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ôPoor woman,ö said Dooley once Chase had been dispatched to forage around for a box of tissues. ôItÆs just one shock after another, isnÆt it?ö

ôYeah, must be terrible to find out about your husbandÆs unfaithfulness this way.ö

Then again, any way to find out something like that is bad, of course.

ôDo you think theyÆll get a divorce now, Max?ö

ôI donÆt know, Dooley. They might patch things up again, you know. Human relationships are resilient. It all depends how deep NorwellÆs feelings for Valina were.ö

A couple of kids had drifted into the classroom, and when they saw their teacherÆs tears, just stood there gawking for a moment, like cows at a train, but then Chase returned, and wasted no time turning the kids away again and closing the door.

The last thing Emma needed was for her students to find out about this cheating business.

After we left, impressing upon the woman to get in touch when she could think of anything that might shed more light on her husbandÆs behavior toward Valina, we drifted through those same corridors again, only this time they were being overrun with more teenagers than IÆd ever seen in my life. I must say IÆm not a scaredy cat by any means, but when I saw that mass of seething teens, I momentarily feared for my life. Whenthey saw us, they jeered, they pointed, they called us some very unkind names, and generally they seemed to think us the funniest double act since Laurel and Hardy, for they couldnÆt stop laughing all the way until we finally reached safety and burst out into the open again.

ôThose were probably the scariest ten minutes of my entire life,ö I confessed to Dooley.

ôMe, too!ö Dooley cried.

ôTeenagers are the worst.ö

ôWorse than vampires or zombies?ö

ôThereÆs no such thing as vampires or zombies, Dooley.ö

ôIf there were, I think IÆd prefer their company to teenagers every day, Max.ö

The most important thing was that weÆd entered the pit of doom and made it out in one piece. Poor Emma, though. She was still in there. Worse, she was in there every day!

What a brave soul. To risk life and limb on a daily basis to try and turn a bunch of hormonal hooligans into more or less decent human beings. Talk about a mission impossible!

Chapter 20

WeÆd only just returned to the safety of the car, when a call came in about a domestic disturbance.

ôTen-seven,ö GranÆs voice crackled over the radio. ôCome in, over.ö

ôYes, this is Chase, Vesta,ö said Chase with a grin to Odelia. ôWhat seems to be the trouble?ö

ôThereÆs a couple trying to kill each other on Beneficent Avenue. I think youÆd better take a look before one of them draws blood.ö

ôGot a name for me?ö asked Chase as he turned the key in the ignition.

There was silence on the other end, then:ôAre you trying to be funny, sonny? This is Vesta. And if you donÆt know my name by now, I think itÆs high time that you learned it.ö

ôNot your name, Gran,ö said Odelia, speaking into the receiver. ôThe name of the people involved in the domestic dispute.ö

ôOh, right. Umàö There was a rustle of paper as she consulted her notes. ôThatÆs a Lynnette and Franco Say. And according to the neighbor who called it in, Lynnette was heard threatening her husband. The words æcheat,Æ æax, æchopÆ and ænutsÆ were mentioned.ö

ôGot it,ö said Chase. ôWeÆre heading out there now.ö

ôTen-thirteen,ö said Gran, and disconnected.

ôWhatÆs ten-thirteen?ö asked Odelia. ôOr ten-seven?ö

ôTen-thirteen is the weather-road report and ten-seven is out of service.ö He grinned. ôLooks like sheÆs got her numbers mixed up.ö

This time Chase did turn on that flashy light, and even the siren, and as we zoomed through traffic, zigzagging where zigzagging was required, and going at breakneck speed where possible, we made good time.

ôIsnÆt Lynnette Say a member of MargeÆs book club?ö asked Dooley as we held on for dear life, embedding our nails deeply into the backseat as one is wont to do under these hair-raising circumstances.

ôYeah, she is. SheÆs the one who said that if a man cheats on a woman itÆs her own darn fault, because she didnÆt give him what he needed, or something along those lines.ö

ôInteresting,ö said Dooley. ôI wonder what Lynnette didnÆt give Franco that he would have cheated on her. Enough potatoes during dinner, maybe, or a lack of attention?ö

ôIn my experience, Dooley, a woman can give a man everything he needs and more and he still might cheat on her.ö

ôSo are all men cheaters, Max, do you think?ö

ôI donÆt know, Dooley, but IÆm starting to lean toward that point of view.ö

What was obvious was that the hack of ValinaÆs site had revealed a seedy underbelly to our local community that was far more shocking than anyone might have assumed.

It didnÆt take us long to arrive at the street where the Says lived, and even as we got out of the car, we could already see a small group of neighbors having gathered on the front lawn, and could hear Mr. and Mrs. Say exchanging some particularly harsh words.

ôYouÆre a dirty rotten bastard, Franco Say!ö Lynnette was saying.