’m not going to buy it was just a whim. You went to too much trouble, planned it out too well.”

Rayleen’s lips twitched. “If you were really smart, you’d know everything.”

“Got me there.”

“Maybe—and this is just like pretending I’m talking to you about it—maybe he was stupid and mean and made a really dumb mistake and wouldn’t listen even when I gave him a chance to fix it.”

“What kind of mistake? Since we’re pretending.”

“He gave me an A minus on my oral report. Aminus. I always get an A or an A plus. He had no business giving me a minus, just because he thought my presentation needed more work. I practiced and practiced. I was thebest in the whole class, and getting less than a solid A means I could drop to second instead of first.”

“You poisoned him because he gave you an A minus on a presentation?” Eve repeated.

“Itold him I needed him to change it to an A, at least. That I didn’t want to drop to second in the class, and how hard I’d worked. Do you know what he said?”

“I’m riveted.”

“He said the grade wasn’t as important as thelearning and the experience. Can you believe anything that base? That stupid?”

“Boggling.”

“And he gave Melodie an A, and now we’re almost tied for first in the class. I fixed her, too.”

It was all in the diary, Eve thought, all these details. But it was fascinating, and horrible, to hear them out of the girl’s mouth. “By making sure she saw what happened to Mr. Foster?”

“She has nightmares.” Rayleen laughed. “And her attendance record’s blown! She’s such a big baby.”

“What about Williams?”

Now Rayleen rolled her eyes. “If you’re not totally stupid, you know why.”

“So I’d think he killed Mr. Foster? But—”

“That’s so lame-o.”

Rayleen got up to go to the little pay AutoChef, digging credits from the pocket of her pink jeans. She plugged them in and ordered herself a lemon fizzy.

“Why’s it lame-o?”

Rayleen got a straw from the counter, and her lips curved around it as she sucked up the drink. “You were supposed to think Principal Mosebly killed them both. Because of having sex. That’s disgusting, too, and she should pay for it. Anyway, she’s too strict, and I was getting tired of it.”

“I looked at her,” Eve agreed, and spoke conversationally. “I thought, initially, that Williams did Foster to cover the fact that he was a pervert, then Mosebly killed Williams because he tried to blackmail her. But the timing kept hanging me up, and every time I ran it through, it pulled out to the same killer for both. I couldn’t pin Foster on Mosebly. Didn’t fit.”

“You could if you wanted. He had the dumb cup in his ugly old briefcase in the class all the time, so she could’ve. Now, I guess you won’t ever arrest anyone.”

“It’s looking that way.” Eve picked up the dreadful coffee again. Just a couple of girls, she thought, having a drink and talking shop. “Where’d you get the drug you used on Williams? It was damn good thinking to get him in the pool. We nearly missed the drug since you used such a small amount. Timing worked against you that time.”