Best Laid Plans(156)

Tom looked at Jess. “What’s going on?”

“You killed Scott!”

Max winced. Going for the jugular wouldn’t get them answers.

“Is that what she told you? That’s not true!”

Max closed the door so they wouldn’t attract an audience.

“You went along with one of Art’s stupid jokes, didn’t you?” Jess said. “I thought you were better than that. I thought you were Scott’s friend. That’s what he thought.”

“I was! I liked Scott! He just wandered off. We didn’t know what to do.”

Max said, “Tom, I know what happened, and I can prove it. You, Art, and Carlos went to the campground with Scott. But you left him there. Maybe you were having a few beers, and thought it would be fun to play a joke. He goes to pee against a tree and you all leave. Or he falls asleep by the fire, and you sneak off. Whatever you did, he was alone, and you, Carlos, and Art drove thirty-seven miles to the interstate, checked into a hotel, and ordered Corona beer from room service.”

He stared at her, obviously stunned that she knew. “Then,” she said, “Art posted a photo of you, Carlos, and Scott at the campsite. Only, he didn’t realize that whenever you upload a photo through a mobile device, it logs certain information. In this case, the GPS and time where you uploaded it. Eight thirty-nine Saturday morning—through the hotel’s Wi-Fi, with the GPS putting you at the hotel that morning. The same morning you said you woke up at the campground and Scott was still not back.

“What I think—and jump in if I’m wrong—is that you went back there Saturday morning and Scott wasn’t there. You may or may not have looked for him; probably called for him a few times. But it was raining, and it was cold. You went back to the college late, then tried to find him again Sunday morning. But it was snowing and either you pretended to look, or you didn’t even go all the way to the campsite. You didn’t tell the campus police until Sunday that Scott was missing.”

Tom was so pale, Max knew she had pegged the truth. “Had you contacted search and rescue Saturday morning, when you first realized Scott wasn’t where you’d left him, Scott would have survived.”

Jess gasped.

Tom was trembling. “No. It wasn’t like that, not exactly.”

“Then how was it?”

“I can’t—”

“Fine. Don’t tell me. You’ll be talking to the police very soon. I’m meeting with Detective Horn to give her all the evidence I uncovered, in addition to a signed statement by the bartender that Carlos Ibarra’s credit card was used on a hotel charge the night you told police that you were camping in the mountains.”

She had no qualms about lying. She was pretty sure the police would be able to get a statement from the bartender. They could also get a warrant for the hotel guest records.

“I—I—I didn’t want to. It was just a joke, we didn’t know it was going to snow. We didn’t know he wouldn’t be there. If he’d stayed, we would have brought him back.”

“But he didn’t stay. He was scared, lonely, didn’t know you were going to return. Probably mad, too. He broke his leg, couldn’t move. We found his body yesterday. Two miles from the campsite, in the opposite direction from the entrance. He broke his leg because you and Art and Carlos left him up there alone with an inadequate sleeping bag.”

“I’m s-so sorry.” He bit his lip and stared at Jess. “Jess, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“Tell that to his mother,” Max said.

“It was an accident. I didn’t want Scott to get hurt. I didn’t want to stay out all night, just a couple hours, but—”

“Was it Art’s idea? Or Carlos?”

“Art. It was his idea.”

Jess interjected, “And you didn’t have the balls to stand up to him? To tell him he was being a jerk?”

“I—I couldn’t. Art, well, I—I—,” Tom stuttered, unable to finish his thought.

Jess started to cry. “Art’s mean and spiteful and he makes you feel like anything that goes wrong is your fault. I know. Oh God, this just sucks. Scott was a good guy.”

“I will get Scott justice,” Max said. To Tom, “If you confess, the police will go easy on you. Just remember—if you continue to lie, you’ll only get yourself into deeper trouble.”

She waited until Tom left, then picked up her iPad, which was sitting on Jess’s bed. She stopped recording. “Thank you, Jess.”

“I—I didn’t believe you.”

“Yes, you did, otherwise you wouldn’t have gone out on a limb to set this up.” Max put her iPad in her bag and said, “Stay away from Art and Carlos. Tom isn’t going to be able to keep this conversation secret, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m okay,” Jess said.

“Art lost his temper with me when I confronted him Tuesday. He pushed me. He’s a hothead. If he has a weapon, or uses his weight to bully you—”

“I’ll stay away from him,” Jess said. “I don’t have classes tomorrow. I think I’ll go visit my mom.”

“Good idea. You have my numbers. Call me if you have any questions. And if Art harasses you, call the police.”