He led us to a glass-enclosed office with an open ceiling where he pointed to the two chairs that faced his desk, and as we took our seats Wallace entered the office, pushing a chair in front of him.
Faraday shut the door behind Wallace before taking his seat, and I moved my gaze to his desk. It was cluttered with papers and files, but one corner was fairly neat. Several picture frames were arranged there with their backs to us. I assumed they were of his family, and I felt oddly curious about what his wife and kids looked like. Then I glanced at the wall behind Faraday and saw three rows of mug shots of dangerous-looking felons. All of them had the word CAPTURED in bright red stamped across the top of their mug shots. I couldn’t help noticing that a few were already dead.
Belatedly, I realized that Wallace and Faraday were both staring silently at me as if they were waiting for a full confession. I shifted in my seat and looked at Donny, who seemed impatient to get things going.
“Do you guys have questions for us, or should we come back on a day without all this excitement?” Donny said.
Both Faraday and Wallace didn’t seem to like his attitude. Wallace glared, and Faraday asked, “You in a hurry, counselor?”
“Yeah, Agent Faraday. I am,” Donny replied, pulling at his shirt cuffs and tugging at his tie. He was playing up the hotshot lawyer.
Faraday rolled his eyes a little but turned his attention back to me. “You claimed when we spoke to you a few days ago that you never met Tevon Tibbolt. Is that right, Madelyn?”
I looked at Donny, and he nodded.
“I never met him,” I said. I thought I should make it perfectly clear to Faraday, so I added, “I’ve never met Tevon or talked to him or texted him or e-mailed him. I’ve never met him in any way at all.”
Faraday looked confused. “See, this is what I don’t get: if you never met, or talked or texted or e-mailed Tevon, then how exactly could you know that he’d been murdered when we didn’t even know that until yesterday?”
I glanced at Donny, a little exasperated. If this was the way it was going to go, then we were going to be here a really long time. Donny put a hand on my arm and said, “My niece and my sister-in-law have both told you that Maddie has a special and unique talent. She has psychic abilities that allow her to accurately predict the deathdate of any individual. She didn’t know that Tevon would be murdered, only that he would die, and this information she attempted to share with his mother when she came to see my niece for a professional reading.”
Wallace squinted at Donny. I could tell he didn’t believe him any more than he had me. “Yeah,” he said, drawing out the word. “She’s psychic.”
I opened my mouth but looked at Donny first. He was glaring at Wallace, so I took a chance and said, “I told you before, I’m not psychic. I see dates. That’s all. I don’t have visions, and I can’t predict the future, and I don’t see dead people. All I see is a date, and that’s what I tell people. I tell them the day they’re going to die.”
Wallace shook his head a little. He clearly didn’t buy it. “Really?” he asked. “What day am I going to die?”
He said it so flippantly that I opened my mouth to tell him if only to shock him, but Donny put his hand on my arm and gave it a firm squeeze. “We’re not playing that game, Agent Wallace,” he said.
“Is this a game?” Faraday asked.
“Only to you guys,” Donny replied. I totally agreed. Clearly, these two were playing their own game of mean cop/meaner cop.
Faraday snorted and looked back at the file. “I’m curious about the alibi Madelyn has given us for the day Tevon went missing.”
“She was with her best friend, Arnold Schroder, studying for a chemistry test,” Donny said, his hand still on my arm. “Both she and her best friend have told you that already.”
“About Arnold,” Faraday said, turning a page in his file. “What’s the deal, Madelyn? Are you two an item?”
I didn’t know what he was getting at so I looked at Donny, and after a moment he nodded at me to answer. “No,” I said. “We’re just friends.”
“Best friends,” Faraday corrected. “Right?”
My palms were sweating. I was so afraid of giving them an answer that might make them suspect me more that I didn’t want to confirm or deny anything. But Donny was nodding at me again, so I said, “Yes. We’re best friends.”
“Would Arnold lie for you if you asked him to?” Faraday asked next.
I knew exactly what he was getting at, and Donny did, too. “He’s not lying about her alibi, Agent Faraday. Move on.”
“What’d you get on the chemistry test?” Faraday asked almost too casually.
I breathed a tiny bit easier. “A ninety-eight,” I said. They could check that if they wanted, and I had no doubt they would.
Donny sat back with a smug grin. He liked my answer, too. “Hardly the score of a young lady who’s gone and murdered a thirteen year-old the day before,” he said, his tone as mocking as Wallace’s had been.
“Did you text or call anyone during that time?” Wallace asked me. He was still fishing.
“No, sir. I was too busy studying for my chem test.”