Page 18 of Artifice (Pros and Cons Mysteries #4)

O live’s heart pounded harder in her ears at Abe’s words.

Maybe this was just the conversation she needed to have.

She leaned toward him. “Why do you think you might disappear?”

Before Abe could answer, the door opened. Margaret stood there.

Had she been eavesdropping? Again?

Margaret looked at him with a laser-like stare. “Abe, get back to class. We don’t want your grades to suffer.”

His gaze remained on Olive another moment before he finally averted his eyes.

Was he going to sell her out?

Olive didn’t think so. But mentioning Colin had been chancy.

She prayed the risk paid off.

“Yes, ma’am,” he finally said.

Then he scurried away.

Olive desperately wanted to talk to him again, however. She just needed the right plan to make that happen.

Margaret turned toward Olive after he left. She remained in the doorway, a slight but formidable force. “I hope your talk went well.”

“It did. Thank you.”

“Of course.” She shifted. “Now, what else can I do for you today? I know you said you couldn’t stay too long.”

Olive crossed her arms and remained seated in a power position. “I have a question for you. I’m curious about why you chose to have me observe Ms. Strickland’s class.”

She tilted her head as if confused. “Was it not acceptable to you?”

“I wouldn’t say Ms. Strickland is the most engaging teacher I’ve encountered.”

Margaret raised her chin. “It’s not about being engaging. It’s about teaching the children how to focus in order to learn.”

“And what methods do you employ to do that? Other than testing their focus with teachers who are monotone and dispassionate?”

A shadow crossed over Director Ingraham’s gaze.

“We have numerous approaches we employ. We have therapy, of course. We enforce a strict routine as that also helps the students feel more secure. As I mentioned earlier we have a psychologist and medical doctor on call. Though medications aren’t our first choice, sometimes they are necessary. ”

“I understand,” Olive said.

“One more thing.” Margaret swallowed hard before continuing. “Principal Denarau is returning today, and he wants to know if you’ll meet with him over dinner. As I mentioned before, he regrets he wasn’t here when you arrived, and he said he’d like to get to know you.”

Why was there an edge to the woman’s voice as she delivered that update? Did she not want Olive meeting with the principal for some reason?

That made Olive even more determined to talk to the man.

“Absolutely,” Olive told her. “Just give me the time and the place.”

A tight smile flickered across Margaret’s lips. “I’ll text you the details.”

“That sounds good. Other than that, I guess I’ll see you back here tomorrow so I can continue to learn more about this institution.”

As Olive walked back out to her car, she saw none other than Simon Long headed to his own vehicle.

His steps slowed when he saw her. “Liv . . . has your day gotten better?”

She shrugged. “Slightly. Today’s incident wasn’t the way I wanted to start my time here.”

They paused at the parking area.

“I can only imagine how something like that might shake you up,” he said.

Olive had so many questions.

Why did he have those blueprints? She wanted to know about the company he worked for. Whether it was legit or not. Did he have ulterior motives?

But she couldn’t outright ask him everything she wanted to know.

Instead, she’d need to proceed very carefully.

“Maybe that Quiet Room explains why some students have gone missing.” She wanted to gauge his reaction to the words.

Surprise flashed in his eyes. “Students are missing?”

She shrugged. “You didn’t know? I thought it was pretty well known. I hope I didn’t taint your view of the school.”

He glanced back at the building. “You didn’t. It already has a certain reputation. That’s why I’m here, after all. To suggest positive changes—including changing the way people view the place. I’m actually glad you mentioned the missing students. Could you tell me more?”

If Simon were really here to uplift the school’s reputation, she’d think he would have been told about the missing students, even if it didn’t affect his recommendations. But that didn’t seem to be the case.

Olive’s pulse pounded in her ears. “I don’t know much—just some whispered rumors. People in town say that three students have disappeared. Run away. But some people think there’s more to it than that.”

He glanced at her, something flickering in his gaze before he looked away. “If you hear more about that, I’d love to know.”

“Of course.” Olive nodded. “I suppose that information won’t do anything to sway your suggestions for how the school can improve.”

“Runaways?” He stared at her. “I don’t know why it would. That’s more of a discipline issue.”

“I guess the Quiet Room isn’t working as they expected after all.”

“I guess not.”

They stared at each other a minute.

Finally, Olive said, “I’d love to hear about what you do as a consultant sometime. I’m always looking for ways to verify the places where I donate money.”

“As you should.”

“You could be a good resource.” She studied his expression.

“I suppose I could. Maybe we’ll get the chance to talk about that sometime.” He glanced at his watch. “But for now, I need to run. Talk more later.”

She watched him leave.

There was definitely more to his story than he was letting on.

But what?