The Texas Ranger's Nanny

“Me, too. I need a list of all personnel working inside and outside the building with addresses and phone numbers.”

“Here’s a copy for you,” the secretary said and handed the sheet to him.

“Thank you.” He turned to the principal again. “Who was on recess duty today? I need to know if there were any strangers on the playground or maintenance workers from the school district.”

“I’ll get all that information for you right now.”

Mrs. Rigby walked over to him. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

“It’s not your fault. I just want to know if Jeremy was acting any different than usual today.”

“No. He’s a good student and always well behaved. They were finishing their math when the bell rang. He’s almost always the first one out of his desk, and today was no exception. That’s all I can tell you.”

“Did you have any visitors in your class? Anything different from the normal routine?”

“No. Nothing.”

“When he first got to school this morning, he didn’t seem upset? It didn’t seem as if there could be anything bothering him?”

“No. Today was a very normal day from beginning to end.”

Vic sucked in his breath. “Okay. Thank you.” He saw his close friend Kit out of the corner of his eye. The other Ranger made a beeline for him. “The crew is already setting up a place in the classroom next door to fingerprint everyone working in the building.”

As they spoke, he could hear the principal over the loudspeaker asking all the teachers and staff to come to the office for a police matter.

“Glad you’re here, Kit. Claire’s phoned all the parents of Jeremy’s friends. No one has seen him. Let’s scour the second grade pod area first. He was in his seat right up until the bell rang. Whatever happened took place immediately after dismissal.”

Directly outside the classroom was a cloakroom where the kids kept their coats and backpacks on hooks and a shelf that ran the length of the wall. With the exception of a Windbreaker on one of the hooks and a baseball cap with a Texas Longhorns logo, neither of which belonged to Jeremy, the cloakroom was empty.

Vic shook his head. “Jeremy wouldn’t have come in here after school since he keeps his backpack with him.”

From the hallway outside the cloakroom there was a short walk past other classrooms to get to the main hallway. At that point, you could either go left to the office or right to an exit that led to the playground area. En route to the exit, they passed a door that said Custodial Staff.

Vic glanced at Kit. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yup. It’s a perfect place to hide or nab a kid walking down the hall.”

Vic pulled a pair of plastic gloves from his back pocket and put them on before turning the knob. The door was locked. “I’ll call the office to send someone down to open it.”

Kit said, “I’ll go outside the building to see where it leads. Be right back.”

In a minute a custodian who looked to be in his fifties showed up. “I’m Oscar Fyans, the head custodian. How can I help?”

Vic asked him how many custodians worked at the school.

“There are three of us.”

“Do you all have your own areas that you’re responsible for?”

“Yes. I have the second floor.”

“Who’s in charge of the first floor?”

“Reba Cowan covers the auditorium, library, the gym, the cafeteria and the grounds. Leroy Bennett covers the first-floor classrooms and bathrooms, but he called in sick this morning, so Reba and I are covering for him.”

“How many years have you worked here?”

“Fifteen.”

“What about Mrs. Cowan?”

“She’s going on thirteen years.”

“And Leroy Bennett?”

“He’s only been here a couple of months.” For some reason that sent up a red flag. “The other custodian retired.”

“I see. Have you been in this closet at any time today?”

“No, sir.”

“Where’s Mrs. Cowan right now?”

“She’s in the office with the rest of the staff.”

“Will you get her on the phone so I can speak to her?”

“Yes, sir.”

Oscar punched in some numbers and after getting Reba on the line, he passed the phone to Vic. “Mrs. Cowan? This is Ranger Malone. As you know, my son Jeremy has been missing since school let out. Have you been over in the second grade pod or the main hallway at any time since school started today?”

“No. I heard Leroy called in sick, so I was going to get to that area after I finished my regular rounds.”

“Thank you.” He handed the phone back to Oscar. “Is it the rule to keep these storage closets locked?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So if Leroy didn’t show up today, then to your knowledge this closet hasn’t been opened since it was locked last evening.”

“That’s right. Leroy would have ensured it was locked before leaving the school.”

“Will you please put on this glove and unlock the door for me?” Vic pulled another glove from his pocket.

After the custodian put it on, he pulled up his chain of keys from his belt and found the right key. When it clicked, Vic turned the knob and opened the door. He discovered a person could lock the door from the inside.

“Take your time looking around in here, Mr. Fyans. Do you see anything missing?”

The man scratched his head. “Yeah. There should be the big garbage can set on wheels that we roll to the classrooms, but it’s not here.”