Danny rolled his tongue in his mouth but said nothing.
“Look,” Eli said. “You’re always going on about how you’re one of the good guys, right? That you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and that us cops are out to make your life miserable. You’re always going on about how you’ve never done a thing wrong in your whole sorry life. So prove it to us, Danny. Be one of the good guys today. Tell us who this kid is.”
Danny glowered at Eli, and for a long stretch, Brett thought he’d turn and go back inside his trailer without saying a damn word. Then he twisted his head until his neck made a loud popping sound. He grimaced and said, “You know that kid whose in a punk rock band? They sometimes play down at the Pickled Onion? Zach?”
“Danforth?”
Danny nodded.
“I’ve seen him around,” Eli said. “Who is he to you?”
Danny exhaled loudly and lifted his face to stare at the underside of the awning. Then he dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a second cigarette. He took his time to light it and take a drag before answering, “He’s my brother-in-law’s nephew. Which I guess makes him family to me, too.”
“And?”
“And he sometimes does errands for me.”
“Like what? Come on, Danny, stop dragging your feet.”
“You said you just wanted a name.”
“What errand was he running for you when he was talking to Nathan two weeks ago?”
Danny shrugged and said, “Like I told that black cop before, I loaned Nathan some money a while back. Don’t ask me what it was for, because I don’t know. People come to me when they need money, and I give it to them. I don’t ask about their personal business. I gave him five thousand dollars, and he was supposed to pay me back a couple weeks ago. With interest, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Eli said with a tone of disgust.
“Hey, I’m not a charity.” He turned his head and spat in the dirt. “Zach went to collect, but Nathan didn’t have the money. Well, he had some of it, but I don’t take installments.”
“And when people don’t pay you back?” Eli asked. “What happens then? You come in? Push them around a little? Maybe shove them off the end of a dock?”
“I’m not a monster,” Danny snapped. Then he relaxed again, grinning in a way that made Brett’s skin crawl. “Yes, I might do a little shakedown of my own every once in a while to make sure they aren’t holding out on me. You wouldn’t believe what people try to get away with if they think they can. But if putting a little fright in them still produces nothing, I simply extend the loan period. And add extra interest.”
“So that’s what you did with Nathan?” Eli asked. “You threatened him, then told him he had what? Another week? Two weeks?”
“Well, that’s what I would have done,” Danny said, swatting at a fly that had started buzzing around his head. “But someone killed him before I had the chance.”
* * *
“What do you think?” Eli asked on the drive back into town.
Brett stared out the window at the trees sliced through with light, a stuttering row of trunks that blurred together as the car reached a certain speed. Finally, she said, “He’s clearly lying about something, but I think he’s telling the truth about Nathan.”
She twisted to look at Eli. “But I mean, where is he getting that kind of money? Five thousand dollars? That’s not nothing. And it sounds like he’s giving out loans to more than one person. So, again. Where is that money coming from?”
Eli’s jaw tensed in concentration. “I had the same question. He lives in a trailer on his brother-in-law’s property.”
“Rent-free, probably.”
“And as far as I know, he hasn’t been working. Not since the cannery closed.”
“Drugs?” she suggested. “He might be dealing.”
“That could explain it.”
They passed the next few miles in silence, then Eli spoke up again, “He’s a vet, you know. Served four years in Vietnam.”
“Does he get any pension? Disability benefits?”
“I don’t know. We can check, but even if he is getting anything, it wouldn’t be enough to loan out.”
They passed Ted’s Tire Shop, then Shakey’s Pizza, then the roller rink, the buildings stacking tighter together the closer they got to downtown.
“Track down this Zachary kid,” Brett said. “He’ll probably have plenty to say once he realizes the trouble he’s in.” She glanced at her watch. “Can you drop me off at the high school? I’m running late for some interviews.”
