“I miss Kerry so much.”
“I can’t believe that anyone would deliberately hurt her.”
“The party was so much fun, but then Kerry and Alan had the fight.”
“Did the fight spoil the party?”
“Oh, no. Kerry, as usual, just laughed it off. But I know they were texting back and forth after he left.”
“Does anyone think that she should have broken up with him?”
“Only Annie. But you know why? She had a big crush on Alan.”
When she broached the subject of who had brought the beer to the party, their answers were for the most part the same. “Some of the guys brought it. Kerry had some there.”
Only one girl, Alexis, when asked about the beer, hesitated for a long minute before she said, “I have no idea.”
Aline was sure she was holding back, but did not press her. She asked the girls if they had been with Kerry the day of the party. Four of them had been swimming in the pool with her from noon until three o’clock.
“Was anyone else there?” Aline asked.
Alexis said, “When Jamie Chapman came home from work, he yelled over to Kerry to ask if he could come swimming too.”
“What did Kerry say?”
“Kerry liked Jamie. She told him to come over. Then he heard us talking about who was coming to the party. He asked Kerry if he could come. She told him it was only for kids who were still at the high school.”
“How did he respond to that?”
He looked really disappointed. And when he left, Kerry said, “I feel bad turning him down, but we’re having drinks at the party. He might talk about that to other people.”
Aline decided to be candid with her next question. “The police believe that the guy who got Kerry the beer for her party had an argument with her. He’s the one who recently helped her change a flat tire. They want to find that guy and talk to him. Did Kerry ever mention him to you?”
The only one who knew about the flat tire was Sinead Gilmartin. “Kerry told me she had a flat on Route 17 and she wasn’t going to tell her father because he’d been after her to replace a bald tire.”
“Do you know how long before the party that happened?”
“I guess about a week, maybe a little more.”
“Sinead, do you recall anything Kerry told you that might help the police find this guy. What he looked like? The kind of car he was driving?”
“I think I remember. The guy who pulled over, Kerry said, was driving a tow truck. That’s why he was able to change it so fast. She tried to give him a ten-dollar tip, but he turned it down. She said he was really nice.”
It was information Mike would want to know immediately. As soon as Sinead left her office, Aline started typing an email to him, but then stopped. Don’t send this through the school computer system, she thought. She took out her phone and sent Mike a text.
? ? ?
When Mike read the text from Aline, he seized on the words “tow truck.” Although the information was still very general, it gave them more to work with than just some guy who was “about twenty-five” had stopped to help Kerry.
From his time on the Waldwick police force, he knew how most Traffic Safety units in Bergen County regulated their highways and roads. They had township Traffic Safety units that oversaw crossing guards and traffic lights. These units also maintained the list of tow truck operators who had a permit to work in their town. Waldwick, he recalled, had about a dozen companies with permits. He assumed Saddle River and the neighboring towns—Washington Township, Upper Saddle River, Woodcliff Lake, Ho-Ho-Kus—had a similar number.
There was no guarantee, however, that the tow truck he was interested in was on the permit list in a local town. Route 17 was a major highway serving northern New Jersey. Going five miles up or down the highway from Saddle River would bring in more towns and dozens more companies. But they had to start somewhere.
Mike assigned Sam Hines, a young investigator in his office, the task of tracking down each town’s roster of companies with tow truck permits and contacting the companies to ask about their drivers who were under thirty years old.
“Mike, this is going to take a really long time,” Sam said.
“I know. That’s why I suggest you begin immediately.”
45
The last student Pat Tarleton had suggested Aline work with was Valerie Long. Because she was a junior, the discussion of college choices could wait.
It was one of the economics teachers who brought matters to a head by stopping by Aline’s office and telling her that Valerie was totally indifferent in class and seemed to be almost in a trance.
“Maybe if you talk to her, you can find out what the problem is,” the teacher said.
The next day Aline scheduled a meeting with Valerie. When the girl came into her office, the sad expression on her face and in her eyes was clearly visible. Aline wondered if grief over Kerry’s death might be the cause of her malaise.
She decided to go directly to that subject. After Valerie took a chair opposite hers, Aline said, “Valerie, I know many of the girls are very upset by Kerry’s death, and I hear that you were very close to her.”
“I loved Kerry. She was my best friend in school.”
“Then I can understand why you feel so bad about her death.”
“No, you can’t.”
Aline paused, hoping Valerie would say more. But when she didn’t, Aline knew that there was no point in pressing her. Instead she said, “Valerie, I reviewed your records. Your marks at your former school were very good. They were strong after you arrived here last January. But then they fell off considerably. And this year your teachers are concerned that you seem distracted in class.”
I am distracted, Valerie thought, but I can’t tell why. Instead she said, “I miss my friends in Chicago. They’re all there. My stepfather changed jobs, and overnight they told me we were moving. I wanted to live with my grandmother in Chicago and stay in my former school, but they wouldn’t let me.”
“What about your biological father?” Aline asked.
Valerie smiled spontaneously. “He was wonderful. I was Daddy’s little girl. He found out he had brain cancer and was dead in two months.”
“How old were you when that happened?”
“He died on my eighth birthday.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m sure that was very difficult for you.”
“Whatever. My mother knows better than to have a celebration on my birthday. She remarried two years ago. Wayne,” she said derisively, “is twenty years older than my mother.”
There are multiple reasons Valerie is floundering, Aline thought. She misses her Chicago friends. She lost Kerry, her only friend here. She’s still grieving for her natural father, and she resents her stepfather.
Aline decided that the next thing to do was to arrange a meeting with both of Valerie’s parents and discuss with them Valerie’s obvious resentment about the move. And if that might be a factor in her lack of interest in her schoolwork.
“Valerie,” she said, “as you know, Kerry was my sister. I of all people can understand how sad you are to lose her. It’s hard to make friends in a new environment, especially when all the other students have known each other for a long time. I can only imagine how difficult it was for you to lose your best friend.”
“You have no idea how difficult it was,” Valerie said.
“Valerie, I know that Kerry would want you to make new friends and keep up with your schoolwork.”
“I’ll try,” Valerie said indifferently.
Then as she looked into Aline’s face and saw the sadness in her eyes, she wondered if someday she could tell Aline what was really going on.
46