In Death 24 - Innocent in Death

twist the pert little nose out of joint, Rayleen tapped a finger on the gold star she wore on her lapel.
    “Whoopee.” Eve started to skirt around Rayleen, but the girl danced backward.
    “But if Mr. Fosterwas murdered, my mother’s going to be even more upset. I’m her only child, you see, and she worries about me. She didn’t want me to come to school today.”
    “But you’re here.”
    “We had a discussion. My parents and I. I have perfect attendance, and that’s factored into my overall rating. I didn’t want to miss class. Melodie didn’t come, though. My mother talked to hers, and Melodie had bad dreams last night. I didn’t, or I don’t remember. I liked Mr. Foster, and I wrote how much I’m going to miss him in my diary. I wish he didn’t have to die.”
    “It’s rough.”
    Rayleen gave a wise and soulful nod. “Maybe I could help. Maybe I’ll remember something that will help. Or I’ll hear something or see something. I’m very smart, and very observant.”
    “I bet. You leave it to us.”
    “I don’t know what’s going to happen now.” Her violet eyes glimmered with tears. “No one tells us. I worked hard on the project for Mr. Foster, and now I don’t know if I should finish it. I have to go to class now.”
    “Tough being a kid,” Peabody observed as Rayleen walked off with her head down.
    “Tough when you have something like this spoil the innocence you only have for a handful of years anyway. She’s never going to forget walking into that classroom and finding him.”
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    “Murder doesn’t leave anyone innocent. It shouldn’t. Let’s track down Hallywell. Hit Dawson, too.”
    They learned Ms. Hallywell hadn’t come in for classes, but found Dawson in the chem lab, instructing the students on a project. When he spotted Eve at the doorway, he told his students to begin, then stepped out.
    “Do you need me? I can only take a few minutes.” He angled himself so he could see through the half-opened doorway, to what his students were up to. “They’re doing a simple test to identify an unknown substance, but I’ll need to keep my eye on them.”
    “Unknowns such as what?”
    “Oh, sugar, salt, cornstarch, baking powder.”
    “Why not just taste it?”
    “Well. Ha-ha. That would be cheating.” He sobered, eased the door closed a little farther.
    “Is it true about Craig? He was poisoned?”
    “Word travels.”
    “At light speed. Arnette’s admin overheard her talking on the ’link to the school’s legal counsel. Then saw Dave, told him, who ran into me, and so on. I can’t believe it.”
    “Do you know what ricin is?”
    “Ricin?” His eyes widened. “Yes, yes, of course. But…but Craig, how could he have been poisoned by ricin?”
    “That’s what we’re going to find out. Do you know how to make it? Ricin?”
    “I…not precisely,” he said after a moment. “But I can look it up if you’d like me to. It should only take me a minute.”
    “That’s okay.” She peered around him, studied the equipment. “Could you make it in there?”
    “Ah…” He pursed his lips. “I could probably manage it, between the equipment here and what I could requisition or jury-rig. You want me to make ricin, Lieutenant? I’d have to get permission,” he said with apology. “No toxics are permitted in the labs, or anywhere on school property for that matter. But if it would help, I’m sure-”
    “No, but thanks. So…how often does one of the kids sneak in and manage to build a stink or smoke bomb?”
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    He smiled, and he reminded Eve of an amused monk. “Oh, at least once a term. I’d be a little disappointed if they didn’t. If children don’t push the edges now and again, what’s the point of being a child?”
    For now, Eve checked Dawson off the list and drove to Mirri Hallywell’s apartment. It was a few blocks from the Fosters’, and she didn’t answer the door.
    “We’ll try her ’link numbers,” Eve said as they started back down again. “I think we’ll take this out of the school, at least for now. Further interviews at the subjects’ residences.
    We’ll take it home to them. We’re going to go through the female staff’s data, cull out the more attractive. Odds are we’ll find one or more who’ll admit to dancing in the gym with Williams.”
    Even as she reached the outside door, it opened, letting in a blast of cold air, Mirri Hallywell, and a thin reed of a man.
    “Excuse me. Oh. Oh. Lieutenant Dallas. Were you