I've Got My Eyes on You(46)
“In a little while Detective Wilson will be finished. I’m sorry, but I have to insist that you stay here.”
? ? ?
Mike knocked on Jamie’s half-closed door. As he pushed it open, he said, “Hi, Jamie, I’m Mike Wilson. Do you remember me?”
Jamie was sprawled across his bed. The movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was playing in the background. “You work in Hackensack,” Jamie said proudly.
“That’s right, Jamie. I’m a detective. My office is in Hackensack. Would it be okay if the TV is off when we’re talking?”
“Sure. It’s a tape. I can watch it whenever I want,” Jamie said as he got up and hit the power button on the TV. He went back to his bed and sat on it.
“I like watching movies,” Mike said. “Do you?”
“Yes, Mom buys tapes and DVDs for my birthday.”
“Your mom is very nice.”
“She loves me, and I love her.”
“Jamie, do you remember the last time I came and talked to you in your room?”
Jamie nodded.
“You told me Kerry had gone to Heaven.”
“She’s there with my dad.”
“And I told you that the police and Kerry’s parents are trying to find out what happened to Kerry before she went to Heaven.”
“I remember.”
“That’s great, Jamie. I’ll bet you’re really good at remembering things.”
Jamie smiled.
“I want you to remember the night Kerry had her party, the night she went to Heaven. I asked if you had seen Kerry in her backyard cleaning up after the party. You know what you told me?”
Mike took out his small notebook and read. You said, “I did not go swimming with Kerry.”
“I’m not allowed to talk about this,” Jamie said, looking down and avoiding eye contact with Mike.
“Why not, Jamie?”
When he didn’t answer, Mike asked, “Who told you you can’t talk about this?”
“My mom said it’s a secret. You’re not supposed to tell secrets.”
Mike paused for a moment. “Jamie, your mom said it was okay for me to come up to your room and talk to you. Do you know what else she said?”
“No,” he answered as he shook his head.
“She said it’s okay for you to tell me the secret. She even told me part of the secret. She said the night of Kerry’s party you didn’t stay in your room. You went outside. She said you can tell me the rest of the secret.”
“Okay,” Jamie said softly. “Kerry lets me go swimming with her. She went swimming after her party. I wanted to go swimming, so I went over her house.”
“Was Kerry in her pool when you went over?”
“Yes.”
“Did you talk to Kerry when you went over?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, ‘Kerry, it’s Jamie. Let’s go swimming.’?”
“Jamie, try to remember. This is important. Did Kerry answer you?”
“She said, ‘I can’t.’?”
“Kerry told you, ‘I can’t go swimming’?”
“She was sleeping in the water.”
“Jamie, did you go in the water with Kerry?”
Jamie started to tear up. “I got my new sneakers and my pants wet.”
“Did you touch Kerry when she was in the pool?”
Jamie held his hand in the air as if shaking someone. “I said ‘Kerry, wake up, wake up.’?”
“What did Kerry say?”
“She was still sleeping in the water.”
“Jamie, you’re doing a really good job at remembering. I have a few more questions. So Kerry kept sleeping in the pool. What did you do then?”
“My sneakers and pants were all wet. I came home and went up to my room.”
“Where was your mom when you came home?”
“She was sleeping in her chair.”
“Where is her chair?”
“In the living room.”
“Did you talk to your mom?”
“No. She was sleeping.”
“Okay, what did you do when you went to your room?”
“I took off my sneakers and socks and pants. I hid them on the floor of my closet.”
“Why did you hide them?”
“Because they were all wet. My sneakers are new. I’m not supposed to get them wet.”
Mike stopped for a moment. The information provided by Tony Carter appears to be accurate.
“Jamie, do you know what a golf club is?”
“Mr. Dowling has one.”
“The night you went swimming with Kerry after the party, did you see a golf club?”
“I put it on the chair.”
“Jamie,” Mike said while glancing down at his notebook, “when I came to see you last time, you said you weren’t invited to the party. You were older. It was only for the high school kids. Do you remember that?”
“Yes,” he said, while looking down.
“When people don’t get invited to parties, sometimes they get angry. Were you mad at Kerry when she didn’t invite you?”