Page 119 of For Your Own Good

“And the other?”

Teddy had thought about how to answer this question before he even sat down. Accusing someone outright was out of the question. But letting the FBI know who had the easiest, and most plausible, access to the building seemed reasonable.

“Ms.Marsha,” he says. “She distributes all of the security cards, and she maintains the log of card swipes.” Teddy pauses for a second, as if he’s thinking. “Actually, she could enter the school undetected if she wanted to.”

The FBI should know this already. But Teddy never assumes anyone does their job correctly.

He also doesn’t assume they’ve already looked through Ms.Marsha’s desk.

They will now.

73

WHEN ZACH ISN’Twith Courtney or Titus, or trying to catch Fallon following him, he goes to Starbucks with his new tablet. He still does all of his research there. Being arrested has made him a little paranoid about his online activity.

This evening, he heads out early, before his parents are home, and drives downtown the way he normally does. He’s sitting at a stoplight when he sees Crutcher’s car.

The old Saab is hard to miss. First, because Zach had seen it in the school parking lot so many times. Second, because of the Belmont sticker on the front windshield. The strangest part is where it’s parked.

In front of a liquor store.

He never suspected Crutcher was a drinker. Zach has seen a lot of drinkers in his life—so many of his friends’ parents are—but Crutcher has never shown any of the signs. No broken capillaries on his face, no bloat, no puffy or red eyes.

Maybe it’s something he’s picked up recently. Maybe it’s something worth knowing.

Zach pulls over onto a side road, watching the car through his rearview mirror. Minutes later, Crutcher walks out of Fourth Avenue Liquors with a brown bag.

Interesting.

Zach waits until he drives away before going into the store. The bell rings when he walks inside, and he’s immediately surrounded by rows of alcohol. Beer in the back, in the coolers, and hard liquor lining the walls.

At the register, a middle-aged man is watching TV and, no doubt, the security camera. Zach smiles at him and heads toward a cooler, grabbing a bottle of water. He scans the food and picks up a bag of chips.

At the register, he smiles again. “How’s it going?” he says.

The man smiles back. A real smile. “Oh, you know, living the dream.”

“Nice,” Zach says. “Hey, maybe you can help me out with something.”

“What’s that?”

“I go to Belmont. When I was coming in, I swear I saw one of my teachers walking out. Well, someone who used to be my teacher, because... well, you know. It’s closed now.”

The man nods, his expression grave. Everyone knows about Belmont.

“Was that Teddy Crutcher who was just in here?” Zach says. “Our new headmaster?”

“Sure was,” the man says. He offers nothing further.

“Weird. I never pegged him as a drinker.” Zach leans in a little, like he’s sharing a secret. “You probably know we’ve got some teachers who like to drink.”

The man laughs. “I’m not about to rat out my customers, but Teddy wasn’t here to buy liquor. He drinks milk.”

“Milk?” Zach says. “He comes in here to buy milk?”

“Sure does. I’m the only one who carries his brand.”

Zach blinks. “He has a specialbrandof milk?”