Page 106 of Vanish From Sight
“It was a warning after you went and spoke with Katherine, correct?”
“Detectives. Detectives!” Hawthorne bellowed as he marched toward them down the aisle. Noah nudged Callie to stall him. Callie got up and headed towards Hawthorne, acting as a buffer. It bought him a few seconds longer.
“Charlie. Why did they hurt you?”
“Because Isabella came to me and told me to speak up onher behalf. To tell the truth. I told Katherine in confidence in the hope they wouldn’t know but…”
“They found out,” Noah said.
Charlie nodded.
“Do you know who killed Katherine and Laura?”
Before he got an answer, Hawthorne and two staff members were on them. “That’s enough. Delaney, go back to the dining hall. I will speak with you later.” Charlie got up looking all timid. He eyed Noah before shrugging on his backpack and sauntering away. Hawthorne was quick to speak, wagging a finger in the air. “You’ve stepped over the line. Now we have answered your questions. Been more than accommodating. But I will not have you blindside our students and interrogate them without an adult or lawyer present.”
Noah rose. As he turned to face him, he noticed some of the older teens from the dining hall at the far end of the aisle near the front of the library. They stared back, smirks forming.
“That’s fine. It was just a conversation. We’re done here,” Noah said, brushing past him and leaving with a much better picture. It wasn’t the slam-dunk he wanted but he sure as hell had what he needed to continue in the direction they were heading.
CHAPTER 30
Wednesday, November 23, 6:00 p.m.
The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut with a knife.
Acting Sheriff Rivera sat at her desk in the cramped, dimly lit office, drumming her fingers on the wooden surface. Across from her sat a smug-looking McKenzie who was practically oozing confidence. Noah stood by a large and grimy window that overlooked the brightly illuminated parking lot. A few squad cars came and went, a continual turning over of deputies and correctional officers starting their shift or returning with lawbreakers.
The walls were a dull beige color with a few framed certificates and awards hanging on them. Callie sat near McKenzie, looking at him expectantly.
“So,” said Rivera, breaking the silence. “What do we have so far, McKenzie?”
He leaned back in his chair, a small smile tugging at thecorner of his lips. “I think he’s our man, sheriff. The evidence we found at his home is hard to deny. We’re just waiting on the lab results to confirm.”
Rivera raised an eyebrow. “The husband?”
“Nicholas Evans, yes, ma’am,” McKenzie replied. “We weren’t able to rule him out. Both murders occurred after work hours. He has no concrete alibi for his whereabouts except that he was at home. He never reported Katherine missing and with his history with his wife and previous communication with Laura — based on her cell records in the days following Katherine’s death — I have to wonder if Laura confronted him over Katherine’s death and he snapped.”
“That communication is open to debate,” Noah said, turning away from the window, his expression serious.
Rivera frowned. “What do you mean, Noah?”
“We don’t know what their conversations were about. If Nicholas told us the truth, there were more stresses in Katherine’s life than him. Sheriff, I’m not saying what has been found needs to be ignored, I just don’t think we should be focused solely on him. I think there’s something bigger going on here.”
“Like?”
Noah hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Last year, there was an assault at the Academy. A student named Isabella Perez said she was sexually assaulted by several teens. Isabella saw the nurse at the time, Laura Summers, and told Katherine Evans, the residential counselor. From what we’ve been able to tell, nothing was filed with the police and the accused never had any official charges brought against them. Today, we met with Charlie Delaney — a boy who admits to being there on the night of the assault. He said he told Katherine that the assault occurred. It wasn’t long after that she was let go. Months later, she tried to get journalist Nate Sawyer involved and then went missing. Sawyer says he met with Rector Hawthorne thenight Katherine was pulled from the lake, Hawthorne denies it.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t think the school is being honest with us. I think the two murders were related to that assault.”
“An assault that could only be confirmed by our two dead women.”
“More than that. We have the boy’s confession.”
“That’s debatable,” McKenzie said.
Callie was quick to throw in her two cents. “We’ve been doing some digging, and we’ve found some discrepancies in their statements. We think that they covered up the incident and now with the involvement of a journalist, someone from the school is tying up loose ends.”
