AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No one sat down.
Alex’s clipped Boston accent slipped out. “Detective, let me say I am perfectly willing to cooperate with you, whatever it is you wish to know about this student at Godwyn University. I would ask you to understand, though, that my fiancée and I are not only busy, we’re grieving. My best friend, Kent Harper, is fighting for his life. This is hardly the time to discuss another investigation.”
Mia said, “Isn’t it lucky for us we found both of you at home, and not at Bellevue at your best friend’s bedside?”
Alex ignored her, said to Hoolihan, his eyes tortured, pain-filled, “We would be happy to give you more information about Kent, but I doubt it will help catch who shot him. We are still at a loss as to why anyone would shoot a man who was well-liked and respected. I think it must have been a drive-by, some kind of mistake. Nothing else makes sense.”
He paused, as if waiting for the supplicant cop to offer to polish his Ferragamos, and looked discreetly at his watch, like an important man being harried unjustly. “Very well, Detective, I will say it for you. You are here to question me about some supposed sexual misconduct on Kent’s part, something you believe relates to this student—Winters, you said her name was? Let me state categorically I don’t believe Kent Harper has ever harmed a woman in his life. He focuses his aggression on his competitors. The rumors some of those reporters asked about yesterday at my press conference are both preposterous and untrue, probably planted by one of my opponents, even accusing me of complicity to drive me out of the race.” He stared at Mia. “With the help of a reporter who decided she’d use me as a springboard to launch her career, such as Ms. Briscoe here.”
He looked down at the stark white carpet beneath his feet, his expression infinitely sad, but stoic. “That vicious ploy succeeded enough to destroy my campaign, and now I am left to pick up the pieces of my life. I am the victim here, Detective, as is Kent, who can’t even defend himself. So if you’re here about those absurd rumors, to try to dig up dirt, then I want you to leave. I will give you my lawyers’ number. I will say it again, this has been a very difficult time for both Pamela and me. We want to be left in peace.”
Mia said, “We found Serena.”
Alex cocked his head at her. “What are you talking about? If you found this girl, then why are you here?”
Mia wanted to punch him in the face, she wanted to obliterate him. She felt Tommy’s big hand tighten around her arm, and she took a deep breath. “We found Serena this morning, exactly where Kent told me the two of you buried her after you murdered her at the Godwyn frat rave.”
Stone silence. Mia added, “If you’ve forgotten, you buried her near Pauley’s Farm in Valley Forge National Park.”
Pamela lunged toward Mia, her fists raised. “That’s a lie, you vicious bitch! A hateful, ridiculous lie!”
Tommy quickly stepped in front of her. He said, “You don’t want to touch her, Ms. Barrett, or I will arrest you. Try me.”
Mia wanted to pull away from Tommy, break Pamela’s perfect nose, maybe loosen some perfect capped teeth. Tommy said softly, “You, too, Mia. Get hold of yourself.”
Alex caught Pamela’s arm, pulled her back against him. She whispered to him, “Why is she saying these things, Alex?”
Mia said, “Because they’re true, Pam. You got something out of him about Serena, didn’t you? But not the truth, not what really happened that night.”
“No, that isn’t what happened!”
Hoolihan took back control, said in his calm way, “Mr. Harrington, this morning, as Ms. Briscoe said, we recovered the remains of Serena Winters in a grave in Valley Forge National Park.”
Sherlock said, “We’d never have found her if Kent Harper hadn’t told us exactly where you’d buried her.”
Alex stood straight, shaking his head back and forth.
Tommy stared at the monster who had killed the girl he’d thought he’d marry. The rage he felt for what he’d done, for the grief he’d brought to everyone else, was a violent brew, but he held himself in check. He said in his deep, calm FBI voice, “The Jaguar you drove seven years ago? We matched it to a photo taken by a student outside the fraternity house the night of the fire, the night Serena disappeared, with your old license plate. It appears you know quite a bit about Godwyn University.”
Alex said nothing, looked mildly bored, but Mia knew he wasn’t, he couldn’t be.
Tommy continued, “The autopsy showed Serena was struck hard at the base of her skull, hard enough to kill her. The odds are good we’ll find traces of your DNA on her clothes and on the tarp you wrapped her in.”
Mia sent a questioning look to Detective Hoolihan, who nodded. She said, “You and Kent drove from Boston to Godwyn to find a girl to roofie and rape. But you ended up killing her because she saw what you were doing—namely, sprinkling a roofie into her drink.” She felt rage building, burning her throat. “You murdered my best friend, and neither of you even knew her name. Did you know Kent knew her only as Aolith, the gaming character?
“You hit her, Alex, killed her, set the fire so you could get her out without being noticed. You and Kent wrapped her in a tarp and threw her into a hole.” Mia felt herself beginning to spin out of control, but she managed to dial it back, there was too much at stake. “You killed her and forgot her, didn’t you, Alex, once she was in the ground, once you dumped dirt on top of her? She no longer existed. If you felt anything, it was impatience because she’d ruined your evening. Was Serena the only girl you killed?”
Alex Harrington stood silent and stoic, the innocent man in the dock. Mia wondered if the others could see the calculation in his eyes. She saw the instant he decided what to do. He began shaking his head back and forth and whispered, his voice steeped in pain and regret, “All right, if you must know the truth. It wasn’t my fault, her death. I hate to say this, hate it, but it was Kent who struck her. I was talking to some guys, drinking too much, I’ll admit, and when I happened to look over, they were dancing in place, talking over each other to be heard, when Kent suddenly hit her. I don’t know what happened, maybe she said something, but it all happened so fast—her dying, but it was an accident, he really didn’t mean to hurt her.”
He swallowed, managed to make his voice shake. “He was my best friend, I had to help him or he’d go to prison. Yes, I’ve told Pam about what happened and she understood. We were discussing whether to tell you, Detective Hoolihan, because of those rumors at the press conference, but it’s so difficult. Kent could be dying, maybe shot by someone taking revenge, I don’t know. You must believe this, the girl’s death was an accident, Kent didn’t mean to kill her.”
Mia pulled her cell phone out of her coat pocket and touched play. Kent Harper’s whispery voice sounded in the silent room.
“You saw Alex put a roofie in your drink and he was really mad so he hit you, hit you with his fist against your head, too hard, and you were just—dead.”
The only sound in the room was Alex Harrington’s harsh breathing and the pop of an ember exploding in the fireplace.
Pamela said, “What Kent said, he was obviously out of his mind, you can hear it. He was so drugged, he’d have said anything. What does he mean ‘you’ saw anything? None of it makes sense. That was pitiful.”
