Murder of a Cranky Catnapper Read Free Page B

own.”
    â€œThat’s okay.” Skye pried the secretary’s hand from the death grip the woman had on her arm. “I doubt a warning would have helped.”
    â€œMr. Lynch wasn’t on my schedule.” Fern blinked rapidly, pecking at her fingernails with her teeth.
    â€œHow inconsiderate of him, Twe—” Skye cut herself off just in time.
    Fern was a small-boned woman who dressed in shades of brown and tan. When she was upset, she flapped her arms as if she was about to take flight. That, along with her tendency to sound as if she were cheeping when she spoke, had earned her the nickname
Tweets
. Not that anyone in the school was unkind enough to call the fragile woman that to her face, but sometimes it was hard not to slip up.
    Skye smiled at Fern, then quickly said, “I’m sure you did your best to accommodate him.”
    As the secretary continued to apologize, Skye glanced at the while-you-were-out memo. It was from Homer Knapik, the high school principal. He was rescheduling the next day’s Pupil Personnel Services meeting from the afternoon to the morning.
    PPS meetings were held in each school to assist students exhibiting academic, social, or physical needs. Skye, along with the principal, special education teacher, speech therapist, and nurse met to discuss children experiencing difficulties in those areas.
    Skye grimaced. Homer’s note meant she’d have tocontact Neva Llewellyn, the junior high principal, and tell her she needed to flip around her hours there. Skye didn’t have to cancel any appointments at the junior high, but the principal would still be unhappy.
    Neva felt that Homer monopolized Skye’s time, and unfortunately, her complaints to the superintendent had been ignored. Scumble River was still very much a typical male-controlled small town. Although the vast majority of teachers were women, the head honcho was a man, who treated his female employees more like chattel than valued professionals.
    Skye checked her watch. She’d better get to her office and call Neva right now while she had a chance. The elementary school’s day would be ending in half an hour and she needed to talk to a couple of faculty members after the kids were dismissed, but before the staff was officially allowed to leave. Although a lot of the teachers remained late, Skye tried not to be the reason they had to put in overtime. Especially since there was no additional pay for any of the extra hours the faculty worked.
    Twenty minutes later, after apologizing and repeatedly promising that the junior high would get its fair share of her services, Skye finally hung up the telephone and gazed unhappily around the room. Caroline might be the nicest of the three principals, but the space she provided for the psych office was the worst. It had started out as a storage room for the dairy refrigerator and other cafeteria supplies, and it still smelled like spoiled milk.
    For some reason, no matter what type of tape, putty, or hangers Skye attempted to use to fasten posters to the drab gray walls, they refused to stay up. And with no windows, the only illumination came from the fluorescent fixture attached to the ceiling and the sickly light cast a nauseating chartreuse glow over everything.When Skye worked with kids in there, it was disconcerting that their faces looked greener than Kermit the Frog.
    Thank goodness her morning sickness had finally gone away or the revolting color would be too much for Skye’s unsettled stomach to handle. Unfortunately, her increasing girth was another matter. It made navigating the small office even trickier than before.
    The pair of visitor chairs occupying two thirds of the floor left little room to maneuver. There was no room for a file cabinet, and the desk had only one locking drawer, forcing Skye to carry most of the confidential folders with her. There were just too many people who had a key to the office to make it secure enough