Innocent in Death Read Free Page B

was tall, gilded like his daughter. But his eyes were a cold steel-gray. She’d met them before. In court.
    High-powered, high-dollar, high-profile defense attorney, she thought.
    Crap.

2
    “I’M ALLOWING THIS INTERVIEW,” HE BEGAN,“ in this place, at this time, because I feel it’s in the best interest of my daughter’s emotional well-being. However, if I don’t like the tone or the texture of this interview, I will stop it and take my daughter away. Is that clear?”
    “Sure. I was going to dig out the thumbscrews, but I don’t remember where I left them. Have a seat. Rayleen, I just need you to tell me what happened.”
    Rayleen looked at her father first, got his nod. Then she sat, as he did, with admirable posture. “I found Mr. Foster. Melodie was with me. It was awful.”
    “Explain to me how you found him. How you got to his classroom at that time of day.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” She took a deep breath as if to prepare herself for an oral report. “I was in my study group, but I wanted, especially, to talk to Mr. Foster about the project I’m working on with Melodie. It’s worth a full quarter of our second-term grade in U.S. history, and I wanted to do the best I could. I’m ranked first in my grade, and this is one of the most important projects of this term.”
    “Okay, so you left study group for Mr. Foster’s classroom.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Ms. Hallywell gave us a pass so we could go to Mr. Foster’s class early. He always has his lunch there on Mondays, and he lets students come in during the last fifteen minutes to talk to him, if they need to.”
    “What time did you leave study group?”
    “I have the pass. It’s time-stamped.” Again she looked at her father for permission, then drew the pass out. “Melodie and I each have one. That’s the school rule. It says twelve forty-seven P.M. ”
    Eve made a mental note to walk the route to gauge the time it would take. “You went directly from study group to the classroom.”
    “Oh, yes, ma’am. Loitering in the hallways between classes is an infraction, and three infractions within a thirty-day period results in a loss of privileges.” Her voice went prissy, reminding Eve that Rayleen was just the sort of kid she’d done her best to avoid in the cell block of school. “I don’t have any infractions on my record.”
    “Good for you. How long did it take you to get from study group to Mr. Foster’s classroom?”
    “Oh, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes. Maybe three? I’m not absolutely certain, but we went right there. We were just talking, about the project, and some ideas for it. The door was closed, so we knocked first, then we opened it. And it smelled bad. It smelled sick, I guess. Melodie said something about the smell, and…” She pressed her lips together. “I laughed. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, Daddy, I didn’t know.”
    “It’s all right, Ray. Of course you didn’t know.”
    “Then we saw him. He was lying there, and he was…” She hiccupped twice, then simply crawled out of her chair and into her father’s lap.
    “It’s all right, baby. It’s all right, Ray.” His eyes lasered into Eve’s as he stroked Rayleen’s hair. “Lieutenant.”
    “You know I need to finish this. You know it’s vital to get the details as quickly as possible.”
    “I don’t know what else.” Her voice was muffled as she pressed her face to her father’s chest. “We ran, we ran away. And Mr. Dawson was there, and he said to stay where we were. I sat down, I think. I sat on the floor, and we were crying, and Mr. Dawson came back. His hands were shaking when he took out his talkie and called Principal Mosebly.”
    “Did you see anybody else go in or out of the classroom?”
    “Principal Mosebly went to the door, then she called for the nurse and they took us—Melodie and me—to the infirmary.”
    “On the way to the classroom, did you see anyone?”
    “I think, yes, I think Mr. Bixley came out