I've Got My Eyes on You(23)

“Jamie, how are you?” she asked.

“I’m sad.”

“Why are you sad, Jamie?”

“Because Kerry went swimming and then to Heaven.”

“I know, Jamie. I’m sad too.”

“My daddy went to Heaven, so Kerry is with him.”

Jamie’s eyes were filling with tears. Aline felt herself on the verge of breaking down. She didn’t want to do that in front of him. She said, “I’ll see you soon, Jamie,” and went back into the house.





30




Mike Wilson decided that his next move would be to go to Nellie’s and verify the time that Alan and his friends had been there and when they left. He phoned the restaurant and was told by the manager that the same waitstaff that had been on duty Saturday would be there this evening.

It turned out to be easy to find the waitress he wanted to speak to. Glady Moore had been telling everyone that she had served Alan Crowley the night that poor girl was murdered. Wilson got to the restaurant at seven, spoke to Glady briefly and was told she could take time to talk to him in about fifteen minutes.

The tempting smell of pizza reminded him that he was hungry. He ordered a Margherita pizza and a glass of beer.

As she had promised, Glady came over to his table and sat opposite him. “Kerry used to come in here with her friends,” she said. “She was such a beautiful girl. To think that she was murdered the very night that I was serving pizza to those boys.”

“Do you remember what time they got to the restaurant?”

“Three of them, not the boyfriend Alan Crowley, came in around ten o’clock. The Yankees were playing, so they took a table near the bar so they could watch the game.”

“When did Alan join them?” Mike asked.

“It was about ten-thirty. You should have seen the look on his face.”

“What do you mean by that?” Mike asked.

“He looked so angry. You’d think he wanted to kill somebody. He was so rude to me. He didn’t ask for anything. Just pointed to the pizza the other boys were eating, indicating that’s what he wanted. Just between you and me, I think he avoided talking because he had been drinking. When I brought his order, he was texting on his cell phone.”

“Okay,” Mike said. “He arrived at ten-thirty. Let’s say you took his order at ten-thirty-five. How long does it take to make the pizza?”

“About ten minutes.”

“So you brought him his order at ten-forty-five. What happened next?”

“When he finished it, he just walked out without paying.”

“If you can remember, what time was that?”

“Let’s see. He talked to the boys for a while. I noticed he was on his phone, texting some more.”

“What time do you think it was when he left?”

“I know it was a little after eleven, not later than eleven-fifteen.”

“Let’s focus on his three friends. Do you remember what time they left?”

“They stayed until the end of the game.”

Mike had checked. The game had ended at 11:46.

“Thank you, Glady. You’ve been very helpful. I may ask you at a later date to come down to my office and give an official statement.”

A delighted smile came over Glady’s face. “I’d love to. I can make it anytime you want.”

As Mike was getting up to leave, he asked, “Did you ever get paid for Alan’s pizza?”

“One of his friends took care of it.”

? ? ?

Mike went to the Prosecutor’s Office, where Assistant Prosecutor Artie Schulman was waiting for him. Artie was the Chief of the Homicide Unit. “Artie, can we talk in my office?” he asked. “It will be easier.”

On his wall Mike had a series of whiteboards. The first showed in alphabetical order the names of the kids who had been at Kerry’s party. Most of the names were written in black. The seven names written in red were under eighteen years old.

To the left of each name was the date Mike or a member of his team had questioned the student or a big “R.” R, Mike explained, meant they refused to be interviewed, or if they were minors, their parents had refused the interview. Eight names were preceded by an “R.” To the right of each name was a date in August or September. It was the date of the student’s departure for his or her respective college.

On the second whiteboard there were eight names. These were students who claimed they had witnessed the argument that took place between Alan and Kerry at the party. A “T” to the right of their names indicated the girls who had sent a text message to Kerry after the party.

The third whiteboard listed the names of Alan Crowley’s three supposed alibi witnesses.

Artie looked at the whiteboards.

“Two of the students who witnessed the arguments are headed for schools in the Midwest and another is going to California,” Mike said. “I’m assuming that for budget reasons, Matt Koenig will want me to complete these interviews in New Jersey versus flying across the country,” he added, referring to the County Prosecutor.

“You’ve got that right,” Artie agreed.

Mike updated him on the progress of his investigation. “We got the court order to go through Alan Crowley’s cell phone records. He is lying about how long he stayed at the restaurant. His phone pinged a tower right by the victim’s home on the other side of Saddle River at 11:25 P.M. It’s pretty clear he went back to the victim’s home after he left Nellie’s.”