“Oh, let’s can that, Arnette. You knew damn well he was engaging in extracurricular activities. Your watch.” Eve pointed at Mosebly across the table. “Your ship. But you let it go. How could you bring the hammer down on him for it, when he’d already nailed you?”
“Rock and a hard place,” Peabody agreed. “Go to the board on it, and you leave yourself wide open. Say nothing and have to tolerate his behavior. Still, the second option preserves reputations.”
“Yours,” Eve continued, and shifted to sit on the side of the table, crowding Mosebly a little. “The school’s. Did Foster come to you, off record, unofficially, to tell you Williams was harassing Laina Sanchez? Did he ask your advice on how to handle it?”
“I think…I think I should have an attorney present before I answer any more questions.”
“Sure, you can pull that chain. Of course, once you do, things are going to get stickier. How do you think that vaunted BOD is going to react, Peabody, when they find out Principal Mosebly needs a lawyer?”
“Not good.” Peabody pursed her lips, shook her head. “They probably wouldn’t react well.”
“There’s no reason for this.” Mosebly held up a hand. “We’ll straighten this out here and now. There’s no reason to involve a lawyer or the board.”
“No lawyer, Arnette?”
“No. Let’s just…I’ll tell you what I know. Yes, Craig came to me last year. He was upset and concerned. He said Reed had been pressuring Laina for sex, had been making her uncomfortable, and had touched her inappropriately. He said he’d spoken to Reed himself, and warned him, but as he knew Reed had made other inappropriate remarks and approached other staff members, he wanted me to make the warning official.”
“Did you?”
“I called Reed in. Yes. He was unrepentant, but he did stay away from Laina. He was annoyed with Craig. And amused by me as shortly after I came on as principal, he…we had a sexual encounter. It was a terrible mistake, a moment of weakness. It should never have happened, and I swore it wouldn’t happen again.”
“But it did.”
“Last month, during my morning swim. He came in, got into the pool. It just—we were—things simply happened.” She lifted her water, took a long drink. Then she lowered her lashes. “I blamed myself. I was sick at my lack of judgment and control. Now I realize that it happened because he drugged me.”
She looked up again, and Eve saw the lie in her eyes, and the calculation with it. “He gave me the rape drug, and I’m sure he did the first time. I held myself responsible, but I wasn’t. No one is under those conditions.”
“How’d he slip it to you?”
“He…offered me a bottle of water, as I recall.”
“While you were doing laps, you stopped, and while treading water, drank water?”
“I wasn’t in the pool. Obviously I haven’t been clear. I got out when he came in. Though we worked together well enough, I wasn’t comfortable being with him alone in that situation.”
“But comfortable enough to take a bottle of water from him.”
“I was thirsty. Then I felt hot and strange. I can barely remember.” She lowered her head, braced it with her hand. “We were in the water again, and he was…I was…”
Now, like choreography, Mosebly covered her face with both hands and began to weep. “I’ve been so ashamed.”
“Yeah, I bet. Say you play that tune and we dance to it. What happened when you were done being taken advantage of?”
“How can you be so callous?”
“Years of practice and enjoyment. Craig Foster told his wife shortly before his death that he’d seen Williams with someone he shouldn’t have been with. I vote he saw him with you. Foster used the pool routinely.”
Mosebly closed her eyes. Eve wondered what was going on behind those closed lids. “He did see us. After…after Reed laughed and said that Craig really got an eyeful this time. It was horrid.”
“What did you do about it?”
“Nothing. Nothing. I’d hoped Reed was lying. Saying it to make me more afraid, more guilty.”
“Then, pretty damn conveniently from your stand, Craig ends up chugging bad hot chocolate.”
“Convenient!” Mosebly’s shoulders reared back, her eyes went hot. “Craig’s death was a tragedy on a personal level and a potential disaster for the school.”
“Spared your ass, though. With him out of the way, nobody knew about your…indiscretion but Williams. He’s mum on it because he likes his job, the security of it, and the field of play.”