What Have You Done(39)

Kiki ran up to him. “Mr. Liam!” he cried. “Mr. Liam, wait!”

“No pictures today, Kiki. Maybe some other time.”

“My grandfather is asking where your lady is?”

“She’s not here.”

Kiki stepped in front of Liam to stop his progress. “She promised to buy our pictures when you were here on Saturday, but we haven’t seen her. Is she still going to buy them?”

“What lady are you talking about?”

“The lady you come here with.”

“She was here the other day?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Saturday. With you.”

“Show me the pictures.”

Kiki walked Liam over to his grandfather and spoke to the old man in Cantonese. Grandpa picked up a metal box and opened it, rifling through what must have been hundreds of pictures from people who’d refused to pay.

“It’s one dollar for one picture,” Kiki explained.

“I know how much it is.” Liam took out a five and handed it over. “Are you sure it’s me you want?”

“Mr. Liam and his girl. No Mr. Sean.”

The old man pulled out two pictures. Liam took them and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. In one picture it was just him. The other showed Kerri, both taken without them realizing it. Kerri was looking past the camera at the water, and in his, he was almost completely turned away. The sky above each of them in the photo was clear and blue. He’d been with Kerri four days ago. The photographs confirmed it.

He’d been with her the day she was murdered.

“You’re sure these were taken four days ago? On Saturday?”

Kiki nodded. “Four days. Grandpa take picture, and your girl says she will buy them next day. Now we don’t see her. Cost is two dollars. One picture, one dollar. You have two pictures there. Two dollars.”

Liam nodded and turned to walk away.

“Wait! You want change?”

“Keep it.”

“Thank you! Come again!”

Kerri was smiling in her picture, just as she’d always been. She was with him the day she was murdered. He was with her. Now she was dead.

What was happening?





28

Don climbed the winding driveway toward the sprawling six-bedroom colonial that sat perched atop a rocky hill. The rain had subsided, and the sky was gray with thick clouds hovering low in the atmosphere. He was angry about Sean and Liam going behind his back to check on his whereabouts with his mother, but he was furious that Liam thought he could have anything to do with Kerri’s murder. All the years spent nurturing those boys, and now one of them—if not both of them—thought he could be capable of such a heinous act. If he had to clear his name, so be it. He had nothing to hide. He’d clear up any lingering suspicion they might have. Not a problem.

The file he’d pulled was from Heckle and Keenan’s witness list. There was no question he was stepping on toes coming up here without anyone knowing, but it was time to do some digging himself.

He parked at the foot of the pathway that led to the porch and climbed out of the car, taking a final look at the sheet of paper in his hand and matching the number on one of the pillars with the address from the computer printout. Satisfied, he folded the paper back in his pocket and walked along the path toward the front door. He ascended the stairway, then listened as his heels scraped and clicked on the porch’s hollow flooring below. He had no idea what to expect or how much information he could uncover after Heckle and Keenan had already been through here. But he had to do something.

He rang the bell and could hear noise inside. A middle-aged man opened the front door and stepped forward. “Detective Carpenter?”

“Yes, sir.”

The man shook Don’s hand. “Russ Wilcox. Tina’s father. Please, come in.”

Don followed Russ through the small foyer. “I appreciate you seeing me.”

“The other detectives have already been by, and the girls told them everything they knew.”

“I understand. I just have some follow-up questions that might help in the investigation. This won’t take long.”

“Anything we can do. The girls are inside.”

“How are they holding up?”

Slumping his shoulders, Russ stopped and turned around. “This was a shocker,” he said. “I don’t know that they’ll ever be completely okay. They were close friends. I don’t think it’s really hit them yet.”

“I see.”

“They seem to think it’s their fault Kerri’s dead. They think if they didn’t leave her at the club, she’d still be alive.”

“What do you think?”

“I think young people do dumb things, and if that means going off by yourself with someone you don’t know or leaving a friend at a club without calling the police, then those are the unfortunate lessons others learn from. Makes me sick to know Kerri had to learn her lesson the way she did.” Russ shook off any remaining thoughts. “Look, I didn’t get a lawyer. You think I’m going to need one?”

“That won’t be necessary. This is just routine.”

“They’re in the living room.”

Tina Wilcox and Megan Curry were sitting together on the sofa when Don and Russ entered. They looked up at him as he sat on the love seat, opposite the girls. The two young women held one another, their shoulders touching, their hands clasped together. They waited as Don read over his notes in silence. Megan held a picture of Kerri in her free hand, absently rubbing it with her thumb. It was clear they were both devastated. Crumpled and discarded tissues, black with mascara and moist with tears, created a small pile next to the girls on one of the end tables.