Love for Sale

followed her outside. “What is it?“
    “The day Pottinger came to see me about renting the space, two of the boys in my class, one of whom can drive his father’s truck, came up after school to see where we lived. But they saw Miss Langston’s car parked near the gatehouse and decided they didn’t want to run into her.”
    Lily went on. “My guess, and it’s only a guess, is that she spotted Pottinger getting off the train, or driving through town.”
    “Either is possible,“ Walker said. “Go on.“
    “So the morning after Pottinger was murdered, the kids at school were all whispering to each other. I’d forgotten all about it until a little while ago. The boy in my class apparently took a friend back late that Saturday night to gawk again at where Robert and I live. He’s admitted this, and his friend backs him up.“
    “They saw something?“ Walker’s eyes lit like beacons.
    “They saw the car belonging to their missing teacher. Boys that age know every vehicle in town. That time it was parked in the woods. So they left the truck hidden as well, and sneaked up to the house and circled it. They saw Miss Langston going in the dining room windows. Neither wears a watch, but they thought it was about eleven or eleven-fifteen.”
    Howard said, “How did she know the house? How would she have guessed which room he was in?“
    “That’s the easy part,“ Lily said. “At the last Fate she demanded a tour of the house. She was, as you probably know, noted for her theory that you could tell a lot about people by seeing how they lived.
    “Ask Phoebe about this. Ask Mrs. Tarkington,“ Lily went on. “I refused to let her talk me into showing her the house, or even to let her come inside to use the bathroom. I didn’t even know her and didn’t have the time or inclination to show her around. A little while later, she asked Robert if he’d show her around. He refused, and then she tried the same trick. She said could she simply go in and use the facilities. He let her. He went back to working at the Fate. Nobody knew how long she was there. She obviously took her own tour. And the master suite is the obvious place to house a group of men.“
    “How would she have known the door was unlocked?“ Walker asked.
    Lily smiled. “She didn’t. But as you said to me, there are such things as lock picks. And she’s exactly the sort of person who would have one handy. Didn’t she have a handbag? Have you searched it yet?”
    Walker looked deeply embarrassed.
    “I guess I’m going to have to call the asylum and tell them to let Nobby Hazard go,“ he complained.

    Lily went back to the school to see if she could catch a ride home with Robert.
    Jack Summer turned up at the jail moments later, eyes bright as a squirrel’s. “Ralph says you’ve caught the perp. May I interview her?“
    “That’s exactly what I want you to do. Hint to her that she needs to tell the world her side of the story. Be as sympathetic as you can. I’ll be out of sight but listening and we’ll both take notes of what she says.”
    Walker opened the door to the hallway where the jail cell was, being very careful not to be seen.
    He left it open and sat down at his desk. He listened as Jack’s footsteps sounded down the hall, then stopped.
    “Who are you?“ Miss Langston asked nastily.
    “I’m Jack Summer, miss,“ Jack said in a low, pleasant voice. “I’m a reporter and I think you should tell the public your view of how you’ve been treated.”
    Walker had judged her correctly. She couldn’t wait to explain herself in the best possible light.
    “I worked for Brother Goodheart at the Institute of Divine Intervention. It wasn’t a good job, but I believed so strongly in his principles that I didn’t mind. I was asked to work with the children in the orphanage on the grounds.”
    Jack nodded sympathetically. “Go on.“
    “I discovered quite soon that he didn’t want me to teach them anything but how to make the collection boxes faster. I realized then that he wasn’t the good man I’d believed in so strongly.“
    “That must have been a shock,“ Jack said.
    “It certainly was. I went to the main building and asked where he was. I was told he was in his bedroom and I could see him later in his office. Of course, I’d looked over the whole place at one time or another and I knew exactly where his bedroom was. I went straight up and told him what I thought of him.“
    “He must not have liked that,“ Jack