Page 39 of Artifice (Pros and Cons Mysteries #4)

A s Olive and Simon followed Mrs. Potts down the narrow stairs, Simon leaned close to Olive’s ear. “By the way, Dr. Wells is back in town. He arrived this afternoon for tomorrow’s board meeting.”

Olive nearly missed a step. “How do you know so much?”

“I know a lot of things.” His expression was unreadable. “Including why you’re the perfect person to bring down Lighthouse Harbor—or exactly the wrong one.”

The air left her lungs. What did he mean by that?

Before she could respond, they reached the bottom of the stairs.

Mrs. Potts led them toward the back of the house, her determined stride at odds with her earlier frailty. Olive followed, her mind whirling with questions.

Who exactly was Simon Long? Why did he think she could bring down the school?

And most importantly—what did Henry Potts discover that made him disappear?

They paused in the small living area of Mrs. Potts’ private quarters and turned to each other, now away from prying ears.

Or were they?

Almost as if Olive and Simon were in sync, they began to search the room for any hidden devices.

A moment later, Olive pulled a microphone from underneath the coffee table.

Mrs. Potts’ eyes widened.

Before she could say anything, Olive put a finger over her lips, motioning her to be quiet.

Then she got a glass of water from the cabinet, set the glass between an artificial flower arrangement and a pill organizer, and dropped the device inside.

Simon also found one in the bedroom and another in the kitchen.

They also went into the glass of water.

“It’s safe now.” Olive paced toward the cluster of couch and chairs.

Mrs. Potts’ gaze jerked back and forth between Olive and Simon. “Who are you two?”

Olive glanced at Simon.

She knew how to answer the question. But she had no idea what to say when it came to Simon.

Because that was her exact question also.

Who exactly was this man? A friend or a foe?

“We can’t disclose that information to you,” Simon finally said. “But I assure you that we’re on your side.”

Mrs. Potts wrung her hands together. “I can’t do anything that will get my Henry hurt.”

“That’s the last thing we want also,” Olive assured her. “We don’t want anybody else to be hurt either.”

Mrs. Potts drew in a shaky breath. “Like I said, Henry didn’t bring any evidence home. He knew better. So all I can give you is what he told me.”

“Why don’t you sit down?” Olive took Mrs. Potts’ arm and lowered her onto the sofa.

She feared the woman might pass out.

Mrs. Potts settled into the cushion. Then Olive sat beside her, and Simon sat in a chair adjacent to the couch.

“Henry never liked working there,” Mrs. Potts started, her expression tight as if she were barely holding it together. “He said he got bad vibes from the place. But we needed the extra income, especially as we tried to get this B&B up and running.”

“What kind of things did he see that bothered him?” Olive asked.

“Everything.” Mrs. Potts shuddered again. “He hated the whole atmosphere of that school. The attitude of the administrators and staff. Half the time, the kids looked like zombies, and the other half of the time looked as if they were going crazy.”

That confirmed what Margaret had mentioned earlier.

“What did he think was going on?” Simon asked.

“He wasn’t sure, and he couldn’t ask too many questions.

They were frowned upon, and that was made clear his first week of working there .

Ask no questions. As if that wasn’t enough, then the staff talked down to him and insisted he wouldn’t understand even if they did explain.

They implied my Henry was stupid, and he isn’t. ”

“It was just another way of trying to control the situation,” Simon assured her.

“Did he see anything else that he mentioned specifically?” Olive asked. “Or did he name any names?”

“That principal really rubbed him the wrong way. Henry used to always say he could see dollar signs in the man’s eyes.”

“I could see that,” Olive said. “And what about the other things you mentioned? The medical records? Did he say anything specific about them?”

“He thinks Dr. Wells is drugging those kids mercilessly,” Mrs. Potts said. “Henry didn’t think it was right. He doesn’t care how troubled they are. Kids that age shouldn’t have to take a cocktail of twenty different medications.”

Olive’s eyebrows shot up. That was a lot of medications for kids to take.

Were these kids’ parents aware of what they were being given?

As if Simon were reading her mind, he said, “Parents sign a waiver when they take the kids there and drop them off. It pretty much lets the school do whatever they want to and gives them no legal liability for it.”

Olive frowned at those words. She hated to hear that.

And now more than ever she hated the school.