“No problem. It’ll save me a trip.” He turned off the highway onto the road that led to Crestwood High. “I’ve had a few run-ins with Zach Danforth over the past few years. Loitering, fighting, vandalism, petty theft. I’ve let him off with warnings up to this point, but he’s the kind of trouble that’s always looking for more. I had a feeling that’s who Cole was describing, but I wanted to be sure before I picked him up. He’s a senior at Crestwood. If he didn’t cut class today, maybe I can grab him before someone tells him we’re looking for him, and he disappears.”
They walked into the front office together. Eli went up to the receptionist and spoke to her in a low voice about Zach’s class schedule.
A man Brett guessed to be the school’s guidance counselor stood from the chair he’d been waiting in outside the principal’s office and shook her hand. He reintroduced himself, “You can call me Shep.”
His voice was the same soothing bass as it had been on the phone earlier this morning. He wore his hair long and scruffy around his ears. His mustache needed to be combed, his bushy eyebrows needed a trim. His suit was too big for his narrow frame, his pants badly wrinkled. In a word, he was unkempt, and this Brett realized, was what made him the perfect person for this kind of job. He was approachable, more like an older brother or a cool uncle than a person of authority. He probably high-fived the jocks and winked at all the girls. The students would share their secrets with a man like Shep.
He held a short stack of manila folders against his side. “After we talked this morning, I pulled the school records for Elizabeth, as well as her friend June, and June’s sister, Marcie. All three of them are straight-A students. Marcie’s a senior. She’s on the Honor Roll, works on the school newspaper and yearbook. June and Elizabeth play JV soccer. There are no disciplinary actions for June or Marcie.”
“And Elizabeth?”
He handed her the folders. “Nothing until Monday when she was sent home for fighting with another girl.”
Brett arched her eyebrows and flipped open the manila folder with Elizabeth’s name written on the tab.
“It wasn’t exactly a fight,” Shep added. “A squabble, really. She dumped a can of soda pop over someone’s head.”
“Who was that?”
“Kimmy Darling.”
Brett started to jot the name in her notebook, but Shep plucked at one of the folders. “I pulled her file too, but again, there’s nothing very interesting. These girls…” He shook his head. “They aren’t the ones I have to worry about around here. Not usually, anyway. Kimmy’s a cheerleader. They’re good kids most of the time. Keep their noses clean. Do their homework. Volunteer at animal shelters and things like that. I’ve known most of these girls since they were sixth graders. They don’t seem like the type to get in this kind of trouble.”
“Girls can change a lot at this age.”
“Don’t I know it.” He grimaced and gestured toward the principal’s closed office door. “She’s waiting for you.”
“Just give me a second, yeah?” She smoothed her jacket and brushed her fingers through her hair, then turned to thank Eli for the ride.
He was staring at her, gripping a piece of paper in one hand.
“You get what you need?” she asked.
He nodded and stuffed the paper in his pocket, then gestured for her to join him out in the hallway. When they were
alone, he pressed close, his voice a rushed whisper. “Elizabeth? Elizabeth Trudeau? That’s the assault case you’re working on?”
To protect Elizabeth’s privacy, she’d talked about the case during this morning’s briefing without using her name.
“Yes.” Brett was startled by Eli’s sudden concern. “Why? Do you know her?”
He shook his head, then backed away. “I… Never mind. Jesus, Brett, she’s a kid. You have to catch the asshole who did this to her. You can’t let him get away with it.”
“Why do you think I’m here?” His anger stirred hers, a feral, blood-and-splintered-bone feeling that she quickly tamped down. Right now, her focus needed to be on Elizabeth.
“If you need any help…” His gaze flicked toward the principal’s office.
“I know where to find you.”
* * *
Evangeline London, Effy for short, was a petite woman and younger than any principal Brett ever had growing up. She sat behind a large desk, her fingers folded together primly as she listened to Brett explain what she needed. “I think it’s in Elizabeth’s and the school’s best interests to keep this as low profile as we can until we know more about what happened that night. No one’s in trouble. Not yet. I just need to find out who was at this party, what they saw, if anyone knows who hurt Elizabeth.”
