The Third Victim Part 19

"That's my a.s.sumption at the moment, but let's not jump ahead." Quincy moved to the janitor's closet, arching one brow at the mess.

"I take it Officer Cunningham is one big boy," he murmured.

Rainie grimaced.

"He was doing his best at the time. Things were intense."

"Becky O'grady was hiding in the back of the closet?"

"Yes, all the way in the back. Curled up in a ball. She appeared to be suffering from shock, and I couldn't get her to answer many questions. I understand that Sandy took her to the emergency room, but the doctor said she just needed time."

"Do you think she saw what happened?"

"I don't know. Luke talked to her teacher this morning. She claimed Becky was in the cla.s.sroom right up to the time.

of the shooting. Mrs. Lund thinks she got separated from her cla.s.s during the mad dash to exit the building. It was a good thirty or forty minutes before Mrs. Lund even realized Becky was gone."

"So now we have two questions." Quincy ticked them off on his fingers.

"First, what happened to Danny O'grady between the end of lunch one-twenty p.m. and when you finally confronted him at .. ."

"Two-fortyfiveish."

"Over an hour unaccounted for." Quincy frowned.

Rainie smiled thinly.

"Not completely unaccounted for. Shep was with him. He claims he arrived at the school a little after one-forty-five. Students had already fled the premises. He went inside to offer help and encountered Danny, dazed and confused and picking up the guns."

"Picking up the guns? Oh, I like that. As if the boy simply stumbled upon them."

"You don't believe Shep either, do you?"

"He's not the most objective witness," Quincy observed.

"I'll stick with my a.n.a.lysis for now: we don't know what Danny did between one-twenty and two-forty-five. The next question we have is what happened to Becky O'grady from roughly one-thirty-five to your arrival at around one-fifty." He frowned again.

"I don't like the fact that the two students unaccounted for just happen to be brother and sister. I don't believe in coincidence."

"You don't think Becky's part of it, do you?" Rainie was startled.

"For heaven's sake, she's eight!"

"Has someone followed up with her yet?"

"Luke Hayes and Tom Dawson are going to try to interview her this afternoon. I'm not optimistic, though. Shep and Sandy are pretty hostile right now, and we don't have the right to question her away from her parents. I doubt anything will come of it."

"You could ask the DA to subpoena her as a witness for the grand jury."

Rainie shrugged, then surprised him by saying, "I looked into that this morning. According to Rodriguez, there's still no way of enforcing

testimony. Her parents could simply coach her to say she doesn't remember, and that would be that. My guess is that if we hope to get anywhere with her, we need to play nice. Who knows? Shep and Sandy have to be wondering what really happened yesterday. Maybe sooner or later they'll be willing to let Becky talk. Perhaps they'll even let Luke ask her questions this afternoon. I'm just not betting on it."

"How well do you know them?" Quincy asked.

"Well."

Quincy nodded and let her move away. He didn't think she was aware of it, but she had wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, as if she was trying to block out the scene. The stance made her appear younger, more vulnerable. She was looking at the outline of Melissa Avalon's body. By all accounts, Miss Avalon had also been beautiful, compa.s.sionate, and dedicated to her job.

Wordlessly, they moved down the hall to the shattered doors. Quincy stopped at the door across from the computer room.

"Danny came out of this cla.s.sroom?"

"Yes. He was backing Shep through the door at gunpoint."

"Holding both the .22 and the .38?"

"Yes."

"How did he seem?"

"Agitated. Wired." Rainie's brow furrowed as she contemplated his question further.

"He seemed hostile toward his father."

"Holding him at gunpoint would appear hostile." Rainie shook her head.

"There was more to it than that. Shep was telling him that everything would be all right, then he was trying to tell him not to speak to me.

But everything kept coming out as a command, and that made Danny withdraw even more. I think he has a big chip on his shoulder regarding his father. Shep rides him hard."

"How so?"

"Shep was a big football star in his high school days. Superjock.

Danny .. ." Rainie shrugged.

"He's small for his age, not good at sports. I think Shep believes he just needs to try harder, and I think Danny wishes his father would leave him alone."

"Have you ever heard Shep call his son stupid?"

Rainie shook her head.

"You're talking about the interview tape, aren't you? Danny's obsession with being smart. That's the oddest thing. See, Shep's not the kind of father to worry that much about grades. Bad day on the football field, yes. Bad day on the report card, hey, these things happen. I don't know where that was coming from."

"Does Danny have any close friends?"

"We're still working on that."

"We'll want a complete list of all students absent yesterday, plus notes on whether they knew Danny O'grady and can account for their time."