Ray Elkins mystery - 02 - Color Tour Read Online Free PDF Page A

don’t,” Warrington answered in an irritated tone. “We’re not a military school. We don’t line them up in formations every hour or two and count heads. One of the goals of Leiston School is to teach personal responsibility. We expect students to follow the rules, they must sign the school’s code of conduct when they matriculate.”
    “And there are few violations of the code of conduct?”
    “Very few, very few indeed. Our students quickly realize how special this place is. They don’t want to do anything that would hurt the school or get themselves kicked out.”
    “So, no one is ever asked to leave?” Ray pursued.
    “Very seldom, I can think of only one case since I’ve been here.”
    “What kind of security measures do you have in place?” Ray asked, taking the conversation in another direction.
    “You don’t think anyone is in danger, do you?” Warrington asked, a tone of alarm in his voice.
    “I’m trying to get a sense of how the school operates.”
    “Gary Zatanski heads campus security. He’s a retired ATF officer. He’s got three assistants. His men also do some emergency maintenance. They carry cell phones so we can always reach them. The 11-7 guy stays at the entrance at the main gate. He monitors the security cameras on the perimeters of the dorms and at their entrances and calls the house parents if the natives are getting restless.”
    “Does that happen often?
    “No, perhaps once or twice a year, usually in the spring when the kids are feeling frisky or sometimes the night before a vacation. Like we’ve had late-night snowball fights before Christmas break. Pretty innocent stuff for the most part. We have quality students here, and we work them very hard. By ten or eleven they’re ready to crash.” Warrington paused. “But why focus the investigation on Leiston?”
    “Simple, Mr. Warrington, victims usually know their killers. This was her home, her community, if you will. So, Leiston will be an important part of our investigation.”
    “But couldn’t it have been some crazed… I don’t know.”
    “We will be looking at all possibilities.”
    There was a break in the conversation. Finally Warrington asked, “How else can I help?”
    “I would like to become familiar with the layout of the school. And we will also want to search Ashleigh’s apartment. You’ll have to sign off on some paperwork.”
    “I would be happy to, but you can imagine how busy I am. Perhaps Sarah can show you around.”
    “That would be fine,” answered Ray, interested in the way he was being handed off, but glad to have someone else’s view of Leiston.

5
On Ray’s second trip of the day to Leiston, an anxious Ian Warrington met him soon after he pulled into a parking place near the front of the mansion. Warrington quickly escorted the sheriff to his office.
    “I’d appreciate it if you would stay here until we are ready to start,” he said. “Otherwise some of our more inquisitive staff members will be demanding to know why you’re here. I’ll have Sarah fetch you when we’re ready to begin.”
    After offering Ray coffee, Warrington excused himself and slipped out of the office.
    Ray began exploring the bookshelves again, opening the doors and searching the shelves for something familiar. He pulled a leather-bound volume of Tennyson from a row of dusty books and held it in his hand, examining the cover. He opened the book, looked for the publication date, and found the string of Roman numerals in an archaic typeface near the bottom on the back of the title page. He paged through the book, pausing to read the beginning of Ulysses , lines he had memorized in college. He stopped a second time at the opening lines of a familiar stanza from “In Memorium .”

    If Sleep and Death be truly one,
    And every spirit’s folded bloom
    Thro’ all its intervital gloom
    In some long trance should slumber on;
    Unconscious of the sliding hour,
    Bare of the body, might it last,
    And silent traces