Saturday, Sept. 14
12:10 a.m.
As soon as Spider Webster and Lieutenant Molinson arrived, Mr. Stratton took the microphone and calmly explained the situation. Asking for help from anyone who had seen the two girls, he managed to separate the students into those with information, and those without a clue. With a few well-placed telephone calls, the dance ended as the students were interviewed and released. Slowly and thoroughly, a contingency of Sleepyside police officers, along with some worried and confused chaperones began searching the school.
Bill Regan, Peter Belden, Ed Lynch and Thomas Maypenny arrived as the officers were diligently questioning anyone with an inkling of information. The majority of the Bob-Whites were sequestered in one corner of the gym, while Tad and Dan paced anxiously in another.
“Daniel?” Thomas Maypenny spoke just loudly enough to catch his son’s attention.
“Dad.” Relief warred with anxiety on his face. “Regan. Tess is...gone.” Dan’s dark blue eyes swept over to where Ed Lynch and Peter Belden were questioning the rest of the Bob-Whites. “I need to find her, but the cops won’t let us leave. She could be hurt or something. I have to find her.”
“The police are searching the school,” Regan told him. “If Tess and...” He looked at Tad.
“Marnie,” Tad offered tersely. “Her name is Marnie.”
“Right. If Tess and Marnie are here, they’ll find them.” Regan put one hand on Tad’s shoulder and the other on his nephew’s. “We’ll find them.”
“Yes, we will.” Spider affirmed, stepping up to hug his brother. “Dan, I need to ask you a few more questions. Tad, Molinson is going to talk to you as soon as he’s free.”
“Spider, I’ve already told you everything I know,” Dan protested.
“I know,” the officer sympathized, leading the teen off to one side. Maypenny followed, and Spider acknowledged him with a nod. “Look, Dan, I need to know. Did you and Tess have a fight tonight?”
“What? No!” Spider watched as Dan forced himself to stay calm. “No. We did not. Why?”
“We’ve had several girls say they heard that the two of you had a big argument. A lot of...shall we say...intense discussion and arm waving. They said Tessa was upset because the two of you broke up.”
“That’s bul…baloney.” Dan shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. “I didn’t fight with Tess. She and Tad were having a debate, but it wasn’t even close to an argument. And even if we had been disagreeing, we wouldn’t have broken up--especially not at a dance. That’s just stupid. Who said that?”
“At least three girls claim they saw Tessa and Marnie in the hall. They claim Tessa was crying, and Marnie said it was because she and her boyfriend broke up.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Dan frowned, anxious and more than a little confused. “Tess was fine when she and Marnie left the courtyard. She was a little irritated with Tad because of the soda, but she wasn’t crying or anything.”
Spider’s radio crackled, and he thumbed it on. “Webster.”
“We’ve got something in the staff lounge. A girl and she looks hurt.”
“On my way. Radio for medical support.” Spider clipped the radio on his belt as he made for the door. He didn’t even try to stop Tad and Dan from following him, although shot a terse command to Regan and Maypenny, “Keep those two out of the way.”
When they pushed into the office, there were already two officers bending over a still figure just outside of the ladies room. “Stay back,” Spider warned his brother and Dan.
“We found her locked in the storage closet. It looks like someone knocked her out.” One of the uniformed officers told Spider as he approached. “She must have come to in there, because she was pounding on the door.”
“Did you move her, or did she get out on her own?” Spider asked, catching sight of blonde curls. “Marnie?” he asked, moving toward the girl. Brown eyes with the pupils fully dilated gazed at him. “Marnie, can you tell me what happened?” She continued to look at him, silent and dazed, a trickle of blood drying on her left temple.
“Paramedics are twenty minutes out,” the officer informed him. They’ve got a car in the river up on the point. This one was conscious when we pulled her out of the closet, but she’d been puking, so we brought her all the way out. It smells better out here.”
“That’s fine, Lloyd. Did you see any sign of the other girl?” Spider asked.
“No.” Lloyd shook his head. “Obviously, we didn’t have a chance to process the place, but she was the only one in there.”
“Okay.” Spider ran his hand through his hair. “You go keep looking for Tessa Hart.” He knelt down beside Marnie, speaking to her gently. “Marnie, sweetheart. It’s Spider. I need you to tell me what happened.”
