School's Out for Murder (Schooled in Murder Book 2) Read Online Free

presence. Before she could say a word, however, Maclaine suddenly dashed across the short space between them and launched herself into Tad's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
    Tad looked as startled as Emily felt, but he gingerly patted the glossy blonde curls, causing Maclaine to wrap even more tightly around him, like Saran wrap on a plastic bowl. Emily struggled against a hard knot of jealousy that twisted her insides. She exchanged glances with Gabby, and saw that her friend's eyebrows had risen so high they had practically disappeared into her bangs. In answer to Gabby's What the heck? bugged eyes, Emily shrugged. She could only assume that as Maclaine was fairly new to town, Tad was one of the people she felt she knew best since, as head of the math department, he had spent the past couple of weeks showing her the ropes at school.
    Gangly-Arms looked as uncomfortable as Emily felt, but he finally cleared his throat and said, "Perhaps it would be best if you went on home now, Ms. Forrester. I'll come by and speak with you once I've finished up with interviews here."
    "Oh, Uncle Larry!" Maclaine cried. "What will I tell him?"
    "He has already been informed, but I'm sure it would help him to see you," Gangly-Arms said. Emily could clearly see how much he hated this part of his job.
    "Of course," Maclaine answered, then turned imploring eyes on Tad. "I don't want to go alone. Will you drive me?"
    Tad shot an apologetic look at Emily, but she gave him a tight nod and said, "I'll catch a ride with Gabby." Maclaine needed someone more than she did right now. Still, that didn't make it any easier to watch Tad lead the gorgeous blonde away, her head against his shoulder, and her hands like talons around his strong arm.
    Gabby moved up beside Emily, prepared to support her during any interrogation by Gangly-Arms—who, uncharacteristically, didn't say anything about Gabby listening in to his questioning. Gangly-Arms had shown he had a soul before, but his silent acknowledgment of her need for support meant more to Emily than he could realize at that particular point in time. After finding her second dead body in the space of a single year, as well as watching her boyfriend walk off with a gorgeous woman, she was feeling annoyingly weak and weepy. Still, she sucked it up and informed Gangly-Arms of everything that she had witnessed, from her view of the booth at the top of the Ferris wheel to her trek back to the Whac-A-Mole booth to chastise the lovebirds to her discovery of the mayor.
    "So you didn't notice the shoe or the burlap bag from the top of the Ferris wheel?" Gangly-Arms questioned again.
    "No." Emily rubbed at the base of her neck where a headache was pounding away. "I didn't notice them, but I wasn't looking for them. I was focused on the booth and Rylan and Brittney." She paused as a thought struck her. "But don't you think Rylan and Brittney would have noticed if the mayor had been right at their feet?"
    "I'll be speaking to each of them as soon as their parents get here." Emily knew he couldn't start interrogating many of the witnesses as most of them were underage. At the thought of all the parent concerns she would have to deal with, Emily's head pounded harder. As if sensing her raging headache, Gangly-Arms conceded, "But yes, I would think a body would be hard to miss, even if they were focused on stealing a few kisses."
    Emily sent up a prayer of gratitude that the two teens had been spared such a disturbing sight. "Are we done here, Gan—, er, Detective Welks?" she asked. The long-limbed detective gave her an odd look, and Emily had the irresistible urge to giggle, a sure sign that she was running on fumes.
    "We'll be in touch if we have more questions. Your timeline of the events you witnessed is very helpful. Thank you. Of course, you'll have to come down to the station to sign your statement." The headache threatened to blind her. Another trip to the police station. Yippee.
    Gangly-Arms turned back at the last