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“I was popular,” Connor said, and it surprisingly didn’t sound like he was bragging. Just stating a fact. “Was homecoming king, even. I kept checking my back at the dance to make sure the queen hadn’t stuck a shiv in my back. She was brutal.”
Kit had hated the popular crowd in high school. Of course, she’d been focused on finding Wren’s murderer and hadn’t joined in on any school activities. Harlan and Betsy never pushed her to, either. One more reason she loved them.
“Madison was like that,” she said. “Very arrogant. I’d be totally shocked if she wasn’t prom queen. But she did give us something important. The Orion School.”
Connor whistled quietly. “I’ve heard of that place. Posh as fuck. One of my girlfriends went there.”
Kit blinked at him. “Really? How did you meet her?”
“She lived in our neighborhood when we were in high school. Met her at the country club when I went with my folks. I was captain of the football team and she liked muscles.” He shrugged. “She was shallow. But so was I, so we were good for about two months. Then we graduated. I went on to UCSD and she went to Juilliard. She’s on Broadway now. I see her from time to time, though, when she’s home visiting her family.” He smirked. “She still likes muscles.”
Kit almost laughed but swallowed it so that she didn’t encourage him. He was impossible. But maybe useful. “Do you think she’d have any insider info on Orion? Because I called them on my way from seeing Principal Larkin and asked to speak to the director. I couldn’t get past the front desk. The director is supposed to call me back tomorrow or when they ‘get a free moment.’ I’m going to have to go in person and flash my badge. It would be great if we could get some background information about the staff, because I’m betting they put me off today so that they can call in the lawyers before they call me back.”
“I’ll call her when we’re done. She’s in a show now, so I might not talk to her until tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Connor,” Kit said sincerely.
Connor looked pleased. “You’re welcome. Do you think the gray-haired man actually worked at the Orion School?”
Kit had spent most of her drive back to the station considering this very question. “I don’t know. It’s certainly possible.”
“I’ll ask my friend about scholarships,” Connor said. “Who got them, who gave them, and what the decision process was. If she can give us the name of a scholarship recipient, we can ask questions before going to the hallowed halls of Orion. I don’t think Orion would be too receptive to a fishing expedition, but if you already knew exactly what to ask, it’d go better.”
Kit had been thinking the same thing. “Excellent.” She noted it in her file. “What else?”
“I found Skyler Carville’s car,” Howard said. “It had been towed to a city impound lot. She’d parked on the street on a yellow curb.”
The yellow curbs were commercial loading zones. Parking was prohibited in the daytime but allowed at night.
“She only meant to meet for drinks,” she murmured. “I’m sure she figured she’d be back well before sunrise. Where’s her car now?”
“Had CSU pick it up,” Howard said. “They’re going over it. I doubt they’ll find anything, but we could be surprised. My visit to Jaelyn’s school yielded nothing. No one knew about any auditions nor had they seen a gray-haired man with glasses unless you want to count half the male teachers on the faculty.”
“That’s what Principal Larkin said,” Kit said.
“About a quarter of the male teachers at Cecilia’s school,” Connor added. “But no one caught anyone’s notice. Like none of the gray-haired men were creepy or hovering or anything. Nobody knew anything about any audition, secret or otherwise. Cecilia had played lacrosse the year before but was also in the drama club. She’d starred in Oklahoma in her freshman year.”
“Like Naomi played the lead in The Little Mermaid,” Kit said.
“Oh!” Howard looked excited. “Jaelyn played Golde in Fiddler in her freshman year.”
Kit shared his excitement. “Maybe that’s how he found victims. He saw them onstage. We’ll have to explore who attended their plays.”
Connor held up a hand. “Before you go that direction, I have more. I talked to Cecilia’s lacrosse coach, too. They’d been looking at her getting an athletic scholarship, but she’d gotten hurt over the summer. ACL. It was a bad injury.”
Kit winced. “That could’ve dashed any athletic scholarship dreams.”
Connor nodded. “Her coach said she wasn’t devastated, though. That her parents were the ones pushing the athletic scholarships. Cecilia wanted to go to acting school.”
Kit’s breath caught. “Did the coach mention Orion School?”
“No, but she did say that Cecilia was looking at her ACL as a gift.”
“Did her parents know this?” Howard asked.
“Her coach didn’t think so. She said that she’d offered to talk to Cecilia’s parents with her, but then Cecilia disappeared and her coach didn’t want to hurt the folks any more than they already were.”
“So she might have been lured by an acting scholarship the same way that Naomi was,” Kit said thoughtfully. “Did Jaelyn’s school mention anything about Orion School?”
