“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Gordon,” Geiser said as they shook hands. “I’m certainly familiar with the name. I was playing football at Santa Clara while you were a basketball star at Cal.”
Raymond offered Gordon a limp handshake and a standard greeting, then turned to the sheriff.
“I hope this is important,” he said. “I had to put the vice principal in charge of Lloyd’s one o’clock class, and I’d like to have him back for the two o’clock.”
Chris looked at Diane, who was sitting at the head of the table, near the TV. Diane stood and spoke forcefully and calmly.
“I’m afraid that isn’t happening, Mr. Raymond. We called you and Coach Geiser here as a courtesy so you won’t be blindsided by this. Once we’ve made our presentation, I’m hoping you’ll see how serious this is and won’t resent the time you spent here.”
She gave them a piercing look, and the two men shifted uneasily in their chairs.
“Good. Then let’s get going so this doesn’t take any longer than it has to. As I’m sure you’re aware, there was a party at the DeShayne residence Saturday night two weeks ago from which a complaint of rape was lodged with the sheriff’s office. The initial investigation stalled, in large part owing to lack of cooperation from people at that party. We’ve now come into new evidence that is causing the investigation to be more aggressively pursued. We invited you here for a briefing because this is a matter that affects both the high school and its football team.”
She looked around the room. Raymond and Geiser had drawn their faces tighter, but said nothing.
“Early this morning, based on a sworn affidavit, the sheriff’s department served a search warrant at the DeShayne residence and confiscated a video camera and four videotapes from the room of Caitlin DeShayne. Most of the videotapes are of no interest to this investigation, but one of them contained approximately 40 minutes of footage of the party in question. That’s what we’d like to show you now. Howard.”
He moved to the TV, flipped it on, and popped the video into the player.
For several seconds, nothing appeared on the screen. The first image showed about two dozen students in an unevenly lit recreation room. Most of them had their backs to the camera and were standing in a semicircle around a young man, clearly identifiable as the quarterback, Kyle Burnett.
“Go, Kyle,” said a woman’s voice from near the camera.
Kyle raised his right hand, which was holding a beer can.
“What are we gonna do tonight?” he shouted.
“Paaarty!” chorused the crowd.
“And who’s gonna get wasted tonight?”
“Everybody!” the group shouted back, followed by a round of applause.
On the left side of the semicircle, visible even in the dim light, stood Hooper, looking uneasy. He didn’t join the group in shouting back the answers to Kyle’s questions.
For the remainder of the video, the camera went off and on, offering a series of vignettes. It appeared that Caitlin was doing most of the photography, though occasionally someone else took over the camera so she could be filmed briefly. In between vignettes, the camera was turned off, except for a couple of times when Caitlin forgot and recorded a couple of minutes of footage of the camera moving through the room, pointing at the floor. The first scene of interest occurred when Caitlin stood before the camera and announced:
“Now we’re going to photograph the good girls. They’re boring, so we’ll get them out of the way early, but maybe after a few drinks, they’ll be more interesting.”
The backup cinematographer handed the camera to Caitlin without turning it off, and the audience followed its wobbles through the crowd to a group of three young women standing near a wall.
“These are three of Alta Mira’s top cheerleaders: Julie Billings, Alicia Rios, and Emma Thornton. Wave for the camera, girls.”
They giggled and waved. Watching the video, Gordon realized this was the first time he had seen Alicia, even in an image. She was beautiful, with long black hair falling below her shoulders, classical features, and large bright eyes that seemed to be trying to make sense of a social situation that appeared to be new to her.
“Good evening, ladies,” said a male voice, and the camera pulled back to show Kyle and Cody Jarrett joining the group. Each was holding an open beer in one hand and two capped bottles in the other.
“Are we having fun yet?” Kyle asked, and they smiled. “Can we offer you a beer?”
Julie, Alicia, and Emma looked at each other for support.
“I’ll try one,” Emma said, and Cody handed her a bottle.
“I don’t know,” Julie said. “I might have to drive home.”
“Then just take one and sip it all night. You’ll be fine,” Kyle said.
“OK,” she said, taking a bottle from him with an eagerness that suggested her resistance had been perfunctory.
“How about you, Alicia?”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I tried a beer once and didn’t like it.”
“That’s all right,” Kyle said. “Not everybody does. Hey, I’ve got an idea. How about if I bring you a glass of orange juice with just a little bit” — he held up a hand with the thumb and index finger a fraction of an inch apart — “of vodka in it.”
Alicia looked at Julie and Emma holding their beers.
“Well, all right,” she said.
“That’s the way to party,” he said, turning to the camera and winking at it.
The camera switched off, and subsequently photographed several groups of people drinking and speaking in voices growing louder and more unsteady. Eventually, it returned to the “good girls” group. Alicia was holding a 12-ounce glass with a bit of orange liquid at the bottom and speaking in a louder and more uninhibited manner than earlier. Gordon thought that a glass that size could easily have been half filled with vodka without a novice drinker realizing it, and he felt slightly sick.
“Alicia,” Kyle said, approaching from her right. “I saw that you were almost out, so I made you another one.” He handed her another 12-ounce glass and took the one in her hand.
