“Legions,” Kane said morosely. “Or six. Seems like the same thing.”
From across the table Val, the interpreter, chuckled, but said nothing. Olivia liked her. Val had done her job reliably and without a single complaint.
Principal Oaks appeared with the next boy. “This is Kenny Lathem,” he signed, Val voicing. Oaks had been present for every interview and Olivia was sure that had hampered their results. But the kids were minors, so there wasn’t much choice.
Kenny was sixteen, his hair sandy blond. He was a dorm student and once again Oaks had protested that a dorm student would have been missed on Sunday night. But Kenny had gotten a scholarship for Camp Longfellow, so he was of special interest.
“Hi, Kenny,” Olivia said. “Do you know why we’re here?”
Kenny nodded, then signed while Val voiced, “I heard it from the other kids. You’re looking for whoever saw the girl who died.”
The kid’s eyes were as defiant as the twenty pairs that had come before. Except… except there was a flicker of something else there. Fear. This kid knew something.
Olivia slid Tracey’s photo across the table. “Do you know her?” she asked.
He watched Val interpret, glanced at the picture, then shook his head.
“Kenny?” Olivia still saw the flickers of fear as he fixed his eyes on Val. “She died, Kenny,” Olivia said. “She was murdered.” Kenny looked away from the interpreter.
Oaks stepped forward but Olivia warned him back with a glance. She tapped the table again, waiting until Kenny looked at Val. “Kenny. Somebody set the building on fire with her in it. She was sixteen, Kenny, same age as you. Somebody was with her, but they left her there. Left her there to die. She died from the smoke. Suffocated.”
“I don’t know her,” he signed, but his hands trembled, ever so slightly. “I swear.”
I don’t believe you. Olivia flipped through the yearbook to his picture. “You lettered in track. I lettered in gymnastics. Now I biathalon. You know what that is?”
He shook his head, seemingly bored.
“It’s cross-country skiing combined with marksmanship. I tried rowing, but I got seasick.” She tapped the yearbook page with her finger. “This says you’re a rower.”
He shrugged, uncomfortably. “I do okay,” he signed. “So?”
“So, do you ever boat on the lake? Canoes, rowboats, that kind of thing?”
“Sometimes.” It was tentatively signed.
“Like at Camp Longfellow?”
Kenny nodded warily.
“You were there, last summer. So was she.” Olivia pushed Tracey’s photo back to him. “Maybe you met her. Maybe you liked her. Maybe she liked you.”
He pushed the picture back. “I don’t know her.” Each sign was deliberately made, spaced apart. Val’s voice became clipped. Impatient. She was good.
“I wonder what the camp counselors will tell us, Kenny?” Olivia tilted her head, studying him carefully. “Did you have a summer romance?”
“No.” This word Kenny voiced harshly and signed at once.
Val’s voice trailed behind. “No.”
That Olivia actually believed. “But you wanted to. Did she not like you?” Kenny looked away. Patiently, Olivia tapped the table again until he looked back at Val. “I asked you a question. Did she not like you?”
“I said I don’t know her.” His signs were dramatic. “What do you want from me?”
“I want the truth. This girl deserves the truth. She deserves justice. The person who killed her needs to pay. So from you, I want the truth. We know she met someone Sunday night at the condo. They had sex. Was it you?”
He looked straight into her eyes then, his tormented. “No. Not me.” He voiced it thickly, signed it forcefully, then lurched to his feet and ran from the room.
Oaks started to follow him, but Olivia held up her hand. “Let him go.”
“Could he be protecting someone?” Kane asked and Oaks let out a long sigh.
“Maybe. Kenny’s one of those boys who gets in trouble, but basically has a good heart.” He signed it, then looked hopefully at Olivia. “Do you know what I mean?”
She nodded with a smile. “I was one of those girls, I’m afraid. What about his friends? Does Kenny have any friends he might be protecting? Anyone with dark hair?”
“He’s friends with his roommate, Austin Dent,” Oaks signed, “but Austin has red hair, not dark brown. Kenny’s pretty social, but you’ve already met his good friends.”
“Five more on the list,” Kane said. “I need to take a break, stretch my legs.”
“Me too,” Olivia said. “I just let a call go to voice mail. I didn’t want to stop Kenny. Let’s break for lunch. Mr. Oaks, we’ll be back in forty minutes to talk to Kenny again.”
“Of course,” he signed, standing to open his office door.
In the hall, Val flexed her hands and Olivia looked at her in concern. “You okay?”
Val smiled. “When I work in the school systems, I sign all day long with only a lunch break. This is easy. I’ll meet you back here in forty minutes?”
“You didn’t drive here. How will you get to lunch?”
“There’s a sub place about three blocks down. I eat there whenever I come here.”
When Val was gone, Olivia closed her eyes. That little nap on David’s lap had helped, but she needed a night’s sleep. Maybe tonight. Then she thought of her fedora and handcuffs. Maybe she’d get that night’s sleep tomorrow night.
She checked her messages. Noah Webster said he hadn’t yet heard from Camp Longfellow’s staff, and Faye said Tracey Mullen’s mother had called and said her connecting flight was delayed in Atlanta. The last message was from David. She listened to it, then, heart beating harder, called him back, relieved when he answered normally.
“What happened?” she demanded.
“I was asleep and heard a sound. It was a man digging through my friend’s desk.”
“A reporter?” Olivia asked with distaste.
“Oh, better. This man followed Preston Moss. Says his name is Lincoln Jefferson. I subdued and restrained him, then called 911. Olivia, I think this guy was with Moss when he set that last fire.”
“Oh my God.” She heard some banging and voices and shrieking. “Who is that?”
“Local cops. Lincoln’s not real happy right now. What do you want done with him?”
“Hold him. We’re coming up right now.” She relayed instructions to the officer, then hung up just as Kane came around the corner. “You are not going to believe this.”
“Nothing good ever follows that statement.”
“Today, you are wrong.” She told him and his brows shot up.
“I guess we should tell Principal Oaks we won’t be back in forty minutes. Of course, we could just call Barlow and let him deal with the intruder.”
“Yeah, right,” Olivia scoffed and he grinned.
“I thought you’d made up with Barlow.”
“We are a long way from being made up. But he’s trying. Still doesn’t mean I’m going to bring him in until I know what this is about. Especially since he’s got that Crawford tagging along with him today. Guy gave me the creeps.”
“Same here,” Kane admitted. “I’ll tell Oaks we’ll be back in a few hours.”
“I’ll call Val and let her know.”
Tuesday, September 21, 1:50 p.m.
After careful consideration-and a drive-by inspection -he’d decided what to do with accountant Dorian Blunt. It was time to rally the troops. He sent a text to Eric.
new assignment.
He hit SEND, then sent the address, followed by the intel he’d picked up on his drive-by.
no dog. no alarm. no cameras. consider it a gift.
He lifted his eyes to the building he sat watching. No one had emerged in the hour he’d sat here, but they would. He could be patient. It was a beautiful day, after all. But the minutes ticked by and he began to frown. There was no response from Eric.
Could the kid have changed his travel plans? Escaped? That would be disturbing. And annoying. He’d actually have to release the video and he was far from ready to do that. He’d given Albert all the information necessary to stop Eric’s escape. He was disappointed in the big guy. He’d thought that Albert would have the situation well in hand by now and that Eric would be toeing the line.