ôBut when you heard about what happened to Valina you must have wondered, surely,ö said Chase.
ôI did, but thereÆs simply no way that Norwell would do a horrible thing like that. HeÆs a sweet man. He canÆt even kill a spider. He always captures it in a jar and puts it out.ö
ôThere are serial killers out there that wouldnÆt hurt a fly,ö said Chase, ôbut donÆt bat an eye when theyÆre filleting a human being or burying a person alive.ö
ôNorwell isnÆt a serial killer, detective. HeÆs a good, kind man. A wonderful husband and a great father. So to think that he could murderà ItÆs simply beyond the realm of possibility.ö
Chase and Odelia shared a glance, then decided to lay all of their cards on the table. It was simply too important to ignore.ôThis may come as a shock to you, Emma,ö said Chase, ôbut weÆve just discovered this morning that Norwell and Valina were having an affair.ö
EmmaÆs eyes went wide as saucers, and her face drained of blood, turning a sickly white. ôW-w-what?ö she stammered as she brought a distraught hand to her mouth.
ôThe affair ended three weeks ago,ö said Odelia. ôBy all accounts it was a brief fling.ö
ôAt least to Valina it was a fling,ö said Chase, intent on twisting the knife. ôTo Norwell it was more than a fling, and he was clearly heartbroken when Valina ended it.ö
ôButùsurely thatÆs not possible,ö said Emma. ôYouÆre not serious?ö
ôIÆm afraid we are,ö said Odelia kindly. SheÆd placed a hand on the other womanÆs arm.
EmmaÆs eyes now turned to the window, but it was clear she wasnÆt seeing the clear blue sky or even the sun as it rose ever tirelessly higher. Her skin had become almost translucent now, and I had the impression she was on the verge of a nervous collapse.
ôI donÆt understand,ö she said finally, a wobble in her voice. ôNorwell andà Valina?ö
Odelia nodded.ôIÆm sorry we had to spring this on you, Emma, but itÆs important that you tell us if you knew about the affair? Ever noticed anything? Strange phone calls, maybe, or Norwell hiding things from you?ö
But Emma was shaking her head, and it was obvious that this had come as a complete surprise to her.ôI thought he didnÆt like her,ö she said finally. ôI thought they were like cats and dogs. Always arguing, at loggerheads. I even told him he should be more kind to her. Suggested we all have dinner together one night. That it was important they get along. And all this timeàö Her voice died away.
ôCould be that he simply pretended to dislike her,ö said Chase. ôClassic trick of a person trying to hide an affair. Make you think they donÆt like the other person.ö
ôShe was tough on him,ö said Emma, trying to collect herself with a powerful effort. ôExtremely critical of his work. But then again, thatÆs simply how she was, Valina. She was a very demanding person, not just for others but also for herself. Nothing was ever good enough. She really pushedherself, and others, to the limit. I felt bad for the people who worked for her, Norwell included.ö She looked up. ôI spearhead the anti-bullying campaign here at school, you see. ItÆs very important for us to make these kids aware that bullying simply wonÆt do, and we strive hard to make this a school that says no to bullies. ItÆs a project thatÆs very close to my heart, and so when I heard Norwell complain about Valina, I never imagined they wouldàö Tears sprang to her eyes afresh. ôThat they wereàö
ôItÆs all right,ö said Odelia, rubbing the womanÆs back.
ôOh, God,ö sobbed Emma, and I saw we were in hugging territory now. Not one of my strong suits, I must admit. Still, I could tell that the woman wasnÆt deceitful in the slightest, and so I decided to do my bit and gave her a nudge against the leg and so did Dooley.
ôPoor woman,ö said Dooley once Chase had been dispatched to forage around for a box of tissues. ôItÆs just one shock after another, isnÆt it?ö
ôYeah, must be terrible to find out about your husbandÆs unfaithfulness this way.ö
Then again, any way to find out something like that is bad, of course.
ôDo you think theyÆll get a divorce now, Max?ö
ôI donÆt know, Dooley. They might patch things up again, you know. Human relationships are resilient. It all depends how deep NorwellÆs feelings for Valina were.ö
A couple of kids had drifted into the classroom, and when they saw their teacherÆs tears, just stood there gawking for a moment, like cows at a train, but then Chase returned, and wasted no time turning the kids away again and closing the door.
The last thing Emma needed was for her students to find out about this cheating business.
After we left, impressing upon the woman to get in touch when she could think of anything that might shed more light on her husbandÆs behavior toward Valina, we drifted through those same corridors again, only this time they were being overrun with more teenagers than IÆd ever seen in my life. I must say IÆm not a scaredy cat by any means, but when I saw that mass of seething teens, I momentarily feared for my life. Whenthey saw us, they jeered, they pointed, they called us some very unkind names, and generally they seemed to think us the funniest double act since Laurel and Hardy, for they couldnÆt stop laughing all the way until we finally reached safety and burst out into the open again.
ôThose were probably the scariest ten minutes of my entire life,ö I confessed to Dooley.
ôMe, too!ö Dooley cried.
ôTeenagers are the worst.ö
ôWorse than vampires or zombies?ö
ôThereÆs no such thing as vampires or zombies, Dooley.ö
ôIf there were, I think IÆd prefer their company to teenagers every day, Max.ö
The most important thing was that weÆd entered the pit of doom and made it out in one piece. Poor Emma, though. She was still in there. Worse, she was in there every day!
What a brave soul. To risk life and limb on a daily basis to try and turn a bunch of hormonal hooligans into more or less decent human beings. Talk about a mission impossible!
Chapter 20
WeÆd only just returned to the safety of the car, when a call came in about a domestic disturbance.
ôTen-seven,ö GranÆs voice crackled over the radio. ôCome in, over.ö
ôYes, this is Chase, Vesta,ö said Chase with a grin to Odelia. ôWhat seems to be the trouble?ö
ôThereÆs a couple trying to kill each other on Beneficent Avenue. I think youÆd better take a look before one of them draws blood.ö
ôGot a name for me?ö asked Chase as he turned the key in the ignition.
There was silence on the other end, then:ôAre you trying to be funny, sonny? This is Vesta. And if you donÆt know my name by now, I think itÆs high time that you learned it.ö
ôNot your name, Gran,ö said Odelia, speaking into the receiver. ôThe name of the people involved in the domestic dispute.ö
ôOh, right. Umàö There was a rustle of paper as she consulted her notes. ôThatÆs a Lynnette and Franco Say. And according to the neighbor who called it in, Lynnette was heard threatening her husband. The words æcheat,Æ æax, æchopÆ and ænutsÆ were mentioned.ö
ôGot it,ö said Chase. ôWeÆre heading out there now.ö
ôTen-thirteen,ö said Gran, and disconnected.
ôWhatÆs ten-thirteen?ö asked Odelia. ôOr ten-seven?ö
ôTen-thirteen is the weather-road report and ten-seven is out of service.ö He grinned. ôLooks like sheÆs got her numbers mixed up.ö
This time Chase did turn on that flashy light, and even the siren, and as we zoomed through traffic, zigzagging where zigzagging was required, and going at breakneck speed where possible, we made good time.
ôIsnÆt Lynnette Say a member of MargeÆs book club?ö asked Dooley as we held on for dear life, embedding our nails deeply into the backseat as one is wont to do under these hair-raising circumstances.
ôYeah, she is. SheÆs the one who said that if a man cheats on a woman itÆs her own darn fault, because she didnÆt give him what he needed, or something along those lines.ö