"Mr. Caldwell," she replied, her voice cooler than the classroom's air conditioning. "This is Ben Reilly. We were hoping to ask you a few questions."
Caldwell finally acknowledged Ben with a brief nod before turning his attention back to Kelly.
"Questions? How intriguing. About what, may I ask? Not thinking of joining the theater department, are you? We could always use someone with your... presence."
The innuendo wasn't subtle. Ben felt a surge of dislike for the man, amplified by Kelly’s unconscious step back.
"Actually," Ben said, deliberately keeping his voice pleasant, "we wanted to ask you about a former student of yours. Lori Powell."
Caldwell's expression remained blank for a moment, then he furrowed his brow in what appeared to be genuine confusion. "Powell? I've had so many students over the years. You'll have to refresh my memory."
"Blonde. Blue eyes. Cheerleader," Kelly supplied. "She was in your senior English class the year she died."
Recognition dawned slowly on Caldwell's face, but not the kind Ben would have expected if the man had been involved with her. There was no flash of panic, no grief, just the mild interest of someone retrieving a dusty file from the back of their mind.
"Ah, yes, Lori Powell. The murder victim. Terrible business, that. What about her?"
"We're looking into her case," Ben explained. "Talking to people who knew her."
"And you want to talk to me? I'm not sure I'd qualify as someone who knew her well. She was a mediocre student at best. Never truly grasped the nuances of Shakespeare. If you're expecting profound insights into her character, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."
“You don’t remember anything else?” Kelly pressed. “You spent a lot of time with her, helping her with her studies.”
“I spend a lot of time with many students,” Caldwell pointed out. “But I have to disagree that I spent any extra time with Miss Powell. I saw her in class, and that’s it. I don’t remember any extra tutoring. I was working closely with Ian Dunbridge that semester as he was the lead in the school play.”
Kelly’s brows were pinched together, and she gave Ben a confused look.
“She didn’t see you after school?”
“No, although considering her grades, I would have encouraged her to. I don’t think there’s much I can add. I dealt with her academic performance, not her social life. Why are you interested in my perspective anyway? Surely there are others who knew her better."
Ben decided to take a chance, watching Caldwell's face carefully as he spoke.
“She was quite beautiful. The kind of student that even teachers might notice."
The effect was immediate and dramatic. Caldwell's face flushed, his posture stiffened, and his eyes narrowed to slits behind his glasses.
"I'm not sure what you're implying," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, "but I assure you that I maintain appropriate professional boundaries with all my students. Always have, always will. If you're suggesting otherwise, I would advise you to consider the legal implications of defamation very carefully."
"No one's suggesting anything, Mr. Caldwell. We're just trying to understand who Lori was as a person. She had told others that she spent time with you after school, so we thought you might have some insight into her as a person, but it soundslike that was an incorrect assumption. But what about during the summer? Did you ever see her then?"
"I did not. I spent that summer in London," Caldwell said abruptly, his eyes darting between Ben and Kelly. "With a colleague from the university. Working on research for my dissertation on modern interpretations of Shakespearean comedy. I have plane tickets, photographs, and multiple witnesses who can attest to my whereabouts. I don’t like where this is going. I had nothing to do with that young woman’s life or death. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a production to prepare and papers to grade."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked back toward the stage, his shoulders rigid with tension.
Ben and Kelly stood awkwardly at the edge of the now-empty classroom. Ben noticed that several students had been watching their exchange from the hallway, though they scattered quickly when Caldwell returned to the stage.
"Well," Ben murmured under his breath. "That’s a dead end."
They exited the school and headed back to the car. He hadn’t truly had any high hopes even before they’d come to speak to Caldwell, but Kelly might have.
He studied her face for signs of distress, but her expression was surprisingly calm after their letdown. If anything, she looked thoughtful, her brow slightly furrowed as she processed what had just happened.
Kelly shrugged, her auburn hair catching copper highlights in the sun.
"I hate to admit it, but I think he was being genuine about not remembering Lori well."
“We still have Aunt Patricia,” Ben assured her. “If Lori was seeing someone that summer, her aunt might have noticed something."
