As the Wicked Watch(69)

“What school is closest to here?” I asked.

“There are two. Hilton and Sumner. That’s the school for the kids who got kicked out of regular school. What’s this about?”

“I’m not trying to get you into anything. I promise. We’re just talking. What’s your name?”

“Eddie,” he said.

“Nice to meet you, Eddie,” I said. “Did you know that a student who used to go to Hilton High was found dead last week?”

“You’re a detective.” It wasn’t a question.

“No, I’m a reporter for Channel 8. I’m following the story. I’m just curious and asking people for help. There is no way this should be an unsolved case, don’t you agree?”

“I guess. I just don’t know what you want from me, what you want me to say,” he said.

“I don’t want you to say anything, but I would love it if you could share anything you might know or may have heard.”

His expression turned remorseful. “It’s terrible. I couldn’t believe it when I found out. She used to come in here all the time after school with her friends.”

“Really? Masey James?”

“Not as much lately, because she changed schools. I was happy for her. But she still came in on the weekends sometimes,” he said.

I had to think about how to ask my next question. I didn’t want him to think I suspected him of anything. “So you knew about her changing schools. You talked to her sometimes.”

“I mean, not really, or at least not for long. I hadn’t seen her in a while and asked her, ‘Where you been?’ and she told me she goes to a different school,” he said. “I make conversations with customers, you know. But I didn’t even know her name.”

If you didn’t know her name, how’d you put two and two together that the dead girl was the same girl who came into the store?

“But you’re sure it was Masey?”

“Yes, it was definitely her.”

“Forgive me, but how can you be so sure?”

“Not to sound creepy or anything, but she was hard to miss. She was a real knockout. Taller than most girls her age. Very polite. I was sorry to hear what happened to her. Somebody brought in posters for us to hang up in the store with her picture. We did it, but after they found her, we took them down right away.”

Eddie could no longer hide the way he felt.

“You seem really upset about it,” I said.

“It’s just so sad, you know. I have a little sister around her age. I couldn’t imagine anything happening to her.”

“Did you ever see her in the store with a guy?” I asked.

“Mmm, let me think. I’m back here most of the time. I don’t see everything that goes on out on the floor. Like I said, her and her friends came in a lot. One of them came in yesterday. I’d seen them together a few times. I tell her, ‘I’m sorry about your friend.’”

“Do you know her friend’s name?”

“I don’t know her name,” he said, “but she starts saying all this stuff, like, she heard police think some kids did it.”

Everything Eddie had said up until this point made sense.

“What’d you say? Some kids did what?”

“Did it,” he said.

“Killed her?” I asked.

“Look, I don’t know. This girl said she heard people talking.”

Who is this girl?

“Hey, man, what’s taking so long?” said a voice behind me. Eddie looked over at the clerk still sitting on the stool talking on her cell phone.

“Kendall,” he said, startling her. “Open the register.”

“I’m on my break!” she shot back.

“Break is over now. Get over here!” he said.

“Eddie.” I moved closer to the partition. “Can we speak without this between us?”

He pointed toward the opposite end of the counter and I followed his instruction. I met him at the side door. He unlocked it and stepped out onto the main floor. The counter gave him height; he was much shorter up close.

“Okay, so I thought that was very strange, what she told me,” he said.

“This girl said the police are saying some kids did it? You sure?” I probed.

“I think that’s what I heard. I’m sure she said kids, though,” he said, sounding unsure as hell. “She said something about a lady telling the police she saw some boys over by where the girl was found.”

“Eddie, what did this girl look like who told you this? Can you describe her? Any features stand out? Tall? Short? Fat? Skinny? Long hair? Short hair?” I said in quick succession.

“She’s a cute girl. It’s hard to tell behind the counter how tall she is. All I see are the tops of people’s heads,” he said.

“What’s her hair look like?” I asked.

“It changes all the time,” he said. “It was braided yesterday, I think. Long braids.”

“What about her skin tone? Lighter or darker than me?” I asked.

“She’s lighter than you. Way lighter,” he said. “She’s lighter than me.” He pointed to himself and chuckled.

“What time was she here yesterday?”