“Thank you,” she said, slowly and with a bit of effort. “This is really nice, but it seems to be making me a bit dizzy.”
“Nah. There’s not enough alcohol in there to do that. Probably too many people in this room, and it’s a bit stuffy. That’s all.”
“OK,” Alicia said, taking another sip.
The camera made another round of the party, and it seemed as if the volume was being steadily turned up, though it was really the partiers becoming more inebriated. At one point, the camera turned a corner and went into a dimly lit hallway, and there was enough light to see a male and female body in a tight clinch, with the female’s back against the wall.
“Hey, Sarah,” came Caitlin’s voice. “Smile for the camera.”
Sarah responded by raising her left hand with the middle finger extended. Caitlin held the shot for several seconds before switching off the camera.
A few more brief party scenes followed before there was a shot of Alicia asleep, or perhaps more accurately, unconscious on a couch. The camera was back at a distance, but zoomed in to focus on her face, unflattering with its mouth open.
“Aww, man, she couldn’t handle it,” said Cody’s voice off camera.
“What did you put in that drink, anyway?” Julie asked.
“Just a little vodka, that’s all,” Kyle said. “I guess she’s never had a drink before.”
“We need to get her somewhere where she can lie down,” Cody said.
“Yeah, we need to get her horizontal,” Kyle said, then laughed.
“There’s a spare bedroom down the hall,” came Caitlin’s voice from behind the camera.
Cody stepped into the frame, slid his right arm under Alicia’s back and his left under her knees. She hung limply as he lifted her from the couch.
With Kyle leading the way, Cody carried her down the ha
ll, the camera following them.
“Next door on the left,” called Caitlin.
Kyle held it open as Cody carried Alicia into the room. He closed the door, and the camera remained on it for what seemed like hours, but was only 45 seconds before Kyle and Cody came out.
“You know she wants me,” Kyle said. “So I’m gonna give her what she wants. But I’m sure she’d be happy to have you after that.”
Cody said nothing.
“Or if that’s not your flavor,” Kyle continued, “I’ll bet you can get head from Emma if you score a touchdown next Friday.” He clapped Cody on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. I’ll get you the ball.”
And with that, he went back in the room, closing the door behind him.
Several seconds later the camera turned off, then came on again with another general party scene. The crowd seemed to have diminished some.
“All right, Howard,” Diane said, standing up. “You can stop it there.”
CHRIS TURNED ON THE LIGHTS as Howard stopped the video. The room was still. The four men who were seeing the video for the first time looked shaken and disoriented. Without giving them a chance to recover, Diane began talking.
“The rest of this video isn’t relevant to the case, but as you can see, it gives the investigation a direction it hasn’t had up to now. And we’re taking it very seriously. That’s why when Alta Mira High School lets out at 3:10 (she looked at her watch), about an hour from now, all three sheriff’s patrol cars on duty will be waiting outside. They will be bringing Kyle Burnett, Cody Jarrett, and Caitlin DeShayne separately to my office for a formal reading of their Miranda rights and further questioning — that is, if they don’t lawyer up.
“Sheriff Huntley and I conferred this morning and agreed that because of the two unsolved murder cases before the sheriff’s office, the rape investigation will be handled by the district attorney’s office. Deputy District Attorney Goodwin and I will be conducting it, and, if the evidence is convincing, we will file criminal charges. The sheriff’s office will, of course, cooperate fully with us and will be apprised of developments as they occur.”
She stopped and looked around the room, not moving on from any of its occupants until her eyes and theirs had met.
“Are there any questions?”
The room was silent for half a minute, then:
“I have a question,” Geiser said.
“Yes?”
“Before the deputies bring Burnett and Jarrett down here, can I have a word with them?”
She arched an eyebrow. “Why? So you can tip them off?”
“No,” the coach said. “So I can kick their sorry asses off the football team.”
Raymond, suddenly animated, whipped around.
“Lloyd, are you sure you want to do that? This video doesn’t prove they committed any crime, and don’t you think you should give them the benefit of the doubt? Especially with a playoff game Friday night.”
“How much doubt is there, Duane? You saw what I saw. Before the season began, they signed a contract agreeing they could be dismissed from the team for a variety of offenses, including drinking during the season and conduct detrimental to the team. And I’m the sole judge of that. Sorry, but they’re gone.”
“But can’t you wait until after Friday’s game?”
“Use your head, Duane. Once the whole school sees them driven off in patrol cars, they’re a dead weight on the rest of the team. No, we have 35 players on varsity, and with Jarrett and Burnett gone, we still have 33. I’ll see that those 33 give Aspen Valley a game to remember.”
He turned to Diane.
“So can I talk to them when school’s out?”
She nodded. “Go ahead. You may be able to punish them more than the law can.”
Geiser rose and turned to the principal.
“Then I’m heading back to campus to make sure they get the message to see me as soon as school’s out.” He looked back at Chris. “You might want to tell your deputies to wait by my office for those two.”
And, clearly on a mission, he stormed out of the room. Raymond stayed for another half minute, then rose and left without so much as a farewell to anyone.
