The Word of a Child. Janice Kay Johnson

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      From her peripheral vision, she saw him pull a notebook from an inside pocket of his well-cut gray suit coat. “Will you repeat what she told you to the best of your memory, Ms. Stavig? I believe she may have been more expansive with you than she was with Mrs. Patterson.”

      “Yes. Okay.” Mariah took a deep breath and began, at first disjointedly, feeling herself blush at the recitation of physical details, before pulling herself together to conclude like the articulate teacher she was.

      “What was your first reaction?” the detective asked.

      “That one of her mother’s boyfriends…” Mariah stopped herself and felt heat in her cheeks.

      The principal smiled ruefully. “The same thought occurred to me.”

      “Is it possible she’s accusing Mr. Tanner as a smokescreen?”

      When no one else responded, Mariah did. “Anything is possible.”

      He continued gently, relentlessly. “Tell me what you know of her home life.”

      Mariah did, watching from the corner of her eyes as he took detailed notes.

      “Do you know Gerald Tanner well?”

      Surprised and made uneasy by the question, Mariah was unwary enough to look at him. Their eyes met briefly, and she turned her head quickly.

      “Well, um, no,” she fumbled. “He’s new this year…”

      “Aren’t you planning a project together?” Ed Lamarr asked.

      “Yes.” Mariah explained. “We’ve never had any discussions I’d consider personal, however. I don’t even know if he’s married or has children.”

      “Actually he’s single,” Noreen contributed. “No children.”

      Mariah didn’t want to know that or anything else about her colleague. She wanted this never to have happened.

      “What will you do?” she asked the principal.

      “I’ve asked him to come to my office. I’ll have to tell him about the accusation, of course. Tracy has gone to the hospital for an exam, and, um…”

      Mariah nodded.

      “Unless DNA is recovered, however, the exam won’t be conclusive. Well,” she corrected herself, “unless she’s never had sexual intercourse at all and the entire story is fabricated.

      “Detective McLean will be conducting an investigation. I fear parents will demand that Mr. Tanner be suspended during the course of it. I’m undecided about that yet. Students have been known to make frivolous accusations. I don’t want to overreact.”

      “Tracy’s grades are suffering in my class,” Mariah said. “She may be flunking his.”

      “And yet, the fact that she is a poor student can have no bearing on our response to her allegation,” Noreen Patterson pointed out. “In fact, I suspect her failing grade explains why she responded to his…um, blackmail. He wouldn’t have had the same leverage with a better student.”

      Mariah nodded. “Yes. I understand. It’s just that…”

      “That?” the principal prompted.

      “It occurred to me today while we were talking that she and I were alone in a classroom with the door shut. She could have claimed I’d said or done anything. How will you ever know the truth?”

      The police officer stirred. “I doubt a thirteen-year-old girl who is a poor student has the sophistication to have built an airtight case. She’ll have talked to friends, for example, possibly bragging about how she was going to get rid of her computer teacher and make everybody feel sorry for her. Clearly she didn’t understand that her accusation would go outside the school. In the stress of having to repeat her story to me, other officers, somebody from Child Protective Services, even a D.A., she’ll likely slip up.”

      “If she’s not telling the truth,” Mariah felt compelled to say, surprised at her sharpness.

      He lifted a brow. “Exactly.”

      She started at a rap on the glass inset in the door.

      Galvanized, Mariah leaped to her feet. She said hastily, “I know you’ll want to talk to Gerald without me here. Unless you need anything else, I’ll be going home now.”

      Detective McLean’s light eyes flicked from her face to the man who stood behind her.

      “Actually, Mariah, I was hoping you could stay.” Noreen cleared her throat. “I’d like your thoughts.”

      Thoughts?

      She was backpedaling, careful to avoid looking at the police officer who remained by the window, as though he imagined he could ever be unobtrusive.

      “I don’t know what else I can add.” Please don’t make me do this, she begged the principal with her eyes. You don’t know what you’re asking.

      But he did. And, damn him, remained silent.

      Noreen Patterson said firmly, “I’d appreciate it if you would stay.”

      Mariah stood for a moment, so near rebellion that she trembled. Nostrils flaring, she stared at Detective McLean, knowing what was coming, hating it and him. He could have rescued her, could have said in that quiet voice, “I don’t think we need Ms. Stavig to be here.”

      But he said nothing of the kind, and after an intense inner battle Mariah went back to her seat and waited, head bowed.

      Noreen Patterson raised her voice. “Come in.”

      “You wanted to see me?” Gerald Tanner looked wary.

      The principal asked him to take a seat. The remaining one was right beside Mariah. She stared down at her hands.

      “Mr. Tanner, one of your students has accused you of trading a passing grade for sex.”

      His body jerked, as though he’d been struck by a bullet. “What?”

      Sounding calm, nonjudgmental, Noreen Patterson summarized Tracy’s story.

      “Who is the student?” he asked, strain making his voice shake.

      “Tracy Mitchell.”

      “God.” He bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ve had conferences with her—I know she can do the work if only she’d try—but I’ve never…” He drew a breath that was painful to hear.

      Unable to prevent herself, Mariah turned her head to see the bewilderment and shock on his face.

      “You don’t seriously think I…” He looked from face to face and saw that they did. “Oh my God. This can’t be happening!”

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