It was all Allison could do not to roll her eyes. Stone’s words reminded her that the whole thing was an act from start to finish.
Fairview cleared his throat. “At that time, I thought Katie was bright and very capable.”
“At that time?” Allison echoed, drawn in despite herself. “Did your opinion change?”
He pursed his lips and then said, “Shortly after the program started, I met Katie in a hallway when she was running an errand. She started telling me how lonely she was. Of course, I was completely sympathetic. It’s a bit of a shock to the system being away from home and family and friends for the first time. Plus, being a Senate page is hard work. I understand, you know. I was one years ago. It’s like having two full-time jobs: student and Senate worker. It’s extremely stressful.”
“Did you talk more after that?” Allison asked.
“Katie had a lot of questions about politics. And she wanted to discuss the issues. She’s a political junkie, as I am. She wanted to know about the ins and outs, the horse trading, how bills get made, the work of the committees.” Fairview’s voice rose with unfeigned passion. “You know how few people care about those things, even though they affect everything in their lives?”
“Did you ever call her?” Allison watched him closely. This was her chance to see how far he would go with his lies.
He did not seem concerned. “A few times. I felt I should check to see how things were going. I was worried about her, frankly. I even talked to my wife about it.”
A few times? Is that what he calls a couple of hundred conversations?
Allison concealed her glee. “What were you worried about?”
“Katie’s emotions were very volatile. Everything was either the best thing that ever happened to her or the end of the world. She was seeing a boy, one of the House or Senate pages, but it wasn’t going well. It was a rocky relationship. Very volatile.”
Nicole looked up from her notes.
Allison said, “Who was it?”
“I don’t know his name. She never told me.”
“Did you ever see him? Can you describe him?”
Is he inventing the boy for his own purposes? There were some blog entries about a boy, but they didn’t sound as full of turmoil as Fairview was making out.
Fairview shrugged. “Between the House and the Senate, there are dozens of pages. She never pointed him out to me, and I never saw her with one particular boy.”
“Did she tell you where he was from?”
“No.” His voice finally showed strain. “I don’t know anything about him. All I know is that I told Katie if it was causing her that much turmoil, maybe she should just break it off. Maybe I was wrong.” His eyes welled with tears. “Maybe she needed all the friends she could get, and I took one away from her.”
“Katie was clearly lonely.” Allison put on an expression of sympathy. “Look, sometimes kids don’t realize the signals they send out. It wouldn’t be unheard of for her to come on to you. Is that what happened? And then the relationship got too complicated . . .”
“It wasn’t like that at all,” he said flatly.
“So are you saying you were flattered by how she confided in you?”
Instead of being insulted, Fairview shook his head. “Frankly, no. I didn’t need some clingy girl who thought her problems were the whole world.”
Could he be telling the truth?
“We’ve heard that you took Katie out to dinner.”
His expression remained innocent and open. “Her parents, who, as I’ve said, are also campaign contributors, made a point of asking me to watch out for her. As the program went on, I noticed that Katie started to lose weight. To be honest, she reminded me of my daughter, who’s also had some food issues. I occasionally took Katie out for meals so I could monitor her eating.”
“How were you able to take her out?” Allison asked. “Don’t pages need to be accompanied by another page at all times away from their job?”
Fairview shook his head. “Not when they are in the company of an adult.”
Nicole spoke for the first time. “Didn’t you worry about how that would appear?” She gave him a skeptical look.
Fairview straightened up. “I’m her mentor. Katie views me as a father figure. She’s troubled, and I tried to help her. And now I’m being crucified for that.” His jaw jutted forward like a bulldog’s. “Every time I open my front door, reporters yell questions in my face. They’re hounding my family.”
“Then why didn’t you get Katie some help?” Allison asked. “Shouldn’t you have reported her to her proctor?”
“I knew what would happen. They would just ship her home to get the problem off their hands. And I knew that would completely crush Katie. Being a Senate page was her dream. She saw it as the first step toward a career in politics. If I reported her, her dream would die.” He put his palm over his heart. “And I would have been the one to kill it.”