A few seconds later, the five people remaining in the room exhaled simultaneously.
“Well, what do you think?” Diane asked.
“I wish I could get that video out of my mind,” Gordon said. “But you didn’t leave any doubt about where you’re going.”
“Yeah. The problem is, Duane was right. This video certainly shows conduct detrimental to the team, whatever that is, but there’s no solid proof of a crime here. Kyle can say anything he wants about what happened in that room, and Alicia doesn’t remember enough to contradict him effectively. Maybe, though, it’ll loosen someone’s tongue. We can hope, anyway. How about you, Sam?”
“I think if I’d seen that video when I got married, I wouldn’t have any children today.”
“Makes you think, doesn’t it, but don’t give up hope altogether. Howard, what are you thinking now?”
“I don’t know if they’re guilty of a crime or not, but I do know the football team is screwed on Friday night. Still, you’ve got to hand it to Coach. He has a pair.”
“Your highest compliment,” Chris murmured.
“All right then,” Diane said, moving toward the door. “I’ve got to prepare. I have a long night of interviews ahead.”
Howard, Gordon and Sam also stood. Gordon turned to the sheriff.
“Chris, could I have a couple of minutes alone with you now?”
She nodded wearily, and Gordon turned to Sam.
“I’ll meet you at the hotel in less than an hour. If you want to drive … ”
Sam waved him off.
“I’ll walk. I need some exercise, and I’m not going to get it fishing today.”
“WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND, GORDON?” she said after the others had left.
He shifted in his chair.
“First of all,” he said, “I want you to understand this is just an unformed idea at this point. But a couple of things I noticed this morning put that idea in my head.”
“Is this about our killer?” He nodded. “Well,” she continued, “an unformed idea is better than no idea, which is what we have now. Let’s hear it.”
“All right. This morning, Sam and I accompanied Elizabeth Macondray to the home of Jessica Milland’s mother in Big Piney. Elizabeth’s on the campus safety committee …”
“You don’t have to rationalize. Keep going.”
“ … Anyway, her brother was there — Jessica’s brother, I mean — and that got me to thinking.” He paused momentarily, took a deep breath, and kept going. “Her brother is a sheriff’s deputy in Yolo County, and he was very emphatic on the point that she wouldn’t have accepted a ride from someone she didn’t know. And you’ve been interviewing people on campus with the same idea in mind, right?”
She nodded.
“Something was starting to come to me then, and I lost the thread,” he continued. “Then, a while later, as we were driving back to Alta Mira, we saw Sandy Steadman on the side of the road, calling for help for a Homestead student whose car had broken down on the road to Big Piney. That’s when the penny dropped. We’ve been assuming Jessica knew the person who picked her up, but there’s one class of stranger who could have offered her a ride without attracting suspicion.”
“Oh, shit,” she said.
“A uniformed law enforcement officer in an official car would have seemed like a safe bet, especially to a woman whose brother is a sheriff’s deputy. It’s just a hunch, Chris, but I’m putting it out there for whatever it’s worth.”
They sat silently for more than a minute. The blinds over the conference room windows were still drawn, and they were entirely isolated in that silence.
“For whatever it’s worth, I hope you’re wrong,” she finally said. “But I can’t deny it’s a possibility.”
“Please don’t think I’m anti-law enf
orcement or anything … ”
She waved her arm to dismiss the idea.
“Don’t worry about it, Gordon. I’ve been in the business 20 years and I’ve yet to meet the law enforcement officer who would qualify as an angel. And I’ve known several — and thankfully it was only several — who were downright unfit.” She let out a harsh, guttural laugh. “In fact, I married one.”
Gordon said nothing, and after a while, she continued.
“He was an investigator for the district attorney’s office and a former policeman. There wasn’t a clue all the time we were dating, then once we said, ‘I do,’ the trouble started. He got steadily more abusive, and I put up with it for three years, thinking it would get better. In spite of everything I’ve seen on the job. I finally moved out and filed for divorce, but he kept on harassing me.”
“Did you get a restraining order?”
“I was spending too much on legal fees already, so I handled it informally.”
“Informally?”
She nodded. “That’s right. I told him if he showed up at my door again, I’d shoot his jewels off. That got his attention, at least for a while, and it bought me enough time to apply for jobs away from Sacramento and get hired here. Now you know the whole sordid story.”
Gordon couldn’t think of much to say, so he remained silent. She shifted in her chair and continued.
“But about that idea of yours. I need to figure out where would I start looking, and how to do it without anybody getting the wind up.”
“I did have a thought along those lines. Or maybe more like a question, actually. Does the college have a campus police force?”
She shook her head. “Good point. No, they contract with the sheriff’s department for law enforcement services. They pay salaries and benefits for three deputies, and we ensure that at least one of them is on patrol at the campus between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily.”
“Maybe a starting point would be to see if any of those deputies was off duty the day the student disappeared in Ponderosa County. Would it be possible for any of them to have access to a patrol car when off duty?”
The Daughters Of Alta Mira (Quill Gordon Mystery Book 4) Page 18