“Tad?” Marnie’s voice cracked as she asked for her boyfriend.
Spider turned and gestured for his brother to join him, trying to ignore the disappointment and fear on Dan Maypenny’s face. Pulling Tad down beside him, he instructed, “Talk to her, Tadster. I need to know what she knows.”
Tad nodded. “Marn? Hon, who did this?”
The brown eyes met his. “Don’t know.” She looked around, moving her head painfully. “Where’s Tess? What did he do to Tess?”
“Who?” Suddenly, Dan lost it. His self-control evaporated, and he found himself looming over Tad’s head, demanding answers in a loud, panic-laced voice. “Who was it? Who did this?”
“Take him out of here,” Spider ordered, and Maypenny and Regan struggled to do so, half-dragging Dan from the room. Spider ignored the shouts, focusing his attention on the girl before him. “Go, Tad.”
Tad moved closer to Marnie, hugging her gently. “What happened?”
“I...we were joking about you. A teacher let us in here because there’s a blower.” Marnie seemed to snap into focus, and her voice became stronger. “Tessa was drying her skirt, and I told her I always wanted to pee in the teacher’s room. So I did. The drier was going, we were laughing, and then Tessa said something I couldn’t hear over the drier. When I opened the stall, there was this guy in a black hooded sweatshirt. He was, I don’t know, choking her? Tessa was kicking at him, and I was going to help when he hit me.” Marnie touched her blood-streaked temple. “Tessa was just standing there. She didn’t try to get away or anything. There was this funny smell, and that’s all I remember.”
“That’s good, Marnie. You did good.” Spider cocked his head, hearing the sirens approaching. “The paramedics are here. They’ll take care of you. I just have one more question. Did you recognize the guy?”
“No.” Marnie closed her eyes. “He was shorter than Tessa but not by much. That’s all I remember.”
The paramedics rushed through the door, and Spider stepped out of their way, leaving Tad to stay with Marnie. Curtly, he ordered the remaining officer to wait for his return before processing the bathroom. Right now he needed to deal with Dan.
It took both Regan and Maypenny to wrestle him kicking and yelling, out into the hallway. As Dan slumped against the wall, pinned by his uncle’s weight, his surge of anger melted into despair. “I’m sorry,” he rasped, his voice done with shouting. “I... sorry.”
“If I let go, will you stay put?” Regan asked. “Because I wouldn’t put it past Spider to throw you in jail if you go back at him, and that’s not going to help Tessa.”
Dan nodded, his eyes downcast. “I promise. I...” Regan backed away, releasing his nephew. Free, Dan leaned against the wall and buried his face in his hands.
Maypenny moved beside him, one hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find her, son. You have to stay calm.”
“What happened?” Brian asked. The rest of the group, with Peter Belden and Ed Lynch in tow, rushed up to them. “We heard shouting and sirens. Is Tess all right?”
Dan didn’t respond, so Brian turned to Regan. “Well?”
The redhead shrugged. “They found the other girl in a closet. She’d been hit pretty hard. From what I heard, Tessa wasn’t with her.”
Brian frowned. As the paramedics rushed into the office, he followed silently and unnoticed, observing.
Spider strode into the hall and made a beeline for Dan. As if choreographed, the three adult men formed a subtle wall between the hunched figures of Dan and Maypenny, and the officer. Spider looked at the men and shook his head. “I just want to talk to him,” he assured them. “That’s all.”
“I want to know where my niece is,” Peter told him. “Obviously, Dan doesn’t know.”
“I get that.” Spider ran his hand over his face. “Look, even if I thought Dan was a suspect—which I don’t--Marnie just exonerated him. She has no idea who the person who attacked them was. She said it was a smaller guy in black. She would have known if it was Dan.”
Dan lifted his head slowly. “Was he wearing cowboy boots?”
“I don’t know. Marnie didn’t say.” Spider narrowed his eyes. “Are you thinking it’s your old gang? Have you seen them around?”
“Not since the spring before last, but...” Dan hesitated. “If they wanted to get to me, the best way would be through Tess.” He covered his face again. “Oh, God.”
“Would Tessa have gone peacefully with one of the gang?”
“I don’t think so,” Dan said. “Not unless they were threatening her with something.”
“Well, the perp got her out of there somehow and without a struggle,” Spider mused. “The question is, how?”
