School Days - By Robert B. Parker Page 0,56

wait a little. Soften 'em up. Cool.

"May I get you coffee, or a drink of water, or anything?" Carol Kenny said.

"I'll just sit quietly," I said, "and drink in your beauty."

She giggled, which was a little disconcerting. She didn't look like a giggler. I smiled to show I didn't mind a little giggling now and then. And she went back to her computer, her hands moving smoothly over the nearly soundless keys. In a little while, Royce Garner appeared in his doorway and nodded at me.

"You may come in now, Mr. Spenser."

"Hot diggity," I said.

I stood and went past him into his office. Carol Kenny did not look up as I passed. Struggling with her emotions, no doubt. Garner closed the door behind me and indicated a black chair with maple-stained arms in front of his desk. The chair had the school seal on its backrest.

"You may sit there," he said.

I sat. He leaned back in his chair and rested his gaze on me, tapping a pencil softly against the edge of the desk. I bore up as best I could.

"Before I call my attorney," he said after a time, "perhaps you would like to explain to me why you went to my home and upset my wife."

I shook my head.

"Excuse me?" he said.

I shook my head again.

"What does that mean?" he said.

I said, "It means . . ." and shook my head.

"I don't find you amusing," he said.

"Damn," I said.

"Your invasion of my privacy and my wife's is unconscionable. I am prepared to take action against you."

I nodded.

"Goddamn it, say something," Garner said.

"Unconscionable," I said.

Garner was still. He stopped tapping his pencil. He tried glaring at me, but it wasn't very effective.

"Let me say this plainly, sir." Garner was trying to talk with his lips compressed, which is kind of difficult, but he pulled it off. "I will not tolerate any, repeat, any, further harassment. If you come anywhere near my home again, you will hear from my attorneys."

"A fearful prospect," I said. "How about the Rosewood Condominiums in Framingham."

Garner's face remained composed, but his eyes sort of darted.

"What?" he said.

"Where Beth Ann Blair lives," I said. "With a view of the lake?"

Garner shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," he said.

"You spent the night there last week," I said.

"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken," he said stiffly.

"No. It was you," I said. "How long have you been boffing the good doctor?"

For a moment, something faltered in Garner's gaze, and an ugly thing peeped out. He glanced briefly down at his hands folded in his lap, and when he looked up again, the thing was gone.

"I'm afraid this conversation has concluded," he said.

"Did you know that Beth Ann was also intimate with Jared Clark?" I said.

Garner's eyes darted again. He opened his mouth and closed it, and stood up suddenly. Without a word, he walked around the desk, past my chair, and out through the reception area. I sat for a minute in case he changed his mind. He didn't. After a while, I got up and walked back out through the reception area. Carol Kenny had a startled look frozen on her face, but she tried her best to remain professional. She smiled.

"Meeting over?" she said.

"Yep," I said. "I'm afraid it's finished between us."

She smiled again. "You can find your way out then?"

"I can," I said.

And did.

Chapter 57

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT Garner would do next, but I suspected that he'd do it with Beth Ann Blair, and I wanted to be around to see what it was. She wasn't at the Dowling School. From my car, I called her office and hung up when she answered, and drove on over to Channing Hospital and parked and went up to Beth Ann's floor. I went busily into her waiting room. There were two people waiting there, making eye contact with nobody. The door to Beth Ann's office was closed. I looked around.

"Oops," I said. "Wrong office."

I went out and closed the door. At the end of the corridor, there was a small waiting area with three chairs and a small table on which were the remnants of yesterday's Wall Street Journal. I went to the area, sat in one of the chairs, picked up the paper, opened it, and hid behind it. If Garner showed up, I'd spot him. If he called her and she dashed out to meet him, I'd follow her.

People came and went in the corridor, none of them Beth Ann or Garner, none of them