The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(63)

But then again, Joyce had lost her parents at a young age, and was being raised by her aunt and uncle. And he knew Baron’s life wasn’t perfect, and maybe Joyce’s wasn’t either. Perhaps they strove as hard as they did to compensate for negative elements in their personal lives.

Decker next turned to a few other photos that he had found in the yearbooks. Each showed Tanner and Baron together. In the way they looked, or held hands, or rubbed shoulders, Decker could easily see that the young couple were deeply in love.

So, what had happened?

Baron had gone off to college and his girlfriend had stayed here? And done nothing with her life? Ending up fired from a JC Penney. Living in a ratty apartment. Being murdered next to a man with whom she apparently had no connection.

Decker closed the books and replaced them on the shelves.

He sat back down and mulled over what he had discovered.

His coming here had been a hunch based on a few facts, the paramount one being that Tanner and Baron were the same age and probably had attended school here at the same time.

So Joyce Tanner and John Baron had a connection dating back to high school. Baron had lied about that, because he’d said he didn’t recall if he had known her or not. Then there was the Bible verse found on the wall behind the bodies of Tanner and Babbot. Was that somehow tied to Tanner’s religious background? And was the Thanatos symbol found on Costa’s forehead connected to Baron’s founding a Greek mythology club?

There were other possible connections.

Michael Swanson may have been living in John Baron’s potting shed.

Bradley Costa’s bank had been a sponsor of Baron’s Little League team, and the murdered man had a photo of the team, and Baron, in his home. And the bank held the mortgage on Baron’s property. Decker had made inquiries at the bank about whether Costa had worked on the mortgage, but had received no answer as yet.

But what about Toby Babbot? Did he also have a connection to the man?

If not, three of the four did. That brought it outside the realm of coincidence, at least in Decker’s mind.

So what do I do now?

He left the school, trudged down the steps, and headed to his truck.

And stopped.

The pale blue Suburban was parked on the street.

And John Baron the Fourth was leaning against the front fender, his arms folded over his chest, as he watched Decker leaving his old school.





Chapter 38



BARON SAID, “TIRED of busting bad guys? Looking for a teaching job?”

Decker walked over to him. “No, but the place looks like it could use some TLC.”

“The whole town could benefit from that.” Baron pushed off the truck and put his hands in his pockets.

Decker noted that he was wearing the same pair of dungarees, though the shirt was different and looked freshly laundered. Sandals were on his feet despite the cool air.

“How’d you know I was here?”

Baron pointed to the truck. “Recognized it from when you came to visit me.”

“Right.”

“How’s the investigation coming?” asked Baron.

“It’s coming.”

“Read that there was a death at the fulfillment center.”

“That’s right. It was actually my partner’s brother-in-law.”

Baron looked genuinely surprised. “Damn, tell her I’m sorry. I like Alex.”

“I will.” Though Decker was thinking that Baron didn’t really know her.

“How did it happen? What I read wasn’t really clear on that.”

“Accident. Robot met human and the human lost.”

Baron nodded. “Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie.” He glanced at the school. “So why the interest in Baronville High?”

“Just running down a few things. Joyce Tanner was a student there.”

“She was Joyce Ridge back then.”

“Surprised you knew that, considering you told us you didn’t know her.”

The two men stared at each other. “Let me guess,” said Baron. “You were either checking out anyone still working at the school who knew us, or you were taking a stroll through the yearbook section?”

“The latter.”

“Is the fact that I knew her a crime?”

“Lying about it to law enforcement during a murder investigation is. It’s called obstruction of justice.”

“I guess I didn’t see the relevance.”

“That’s my job to determine, not yours,” Decker said sharply.

Baron performed a mock bow. “Mea culpa, Agent Decker. I’m in the wrong and you’re in the right.”

“What happened?”

“To Joyce?”

“To the both of you.”

Baron leaned back against the truck fender. “I went to college and she didn’t. I don’t know why. She was really smart and I kept on her to go. But I think her aunt and uncle laid a guilt trip on her to stay in Baronville, get a job, and help them out because they had taken her in after her parents died. Her uncle was a minister and didn’t make a lot of money, and he was really strict with her. But we were still together. I came home as often as I could. We had a plan to have a life together. Then my parents died and I found out I didn’t have a dime. I knew we weren’t rich, of course. But we still lived at the Baron estate and my father always told me that there would be some money for me, which did not turn out to be the case. Then, I blew out my arm pitching, they revoked my scholarship, and I pretty much went into a tailspin. I didn’t have the bandwidth for Joyce or anything else. I could barely keep myself together.” He looked down at his clothes and then at the ancient truck. “And some would argue that I failed miserably at that anyway.”