Page 76 of For Your Own Good

She raises one penciled eyebrow. “A theft? What was stolen?”

“My Teacher of the Year plaque is gone.” He throws his hands up. “Yesterday, it was on my wall. This morning, it’s gone.”

Ms.Marsha does not look nearly shocked enough. “How odd.”

“A travesty is what it is.”

“No, Teddy. Murder is a travesty. Your missing plaque is an inconvenience.” She stands up from her desk, straightening her herringbone skirt. “Check with Joe. You know he cleans at night. Maybe he saw something.”

She gets up and walks away from him.

Teddy has been dismissed.

Dismissed.

The first bell rings before he can find Joe, and now he has to wait. Back to his classroom he goes. He checks the wall as soon as he walks in.

Still gone.

The students are filing in, depositing their phones, and getting settled in their seats. Teddy no longer feels very generous toward them. Anyone could be a suspect—even one of the students. Belmont kids are the type who would steal for fun. It isn’t because they need anything.

They don’t deserve a treat. Not today.

“Let’s begin,” he says, slamming his laptop shut. “It’s time to start our next assignment. I’ve thought long and hard about this next book, and given that you all have done so well this semester, I feel it’s time for you to tackle something more challenging.” He stops to smile at them. “Which is why I’m assigning you to read Dante’sDivine Comedy. All three parts.”

Groans. Real, audible groans.

Good.

AT THE MORNINGbreak, Ms.Marsha isn’t even at her desk. Teddy almost knocks on the headmaster’s door. Almost. Such a thing would be unheard of, a complete breach of Belmont protocol, but for God’s sake, if this doesn’t warrant it, what does?

Murder. Always back to those damn murders. It’s like he’s never going to get away from them.

He goes in search of Joe, whose office—if it can be called that—is so far away, it’s a trek just to get there. Maybe Joe knows if any of these cameras are actually working yet. A long shot, given that they’re still being installed. But it would be so nice to have the thief caught on camera.

Teddy knocks on Joe’s door. He’s an older man now, maybe as old as Ms.Marsha, and he doesn’t move as fast as he used to. Teddy hopes he can get to the door before the four-minute bell rings.

While waiting, he checks his phone for news about this afternoon’s press conference.

The door flings open with a surprising amount of force. Joe is standing in front of him, wearing his blue uniform with the Belmont crest on the breast pocket. He’s lost most of his hair; just a few grey tendrils remain. Joe has the look of a man who has lived a manual life.

“Oh,” he says. “It’s you.”

Teddy is a little taken aback by this greeting. “Good morning, Joe.”

Joe nods.

“I wanted to ask about your cleaning last night. Did you by chance clean my classroom? Empty the trash, that sort of thing?”

Another nod.

“My plaque is missing. My Teacher of the Year plaque was on the wall, and now it’s not.”

No reaction at all. Joe’s face doesn’t register surprise or shock or even dismay. It’s as if the old man hasn’t heard him.

“Did you—”

“I heard you,” Joe says. “I don’t know anything about it.”