Henry gave his head a defiant shake. “That is such bullshit.”
“Before he left,” Susan said in a hushed tone, “he told me that I would always remember my first corpse in the park. That’s what he said. My first cigarette. First kiss. And my first corpse in the park. What?” Susan said. “You think he meant metaphorically? He wanted me to look into the park murders. And they all seem to be connected to Castle.”
Henry stood with his hand on the door, working his jaw, staring at Susan.
She was pretty sure he didn’t like her. But she needed his help and she had a weird feeling that Archie would want her to ask him for it.
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” he asked.
“Because I don’t know if I’m right,” Susan said. “But there’s nothing else, so what the fuck, right?”
Henry worked his jaw a little more. “I do get a kick out of strong-arming teenagers,” he said finally.
Susan grinned, relieved. “It’s fun, isn’t?”
Cleveland High was quiet, only a few cars in the parking lot. The marquee out front still said CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES.
Henry drove, parking in a visitor spot in the lot across the street from the big brick school, and they got out of the car.
“So you’re going to tell them it’s an emergency, right?” Susan said. She imagined bursting into the administration office, Henry throwing down his badge. “That we need to talk to him immediately. That it involves a case.”
She looked up. About ten yards ahead, a handsome blond kid with a backpack was just getting out of his orange BMW. His shaggy surfer hair was tied in a tiny ponytail and his cargo shorts hung low on his hips. She stopped cold.
“That him?” Henry asked.
Susan nodded.
Henry walked right over to JJ. “The lady needs to talk to you. It’s an emergency. It involves a case.”
So much for bursting into the admin office. “Thanks,” Susan said to Henry.
The kid glanced over at Susan, ducked his head, and cringed. “Oh, man,” he said. “You don’t take no for an answer, do you?”
Susan stepped forward. “Who told you not to talk to me?” she asked.
“Read the paper,” JJ said. “Castle’s dead.” He heaved his backpack over one shoulder. “Let it go.”
Henry’s face flushed. He took a breath and set his shoulders back. “Listen, you privileged little son of a bitch,” he said to JJ, blocking his way, “you don’t want to even begin to fuck with me today. Answer the lady’s question.”
“Dude, that’s harassment.”
“You want me to search your pockets, Einstein?” Henry asked. “Because I smell weed. And when I smell weed I get to trample on a citizen’s rights to determine its origin. You answer that question about have you ever been arrested for a felony yet on all those college applications? It would be a pain in the ass to have to go back and change them all.”
JJ chewed on his lip for a minute and then shrugged. “My mom’s ex-boyfriend,” he said to Susan. “He thinks he’s still a cop because he used to be chief of police.”
Henry turned his head from JJ to Susan and back again. “The mayor?” Henry said.
“Yeah,” JJ said with another shrug. He switched his backpack to the other shoulder. “Can I go now? I have to get through eight quarters’ worth of biology this summer or they won’t let me graduate.”
He started to walk away but Susan stopped him.
“Did you know Stuart Davis and Annabelle Nixon?” she asked.
“Who?” JJ said.
“Davis worked for Castle,” Susan said. “He disappeared almost two years ago. There were stories about it in the Herald.”
JJ lifted the other strap of the backpack so it was secured on both shoulders and started toward the school. “I haven’t seen Aidan Castle or his dad since Aidan got sent to Andover freshman year. And I don’t read the Herald,” he added. “We get the New York Times.”
“Davis and Nixon?” Henry said, when JJ was out of earshot.
“The bodies in the park,” Susan said. “The ME said they’re a man and a woman. They match the ages of Davis and Nixon. Look to be about the right age.”
Henry put his hands on his hips. “When were you planning on mentioning this?”
“I just found out,” Susan said.
Henry started back for the car. “They’ll have DNA in the missing person files. I’ll have it run. If for no other reason than to close the damper on your journalistic fire.”
“Why would the mayor tell JJ not to talk to me?” Susan asked, catching up.
“Maybe he was giving him good advice,” Henry said. “Keep the family out of the story. Protect the kid from self-incrimination. If he knew about a crime and didn’t report it, it might look bad.”
Susan got in the car. The vinyl seat was already hot. “I don’t like him,” she said.