Ripper Read Free

here? The dark-haired, round-faced girl had been at Ellis nearly as long as he and Finn, but her behavior was impeccable. Her thin cotton dress was too light for the weather, and she was flushed and sweating, as if she’d been yanked from the laundry room in the middle of her chores.
    What was going on?
    “Sit,” Miss Petty said.
    To keep some distance from Finn, Carver wedged himself between Delia and a wall.
    After shutting the door, Miss Petty rounded on them. Instead of a royal ear-lashing, though, she cleared her throat and spoke in a quivering voice. “The building’s been sold. We’ll be purchasing a larger facility further north, with a field and gymnasium. The money left over will fund us for many years.”
    Finn blurted out exactly what Carver was feeling. “I don’t want to leave the city!”
    “Hush,” Delia said. “Can’t you see she’s not finished? There’s something else.”
    A tremble ran through the headmistress’s upper lip, but she wiped it away like an error on the chalkboard. “The board has also decided we can no longer house residents past age thirteen. I made a final appeal that our oldest residents, you three, be allowed to remain, but was summarily rejected. I’m afraid you’ll all have to make other arrangements.”
    Looking at their openmouthed expressions, Miss Petty rose and stepped closer to them and, in a rare gesture of affection, cupped Delia’s chin in her hand. “I’d gladly offer you a position in our new kitchen, but in your case, I’m confident it will not come to that.”
    A more severe expression had been reserved for the boys. “As for you two, I continue to regret I could not be both mother
and
father. You each need the latter
badly.
However, if my word means anything, I strongly suggest that if you don’t intend to wind up on the street, you put all mischief out of your minds and focus on making the best-possible impression on next week’s Prospective Parents Day.”
    “But—” Carver and Finn said simultaneously.
    She cut them off. “I promise nothing, but do as I ask and there may yet be a surprise for both of you. Since his father had been such a friend to Ellis, I’ve managed to persuade our new police commissioner to attend, bringing a great deal of attention to the event. If there is a chance for you to avoid the life of a street rat, it will be there.”
    Finn looked puzzled, but Carver grew excited. “Roosevelt? He’s working on the library murder! They say her body was…”
    Miss Petty closed her eyes. “Mr. Young, please. I’m delighted that you’re reading, but if you broadened your focus a bit, you might have something less unsavory to discuss.”
    “Sorry.”
    She grimaced. “I’m sure. Now, leave me please. I still have arrangements to make and you all have some serious thinking to do.”
    But as they filed out, the only thing on Carver’s mind was that he might meet a real-live detective who could help him find his father.

4
    THEY HEADED down the hall, Delia and Finn somber, but Carver’s mind ablaze.
    “The rumor is she was butchered,” he said cheerfully.
    Delia rolled her eyes. “I read the papers.”
    “Everyone dancing and talking. She was screaming right below their feet and they couldn’t hear her.”
    Suddenly, Finn shoved Carver into the wall. He pressed his beefy right forearm into the smaller boy’s chest and brought his face close. “Shut up!”
    Sick of the years of bullying, Carver refused to flinch. “Or else what? You’re going to beat me up right outside Miss Petty’s office? Even you aren’t that stupid.”
    But Finn didn’t release him. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did to me.”
    “I’m stunned, Finn, really. I mean, I’m still surprised you can
talk.
”
    Finn pushed harder, squeezing the air from Carver’s lungs. “I did
not
steal that locket!”
    Delia eyed them both with distaste. “Let go of him, Phineas. Haven’t we trouble enough?”
    The bully grunted, then lowered