words.
“Can you be more specific? What did he do?”
“He did a lot of staring at the girls. They told Tom about it; several complained to me.”
“Was there any inappropriate behavior?”
“You mean did he touch people or make improper comments?” Warrington asked.
“Exactly.”
“No. It was just the staring. But he looks very strange and some of the girls found him frightening. He would also hang around campus when he wasn’t working and watch the students playing tennis or Frisbee. He would just sit and stare. I don’t think there was any evil intent on his part, but the students started referring to him as ‘the stalker.’ He also hung around Ashleigh’s cottage. She was very kind to him.” Warrington stopped, looked thoughtful, and continued. “That was one of Ashleigh’s special qualities. She really reached out to people. I know she would take time to talk to Arnie, and I think he was hanging around because he was hoping to see her.” Warrington stopped and sipped his coffee. “But when underwear starting disappearing…”
“Underwear?”
“Yes, after he started working in the laundry. Ma, Mrs. French, is very kind and patient. She took Arnie under her wing. But after he had worked there for a few weeks, a number of our female students complained that some of their underwear wasn’t coming back from the laundry.”
“How does your laundry system work?”
“The student body is divided into four laundry groups, corresponding with the days of the week, Monday through Thursday. Members of each group are to drop off their wash on their assigned day when they come to breakfast. Mrs. French washes and folds the laundry and takes it back to the dorms where the students pick it up.”
“The underwear, how many pairs disappeared?”
“Don’t know exactly, five, ten pairs.”
“And how did you decide it was Arnie?”
“I didn’t decide, Tom came to me with the suspicion. He thought that since the problem started after Arnie was moved to the laundry, he was the most likely suspect.”
“How about the woman in the laundry, Mrs. French, did you talk to her?”
“I had a short conversation with her.”
“Did she think Arnie had taken any underwear?”
“No. But even if she had, she probably wouldn’t have said anything. She was very protective of Arnie. Apparently she’s known him for years.”
“Did you ask her directly if she had seen him take some underwear?”
“Yes, and she said if she had she would have done something about it.”
“The clean laundry, where does Mrs. French put it when she takes it back to the dorms?” Ray asked.
“There’s a room off the lobby with mailboxes and an area for the laundry.”
“Is this a supervised area, a place where someone—the house parents—watches the comings and goings?”
“No,” Warrington responded.
“So, it would be possible for another student to snatch some laundry now and then?”
“It’s possible, but I really think that Arnie is the most probable suspect. And that was Tom’s thinking when he asked me for permission to fire Arnie. There was also the problem that the girls believed it and were refusing to work in the laundry if he was going to be in there with them.”
“Were there any other suspects?” Ray asked with mild irritation.
“No, he was the obvious suspect,” Warrington said.
“No one else would have had an opportunity to steal these articles?”
“I can tell by your sarcasm that you’re not very impressed with… ”
“I didn’t mean to be sarcastic,” Ray said, “but isn’t the evidence awfully weak?”
“Perhaps it is, but I have a school to run here. I have a million details to see to every day and on some of these things I go with the judgment of my staff. This was a quick fix to a problem. We did everything we could to accommodate Arnie’s disabilities. But we’re not a social agency, we’re a school.”
“And if laundry continues to disappear, will Arnie Vedder be
“Can you be more specific? What did he do?”
“He did a lot of staring at the girls. They told Tom about it; several complained to me.”
“Was there any inappropriate behavior?”
“You mean did he touch people or make improper comments?” Warrington asked.
“Exactly.”
“No. It was just the staring. But he looks very strange and some of the girls found him frightening. He would also hang around campus when he wasn’t working and watch the students playing tennis or Frisbee. He would just sit and stare. I don’t think there was any evil intent on his part, but the students started referring to him as ‘the stalker.’ He also hung around Ashleigh’s cottage. She was very kind to him.” Warrington stopped, looked thoughtful, and continued. “That was one of Ashleigh’s special qualities. She really reached out to people. I know she would take time to talk to Arnie, and I think he was hanging around because he was hoping to see her.” Warrington stopped and sipped his coffee. “But when underwear starting disappearing…”
“Underwear?”
“Yes, after he started working in the laundry. Ma, Mrs. French, is very kind and patient. She took Arnie under her wing. But after he had worked there for a few weeks, a number of our female students complained that some of their underwear wasn’t coming back from the laundry.”
“How does your laundry system work?”
“The student body is divided into four laundry groups, corresponding with the days of the week, Monday through Thursday. Members of each group are to drop off their wash on their assigned day when they come to breakfast. Mrs. French washes and folds the laundry and takes it back to the dorms where the students pick it up.”
“The underwear, how many pairs disappeared?”
“Don’t know exactly, five, ten pairs.”
“And how did you decide it was Arnie?”
“I didn’t decide, Tom came to me with the suspicion. He thought that since the problem started after Arnie was moved to the laundry, he was the most likely suspect.”
“How about the woman in the laundry, Mrs. French, did you talk to her?”
“I had a short conversation with her.”
“Did she think Arnie had taken any underwear?”
“No. But even if she had, she probably wouldn’t have said anything. She was very protective of Arnie. Apparently she’s known him for years.”
“Did you ask her directly if she had seen him take some underwear?”
“Yes, and she said if she had she would have done something about it.”
“The clean laundry, where does Mrs. French put it when she takes it back to the dorms?” Ray asked.
“There’s a room off the lobby with mailboxes and an area for the laundry.”
“Is this a supervised area, a place where someone—the house parents—watches the comings and goings?”
“No,” Warrington responded.
“So, it would be possible for another student to snatch some laundry now and then?”
“It’s possible, but I really think that Arnie is the most probable suspect. And that was Tom’s thinking when he asked me for permission to fire Arnie. There was also the problem that the girls believed it and were refusing to work in the laundry if he was going to be in there with them.”
“Were there any other suspects?” Ray asked with mild irritation.
“No, he was the obvious suspect,” Warrington said.
“No one else would have had an opportunity to steal these articles?”
“I can tell by your sarcasm that you’re not very impressed with… ”
“I didn’t mean to be sarcastic,” Ray said, “but isn’t the evidence awfully weak?”
“Perhaps it is, but I have a school to run here. I have a million details to see to every day and on some of these things I go with the judgment of my staff. This was a quick fix to a problem. We did everything we could to accommodate Arnie’s disabilities. But we’re not a social agency, we’re a school.”
“And if laundry continues to disappear, will Arnie Vedder be
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