Page 79 of Drifting

“I wonder how the school board found out about this meeting?” She raises an eyebrow while glancing over at Peter.

“It’s not much of a stretch. I’m on the board, and this has to do with two of my kids.” He raises his chin.

I didn’t know he’s on the school board.

Hannah’s chair flies back as she bursts to her feet, her eyes shimmering with tears. “She’s not your child, I am.” She points to her chest. “And you’re going against me.”

“The day I married Patty was the day Shelby became my daughter. This is not the place to discuss this. We will talk at home,” he snaps at her.

“Hannah, please sit down.” Mr. Sullivan says authoritatively. “I expect both sides will keep the yelling back and forth to a minimum. Now, I would like to have Mr. Davis come in.”

“Why do you need to hear from him?” Ms. Webb fumes. “He came to me about this.”

“He’s the teacher who brought it to your attention. I think it’s important to know how he found out that the paper wasn’t Ms. Winters,” he states calmly. “Do you know?”

A flush creeps across Ms. Webb’s face. “I… I don’t.”

Mr. Sullivan stands and opens the door. “Mr. Davis, please come in and have a seat.”

He walks into the room and glances around before taking the seat by Mr. Sullivan.

“Doug,” the vice-principal begins, “can you tell me how you found out that Ms. Winters didn’t write the paper in question?”

Mr. Davis’s face goes white, and his eyes are wide as an owl as he looks at Ms. Webb, then back at Mr. Sullivan.

He swallows hard before he answers. “I got an anonymous email that said the paper wasn’t Ms. Winters’.”

He writes Mr. Davis’s statement on a yellow pad of paper. “Then, what did you do?”

Beads of sweat lined his forehead. “I went to Ms. Webb.”

Mr. Sullivan stops writing to peer at Mr. Davis. “You went straight to Ms. Webb? You didn’t confront the student?”

“No. Why am I being questioned like I’m on trial?” He laughs nervously. “Ms. Webb already gave her a suspension.” He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a hanky to blot his forehead.

“Yes, two days, which isn’t what’s in our rule book. Ms. Winters should have received detention, and for your information, there’s proof that she was set up.” He examines Mr. Davis’s reaction.

“What proof?” Ms. Webb demands.

“Nick showed me her computer, and on it is the original paper Shelby wrote. There are dates and times for when Shelby saved the document. He also found that the document was sent to an email that belongs to Ms. Jasman.”

“So, Shelby emailed her work to Maddy?” Ms. Webb tilts her head to the side. “It still doesn’t explain how the papers got swapped out.”

“Of course, Shelby didn’t email Maddy,” he says patiently. “Hannah did.”

Hannah stands up, slamming her hand on the table. “I didn’t touch her computer!”

“You did, Hannah.” Nick rocks back in his chair. “You went into your email and sent the file to Maddy.”

Hannah’s face reddens as she plops back in her chair, shooting daggers at her brother.

Mr. Davis stares at me, at Ms. Webb, then back to Mr. Sullivan before his whole body slumps. He knows he’s busted. “Ms. Jasman told me it was her brothers’ paper, and that Hannah saw Shelby paying someone for it. I never checked, I just went to Ms. Webb and told her I received an anonymous email.”

“Did you question Ms. Jasman about how she knew it was her brother’s paper?” Mr. Sullivan questions, tapping his pen on the stack of papers.

Mr. Davis lowers his head. “No.”

A gasp comes from Ms. Webb. “I didn’t know that! I assumed he checked into it. That’s what he’s supposed to do. It still doesn’t explain how the papers got swapped, though?”

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