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“A black Mercedes. Which was not special. Half of the school’s parents drive Mercedes.”
“Why didn’t you go with her? That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
“It was only to give her ‘moral support,’ ” Madison said bitterly, using air quotes. “I figured it out when she said we’d ride in style to her audition. Not ours. I wasn’t going to be able to audition. There was only one slot and she said she’d already taken it. That she’d turned in her paperwork days before. What I saw in her backpack was just a copy. That’s when I threw her out.”
“When was this?”
“Around midnight? I don’t remember. I guess I was lucky. If I’d been with her, I’d be dead, too.”
Maybe. Especially if the killer had known that Naomi had confided in Madison.
“What was she wearing that night?”
Madison rolled her eyes. “Her Avondale T-shirt, same as she wore to school. She had a dress packed to change into when she did her audition.”
“Did she mention spending time with this older man?”
“Yeah. He’d invited her to his house to practice. He had a baby grand and played for her while she sang. I would have worried that he’d have tried something. You know, in exchange for the audition. I accused her of sleeping with him. She said he’d been a gentleman, that he’d never touched her. That they’d watched Avondale reruns together. That he really just wanted to help her.” She met Kit’s eyes and Kit finally saw a spark of sadness. “I guess that was a lie, huh? There was never an audition?”
Madison wasn’t sad about Naomi’s disappearance. She was sad that there never had been an audition. Wow.
“I don’t know. Did she mention where he lived?”
“No.”
“Do you know where she went after you threw her out?”
“Back home, I guess.”
Kit wasn’t sure about that. The cops had checked surveillance cameras back then, and that would have been noted. “Why didn’t you mention any of this when her parents started looking for her?”
A final shrug, nonchalant. “Like I said, Naomi was dead to me. I wasn’t going to help her then. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not glad she’s dead. But she lied to us and karma’s a bitch. None of that was my fault.”
Okay. “Did you ever see a man with gray hair and glasses hanging around Naomi?”
Madison huffed, sounding bored. “No. But you just described half of our teachers, so...”
“One more question. Did you ever audition for the Orion School after that? In the fall when they had regular tryouts?”
Madison’s eyes narrowed to angry slits. “Yes,” she hissed.
That she hadn’t been accepted didn’t need to be said.
“Thank you for your time, Madison.”
“Can I go back to class now?” Madison asked coldly.
“You may,” Larkin said and gave her a note. “Here’s your hall pass.”
When she was gone, Larkin dropped her head into her hands. “I need to retire.”
“Do you have a contact at Orion?” Kit asked.
Larkin looked up, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “No. It’s private and exclusive. We’re a public school. Our paths don’t cross. I’m sure the school office could set up an appointment, though. I’m... devastated. If we’d known, we might have been able to save Naomi.” Larkin frowned. “Wait. Gray hair and glasses? The man your boss was talking about in the press conference wasn’t gray. And didn’t wear glasses.” She abruptly straightened in her chair, her eyes growing wide. “Is there another killer?”
“Hard to say.” Kit pulled out the answer that Navarro wanted her to give. “We think there was involvement from another individual. He’s a person of interest at the moment. We’re still trying to suss out all the victims. Can you think of anyone who meets that description?”
“I hate to agree with Madison, but she’s right. Half of the male teachers on this campus are gray with glasses. I mean, none of them drive a Mercedes. We are public school educators, after all.”
