The story of a relationship between Baldwin-Whitehall school board member Beverly Coon and Bethel Park Superintendent Ronald Grimm is playing out like "Fatal Attraction," a tale of illicit love, stalking, attempted murder and the revenge of a woman scorned.

Allegations against Ms. Coon are that she delivered sedative-laced pastries to Dr. Grimm and set fire to his Monroeville apartment shortly after he fell into a drugged sleep Sept. 9.

One local televised report, which the police have not commented on, suggested that the pastries used were ladylocks filled with the schedule IV sedative, Temazepam.

Police said they believed Ms. Coon had acted out of revenge after Dr. Grimm tried to break off their two-year relationship a week and a half earlier.

Both of them are married to others, though Dr. Grimm's wife, Joyce, filed for divorce in 2004, according to court records.

According to police, Ms. Coon not only set fire to bedding in Dr. Grimm's apartment, but also stood outside and watched it burn while tenants of the eight-unit building were evacuated.

According to the criminal affidavit, a neighbor who knew Ms. Coon was Dr. Grimm's estranged girlfriend asked her if she had a cellular phone to call 911. Ms. Coon said she did not and then left. The neighbor told police he entered the apartment complex and saw Dr. Grimm lying outside his apartment doorway, calling for help. Several people dragged him to safety.

No one died.

Ms. Coon, 46, a homemaker, mother of two and estranged wife of Pittsburgh lawyer Timothy Coon, is charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, arson, risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and stalking.

Reports of stalking came from residents of Dr. Grimm's apartment complex and from Mrs. Grimm, of Mt. Lebanon, who told police that a woman matching the description of Ms. Coon contacted her recently.

According to Mrs. Grimm's statement to police, the woman identified herself as "Sandy," said she lived in the area, was being abused by her husband and had devised an "escape route" that took her through Mrs. Grimm's back yard.

The woman told Mrs. Grimm that if she saw her behind her house, "it was all right." Police suspect that this was an attempt by Ms. Coon to keep track of Dr. Grimm.

Dr. Grimm, who was interviewed at the Mercy Hospital burn unit, told police that Ms. Coon often would call him, leave notes at his apartment and was stalking him.

He said she brought him pastries Sept. 8. After he ate them, Dr. Grimm said, he felt "really tired," the way he felt when the hospital gave him pain medication. Dr. Grimm said he fell asleep and did not know whether Ms. Coon had left his apartment.

At 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, the Allegheny County district attorney's office will present some of its evidence against Ms. Coon at a preliminary hearing before Monroeville District Judge Walter Luniewski.

She is free on $100,000 bond, which was posted by a bonding company last Thursday, one day after her arrest.

At a preliminary hearing, the prosecution must establish that there is enough evidence against Ms. Coon that the case could be taken to a jury.

The defense attorney, Robert Leight, does not present evidence at the hearing. Mr. Leight said the case against Ms. Coon was based on circumstantial evidence. That means there's no confession and no one saw her set the fire, though a neighbor who knew Ms. Coon saw her at the scene.

For more than a month, police were silent about the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 9 fire in Dr. Grimm's Monroeville apartment.

Bethel Park school officials also were tight-lipped, saying only that Dr. Grimm, 60, an educator who had been superintendent of Woodland Hills and Steel Valley schools, was off the job, recovering from burns.

On Oct. 11, Allegheny County Police, the county fire marshal's office and Monroeville police secured an arrest warrant for Ms. Coon.

That news sent shock waves through both districts, and school officials moved to exercise damage control.

In Baldwin-Whitehall, the district has barred Ms. Coon from entering school buildings or attending school functions, although she can attend board meetings at the central administration office, should she choose.