Incident on Ten-Right Road Read online

  DeMarco: Somebody like Alex?

  Silence for three seconds.

  DeMarco: The tape recorder can’t hear nods, Missy.

  Missy: Yes, somebody like Alex. I think she wanted to force him to stand up for her. To show whether he really cared about her or not.

  DeMarco: Interesting relationship.

  Half a minute of silence.

  Missy: Are we done then?

  DeMarco: What kind of relationship did Meghan and her mother have with their neighbor?

  Missy: With Mr. Dick?

  DeMarco: Mr. Hickman. I’m not familiar with a Mr. Dick.

  Missy: They’re the same guy. That’s what we called him in high school. Behind his back, of course.

  DeMarco: Because his first name is Richard?

  Missy: If you say so.

  DeMarco: Is there another reason?

  Missy: Why else would you call somebody Mr. Dick?

  DeMarco: Okay. So what I need from you, Missy, is to explain things. It’s not my job to guess or speculate. It’s my job, right now, to record everything you know that might be relevant to the death of your best friend.

  Missy: You think that Mr. Dick, I mean Mr. Hickman, is relevant?

  DeMarco: Based on what we know right now, he might have been the last person to see Meghan alive.

  Missy: Geez, I never thought about that. (pause) We called him Mr. Dick because he was always, you know, trying to get students into his little room. Girl students.

  DeMarco: What do you mean by ‘little room’?”

  Missy: It was this little room in the back of the lab.

  Patti (from the kitchen): It used to be a darkroom! Back before digital cameras.

  Missy: Yeah, and after that it was used mostly for storage. Stuff for the lab.

  DeMarco: And Mr. Hickman would take female students in there alone?

  Missy: Of course alone.

  DeMarco: During class?

  Missy: No, he wasn’t that obvious about it. During study periods, after school, whenever he wasn’t teaching a class.

  DeMarco: And these were the rumors you heard?

  Missy: It was common knowledge more than rumors.

  DeMarco: He would take them in there for sex?

  Missy: For screwing? I never heard that he screwed anybody in there. But I heard he got a lot of hand jobs. Maybe even blowjobs, for all I know.

  DeMarco: Female students went in there willingly?

  Missy: I can think of three that I know personally who did. Including Meghan.

  DeMarco: She told you this?

  Missy: More than once.

  DeMarco: What exactly did she tell you?

  Missy: That she gave him a hand job.

  DeMarco: Why would she do that?

  Missy: Why did any of them do it? For money or grades. With her it was grades.

  Silence.

  Missy: Look, she had this idea that if she could get on the Principal’s list, she could get a scholarship somewhere. Maybe even where Alex was going. But that idea only lasted a couple of months. She was getting a D in Algebra and nothing higher than a C+ in most everything else. Chemistry and Art were the only A’s she got that semester. An A-, actually. You couldn’t get an A in chemistry unless you blew him.

  DeMarco: Apparently the administration had no idea this was going on?

  Patti (from kitchen): Everybody knew it! He’d been doing it for years!

  A long silence.

  Missy: Now are we done?

  DeMarco: For the time being, yes. For tonight anyway, we’re done.

  Missy: Oh, wait a minute. You know about his retirement, right? Why he stopped teaching?

  DeMarco: Tell me.

  Missy: So, as the story goes, some ninth grader’s mother got wind of what was going on. She told Hickman to quit his job or she was calling the police on him. And after that, he never came back to school.

  DeMarco: Do you know who this mother is?

  Missy: No idea.

  DeMarco: How about you, Mrs. Cochran?

  Patti (from the kitchen): Wish like hell I did! I’d pin a medal on her.

  Missy: I doubt if it stopped him, though. I know for a fact it didn’t stop him from watching Meghan get undressed. He lives right across from her, you know.

  DeMarco: Do you have any more details than that?

  Missy: He’s got this telescopy thing he watches her with. I mean watched, I guess. He takes it outside almost every night, even in the winter.

  DeMarco: This is according to Meghan?

  Missy: I saw it happen! We’d spend nights at each other’s place sometimes. A lot, in fact. You could see when those black thingies, the things you look through, I can’t think of what you call them.

  DeMarco: Lenses?

  Missy: Right. You could see a reflection in the lenses sometimes when he turned them toward her house. She used to tease him by undressing in front of him. I mean she’d keep the sheer curtains closed, but with the light on in the room so he’d still get an eyeful.

  Patti (from the kitchen): You both did it, and you know it!

  Missy: I always kept my panties on, though. She’d strip right down to nothing. Then we’d put the music on and dance in front of the curtain.

  Patti: You girls got as much of a thrill out of it as he did!

  Missy: That’s not true! It’s not. It was funny is all. Thinking about him over there whacking off when all he could see of us was the silhouettes.

  DeMarco (after a pause): I believe I have enough for tonight. Thank you for your cooperation.

  Patti (from kitchen): Now don’t you go home thinking about young girls. You can come out here and have some coffee with me, if you want.

  Missy: Mother, for God’s sake!

  End of interview.

