The Word of a Child Read Online Free

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