“Thenwhat?”
He gave her the bare minimum.
She grimaced. “Someone shooting him and running off and not taking anything? That’s nuts. That sounds like what I guess you people would call a hit.”
The flush had spread to her entire face. Her hands clasped and her eyes rounded, widening the pink halo.
Milo said, “Can you think of anyone who’d target him?”
“Of course not—oh, crap. No, couldn’t be.”
She sprang up, ran to the kitchen, uncapped a pale-green glass bottle and brought it back.
Topo Chico mineral water from Mexico.
“Manny introduced me to it. Great bubbles. You sure you don’t want some?”
Milo said, “No, thanks. What couldn’t be, Ms. Gardener?”
“That there was someone actually out to get Manny.”
“If something has come to mind, please tell us.”
“Oh my,” she said. “Here I was thinking I had nothing to offer and I still probably don’t. But I suppose there could be one thing. Not that it’s factual, it’s not even close to factual, just—and I can’t even give you details.”
She gulped water. Put the bottle down, picked it up and drank some more.
Breathing hard, looking away.
We waited.
Hannah Gardener said, “You won’t quote me on this, okay? I don’t want to get myself into something.”
Milo said, “We deal with facts, Hannah, not theory. There’d be no reason to get you involved. But a lead, even one that doesn’t pan out, would sure be helpful.”
“You can’t even call it a lead,” she said. “It’s just a possibility. Theoretical…oh, crap…fine. Let me preface this by saying that Manny was a great teacher, devoted, fair, but he had standards and hecouldbe firm. You need to be firm with kids, especially the smart ones. They must understand that the real world isn’t perpetual daycare where everyone coddles—oh, crap, I’m blathering.”
She picked up the bottle, drank long enough to empty it. Let loose a soft burp and said, “Great, like you needed to hearthat.”
Scooting forward, she said, “Okay, let me get this out. Around a year ago, right before Manny retired—I’m sure it played a role in his retiring—a terrible thing happened. Not Manny’s fault, not remotely his fault, but I suppose if someone thought so…it’s far-fetched, but with what you’ve told me about how someone was out for himspecifically…okay. Here’s what happened. One of his students committed suicide. Manny was devastated, he had no idea it would get that far.”
Milo said, “There was a problem with that student?”
“Nothing earth-shattering,” said Hannah Gardener. “Not in a normal world but nowadays…the kid was a great student except for physics. He got consistently bad grades on the AP physics tests and Manny wasn’t one to grade-inflate. He was compassionate, he was understanding, but in the end you got what you earned.”
I said, “He failed the student?”
“No, no, nothing like that, he gave him a B minus, which according to Manny was more than what was merited, it should’ve been a C. But the kid went ballistic. Until then, he’d had straight A’s and was convinced it would ruin his future forever. He begged Manny to change it. Manny tried to explain that he’d already been generous and couldn’t go further. The kid went home and hung himself. Disgusting. Tragic.” She shuddered. “Over a stupidgrade!”
I said, “Did the family blame Manny?”
“They blamed everyone. The school, the entire magnet program, and yes, Manny. He told me they even made noises about suing but of course that went nowhere, what would be the grounds? In any event, Manny retired. Refused to talk about it but it’s pretty obvious why.”
She pointed a finger. “I’m sure the family is devastated forever so I certainly don’t want to get anyone in trouble. But if anyone had a bone to pick with Manny, it would be them. And let’s face it, they probably created the situation in the first place.”
I said, “Putting pressure on the boy.”
“That’s what Manny said. It’s like that with most of the smart kids. Crazy parents giving them an either/or view of the world: get into the Ivy League or end up homeless. That’s where the problem lies, not with teachers doing our job. We arenotpaid to delude.”
