So Shindler was searching for motive and finding none. He had compiled a list of everyone who knew the couple and from each interviewee he was learning that no one could possibly have wanted Elaine Murray or Richie Walters dead.
Alice Fay was one of the prettiest girls on the list and Shindler was grateful for some stimulation after the dull morning he had spent. It was Easter recess, so she was home from school. Her father was working and her mother was shopping. She would not open the door until Shindler displayed his badge. When he told her that he was investigating the deaths of her two schoolmates, she said, “Oh” softly and let him in.
He chatted about the weather and school vacation as he followed her down the hall into the kitchen. She had been seated at the kitchen table reading Seventeen. The magazine was turned to an article on fall campus fashions. She motioned Shindler into a chair.
“You’re going to college next fall?” he asked.
“The University of Wisconsin.”
“What do you want to study?”
Alice smiled and shrugged.
“I really don’t know. I might go into nursing, but right now I’ll just take liberal arts and then decide after I have some time to think.”
“That’s a good way to do it. You have plenty of time to be serious when you get old like me.”
Alice laughed.
“You aren’t that old.”
“I get older every day.”
He smiled at her and she asked him if she could get him some coffee.
“Do you think you will catch the people who murdered Richie and Elaine?” she asked as she turned on the light under the coffee pot.
“I don’t know. We haven’t made much progress. That’s why I am talking to everyone who knew them. Anything that you can think of that might be of help would be appreciated.”
Alice sat down again. She appeared to be smart as well as good looking, Shindler thought. She would be a good catch for some lucky man.
“I would help if I could, but I honestly can’t think of a thing to tell you. I knew them both real well and they were both so nice. Richie was so gentle. He really cared about people. He won all these honors in sports and he was involved in school politics, but it never went to his head.
“Elaine was like Richie. I remember in our junior year we both ran for prom queen. I know Elaine wanted very much to win, but I was named queen. She was so happy for me, even though she was disappointed for herself.”
The coffee was ready and she went to the sink and poured Shindler a cup.
“Do you know a girl named Esther Freemont?” Shindler asked. Alice looked surprised.
“Yes, I do. Is Esther…? She isn’t involved, is she?”
“No. I just wanted to know if you knew her.”
“Well, I know her in the sense that we go to the same school, but she isn’t a friend,” Alice said with a hint of distaste.
“What’s Esther like?”
“I…I really don’t know. She isn’t too bright. She hangs around with a wild crowd.”
“The Cobras?” Shindler interrupted. Alice nodded.
“She…I hear that she’s, uh, free. If you know what I mean,” Alice said blushing. “But I really don’t know her that well,” she added hastily.
Shindler changed the subject and they discussed Richie and Elaine some more. The time passed quickly and Shindler realized that it was getting late. He made a mental note to leave the interviewing of pretty girls to detectives with more self-control.
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Miss Fay,” Shindler said, rising. “If you think of anything that you think might help give me a call.”
He handed her his card and she placed it by the kitchen phone.
“You know, that’s funny,” she said as she turned. “I just remembered that Esther Freemont was at the party I threw the evening that Richie and Elaine were killed.”
Shindler stopped.
“I thought you said that she wasn’t a close friend.”
“She’s not. She crashed. She and the Coolidge brothers and someone else. I remember because of the fight.”
“What fight?”
“It was pretty frightening. Tommy, my boyfriend, got mad because they had crashed. He tried to throw Billy Coolidge out and there was a fight. Billy had a knife. We were lucky that no one was hurt seriously.”
“What kind of knife?”
“It was a switchblade, I think. One of Tommy’s brother’s friends hit him and he pulled it out. We stopped it after that.”
“You mentioned a brother.”
“Bobby Coolidge. He was fighting too.”
“Why do you think they came to the party if they weren’t invited?”
“I don’t know. To cause trouble probably. Billy always has a chip on his shoulder. His brother isn’t as bad, but I really don’t like either of them.”
“Do you remember when they left the party?”
“Not really. I know it was dark and…No, wait. I do too know. Tommy got knocked down and he smashed his watch and broke it. I remember we all talked about it, because it was a new watch and he had gotten it as a birthday present. He was very angry. Anyway, the watch stopped at ten-twenty.”
Shindler thought that over. There had been a police report of an interview with some boys who had seen Elaine and Richie when they left the show. The movies had let out at about eleven-fifteen. If Esther and her friends had driven downtown after stealing the wine, they would be in the downtown area near eleven-thirty. It was possible.
“Thank you for the help, Miss Fay. Would you do me a favor and write down what you just told me and mail it to my office?”
“Certainly. Do you think it’s important?”
“I don’t know, but it could be.”
George DeBlasio had been a juvenile counselor for fifteen years. He first met Roy Shindler when Shindler was a patrolman. He had seen Shindler often during his first few years on the force and less often after he had become a detective, but the two got together for coffee whenever Shindler was in the neighborhood of the juvenile center, which housed juvenile detention, the juvenile court and the counselors’ offices.
DeBlasio was in his early fifties. His hair was snow white and thinning and he had a narrow, angular face. His office was one of several identical cubicles that lined a long hallway set aside for the counselors. He sat on one side of a government-issue metal desk and Shindler sat on the other. The door was locked and DeBlasio addressed Shindler in conspiratorial undertones as he slid two folders across the desk to him.
“You know, I shouldn’t be doing this. These files are supposed to be sealed.”
“I appreciate it, George, and I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important.”
George grunted and leaned back as Shindler read through the files.
“You know, I was their counselor for a while.”
“The Coolidges?” Shindler asked, looking up.
“For a year before they turned eighteen. Billy was a rough customer. I took an active dislike to him.”
“Why was that?”
“There was just something about him. The other one, Bobby, was more human. I guess that was it. Billy was a cold fish. No moral setup. He operated on pleasure-pain principles. If it hurt him, it was bad. If it felt good, it was good.
“I think the first time I worked with him was when he was brought in for a rampage at school. He beat up three kids in the course of one morning. Really brutal stuff. He had been drinking and the judge just gave him a talking to and let him go, because no one was seriously hurt, but that was no thanks to Billy.
“Anyway, I was assigned as counselor, but I couldn’t reach him. He showed no remorse. The only emotional reaction was his anger at the boys for telling on him.”
“What about the other boy, Bobby?”
“He’s a little different. I think he would turn out okay if he had half a chance. Of course, he doesn’t. Father died when they were young. Mother’s an alcoholic. Bobby is bright. So is Billy, for that matter. But they don’t apply themselves in school.”