“Yes, just as it would be nice to bring them home to a house that contained nothing but family,” I said. “But I’m not going to throw the students out on their ears, so that’s not going to happen, either. Rose Noire promised that as soon as I leave for the hospital, she’ll get the master bedroom, the master bath, and the nursery in perfect shape. It’s not as if I’ll be spending much time anywhere else for the first few weeks. If you think some cousins would like to help, you and she can call them when I head off to the hospital. Or recruit them for a grand cleanup once the students finally leave.”
“Or both.” Mother kissed me on the cheek and turned toward the back door. “I’ll talk to Rose Noire, dear. You get some rest.”
“That’s my plan,” I said, as she left.
I picked up my Tupperware doggie container and turned out the light as I left the kitchen.
I found Sammy sitting in one of the dining room chairs in the front hall, with his chin in his hands.
“Good news,” I said. “Grandfather’s happy to fund the canine DNA tests.”
“Good,” he said. “Of course, we have to catch the guy first. And the way it’s going, I won’t even be able to start till tomorrow. The chief wants me to stay around and keep an eye on things here.”
“So you’re on duty?”
He nodded.
I had a brainstorm. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the police station. Debbie Anne, the dispatcher, answered as usual.
“Hey, Meg,” she said. “How’s things there?”
“You waiting around to help process the suspects the chief’s sending down?” I asked.
“You guessed it,” she said.
“Can you do something for Sammy while you’re waiting?”
“Sure thing,” she said.
“You know that list of vehicles the chief had you get from the DMV? Could you send it to our fax number?”
Sammy sat up with an eager look on his face.
“I can’t exactly share that with a civilian, Meg.”
“I know that,” I said. “But in about five minutes, Sammy will be calling you from Michael’s office to confirm that he and only he is standing there, ready to pull the pages out of the machine.”
“I get it,” she said. “Give me the number.”
I did, thanked her, and hung up.
“Meg, thanks,” Sammy said as he headed for the hallway to the office. “I can start studying the list and planning how to tackle them.”
“Just don’t get so caught up in the list that you let any of our suspects escape,” I said to his back.
I continued on up the stairs.
In our bedroom, I found Abe, Art, and Michael.
“You’re going to miss the play,” I said as I poked my head in.
“We just wanted to have a quick powwow before the rehearsal begins,” Abe said.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I said.
“I would object if you didn’t interrupt,” Art said. He stood up, and the others followed suit. “You need rest.”
“Finish your conference,” I said.
“And you’ll want to get dressed for bed,” Abe said.
“I can do that later,” I said. “I’m going to read for a while first.”
Michael hurried to take the leftovers out of my hands and help me onto the bed.
“We’re just having a quick conference on how to handle The Face,” he said. “We figure now’s the time to strike.”
“Yes,” I said. “From what I can see, Blanco doesn’t really have it in for the drama students. He was just trying to please Dr. Wright. So he might be lying low and staying neutral until he sees which way the wind is blowing.”
“That’s what we think,” Abe said. “And we need to do as much as possible to see that it’s blowing in our direction.”
“You might want to use this,” I said. I handed him the wad of papers I’d received from Danny Oh, the thick file folder Kathy had given me, and finally, on top, the paper Josh had given me. Michael and Art came to peek over his shoulders.
“You see!” Michael said, snatching up the copy of Dr. Wright’s e-mail. “He did get permission.”
“Think what a lot of bother it would have saved if the young fool had kept that e-mail handy,” Abe said, shaking his head.
“What’s the rest of this?” Art asked.
“Some documents Kathy gave me,” I said. “And some stuff from Danny Oh.”
I leaned back and uttered a sigh of contentment.
“You’re tired,” Art said. “You want us to leave? We could find someplace else to do this.”
“There isn’t anyplace else, and I’m fine,” I said. “As long as I’m awake, you’re good company, and when I’m ready to sleep, you could clog dance on the dresser and it wouldn’t bother me. Just poke me if I snore loud enough to drown out your discussion.”