“Chloroform,” Brian announced as he stepped out of the office.
“What?” All eyes turned to him.
“Chloroform.” Brian held out his hands. “We use it to kill the frogs before dissection. It’s an anesthesia, but it can also induce a kind of high in smaller doses. I’m pretty sure that’s the smell I was getting in there. Whoever did this probably chloroformed Tess. Tad said Marnie thought he was choking her. She would have struggled until it started to take effect, but if he stopped before she passed out, she would have been...well...high.”
“Where do you get chloroform?” Spider was skeptical. “It’s not like you can buy it at the A & P.”
“No,” Mart offered, “But you can get it from the biology lab here at school. We use it on the insects before mounting them.”
Dan sucked in air sharply. “Chloroform is toxic. If someone used it on Tess, it could kill her.”
“It would also mean the attack was premeditated. It’s not something you just carry around in your pocket.” Spider frowned. “So, now we ask ourselves who would want to hurt Tessa? Who are her enemies?”
“I can’t think of anyone,” Dan moaned. “Me? Yes, but Tess? Everybody likes Tess.”
All eyes turned to Diana as she blurted, “That’s not entirely true.”
“What do you mean, Di?” Mart grabbed his girlfriend’s hand. “Do you know someone who might hurt Tessa?”
Diana shrank back a little from the eyes that stared at her, uncomfortable with this kind of attention. “Dara Prinze.” Diana’s words came out in a rush. She took a deep breath before she continued, “She’s never liked Tess--because of Dan--and lately, it’s gotten worse. Dara even cut and highlighted her hair so it looks more like Tessa’s. That’s the same thing she did when he was dating Ruthie and Josie. She’s obsessed with Dan and she hates Tess because Tess is with Dan.”
Dan shook his head. “I don’t even know who this Dara person is.” An idea struck him, and he asked, “Is she part of what’s been bothering Tess? The stuff you girls have been scheming about?”
“Yes.” Diana closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. “Lately, Dara’s been more obvious. She’s been messing with Tessa’s stuff,and getting more confrontational. Somehow, they ended up improv partners. Thursday, she…she did this whole scene that was obviously her way of saying that Dan and Tess were through and that Dan wanted her—Dara, I mean. But Tess called her bluff. She out improvised her in front of the whole class. So today, Dara started spreading rumors that Dan broke up with Tessa. Tessa flat out called her a liar, and Dara went nuts. She called Tess a bitch and told her that she would see to it that Dan dumped her before the month was through. When Mr. Clevanger intervened, Dara laughed and pretended she was just trying to act out a scene, and Tess misunderstood.” Di paused for breath. “But Tess and I knew she was lying. Dara’s crazy, and if she’s hurt Tess, I’ll... I'll...” Di burst into tears and buried her face in Mart’s shoulder.
Before anyone could react, the pager in Regan’s pocket went off. He fished it out and checked the number. “May I use the phone please? It’s Manor House. Maybe it’s about Tessa.”
Principal Stratton guided Regan into the office, and Spider turned his attention to Diana. “Di, why didn’t the two of you let anyone know this Dara was bothering you?”
Di raised her head. “We tried to—yesterday and today, in particular, but Dara’s a total drama geek, and she’s sort of Mr. C’s pet. She’s his right-hand man, and he can’t see that she’s an evil little witch. She’s smart, too. Dara didn’t mention Dan by name.” Her pretty mouth hardened. “Tess tried to ignore it, but I could tell she was kind of shaken up by the whole thing.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Dan asked. “Why did you girls keep it from us?”
“Because it’s about you,” Di tried to explain. “She knows how you feel about your reputation, and she didn’t want to stress you out.”
“Well, I’m stressed out now!” Dan growled. “If I’d known someone was threatening Tessa, I’d...”
“You’d have what?” Peter Belden interjected. “Followed her into the bathroom? Calm down, Dan. What happened, happened. Right now we need to concentrate on finding Tessa.”
“Actually,” Regan said, as he stepped through the door, “we need to go over to the hospital.”
“Tess?” Dan asked anxiously.
Regan shook his head. “Jim and Trixie.” He held up his hand to still the clamor that erupted with his announcement. “Evidently, they were involved in the car accident that delayed the paramedics. Trixie is fine, but Jim tried to help rescue the driver, and he’s in the E.R.”
