“What do you think did happen to Mark DeAvecca tonight?”
Peter shrugged. “Drugs, I’d expect. My guess is some kind of speed, which is what Michael sold. Did you know that Michael sold drugs?”
“I didn’t know that you did.”
“Oh, I couldn’t prove it. If I could have proved it, I’d have sent him packing with no ceremony whatsoever. As it is I would have gotten rid of both of them at the end of the year. We issue contracts, you know. Students have to get a new contract every year. We don’t always give them if we think the student is unsuitable.”
“And you thought both Michael Feyre and Mark DeAvecca were unsuitable? On what grounds? Were they flunking out? Were they discipline problems?”
“Ah, that’s the beauty of it,” Peter Makepeace said, “we don’t have to have grounds. All we need to do is say that we think they’re unsuitable. They don’t fit the school. They’re not comfortable here. We think they won’t be able to succeed.”
“I find it hard to believe that Mark DeAvecca would have trouble succeeding anywhere.”
Peter Makepeace turned away and went back to the window end of the room. He looked out, probably on nothing. “Yes, I know. I’ve heard that. And I’ve checked his papers. He’s got a truly spectacular set of papers. And God only knows, he’s not flunking out even now, in spite of the mess he’s made of himself. I think he’s averaging about a C plus.”
“In my day that was a perfectly respectable showing.”
“It’s a bit low for this place, but I agree. It’s nothing to have a fit about. That makes it all the worse really. Think of how well he’d have done if he hadn’t gone off into the world of chemicals.”
“I talked to Mark earlier this evening, you know. He says he hasn’t been taking drugs.”
“They all say that, don’t they?” Peter Makepeace replied. “They never admit it straight off. But I’ve been around a long time, Mr. Demarkian. That kid was on speed half the time and on tranquilizers at least sometimes. I know all the signs.”
“He offered to take a drug test.”
“They’ll take him up on it in here,” Peter said. “Screening for drugs is probably the first thing they did after they pumped his stomach. And they’ll screen what came out of that, too. If that damned doctor wasn’t such a martinet, we’d know already what the kid was on tonight.”
“He can’t just give information to anybody and everybody,” Gregor said. “There’s a federal law at the very least about medical privacy. I knew Mark before, you know. I’d have said he was the last kid to end up on drugs.”
“Yes, well,” Peter Makepeace said, “that’s what everybody says about every kid, or at least every kid from a well-heeled family.”
“I don’t think I’m subject to that kind of prejudice,” Gregor said. “I’ve spent a lot of my life in law enforcement. I know what goes on. But I did meet Mark, and I’d be surprised if they find drugs.”
Peter Makepeace turned around again. “Have you seen him? The way he is? What was he like when you talked to him today?”
“He was a mess.”
“Did you think he was on drugs?”
“At first, yes.”
“There, then.”
“But only at first,” Gregor said. “And I didn’t change my mind only because he told me he wasn’t or offered to take a blood test. Some of the things he was telling me don’t make sense as drug symptoms.”
“What things? That he couldn’t remember anything? That could be drugs. That he was having blackouts? Everything he’s ever reported to the infirmary could be drug-related—everything. And it’s been worse since Michael died. I’d be willing to bet everything that Mark knows where Michael kept whatever he was selling.”
“I think it’s interesting that Mark reported his symptoms to the infirmary,” Gregor said. “Why would he do that if he was taking drugs?”
“Why do they ever do anything?” Peter Makepeace said. “Have you any idea what it’s like trying to run a school like this? Half the boarding students are only boarding because their parents want to get rid of them. If you ever repeat that, I’ll deny that I ever said it, but it’s true. The level of hostility between some children and some parents is unbelievable. The other half are here for a variety of reasons, but they rarely like being here. They may think it’s a good idea because their parents live in Zimbabwe or the Ivory Coast and boarding is the only way they can get a decent education, or because we have a program they like and can’t find closer to home or for a million other reasons. And we screen. We screen until we’re blue in the face. It doesn’t matter. There are always some kids, like Mark, who just shouldn’t be here.”