Chapter 6 - Ms. Prescott Finally Said Why She Did It
Hawthorne placed Ms. Prescott on formal suspension the next morning.
She requested an emergency meeting with the school’s outside investigator.
Victoria attended only because Logan asked one question.
“Is she going to say it was my fault?”
Victoria looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
“If she does?”
“I want to hear it.”
So Victoria went.
Ms. Prescott sat across from her.
No Principal Bell.
He had been placed on leave after phone records showed his call to Malcolm.
The investigator began.
“Ms. Prescott, did Logan threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did he physically endanger anyone?”
“No.”
“Did school policy authorize cutting his hair?”
“No.”
“Did he consent?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Ms. Prescott looked at Victoria.
“Because I wanted her to understand.”
Victoria felt anger rise.
“Understand what?”
“What it is like to watch someone with power decide your humiliation is acceptable.”
“You used my child to teach me empathy?”
“Yes.”
The investigator looked stunned.
Victoria’s voice remained low.
“You could have emailed me.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Three times over six years.”
Victoria frowned.
“About Lydia?”
“Yes.”
“I never received them.”
“Exactly.”
Crownwell executive filters.
Malcolm’s office.
Maybe.
Ms. Prescott continued.
“I sent letters.”
“To where?”
“Your company.”
Victoria thought of Lydia’s returned letter.
Same system.
“You could have contacted me publicly.”
“And be sued?”
“You could have called.”
“I did.”
Victoria felt the trap.
Every route had been filtered by people around her.
Still—
“You had options that did not involve my son.”
Ms. Prescott looked down.
“Yes.”
There.
Not justification.
Choice.
“Why today?”
The investigator asked.
Ms. Prescott hesitated.
“Principal Bell told me Victoria would be at a major board meeting.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“Why did that matter?”
“He said if I wanted her attention, today was the one day she couldn’t ignore a school emergency.”
“Did Bell tell you to cut Logan’s hair?”
“No.”
“Did he know you planned to?”
Ms. Prescott paused too long.
“He knew I planned a public consequence.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That Logan would leave embarrassed.”
Victoria felt sick.
“And Bell approved?”
“He said, ‘Make sure Victoria has to come in person.’”
The investigator wrote rapidly.
“Why would he care whether I came?”
“I thought he was trying to help me.”
Victoria almost laughed.
“You thought the principal was helping you ambush a parent?”
Ms. Prescott’s face hardened.
“I thought somebody finally understood that polite requests had accomplished nothing.”
“Your sister told you to leave Logan alone.”
Pain crossed her face.
“She told you?”
“Yes.”
Ms. Prescott looked away.
“She still defends you.”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“She blamed me accurately.”
That got Ms. Prescott’s attention.
“I signed Lydia’s termination.”
Silence.
“I did not investigate enough.”
Silence.
“I trusted Malcolm.”
Ms. Prescott’s mouth tightened.
“And you expect that to fix twelve years?”
“No.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“But I’m not going to let your anger make you dishonest either.”
Ms. Prescott stared.
“My failure toward Lydia did not give you ownership of Logan’s body.”
Her eyes filled.
“You wanted me to hurt.”
“Yes.”
“You succeeded.”
Victoria’s voice broke for the first time.
“I watched my son look at himself like something had been taken from him.”
Ms. Prescott looked down.
Victoria continued.
“And that pain still belongs to you.”
The investigator asked:
“Did Principal Bell communicate with you this morning?”
“No.”
“Yesterday after the incident?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Ms. Prescott looked uncomfortable.
“Delete our messages.”
Victoria went still.
“Did you?”
“No.”
Her phone had already been surrendered.
The messages appeared.
Bell:
TODAY. BEFORE 1:15.
Ms. Prescott:
SHE WILL COME IF IT’S LOGAN.
Bell:
GOOD.
Then, twelve minutes after Hannah sent the video:
Bell:
SHE’S ON THE WAY.
Ms. Prescott:
WHAT NOW?
Bell:
NOTHING. YOU DID YOUR PART.
Ms. Prescott stared at that line as though seeing it differently now.
“I thought he meant getting Victoria here.”
Victoria did not speak.
Another message.
Bell to an unsaved number:
SHE LEFT.
The number matched Malcolm’s office.
Ms. Prescott’s face went white.
“He used me.”
Victoria looked at her.
“Yes.”
Ms. Prescott covered her mouth.
“I thought…”
“What?”
“I thought Bell hated Crownwell too.”
“Why?”
“He said your company controlled this school through donations.”
That was partly true.
Crownwell Foundation had donated six million dollars over eight years.
Bell frequently praised Malcolm personally.
Then Ms. Prescott remembered something.
“Last week Bell asked whether I still wanted Lydia’s name cleared.”
Victoria’s pulse changed.
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Make Victoria uncomfortable enough and maybe she finally opens the old file.’”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
Victoria stood.
Ms. Prescott looked up.
“What happens now?”
“That’s not my decision.”
“Will you ask the school to fire me?”
Victoria paused.
“No.”
Ms. Prescott looked surprised.
“I’m going to tell them exactly what happened.”
Then:
“And I’ll let them make the decision they’re paid to make.”
Victoria walked toward the door.
Ms. Prescott spoke behind her.
“I am sorry Logan cried.”
Victoria stopped.
Then turned.
“That isn’t enough.”
Ms. Prescott’s face crumpled.
Victoria said:
“Be sorry you decided his fear was useful.”
Then she left.
Outside, Grace was waiting.
“We found out why Malcolm wanted you gone yesterday.”
Victoria stopped.
Grace held out a board document.
The provisional approval contained one amendment inserted after Victoria left.
If the Northstar transaction closed—
Redwood’s hidden preferred shareholder would receive a $28 million payout.
Beneficial owner:
May you like
a private trust Grace had finally traced.
Malcolm.
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