Beneath Devil's Bridge(50)

I turn in the passenger seat to face him. “One of the cops who was on the 1997 case, he was Clayton’s age at the time of the investigation. He also had a sexual interest in young female students. And he followed at least one of them at night, watched her changing in her bedroom.” I hold Gio’s gaze. “We have other possibilities, other suspects we can raise. A cop involved in the investigation would also have known details of how Leena died.”

“What—you mean he could have told Clay, given him the details?”

“Maybe something happened during the confession.”





RACHEL


THEN


Tuesday, November 25, 1997.

“Where is your father, Maddy?” I ask, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on a hook. I’m beat, and I need to talk to Jake about what Maddy said she saw on the night of the bonfire. He needs to know. He’ll need to be with her when she is questioned further.

Maddy is at the dining room table, busy with her homework. The television is on in the living room.

“Out.” She doesn’t make eye contact.

“Out where?”

“Don’t know.”

“Maddy?”

“What?” She still refuses to meet my gaze.

“Look at me, Maddy.”

Her mouth flattens. Slowly she raises her eyes. They’re red and puffy. She’s been crying. My heart spasms as my latent anger slams into fear, and confusion, and love. I’m walking a tricky tightrope working this case with my daughter being a key witness. I’m not sure how long I can actually stay on the case if things develop further with Maddy. But a deep, driving part of me also needs to see this through now. The pressure is on, especially if I am to take the role of chief when Ray finally retires. I want to bring this bastard to justice. For the kids. For my own child. For other parents. And for the Rai family.

I remind myself that this is a small town. Everyone is connected to some degree.

I sit at the table. My child’s shoulders are tight. I try to breathe in calmly, breathe out. Softly I say, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier about Mr. Pelley being at the bonfire?”

“Because exactly this would happen.” She slams her pen down on the table. “You, the cop, would start some stupid manhunt! Because the bonfire was not legal, and kids were drinking, and he knew. And it would get him in trouble.”

My heart thuds as incredulity swirls.

“Maddy, you told a homicide detective from the RCMP that you saw your teacher having sex with one of his students—one of your classmates—shortly before she was brutally murdered.”

She glowers at me. Her eyes gleam with moisture. Her mouth quivers.

“Are you certain you saw what you claim you saw?”

“I’m not lying,” she snaps. “I saw what I saw. And Beth and the other kids saw Mr. Pelley going to his car with Leena, and he had his arm around her.”

“So they all lied to us? They all knew that the male with Leena on the log was Mr. Pelley?”

Maddy bites her lip. Hard. Her eyes look wild.

“Did Mr. Pelley ask you all to keep silent about his presence at the bonfire?”

“Is this police business you’re doing right now? Are you officially questioning me again? Shouldn’t your partner be present, because don’t you have a conflict of interest? Shouldn’t this be done at the station when I go in tomorrow?”

“I just cannot understand why you’d even want to keep something like this quiet. Do you realize that what Mr. Pelley did is criminal? It’s rape at the very least, even if he had nothing to do with what transpired with Leena under the bridge.”

Her face drains of all color. Her eyes are shiny and her breathing is shallow. She’s deeply stressed.

I take another slow, measured breath. “You’re my daughter, Maddy. I’m a mother. Like Pratima is a mother. I’m just worried other girls could be in danger, or perhaps they have already been in some kind of danger with that man.” I lean forward, arms on the table. “Is there anything else you are keeping secret from me?”

She doesn’t respond. The distant wail of a siren reaches us. Probably another accident on the highway in this first big snowfall of the year.

I moisten my lips. “Liam took photographs at the bonfire—did you know that?”

No reaction. My neck tenses as I think of the image I took from her drawer.

“Did he shoot any pics of you and your friends?”

Her eyes flicker. And I know. I just know that the photo I found in her bedside drawer was shot by Liam.

“Who cares if he took photos? He always shoots everything. He’s always following girls around with his camera, like some freak stalker. He is a sicko pervert.” Abruptly she gathers up her books and papers and comes to her feet. “I’m going upstairs to finish my homework.”

“Maddy?” I call after her.

She stops at the bottom of the stairs but does not turn around.

“Are you sure that you don’t know what happened to your locket with the Celtic knots?”

“I told you. I haven’t worn it for a long time, and I haven’t seen it.”

“You saw the photos of the items found with Leena’s body. The—”

“If the locket that was found with her was mine, then Leena stole it ages ago. Just like she stole Beth’s address book. Just like she stole things from everyone. Like I told Detective O’Leary, she was in our house, and she could have taken it then.”