Page 23 of Peak Suspicion
“No,” Mira said, before Porter could speak. “My class isn’t locked. And I don’t know how those pants ended up in that drawer. I don’t even know Bryce. He’s not in any of my classes. As far as I know, he doesn’t even go to this school.”
“I’m the person who found Bryce,” Carter said. “After he escaped from his kidnappers, I was part of the search and rescue volunteers looking for him up above Galloway Basin. He told me he was pretty sure the person who grabbed him was a man.”
“He didn’t get a good look at his kidnapper,” Porter said. “They wore a mask and gloves.” He looked at Mira. “You’re what, about five-seven?”
“Five-eight,” she said.
“To a panicked boy, you could look taller.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with Bryce’s kidnapping,” she said.
“Where were you yesterday afternoon between three and four thirty?” Sheriff Walker asked.
“I was here at the school,” she said. “In my classroom.”
“Classes are over at three o’clock,” Principal Martin said.
“I was working on lesson plans,” she said.
“Did anyone else see you there at that time?” Porter asked.
“Yes. A student—Camila Sepulveda—came to talk to me about an extra-credit project she’s working on. Then Shayla Green came and we talked for a few minutes. Then Coach Anders came and told us about Bryce being kidnapped.”
Porter showed little change of expression. “Have you seen anyone near your classroom who shouldn’t be there?” he asked.
“No.”
“Does this have anything to do with the bomb threat?” Carter asked.
Porter said nothing.
“Was there a bomb?” Mira asked. “Did you find anything besides these jeans?”
“There was no bomb,” the sheriff said.
“Maybe someone called in the threat so that you would have to search the school and find these pants,” Carter said. “Someone who wanted to implicate Mira.”
“Why would someone want to implicate Mira?” Porter asked.
Carter turned to her. “I think you should tell them about the letters,” he said.
She wanted to protest. The letters were an annoyance. They weren’t serious. But this—Bryce’s jeans in her desk—was serious. What if she had been alone in her classroom during that time? Would she be on her way to jail now?
“What letters?” Porter asked.
“Someone has been sending anonymous notes to people around town,” she said. “I’ve received two of them.”
Porter looked back at Travis. “What kind of notes?”
“They accuse people of petty crimes,” Travis said. “Or nonexistent crimes. Everything from unleashed dogs to failing to bring in their trash cans from the curb.” He looked at Mira. “You said you received two notes?”
“Yes. One was left on the front seat of my car here at school. The second was tacked to the front door of my apartment a couple of days later.”
“What do these notes say?” Porter asked.
She sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“We have time,” Porter said.
