The Hayloft. A 1950s Mystery

at first. Then I saw a boy—Ralph, as it turned out—laying on his back across a couple of seatbacks. I said to myself, ‘That ain’t right,’ and went over to investigate. He was in a unnatural position, you know what I mean? Then I saw that one of the seats was broken. But I didn’t know he was dead until I got up close to him. Poor guy. He was right below the balcony and I knew immediately what had happened. He must have been goofing off up there.”
    “What time was that?”
    “Oh, about 2:30. Half hour after the assembly ended.”
    “Did you see anybody else in or near the auditorium?”
    “Nope.”
    “What about in the balcony?”
    “Couldn’t have been nobody there. I would have heard them. Any sound in that place carries. It’s got good acoustics.”
    “But what if someone were hiding in the balcony and not moving?”
    “Police searched it after they got there.”
    “Okay, but you had to leave the auditorium to tell Dr. Graves about Ralph. A person would have had time to leave while you were gone. Or before you got there in the first place.”
    “What are you driving at, young fella?”
    “Somebody else could have been with Ralph when he fell.”
    Mr. White appeared to think about that statement. Then he said, “Like I told Dr. Graves and the police, I didn’t see or hear nobody. And I got to get to work.”
    Mr. White slid off the workbench. Standing, he came up to just above my shoulder. He walked over toward a bus that had its hood up. The interview was obviously over. I called a thank you after him and headed toward my next class.
    ***
    When school let out, I walked over to the football field. The team was already there, practicing for the game on Saturday. The game was important enough that the jocks had been let out of school early. An offensive team, headed by quarterback Joe Hawkins, was running plays against a defensive team composed of second-stringers, since the first string played both offense and defense in a game. Joe was a commanding presence on the field, and he had a strong passing arm. I could understand why a girl would fall for him. That didn’t make me feel good.
    The cheerleaders came out and started practicing nearby. Natalie, as head cheerleader, drilled the varsity cheerleaders who were practicing in uniform. Their black skirts fell well below their knees. They wore black sweaters with big red C’s on the front. When they practiced jumps, their skirts flew up in back, and I was able to see their black pants underneath. I would have preferred white.
    When the cheerleaders took a break, I walked over to Natalie, who had seen me and was a few steps away from the others. I said, “Shake hands with me, so it will look like we’re meeting for the first time. She smiled her winning smile and pumped my hand. She was a good actress, and even though her smile was put on, it still affected me.
    “Which one is Ruth?” I asked.
    “Ruth is the redhead with freckles.”
    I picked her out instantly. She was a big girl, built like a brick shithouse. I’m not sure where that expression came from, but it meant she was stacked in all the right places.
    Natalie called Ruth over to us and said, “Ruth, this is Gary. He’s new here. He’s writing a story for the Carter Press.”
    “About what?” Ruth asked.
    “A general story about the school and its history, athletic program, cheerleaders,” I said, trying to make it as broad as possible.
    “Did Ed ask you to do this?”
    “Ed?”
    “Ed Drucquer. He’s in charge of all the school news written for the Carter Press.”
    “Do you work with Ed?”
    “I’m on his staff.”
    How was I going to get out of this one? “I talked to him a little. We’ll talk some more.”
    “Why do you want to talk to me, in particular?”
    It was time for the truth. “Because you knew Ralph Harrison.”
    She looked at me, stone-faced.
    “I heard about Ralph’s accident when I was at Atherton. It was big news. I’d like to know more of the details.”
    “It was all in the papers.”
    This was going nowhere. “May I talk to you, say, after practice?”
    “I have to take the school bus home.” Her voice was too high-pitched for her body.
    “Why don’t I drive you home? Where do you live?”
    Ruth looked apprehensive.
    Natalie, who had been lurking nearby, said, “Gary’s a good guy. Sylvia told me all about him. And he’s really interested in anything to do with Ralph.”
    Ruth finally nodded and said, “Okay.”
    Sylvia’s