With the Sunnydale PD suffering from an extreme case of the weirds, as a precaution I told Susan to let Hawk know where I was and what I was doing. The next morning, I drove over to Sunnydale High School. The High School was built on a slight hill right in the middle of the east end of the city. The building was big and empty and locked except for the front door. I went into the office and there was no one at the front desk, but there was an old fashioned summoning bell. I rang it.

A man strutted out. He was dressed in an expensive looking suit, and may have topped 5 feet tall. He was bald and had a face like Max Schreck from Nosferatu.

He looked me up and down.

"May I help you?" he said.

I suspected the real question was: What the hell are you doing here?

I introduced myself and handed him my card. He looked at the card and narrowed his eyes. He looked like a cross between a man and a mole rat.

"So what is a private investigator from Boston doing here?"

"I am looking for a kid who ran away. She went to school here."

"Really? Who?"

"Buffy Summers."

The look on the dapper, rat-like man's face became far away and dreamy. He smiled.

"Buffy Summers ran away," he said softly to himself. "That's just perfect."

Then he turned and looked at me. His face transitioned from happy to concerned.

"You aren't here to find her and bring her back, are you?"

"That's generally what private investigators do in missing person cases, especially involving minors," I said. "Of course, being an educator, you would want a minor to be returned home, wouldn't you?"

"Of course," he said. He looked a little uncomfortable, like he had been caught being a little too truthful. "It's not like I want anything bad to actually happen to the poor child."

"Of course not," I said. "And who are you again?"

Rat man pulled himself up to his full, teeny tiny height.

"I am Mr. Snyder, the Principal here at Sunnydale High."

"Pleasure to meet you. So why are you hoping Buffy Summers doesn't come back?"

"She can't come back," he said. "She was expelled."

"Why was she expelled?"

"Why? She was found crouching over the body of a murdered girl, for one thing!"

"But she was cleared of that murder."

"Well yes, because the only witnesses were her friends and that librarian."

"Mr. Giles."

"Yes. Mr. Giles."

"And who were the friends?"

"Xander Harris, Cordelia Chase, and Willow Rosenberg."

I wrote down the names.

"They're all students?"

"Yes," Snyder said. "Rosenberg is a brilliant student. I have no idea why she associates herself with a troublemaker like Buffy Summers."

"And why was Buffy expelled?"

"She's violent and disruptive and a rule breaker. Disorder follows her wherever she goes. I have no tolerance for the kind of disorder a Buffy Summers brings. I run a tight ship!"

"So do the kids here call you 'Herr Snyder'?"

"What?"

"What kind of violent and disruptive behavior did Miss Summers engage in?"

"Well, for example, when she was found with the body of the other girl, the police tried to arrest her. But when the officer was starting to cuff her and read her her rights, she judo threw him over her shoulder and ran away. The other officer tried to shoot her but missed, and I had to replace a window."

"That's pretty violent and disruptive," I said.

"That's not the end of it. Later that night, I found Buffy back in the library, which by then was a crime scene. She'd torn down the crime tape, and she was walking out with a sword."

"I can see why you suspended her."

"Expelled," Snyder said. "I expelled her."

"Of course," I said. "I'm not an educational professional, I get the terms mixed up."

Snyder nodded indulgently. I had pretty much decided he was a creep, but he was a lot more forthcoming than anyone else I had talked to in Sunnydale so far.

"Where do you think she got the sword?"

"I have no idea, but bringing weapons to school is grounds for expulsion."

"Of course it is," I said. "Why do you think she came back to the library?"

"Maybe to cover up evidence of the crime?"

"That would be pretty dumb," I said. "Cops are pretty good at determining when a crime scene was tampered with. If the perpetrator messes with the scene, that simply further contaminates the scene and implicates said perpetrator."

"I didn't say that I thought Buffy Summers was smart," Snyder said. "And it really doesn't matter to me why she came back. She had no business being here no matter what the reason was."

"Of course," I said. "Still, I have to wonder why she came back here. Why she was walking out of the library with a sword? Do you think that the sword was in the library, and Buffy went back to retrieve it?"

"Maybe, particularly if it was the murder weapon."

"Could be, but I am curious why she was able to hide the weapon in the library so that the police wouldn't find it, and yet not be able to hide herself."

"I don't know, and like I said, I don't care."

"I understand. I'm wondering if it is possible that the sword was already stored in the library."

"This is a high school, Mr. Spenser," Snyder said. "We don't allow weapons here."

"Of course. But a school library might be the place to hide things, correct? Things you wouldn't want the school administration to see?"

For the first time, Snyder actually seemed to look a little nervous. He paled slightly.

"That is a question I would suggest you direct to the librarian."

"Mr. Giles."

"That's correct." Snyder seemed to pale a little more, and looked around furtively as if he expected Giles to jump out at him from around the corner.

"Well hello."

Snyder actually jumped, and I admit to a little surge of adrenaline myself, although I managed to stay on the ground. I turned to see Giles standing at the office door

"Hello, Rupert," Snyder said. He tried to sound formal and in charge, but his eyes and face, and the small step he took back, indicated that he wasn't sure he was in charge.

"Mr. Spenser. Snyder."

I noticed the liberty Giles took by dropping the Mister in addressing Snyder. It was a deliberate slight, but Snyder chose not to react to it.

Snyder looked at me, then Giles.

"Gentlemen, if you will excuse me, I have work to do in my office," Snyder said. "Mr. Giles, I believe Mr. Spenser may have some questions for you."

"Thank you for your help," I said to Snyder's back.

Snyder didn't acknowledge me and went into his office.

I turned towards Giles.

"Hello, Rupert," I said, smiling.

Giles' lips retracted slightly while remaining pursed in the most formal and perfunctory of smiles. The smile did not reach his eyes.

"Mr. Spenser, why don't we talk in the library," he said.

"Sure."

I followed Rupert Giles down the hall until we came to a set of double wooden doors with the sign "Library" up above it. Giles took out his keys and unlocked the left door, pulled it open and gestured for me to go in.

The library was much like the Sunnydale Police Department, much larger than one would expect for a high school library. In fact, I would not have been surprised if the city library was smaller. The library was shaped like a hexagon. There was a large checkout desk to our right, and a large meeting area with a large desk in the middle. Then, there was a small stairway to a second level that ringed four sides of the first floor, and this floor was full of book shelves. The library, with both levels combined, was probably as big as most school auditoriums.

"So," I said. "Are you going to tell me more this go around?"

"Probably not," Giles said.

I looked at him hard. He looked back.

"I will find her," I said. "Like I told you and Joyce before, I'm good at this and I don't give up."

"Good," Giles said. "I sincerely hope you do find her. Indeed, nothing would make me happier than for you to find Buffy safe and sound and return her home. My obstructionism has nothing to do with me trying to keep you from finding her. I have other reasons entirely."

"And you're not going to tell me what those reasons are."

"No I am not."

I looked hard at Giles. Giles in response seemed entirely unmoved, neither angry nor scared. He was still and quiet and I suspected potentially deadly.

"What happened to your fingers, Rupert?"

"They were broken."

"Accidentally?"

"No."

"Did Buffy break them?"

"No."

"Who broke them?"

Giles smiled slightly again by retracting his lips.

"Did the same individual who broke your fingers kill Kendra?"

Giles continued to smile.

"Did you kill Kendra?"

Giles blinked, and for a brief moment actually looked a little flustered.

"Good heavens, no," he said.

"Glad we were able to get something straight," I said.