Murders at Westfield High

Chapter 10

At the end of the next day of school, I was alone in the hallway at my locker. I looked down at Carrie’s old locker and saw her standing there glaring back at me. I walked toward her but she disappeared. I was dismayed by the fact that I couldn’t make contact, that I couldn’t talk to her and find out what she knew about her killer. That would have made it easy, but it was not to be.

I was desperate. I concluded that it had to be a teacher who was committing these murders, a teacher that was here at Westfield long enough to span the time of the murders. I knew that Wells would have the files on all the teachers. I had no other choice; I would have to break into her office and go through her files.

But, I had to choose the right time to do it, and I didn’t want Julia to know my plan for fear of implicating her. I ran into her the next day in stairwell.

“Hi,” she said, smiling.

“Are you on the way to English?”

“Yes. Aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

She leaned against the wall and I put an arm around her waist. We kissed and it led to a more passionate exchange.

I pulled away. “We had better not be seen doing this.”

“I don’t care,” she said, her face exhibiting tacit approval for a forbidden act.

I looked around, hoping no one was watching. “Let’s go before we’re late.”

She went with me to English class, but we split up right before entering the classroom. No use advertising that we were smooching in the hall.

I waited until night and snuck into the high school. The only people there at night are the cleaning people, and if I was careful, I could avoid them. They have the most cleaning work in the cafeteria/lunch room and the classrooms. I should be able to sneak down to Wells’ office and gain entry.

The door to Wells’ outer office where her secretary worked was unlocked. I waited until it was clear and got in without turning on the lights. Surprisingly, Wells’ office door was unlocked too. The cleaning people had forgotten to lock it. I entered and used a flashlight to look around. I started with a file cabinet. She had folders in alphabetical order on each teacher. I assumed that there would only be a handful of older teachers that fit the criteria. It turned out there were twenty-four. Wells was also a candidate. She started there as a teacher before the first murder. Mr. Taylor was another possibility. Unfortunately, there was no way to determine if they would be killers.

I was interrupted in my search by a harsh command.

“Hands up!”

I turned to look at the glaring light of flashlights. Evidently, the cleaning crew had seen me enter the office and had called the police.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” a police officer growled.

“What’s you name, son?” the other officer demanded.

“Jay Kramer. I’m a student here.”

“What were you doing, trying to change your grade card?”

“I was looking for Carrie Adler’s killer.”

That surprised them, but only for a few seconds.

“Yeah, right. Cuff him.”

The first policeman snapped cuffs on me with my hands behind my back. I was dragged out and thrown into the backseat of a police car. The ride to the police station was not without its moments.

“You’re in a lot of trouble, Kramer,” the officer not driving the car said. “Breaking into the principal’s office could get you a sentence to the Youth Center.”

“Yeah, kid,” the cop driving the car said. “What were you thinking?”

I decided to remain silent. I didn’t want to make it worse by saying something stupid.”

When I got to the police station, I had to remove everything from my pockets and strip to be examined, including a body cavity search. They gave me a prison jump suit and stuck me in a holding cell. I spent the night listening to moans, snores, grunts and farts from prisoners in adjoining cells.

The next morning I got a surprise. A deputy came to my cell and opened it. “You got lucky, Kramer, the school didn’t press charges.”

They gave me back my clothes and my other stuff and left me go. I walked back up the hill from the police station and went to the student parking lot to get my car and drive home.

“Where were you?” my mother cried when I came in.

“I got arrested,” I said, keeping my eyes averted from hers.

“Now what did you do?”

“I broke into the principal’s office and was caught.”

“Why would you do something that stupid?”

I looked her in the face with a determined look. “Did you know that there have been four murders right in Westfield High, with the last being only four years ago.”

Her face exploded with shock. “Murders?”

“Five girls have been stabbed to death over a twelve year period. The last to be stabbed was Carrie Adler, the sister of the girl I’ve been dating. I’m convinced that the murderer is still at the high school and that he or she is going to strike again.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you broke into the principal’s office.”

“I was trying to find out which teachers have been there long enough to span the murder spree.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to simply ask?”

“That kind of information isn’t made public.”

“Are you going to have to go to a hearing?”

“No. The school dropped any charges.”

My mother shook her head. “I don’t know about you, Jay. You’re driven just like your father.”

I felt good that she said that. My father was the bravest, most loving person I’ve even known. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to know him that long. He never came back from the war. He’s buried somewhere in Normandy, France.