Golden in Death(55)

With his teeth digging into his bottom lip, the kid angled the bottle away, uncapped it. Spotting the women at the door, Rosalind winked.

“Final step, Mac.”

“I gotta put the tea bag with the potassium iodide in the bottle with the peroxide.”

“Slowly.”

Glaciers moved faster, Eve figured.

When the bag finally hit the peroxide, a big cloud puffed out of the bottle. The kid grinned as if he’d just split an atom or something, and his teacher grinned with him.

“That’s so mega, Mr. Rosalind.”

“Yeah, it’s frosty all right. Now, I want you to write out the experiment, what you used, what steps you took. Then explain what reaction took place. Go ahead and take your tablet into the lounge and get started. Mac, gloves and goggles,” he added as the boy grabbed his tablet.

“Oh yeah.” He stripped them off, put them in labeled bins. “Thanks, Mr. Rosalind. Hey, Ms. Myata.”

Myata stepped in as Mac rushed out. “Is Mac still having trouble with his labs?”

“He gets flustered, and does better one-on-one. I don’t see a budding scientist in him, but he’ll do all right with the course. Hello.” He walked over, offered Eve his hand. “Ty Rosalind.”

“Lieutenant Dallas.”

“Ah.” His smiling greeting faded. “Kent. We’re all still reeling.”

“You were friendly with Dr. Abner?”

“I was, yes. I talked him into speaking with some of my advanced students who planned to go into medicine. He always made the time.”

“How long have you taught here, Mr. Rosalind?”

“Thirty-seven years. And one more if we count my year as a teaching assistant.”

“So you were on staff when Lotte Grange was headmaster.”

“Yes. Martin is the fourth headmaster I’ve worked with.”

Martin, she noted, not the formal Headmaster Rufty.

“Dr. Rufty implemented a lot of changes when he took over.”

“Yes, he did. I’m sorry, would you like to sit down? Kim, I’ve got some tea bags with leaves still in them.”

“Oh, thank you, but perhaps I should leave you to talk. I can wait in the teachers’ lounge until you’re ready to go back down, Lieutenant.”

“I can find my way back, thanks. You’ve been very helpful.”

“If you need me for anything else, I’m available. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said to Rosalind.

“Interested in one of those tea bags?” he said to Eve.

“Not even a little.”

But she walked in and took a good look around.





12


A good, organized space with a desk in the far front of the room, an old-fashioned blackboard behind it. Numerous counters and workstations, screens, comps, stools instead of chairs.

Beakers, vials, bottles, portable heaters for experiments.

“You’re well equipped in here, Mr. Rosalind.”

“We are. This is one of three chem labs. We have a smaller one on this level for advanced chemistry. Students need to qualify to take that course.”

“Do you teach that, too?”

“I do.”

“Who orders the chemicals, the equipment?”

“As senior in the department, I requisition administration. You think someone from the school did this to Kent? The reports weren’t specific, but made it clear a chemical agent was used. I’m going to sit if you don’t mind. I’ve been on my feet most of the day.”

He lowered to a stool, sighed. “Without knowing what was used, I couldn’t tell you if such a thing could have been created here.”

“You stock toxic chemicals?”

“We would certainly have the ability to create them. Even with something as entertaining as the cloud effect—the oxygen release—I had Mac do, you see we take precautions. And all the chemicals, even something as basic as this hydrogen peroxide, would be locked up before I leave. The lab is also locked when not in use.”

“Why don’t you tell me where you were the night before Dr. Abner was killed. Just to tie that off.”

“The night before. That’s easy. My wife and I were at my son’s for dinner, and to celebrate our oldest grandchild’s birthday. She’s fifteen. Actually, Meris is a student here.” He smiled. “And barely got through Introduction to Chemistry. She’s more interested in theater—and is starring in the spring musical. She had rehearsal after classes, just as she does today, so I actually waited, took her home, met my wife there. I don’t think we left until about ten-thirty.”

“And then?”

“Well, we walked home, Lilliana and I. It was a nice night, and it’s only a handful of blocks. Plus.” He patted his stomach. “Birthday cake. I graded some papers in bed while Lilliana read. It was probably lights-out by eleven-thirty.”

“Okay.”

“I consider Kent and Martin friends. Considered Kent a friend.” He looked toward the windows, toward the sky of tender spring blue. “Kent and I often ran together on weekends if we could mesh our schedules.”

Now Eve sat. “Tell me about Lotte Grange.”

He sighed again. “Thirty-seven years, four headmasters, so many students I’ve watched come in as hardly more than babies and leave as young men and women. It’s still satisfying to me to help someone like Mac, who’s so easily distracted, so unsure of himself, find some moment of triumph and fascination with science.”