  Notes:

  I was still sufficiently troubled by Missy’s time lapse between finding Meghan and calling 911 that I asked for a DNA sample. Plus the lab will need to know who was in Meghan’s bedroom and who wasn’t. Missy readily agreed to the sampling. At the insistence of Patti Cochran, a sample was collected from her as well.

  Missy seemed a little too eager to paint Tad Blyler as a jerk. Could she have been jealous of him? Or…could she have been interested in him romantically, and jealous of Meghan?

  It might be productive to interview the two other female students whom Missy alleges to have had sexual contact with Mr. Hickman, if Missy will impart that information. But I will first try to corroborate the allegations from a more mature source.

  Interview with Regis Madura

  DeMarco: This interview with Mr. Regis Madura, principal of French Creek Area High School, is taking place in his office in the high school building on August 14th at 9:14 a.m. Thank you for meeting with me this morning, sir.

  Madura: Call me Rege, please. I’m always happy to accommodate law enforcement. I’m assuming this has something to do with our former student, Ms. Fletcher? I pulled her records, just in case you want to see them.

  DeMarco: I’ll take a look before I go, thank you.

  Madura: I’m appalled by the possibility that somebody from our community might be responsible for this tragedy.

  DeMarco: It affects everybody, I’m sure.

  Madura: And especially in a place like this. We’re a very rural school district, as you know. Mostly lower, lower middle-class. People in the city, I imagine they become inured of this kind of thing. But this is a shock for us. It’s going to send ripples through our community for a long, long time. (pause) So what can I tell you about her? I remember Meghan as a very likable young woman. And a pretty good athlete.

  DeMarco: Actually I wanted to ask you about Mr. Hickman, your science teacher.

  Madura: Oh God. No. You are not here to tell me that he had something to do with this. Please say you’re not.

  DeMarco: Were you aware of the rumors that he was…being intimate with students in exchange for grades and/or money?

  Long silence.

  Madura: The thing abou
t French Creek is, people around here take care of each other. I mean if something happens, something real, people are very quick to jump in and do what they can to help out. But at the same time, when there’s no actual proof of any wrongdoing, we do our best to give the benefit of the doubt. Rural people are tough and self-reliant. Very private folk. To them there are two Golden Rules: Treat other people the way you want to be treated yourself. And two: Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.

  DeMarco: So what I’m hearing you say is, you knew about it, but you didn’t do anything.

  Madura: That is not correct. Absolutely not correct. I questioned him about it, and more than once.

  DeMarco: You directly asked Mr. Hickman if he was taking liberties with his students?

  Madura: Twice that I can clearly recall. Right here in this office.

  DeMarco: And how did you become aware of those allegations?

  Madura: One of the teachers during lunch hour overheard a couple of the kids talking. She later questioned the children—the students, I mean—who later claimed they were just making it up. Plus there were things written on the stalls in the girls’ restroom.

  DeMarco: What kind of things?

  Madura: I really don’t care to repeat that kind of language.

  DeMarco: Even if it might help identify Meghan’s killer?

  Madura: I can’t for a moment believe that Mr. Hickman could have had anything to do with that.

  DeMarco: So you are refusing to tell me what was written on the bathroom stall?

  Madura (after a sigh): Suck Mr. Dick for an A. That’s what it said.

  DeMarco: And this message appeared more than once? I’m assuming you had it cleaned off each time.

  Madura: Of course we did. It appeared maybe three or four times in total. All during the same school year. Two years ago.

  DeMarco: And you say you questioned Mr. Hickman about this?

  Madura: He wasn’t well-liked by some students. He was a tough grader. Demanded excellence. Which many of our students just aren’t equipped, temperamentally or intellectually, to provide.

  DeMarco: So you’re saying—

  Madura: There are always rumors about teachers. Always. I remember when I was in school, we were all dead certain that the gym teacher and the English teacher were having an affair. We believed they were having sex in the faculty lounge. And then we come to find out that the English teacher is a lesbian! We couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t believe that we had been so wrong.

  DeMarco: I’m not sure I’m following you. Are you saying that the stories about Mr. Hickman were fabricated by students who didn’t like him, or that they are a product of youthful imaginations?

  Madura: Both, I suppose. I’m saying that I questioned him, on two separate occasions, and he vehemently denied the rumors. And nobody came forth to refute his denials. I ended each of those conversations with a very, very stern admonition regarding the consequences of such behavior, were any teacher to engage in it. What else was I supposed to do? Interrogate the entire student body?

  DeMarco: My understanding is that he retired very abruptly. In the middle of a semester.

  Madura: He called me over Thanksgiving break last year, said he wouldn’t be returning. Doctor’s orders. He had to go to Cleveland for emergency heart surgery. Left town that same day. And that’s the last anybody heard from him for seven, eight weeks. We couldn’t even file the paperwork until he came back home again, all patched up apparently.

  DeMarco: So there’s no truth to the rumor that a mother threatened him with statutory rape of her ninth grade daughter if he didn’t retire immediately?

  Madura (after a pause): Sir, I…I can’t offer any comment on that one way or the other. A high school administrator is forever neck-deep in rumors, 95 percent of which prove untrue.

