“I’m not surprised,” Mike said. “Colleges have media tracking services. They would have picked up reports that ‘Princeton-bound Alan Crowley’ has been accused of a crime.”
Mike took a long sip of his beer and then asked, “How are your parents doing?”
“I guess as well as can be expected. My mother is so sure that Alan is guilty. I think it’s given her some peace that he’s been arrested.”
“The families of victims often react that way. They consider it the first step toward justice. It might be a good idea for your mother to join a victim’s support group. I’ve seen people who were helped a lot. I’ll send you some information on the groups.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“Aline, let me get to the main reason I asked you to meet me tonight. As I’ve told you, a weakness in our case against Alan is that we haven’t found the tire changer who had the incident with Kerry. The information you sent me that he was a tow truck driver is very helpful. In your text you said one of the girls who appears to know something may be holding back. It’s so important that we find this guy and confirm where he was the night of the party. Can you find a reason to spend more time with that girl and maybe get her to say more?”
Aline sighed. “I may be en route to a very short career as a guidance counselor if they find out what I’ve been doing.”
“Aline, I don’t have to know the girl’s name. I just need the information. And I promise you, nobody will know the information came from you.”
In her mind Aline relived Alexis Jaccarino’s distinct hesitation when she asked her about the guy who changed Kerry’s tire.
“I’ll figure out a reason to have that girl come to my office and get her talking.”
It was on the tip of Mike’s tongue to ask Aline to stay and have dinner with him again. But if a defense attorney thought that a detective and a witness on a case were dating, he would rip both of them to shreds on cross-examination.
Ten minutes later Mike had finished his beer and Aline her wine. He signaled for the check. “Back to the office for me. I’m on the witness stand again tomorrow morning. I have to go over my reports.”
“And I can catch the end of dinner with my parents. I try to be around them as much as possible, and I have plans for tomorrow night.”
They walked to their cars. Mike was disappointed that he couldn’t ask Aline to dinner.
She was disappointed that he didn’t.
51
Aline’s call to Valerie’s mother only heightened the feelings of concern she and Wayne had about Valerie. Marina was relieved when Wayne quickly agreed to work from home so that he could go with her to the high school. Hoping to avoid being seen by Valerie, they arrived at Aline’s office promptly at 11:00.
The mother, whose resemblance to Valerie was striking, looked to be in her late thirties. The stepfather had a head full of steel-gray hair and appeared to be in his mid-to late fifties. Aline’s initial impression was that he reminded her of the actor Richard Gere.
After introductions were completed, Marina Long asked, “Why are you worried about Valerie?”
Her direct question required a direct answer. “I saw in her records that she did well at her previous high school in Chicago. But since coming here, her marks have gone down considerably. And she seems depressed,” Aline told them.
Marina nodded. “We know. And we’ve been so worried about her.” Marina was obviously on the verge of tears.
Aline watched as Wayne put his hand over his wife’s hand. He said, “I know I’m the major cause of the problem. From the first time she met me, she didn’t like me. She thought I was trying to replace her father. I wasn’t. Every effort I made to build a relationship with her was rejected. I have two sons who live in California. I’m a widower. My first wife and I always hoped we would have a daughter as well.”
Marina added, “Valerie tries to give people the impression that he ignores his sons. The fact is Wayne often travels to San Francisco. He always sees them when he’s there. It was harder for them to come to Chicago because they both have young families. And last year when Wayne and I went out to see them for Thanksgiving, Valerie insisted on staying home to be with her grandmother.”
“Did Valerie tell you why we moved from Chicago?” Wayne asked.
“Yes. She said you were offered a better job with a bigger salary and you took it. That resulted in her being apart from her Chicago friends.”
“That’s not what happened,” Wayne said, the frustration clear in his voice. “I am a branch manager for Merrill Lynch. The branch office I ran was shut in a consolidation. I was offered a better position in Manhattan and I had to give them an answer right away.” Looking at his wife, he said, “We agreed I should accept it.”
Aline said, “One of the things that puzzles me is that when Valerie came to Saddle River last January, at least marks wise she got off to a good start. But something changed in the spring. Do you have any idea what that might have been?”
Marina said, “Last May her paternal grandmother had a stroke and passed away. Valerie had stayed very close to her after her father died.”
“For a young person, she has experienced a great deal of loss,” Aline said. “Have you considered having her see a psychiatrist?”
“Of course, we have,” Marina said. “Twice I tried to introduce the idea. Both times she got furious and upset. We decided it would do more harm than good to keep bringing that up.”
“As you probably know,” Aline said, “my sister Kerry died two weeks ago.”
Wayne interrupted. “We know, and we’re terribly sorry. We read about it in the papers.”
“Valerie told me that she considered Kerry to be her closest friend at this school. Did she ever tell you that?”
“No,” Marina said. “I know how shocked she was when Kerry died, but I thought she knew Kerry more as a teammate than a friend.”
“Apparently they were close. That makes yet another loss in your daughter’s life.”
“Then where do we go from here?” Wayne asked.
“I’m going to keep in close touch with Valerie and her teachers. I’ll monitor her progress and will keep both of you informed. Of course, if you notice any changes, let me know.”
As the Longs left the office, Aline was more concerned than ever about Valerie.
52
Father Frank knew that he must try to persuade Marge to share with the police what Jamie had told her. He understood Marge’s horror that the police might focus on Jamie as the killer. But it was not fair to have Alan on the verge of suicide when there was a witness who could exonerate him.
Father Frank had replayed the two conversations with Marge a dozen times in his mind. She had confided in him, which is very different from being in the state of sacrament. If she had asked him to hear her confession, his obligation to remain silent would have been absolute. But since she had merely confided in him, the sacrament of penance did not apply. If Marge would not do so, it was his obligation to share what he knew with the police.
? ? ?
After her conversation with Father Frank, Marge’s conscience continued to weigh heavily on her. She had asked Jamie twice over the past two days to repeat what he saw happen in Kerry’s yard before he went swimming with her. Both times he told the same story. “Alan kissed Kerry goodbye. Then he went home. Then the Big Guy hit Kerry and pushed her into the pool.” He added, “Daddy called me ‘the Big Guy.’ He’s in Heaven with Kerry.”
The idea that Alan was going through a living hell for something he didn’t do gnawed at Marge. That was why when she called Father Frank and he said he could come over, it was a relief. She had decided to discuss with him how to go about contacting the police.
The doorbell rang at three-thirty. Jamie had gone straight from work to watch the school teams practice. Marge was relieved that he would not be home when she spoke to Father Frank.