“I agree.” Principal London nodded once. “As long as I’m present during the interviews, then I have no problem pulling the girls from class to get to the bottom of this.”
Brett worried the girls might not say as much with their principal listening in, but there really was no other choice. The girls were minors. It was either do it this way or get the parents involved.
“Who do you want to speak with first?” Principal London asked.
Chapter 17
“This is stupid.” Kimmy Darling twisted a lock of long, blond hair around her finger. She cracked a wad of chewing gum between her teeth and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “She’s the one who ruined my favorite jacket. I don’t know why I’m the one getting in trouble.”
“No one’s in trouble,” Brett reiterated. She’d already told her this at least three times.
Kimmy exhaled loudly and snapped her gum again. Brett resisted the urge to yank the pink wad from the girl’s mouth. She crossed her legs, rested her notebook on her knee, and tapped the pen on the edge of the paper. “We just need to know if you saw Elizabeth at the party on Saturday?”
“I don’t know about any party.” Kimmy shrugged and narrowed her gaze on Principal London, who sat relaxed behind her desk with her hands resting in her lap. She looked like she was only half-listening.
“How much longer is this going to take?” Kimmy asked.
Principal London didn’t flinch. “As long as it takes for you to answer Detective Buchanan’s questions.”
Kimmy sighed again and slouched in the chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “If there even was a party on Saturday night, and I’m not saying there was, but let’s say there was, Elizabeth wouldn’t have been there.”
“Why not?” Brett asked.
“Freshmen aren’t allowed. It’s, like, an unspoken rule? They ruin everything.” She said it like she was stating something obvious.
“But she was there. So someone must have invited her.”
“Well, it wasn’t me.”
“Did you see her there?”
“Why? What is she saying?”
“Did you see Elizabeth at the party?” Brett asked again.
Kimmy gave another harassed shrug. “No.”
“Are you sure? You didn’t see her the entire night?”
“I told you, no. All right? I didn’t see her.” She flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “She might have been there, but it’s this huge house, right? There are, like, a ton of rooms and no electricity, but people bring flashlights and boom boxes so we can still dance. If I had seen her, I would have told her to leave. I probably would have dragged her out myself. But I didn’t see her, okay? There. Am I done?” She leaned forward as if she was about to stand up.
“Just a few more questions,” Brett said.
Kimmy sank back into the chair with a huff.
“Did you know everyone who attended this party? Were they all from Crestwood?”
“Pretty much.” She inspected her nails, thinking, then added, “I guess there were a few people from other high schools, but like, still people we knew? Zach was checking people at the door, so no weirdos or nerds or anything crashed.”
“Zach?” The name was coming up a lot today. “Does Zach have a last name?”
Kimmy puckered her lips and twisted her hair. “I don’t know, probably. He’s a senior. He’s dating Marcie. Or he was. They’re on-again, off-again. Anyway, I still don’t understand why I’m here? We were just there to have some fun, you know? No one did anything illegal.”
“You were trespassing,” Brett pointed out.
“No, we weren’t. Marcie’s dad owns the place. She said she had his permission.”
“And no one was drinking any alcohol?”
She shrugged but with less enthusiasm than before. “Elizabeth is kind of a drama queen. She likes attention. So whatever she’s telling you happened, she’s probably making the whole thing up, you know?”
“So this party,” Brett said. “I heard it was a costume party?”
“Some people were wearing costumes, yeah, duh, it’s like Halloween?”
“What costume did you wear?” Brett tried to sound interested.
Kimmy flashed a set of perfect white teeth and batted her eyelashes. “I was an angel.”
“Do you know who was wearing a wolf mask?”
Kimmy’s smile vanished. She lowered her gaze to her pink Converse with sparkling laces and uttered a meek-sounding, “No.”
