Looking at Tony, she said, “I’m sorry to say yes. Something terrible happened while you were away.” She told them about Kerry’s tragic death and the police investigation.
Tony immediately grabbed his cell phone off the charger and reviewed the messages his friends had sent him about Kerry. They repeated the same information. Kerry had a party on Saturday night. Her father and sister found her dead in the pool around noon on Sunday. Kerry and Alan had a fight at the party.
“We were away for two weeks,” Carl said. “When did this happen?”
“I heard about it on the radio literally while you were on your way to the airport to start your trip. Then Alan was arrested. From what I’ve read in the papers and seen on the news, the police believe Alan went back after the party was over and killed Kerry.”
“So Mom, they found her in the pool Sunday morning, around the time Dad and the limo picked me up at the Acme?” Tony asked.
“That’s right, Tony, and I hope you’ll understand why I didn’t—”
Waving her off, Tony said, “No, Mom. That’s okay. Did the papers say anything about Jamie Chapman?”
“Jamie Chapman?” Nancy said incredulously. “No, why would they?”
“That was the Sunday Dad and I left on the trip, right?”
“Yes,” Nancy answered. “Dad left here in the limo and picked you up at Acme, and you went straight to the airport.”
What he was trying to remember came back to Tony. “I noticed Jamie’s sneakers,” he said. Then he blurted out, “He had new sneakers. He was showing them off to everyone. I know he was wearing them on Saturday because he asked me a bunch of times if I liked them. But he wasn’t wearing them on that Sunday. The ones he had on were all scuffed up. I asked him why he changed them. He said they got wet because he was swimming in the pool with Kerry after her party.”
His mother and father stared at him. “After her party?” they both said in unison.
“Are you sure that’s what Jamie told you?” his father asked.
“Dad, I’m positive.”
Walking over to the phone, Carl said, “Tony, you have to tell the police what you just told us.” He began dialing the number of the Saddle River Police Department. They took Carl’s name and phone number and said they would immediately notify Detective Wilson of his call.
55
Marina Long and her husband Wayne had been concerned about Valerie ever since they moved from Chicago to Saddle River. They understood that it had been an abrupt and dramatic change for her, but had hoped and expected that her new school, which was highly rated, would bring her around. At her previous school, even though she was innately shy, she’d had many close friends. They had now been in New Jersey for nine months. That should have been enough time to make new friends. But where are they? Marina asked herself. Valerie always seems to be alone.
Marina had taken the afternoon off. She had hoped to spend some time with her daughter. But when Valerie came home from school, she went straight to her room and closed the door behind her. When Marina called her for dinner shortly after Wayne got home, she was her usual distant self. They both tried to initiate a conversation by asking about the outlook for this year’s lacrosse team. Her one-word answer was “Good.” It was over coffee and Valerie’s favorite apple pie dessert that Marina broached the subject with her.
“Valerie, Miss Dowling called and asked us to meet with her. We went over to the school this morning.”
Valerie half-closed her eyes as though in denial. “She had no right to do that,” she said fiercely.
“She had every right,” Marina said. “Apparently, the teachers are worried about the way you are in class.”
“What’s wrong with the way I am in class?” Valerie asked defensively.
“You appear to be distracted, and your marks went downhill shortly after we moved here.”
“They’ll go back up,” Valerie said.
“Is there any reason why your marks changed?” Wayne said gently.
When she did not answer, he said, “Look, Valerie. I think you have resented my presence since your mother and I got together. Let’s see if we can clear the air right now.
“My first wife and I always hoped to have a daughter. Of course, that didn’t happen, and Lucy died around the same time as your father. I know what it’s like to lose someone you’re very close to. When you lost your dad, you were heartbroken. I know I can’t replace him, and I don’t want to. But I want you to know that I want to be close to you. I consider you the daughter I never had.”
Valerie looked away.
“Val, we know that the move was abrupt,” Marina said, “and I told you that Wayne had gotten a big promotion. That was absolutely true. But the fact is that the Chicago office where he worked was being closed, and if he didn’t accept the offer in New York he would have been out of work.”
Valerie did not answer. Marina looked at her and said, “Valerie, your father loved you very much. I’m sure that it’s a great comfort to Daddy to know that Wayne is here for you, and he loves you.”
Valerie considered telling what was really happening, but her lips would not form the words. She had told Kerry, the only person she felt she could confide in, and Kerry was dead. She shook her head, as though dismissing what her mother and stepfather had told her. She pushed back her chair and abruptly left the table.
Marina followed her up the stairs.
“Valerie, something is upsetting you that you won’t talk about. But you can’t live with it. You’ve lost Daddy and your grandmother. I think what you need to do is speak to a therapist, someone who can help you.”
“Do me a favor, Mom. Leave me alone,” Valerie said as she shut the door to her room.
56
As he drove to the Chapman home, Mike was still trying to process the ramifications of the meeting he had that morning with Tony Carter and his father. “Jamie Chapman said he went swimming with Kerry after her party.” Tony was absolutely certain about his recollection of what Jamie had told him. The impact on the investigation could not be underestimated.
Mike had tried to impress on Tony and his parents that they should not share Tony’s information about Jamie. But he was concerned. He got the impression that they were talkers.
Kerry’s body had been discovered by her family at 11:15 A.M. that Sunday morning. The forensic report from the medical examiner could provide only a rough estimate of how long she had been in the water. Kerry had sent a text at 11:10 P.M. telling Alan not to come over to her house. Assuming she was the one who sent the text, and Mike had no reason to believe otherwise, that was the latest time he could document that she was alive.
Alan’s three friends and the waitress at Nellie’s confirmed that Alan left Nellie’s at approximately 11:15. The 3.9-mile drive from Nellie’s to the Dowling home would have taken Alan about eleven minutes. Was it possible that Jamie went swimming with Kerry after 11:00, when the party ended, but before Alan returned to the house? Very unlikely.
He had brought fellow detective Andy Nerlino with him because he wanted to question Marge and Jamie out of each other’s presence. “I interviewed them the day the body was discovered,” Mike told him. “My last thought when I left the house was that their answers sounded rehearsed.”
“Understood.”
When they reached the Chapman home, Mike rang the front doorbell. There was no answer. They walked around the house to see if the Chapmans were in the backyard. When they were not there, Andy walked over to the back door and knocked on it. Then he said, “Mike, come over here and take a look at this.”
He was pointing at a small smudge stain on the white wooden door, just below the handle.
“Blood?” Mike asked as he leaned in closer for a look.
“It might be.” Andy said.
Mike took out his cell phone and snapped several pictures of the stain, then dialed his office. “I need an evidence tech right away,” he said crisply.