Friends Like These(68)

“You’re being held here for your safety. And so that you can help us find your friends,” I say. “Which I assume you also want.”

But she is right. We can’t make them stay. And once Finch’s lawyer shows up, I’ll probably have to let him go too. I know they’re all lying but I can’t yet determine what it is they’re covering up.

“Of course we want that,” Maeve says.

“Did all of you know that Derrick beat up Finch? That’s why he left.”

From the look Jonathan and Maeve exchange, they didn’t know. “Are you sure?” Jonathan asks. “Why would Derrick do that?”

“Hard to say,” I lie. “But apparently he did.”

“I did know,” Stephanie says.

“You did?” Jonathan’s surprise seems genuine.

Stephanie nods. “I saw Finch right before he left. His lip was obviously swollen. He said Derrick had hit him. But I didn’t want details. Finch is a— Whatever happened, I’m sure he deserved it.”

“Meaning what exactly?” I ask. “Because it turns out Finch didn’t leave town. In fact, he’s in an interview room across the hall. And he can’t seem to account for a lot of the time around when Keith and Derrick disappeared.”

“Wait, you think Finch did it?” Maeve asks. She looks at Jonathan and then Stephanie, like she’s piecing something together. She puts a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God.”

“It’s a possibility,” I say. “The beating Derrick delivered was bad enough that Finch ended up in the hospital.”

“Really?” Now it’s Stephanie who seems surprised.

I nod. “Could be Finch got his revenge.”

“And he brought that gun up here.” Maeve’s eyes are wide. “For all we know, he could be worse than just difficult. He could actually be dangerous.”

“Wait, what gun?” I take a breath to avoid laying into all of them. But a fucking gun? Seriously?

“It’s gone now,” Jonathan says. “Derrick tossed it into the river.”

“Finch sure enjoyed freaking all of us out with it first,” Maeve adds.

“It’s not impossible that Finch is responsible for whatever happened,” Stephanie adds after some consideration. There’s a strange tightness to her tone. Like it’s hard for her to admit this. “Maeve’s right. He could be capable of a lot worse than we imagined.”

I agree that he seems capable, not to mention defensive and evasive, and Seldon would love a suspect like Finch— an outsider. I prefer a direction that points away from Gaffney and Jane too. Still, I’m not at all convinced that Finch is the guy.

“Seems like you all have worked pretty hard not to know him.”

“You’ve talked to Finch,” Jonathan says. “Can you blame us? He wants everything to be about him all the time. That’s why he doesn’t have any actual friends.”

“I’m sorry, but is there maybe another room you could move us to?” Maeve asks, gentle but insistent, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, though the room feels warm to me, not cold. “We’ve been up all night, and it’s just not— It’s really uncomfortable in here. Stephanie is right.”

“We’ll get you out of here as soon as we can. I just have a few more follow-up questions.”

Jonathan tugs his dumb hat down a little. I haven’t forgotten about that bruise, which I still don’t have a good explanation for. “Following up on what?”

“Well, starting with the driver’s license we found, belonging to Crystal Finnegan— you said you had no idea who she was, correct?”

“Mmm,” Jonathan says, pressing his mouth together and nodding as he gives one palm a quick rub against his thigh.

“I’m sorry, is that a yes or a no, Mr. Cheung?”

“Wait, I don’t understand. Not to be selfish here, but a friend of ours is still missing, maybe injured,” Stephanie says. “Shouldn’t we be focused on that?”

Her unruffled delivery is impressive, given what I already know.

“Crystal seems to be missing as well, and it could be related to what happened to your friends.” I stare back at her evenly. “Perhaps we’d be making more efficient progress if you all weren’t wasting my time by lying.”

“Lying?” Maeve asks, blinking quickly. “About what?”

“You all know exactly who Crystal Finnegan is. You knew who she was when I found her license. She drove home with Keith from the Falls in Derrick’s car, with all of you.”

All three of them stare at the floor for a long quiet moment.

Finally, Maeve looks up at me. “The Crystal situation is— ”

“Complicated, obviously,” Stephanie jumps in. “We weren’t happy Keith brought some random girl home. He was using. She was using. It was a mess.”

Jonathan leans toward Stephanie, insistent and nervous. “I really don’t think we should be— ”

“Be what? Telling the truth about Keith? We can’t keep trying to protect him, Jonathan,” Stephanie snaps back. Then turns to me, eyes forceful. “Keith brought Crystal home from the Falls because, I guess, she had drugs on her and he wanted to use. That doesn’t make him look very good, but it’s true.”