She was obviously lying. Brett leaned slightly forward in her chair. “This is important, Kimmy. I need to know who was wearing a wolf mask. So if you know who that was, I need you to tell me.”
“Why? What did he do?” She snapped her mouth shut, realizing her mistake. Then she narrowed her gaze at Brett, her blue eyes hard as flint. “When are you going to arrest Elizabeth for vandalizing my car?”
The question caught Brett off-guard. “Excuse me?”
“Someone scratched ‘cunt’ into the hood when I was in class yesterday. My dad filed a police report, but I bet it was her.”
“Why would she do something like that?”
“Like I said, she’s a drama queen.” A smile toyed at the corners of Kimmy’s mouth. “Plus, she’s crazy. She attacked me on Monday, out of the blue, for no reason. Principal London told you that, didn’t she? Didn’t you, Principal London?”
The principal said nothing.
Kimmy continued, “Elizabeth tried to say I was calling her names, but I wasn’t. She’s petty and jealous, and she’s a liar. You can’t believe a word that comes out of her mouth.”
“You actually saw her vandalize your car?”
“No, but she wasn’t at school yesterday, so she would have had plenty of opportunity.” She folded her arms across her chest. “So, are you going to arrest her or what?”
Brett snapped her notebook closed and stuffed it into her jacket pocket. “Why don’t you tell me who was wearing the wolf mask at the party, Kimmy, and then you can go back to class.”
“I didn’t see anyone wearing a wolf mask.” Kimmy stared at Brett.
The clock hanging behind Principal London’s desk ticked loudly.
Brett could see it in Kimmy’s eyes, in the way she didn’t blink, that she was lying and thought she was getting away with it. Let her get away with it, then. Brett counted to sixty to give Kimmy time to change her mind, then told her she was free to go. She didn’t have time to play games with this brat. There were other people at that party, people who would be less of a pain in her ass.
A few minutes later, Marcie appeared in the doorway.
She was a pretty girl with dark hair and light eyes, wearing a ragged jean jacket and faded ripped jeans with scuffed cowboy boots. She glanced warily at Brett before sitting down in the empty chair, where she chewed on the corner of her lip and twisted her fingers together in her lap, waiting for Brett to talk first. Her nails were painted sparkling silver. As Brett suspected she would, Marcie answered her questions in a soft voice and more readily than Kimmy did.
“Yes, I organized the party,” she said. “I got permission from my dad to use the house. It was supposed to be this small gathering, you know, a few of my close friends. No more than like ten people, I swear. We were going to have a séance and gorge out on Halloween candy. But I guess word spread, and by the time I got there, the party was already raging. I tried to get people to go home. But no one listened to me.”
“Was there alcohol?” Brett asked.
Marcie worried her lip, darted a glance at Principal London, then nodded. “But I didn’t bring it. Zach did. He invited all the other people, too.”
“Did you see Elizabeth at the party?”
“Yeah, and I freaked out because Lizzie and June have been connected at the hip since kindergarten. I knew if Lizzie was there, June would be too, but that I’d be the one in trouble if our parents ever found out. So I went looking for them. I couldn’t make anyone else leave, but at least I could get June and Lizzie to go home.”
“Did you find them?”
“Eventually. At some point, Lizzie went upstairs. No one was supposed to go upstairs, but she went. I saw her coming down. I don’t know. She didn’t look very good.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was stumbling. Her hair was all messed up. I realized she’d been drinking, and then I knew I was in real trouble. I went to go get her, but June found her first, and when I saw they were leaving, I just let them go.”
“You didn’t go check to make sure they were okay?”
“What do you mean? Did something happen? Is that why I’m here? Did she—?” Her eyes grew wide, and her hands tightened to fists in her lap. “I saw Lizzie at school on Monday. She seemed fine. I don’t understand. They came to the party, but they got home just fine. Am I in trouble because I didn’t take them home?” Her gaze darted between Brett and the principal. Her lip was starting to bleed where she’d chewed too hard.
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