The next morning, the Camaro pulled up to the county Department of Education. After the attack last night, Luther found a new motel to check into, grateful he’d paid in cash at the previous one. Once he arrived at the new motel, he performed a search on the license plate of the minivan he saw in the parking lot. It was registered to Sharon Gardner, but some more searching turned up an obituary under that name. The obituary stated that Sharon was survived by her husband, Sheriff Daniel Gardner and her son, Matthew Gardner.
Luther was starting to realize what he’d picked up about Matt when he met him at the school—some sort of connection to the supernatural. With the Sheriff no doubt having his men watching the school like a hawk, Luther would need to find another way to get into Matt’s records. That brought him to the Department of Education.
Luther removed his sunglasses as he approached the reception desk. The old woman behind the desk smiled at him as he came up to her. “Good morning, sir. Anything I can help you with?”
“I certainly hope so, ma’am.” Luther’s red eyes flashed a glow as he showed her his business card. “Agent Luther Cross with the FBI. We’re investigating the shooting at Green Meadows High.”
Her cheery demeanor quickly changed. “Oh, what a tragic event that was. I’m sorry, dear, could I see that again?” She adjusted her thick glasses and focused on Luther’s card, although what she saw was the badge of an FBI agent. “What can I help you with, Agent Cross?”
Luther glanced at her own identification badge clipped to her cardigan. “Ruth…do you mind if I call you Ruth?”
She smiled. “Not at all, dear.”
“Well, Ruth, we’re looking into the possibility of a student being responsible.”
“Oh my…!” She gasped, drawing a hand to cover her mouth.
“Terrible thought, I know, but it’s unfortunately become a reality with these tragedies. Since the school is closed off, I wondered if you could provide me with the records of one of the students?”
“I’m sure I can.” She turned to the computer monitor. “What’s the student’s name?”
“Matthew Gardner.”
Ruth began the search in the database. “Ah, here we are. Gardner, Matthew J. What would you like to know?”
“Any disciplinary records?”
Ruth held her finger to the screen, using it to keep track of her place on the file. She shook her head. “No. Not against him. But he was named as the victim in some reports of bullying.”
“Any chance you’d have attendance records from the day of the shooting?”
“Attendance is recorded in the computer systems by the teachers at the start of each class period. So we’d likely have records up to the shooting.”
“Was Gardner in class that day?”
Ruth navigated to the attendance records for the day in question. “No, he wasn’t. It’s marked as an excused absence. Actually, a series of absences, all marked as excused.”
“Any reason given?”
“The comments note that his father called in to inform the school that Matthew had the flu.”
“Thank you, Ruth. You’ve been extremely helpful.”
“Agent Cross…” Ruth slid away from the computer and stood, leaning toward him. “Do you really think a student could have done this?”
Luther nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“If you ask me…” She looked from left to right and then leaned closer to Luther and lowered her voice to a whisper, “it’s because we took God out of the schools.” Her fingers reached for the golden cross hanging around her neck. “Make no mistake, Agent Cross, there are demons among us.”
Luther couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips. “Indeed there are, Ruth.”