Chapter 6: The Principal's Price
At eight the next morning, I walked into Westbridge Academy with my attorney on one side and Marcus on the other.
I hadn't slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Elena standing in our old kitchen, her face pale, asking me to promise I'd listen if someone told me something I didn't want to hear.
I'd promised.
Then I'd spent three years accepting answers that made her death easier to live with.
Not anymore.
The receptionist rose from her desk as we entered.
“Good morning, Mr. Moretti. Dr. Shaw isn't available.””
“Then she'll become available.””
“Sir, I really can't—”
Marcus placed a business card on the counter.
“Please tell her we're here.””
The receptionist glanced at the card, then hurried toward the administrative corridor.
Two minutes later, Dr. Shaw appeared.
Her face was drawn, and she kept glancing toward the glass doors.
“Mr. Moretti, this is highly inappropriate.””
“So is allowing someone to request my daughter's private records without informing me.””
Her eyes widened.
“Who told you about that?””
“Your own words, yesterday.””
“I never confirmed—”
“You confirmed enough.””
I followed her into the office.
Daniel had joined us, carrying a leather briefcase. He placed it on the conference table and opened it.
“Dr. Shaw, we're requesting the preservation of all records concerning Elena Moretti, including archived photographs, visitor logs, and correspondence with the school board.””
She sat down slowly.
“I can't release confidential school documents without proper authorization.””
Daniel smiled without warmth.
“Then don't release them. Preserve them. If evidence disappears after today's meeting, we'll document that fact for the appropriate authorities.””
Dr. Shaw stared at him.
“Are you threatening me?””
“No,” Daniel replied.
“I'm explaining your obligations.””
I leaned forward.
“Tell me about the man who came to your office yesterday.””
She twisted her hands in her lap.
“He arrived shortly before three. He said he was representing the Whitmore family.””
“His name?””
“Adrian Vale.””
The name meant nothing to me.
“What did he want?””
“Lily's student file, her emergency contact information, and a copy of her enrollment application.””
“Why?””
“He claimed the school needed to verify a discrepancy.””
“What discrepancy?””
She looked down.
“There wasn't one.””
The room went quiet.
“You knowingly allowed a stranger to request my daughter's private information,” I said.
“I refused to provide it.””
“After you contacted Richard Whitmore.””
She flinched.
“I was told not to involve the police.””
“By whom?””
She said nothing.
Daniel closed his briefcase.
“Dr. Shaw, this meeting is being documented. We can continue cooperatively, or we can let the authorities ask these questions.””
Her shoulders sagged.
“Richard called me yesterday afternoon. He said Mr. Vale was a private investigator hired to resolve an old family matter. He told me the school would face legal action if I interfered.””
“And you believed him?””
“I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
She looked directly at me for the first time.
“Three years ago, I was the assistant principal. I was present the night Elena Moretti came to the school.””
My heartbeat seemed to stop.
“What?””
“She arrived after the building had closed. She was carrying a black notebook and asked to speak to the headmaster. I was the last person to see her enter the old administrative building.””
“Who did she meet?””
“I don't know. I was instructed to leave.””
“By whom?””
“Richard Whitmore.””
I gripped the edge of the table.
“Why would Richard Whitmore have authority over who entered a school building?””
“He was funding a new science wing. He had considerable influence over the board.””
“That doesn't answer my question.””
“No,” she whispered.
“It doesn't.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“Did you see Elena leave?””
Dr. Shaw shook her head.
“No.””
“Did you report her disappearance?””
“No.””
“Why not?””
“Because the headmaster told me she had left safely. The next morning, I heard she'd been murdered.””
I stared at her.
“You knew my wife had been here the night she died, and you never told the police?””
Tears filled her eyes.
“I was twenty-nine years old. I had just started my career. Richard threatened to ruin me if I spoke. He said Elena had been involved in something illegal and that the school had nothing to do with it.””
“And you believed him for three years?””
“I wanted to believe him.””
The distinction was small.
It was also unforgivable.
I stood and walked to the window. Outside, students crossed the courtyard in neat rows, laughing and carrying their books.
Lily would never again walk across that lawn without remembering the day six children had surrounded her.
And somewhere in this building, the truth about her mother had been buried beneath money, fear, and carefully signed agreements.
I turned back.
“Where is the old administrative building?””
“It's been locked for renovations. The school plans to demolish it next month.””
“Who has keys?””
“The facilities director. The headmaster. And Richard Whitmore.””
Daniel looked up sharply.
“Has anyone entered recently?””
Dr. Shaw hesitated.
“Yesterday morning, the facilities director reported that a cabinet had been forced open.””
“What was inside?””
“Old student records, archived photographs, and several boxes of financial documents from the original science wing project.””
“Were any documents missing?””
“I don't know.””
I moved toward the door.
“Then we're going to find out.””
Dr. Shaw stood abruptly.
“Mr. Moretti, please. You don't understand what you're walking into.””
I turned.
“Then explain it.””
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Elena wasn't investigating Richard because of money. She was investigating him because she believed someone at this school had been using children to conceal financial crimes.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“Using children how?””
“I don't know the details. But I remember what she said when she left my office.””
“What?””
Dr. Shaw's eyes filled with fear.
“She said, ‘If anything happens to me, the proof is inside the walls.’”
Daniel slowly closed his briefcase.
“Inside which walls?””
“The old administrative building.””
For the first time that morning, I saw genuine terror on her face.
“Mr. Moretti, please don't go there alone. Richard knows you're asking questions now. And if he discovers what Elena hid, I don't think he'll stop at threatening your reputation.””
My phone rang.
Marcus answered his own phone beside me, listened for three seconds, then turned pale.
“Sir.””
“What?””
“Your home security team has just reported that Lily is missing from her classroom.””
Every thought vanished from my mind.
“What do you mean, missing?””
“She was with her tutor in the east wing. The tutor stepped out to answer a call. When she returned, Lily was gone.””
I was already moving.
“Lock down the school.””
Marcus spoke into his radio.
Daniel followed me into the corridor, shouting for the receptionist to call the police.
I reached the east wing and found Lily's tutor standing beside an open classroom door, shaking so badly she could barely hold her phone.
“Where is my daughter?”” I demanded.
“I—I don't know. She was drawing, and then someone called me to the office.””
“Who called you?””
She stared at me.
“The principal's assistant.””
Dr. Shaw appeared behind us.
“I never sent anyone.””
A terrible silence settled over the corridor.
Then a small piece of paper slipped from beneath the classroom desk.
I picked it up.
It was Lily's handwriting.
Daddy, I remember the man with the ring.
Beneath the sentence, she'd drawn a picture of a black car.
And beside it stood a man wearing a silver ring.
May you like
On the back of the paper were six words that turned my blood to ice.
*I KNOW WHERE MOMMY HID THE BOOK.*