  DeMarco: So you were aware of that particular rumor?

  Madura: I was.

  DeMarco: And how did you come by that information?

  Madura: Sir, you put me in a difficult position. Rumors usually reach me as a last resort. A student tells a student who tells another student, and that student tells a teacher, and that teacher tells another teacher…

  DeMarco: You’re at the end of the grapevine.

  Madura: Precisely. And the success or failure of my position here depends on trust. I can’t maintain that trust if I’m tossing out names without any foundation of evidence to back up the accusations.

  DeMarco: Fair enough.

  Madura: But I promise you this: If I am ever convinced that that particular rumor belongs in the five percent rather than in the 95 percent, I will notify you immediately.

  DeMarco: Thank you for your time, sir.

  Madura: I trust that this conversation will remain confidential?

  DeMarco: All interviews are subject to review by law enforcement. And that includes the D.A.

  Madura: Gosh. I wish you had told me that before we started.

  DeMarco: And why would that be, sir?

  Madura: No, no, you’re right. The truth is the truth. And like the Good Book says, “The truth will out.”

  DeMarco: Actually, that quote is from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: “Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long…at the length truth will out.”

  Madura: I’m impressed. You’re not looking for a job teaching English, are you?

  DeMarco: Not at the moment. Thank you again for your time. You say you have Meghan’s file for me?

  Madura: Just stop at the front desk and ask Debbie for it.

  End of interview.

  Notes:

  According to Meghan Fletcher’s academic records, she received an A- from Mr. Hickman in both her junior and senior years. Her overall GPA for those terms, with those grades factored in, were 2.44 and 2.56 respectively on a 4.0 scale. Her only other A grades were for Physical Education, the electives Family and Consumer Science (Home Ec) and Visual and Performing Arts (Senior Choir and Basic Still Life Drawing).

  Is Madura in denial, or just covering his own butt? Or maybe I’m not giving him enough credit. He told me what he could without compromising his principles. Tough job he has, riding herd on students and teachers, and trying to treat all of them, plus the kids’ parents, fairly. All while keeping his own butt covered. I’m glad it’s not me walking that tightrope.

  Call Cleveland Clinic to substantiate Hickman’s bypass surgery. Can’t wait to hear how he explains his retirement.

  Interview with Richard Hickman

  DeMarco: This interview with Mr. Richard Hickman is taking place in his residence at 100 Ten-Right Road, French Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Today is August 14th and the time is 11:46 a.m. We are seated in his living room, from whose front window we can look directly across the road at the home of the deceased, Meghan Fletcher. You are a retired science teacher from the French Creek Area School District, is that correct, sir?

  Hickman: That is correct. Why did you say that you can see Meghan’s house from here?

  DeMarco: So that I can resituate myself, so to speak, when I listen to the interview later on. It helps me to remember anything I might forget between now and then.

  Hickman: I understand. It just sounded like maybe you were implying something.

  DeMarco: What would I be implying?

  Hickman: That’s what I was asking myself.

  DeMarco: It is important, though, that you have such a clear view across the road. The information you provided to Chief Melvin about your whereabouts on the night of Meghan’s death, about you seeing Tad Blyler pull up and drop her off, all of that is very useful to us. We’re very grateful for your cooperation.

  Hickman: I’m happy to tell you what I know. Though I did that once already.

  DeMarco: And thanks to that I have Chief Melvin’s notes to draw upon. So instead of repeating everything you told him…unless you want to make some corrections or clarifications to it?

  Hickman: No, I’m good.

  DeMarco: Tad’s
truck pulled in at…. What time did you say it was?

  Hickman: 1:11 a.m. Meghan jumped out and ran up onto the porch and let herself into the house. Then he drove away. That’s it in a nutshell.

  DeMarco: And exactly how did Meghan let herself into the house?

  Hickman: There’s a hanging basket off to the side of the front porch steps, has a spider plant in it. She reached into the basket, took something out, and opened the door. It seems logical to assume the something she took out was a key.

  DeMarco: Was this the first time you saw her take a key from the basket?

  Hickman: Obviously I couldn’t tell that it was a key, but no, I’ve seen her or Junie do it a number of times.

  DeMarco (after a pause): Approximately how long did she remain sitting in the truck after it pulled into the driveway?

  Hickman: Do you want it in nanoseconds? Because that’s how long. Single digit.

  DeMarco: As far as you know, did Tad call out to her through an open window, or did she say anything as she was getting out of the truck?

  Hickman: I would have heard if they did.

  DeMarco: How far away would you say you were from the truck when Meghan jumped out?

  Hickman: I was just off the corner of my house, more or less.

  DeMarco: The front corner or the rear corner?

  Hickman: The front. But out in the yard a ways. So I could look at the stars above the house, of course.

  DeMarco: Above your house or Meghan’s?

  Hickman: Both, actually.

  DeMarco: You mind if I pull your curtains back a bit more?

  Hickman: Help yourself.

  DeMarco: So then…considering the position of your house, Perseus would be out to the northeast there about, what, 45, well, almost 60 degrees to the right of the Fletcher house?