Page 110 of Don't Say a Word

Margo Angelhart

It was after two by the time I arrived at the office. I had gotten a lot accomplished since I left my house at five thirty this morning.

“We have a party tonight,” Tess said as soon as I walked in. “I wanted to leave by now.”

“I’m sorry. I spent too much time at Mrs. Osterman’s house, but I might have found something.” I held up the flash drive. “Let me see what’s on this first, then we’ll talk, okay?”

“Five minutes, max. I have information too, and you’re going to want to hear it.”

Then she turned on her heel and went to the conference room, where Jack and our mom were talking.

First, I plugged Megan’s phone into an outlet to charge.

I then put the flash drive into my computer. There were three video files. I clicked on one and... it wanted a password. Shit.

I put the drive in my top drawer and as I walked to the conference room, I texted Luisa.

I need you to get info from a password-protected file. I’ll bring it tonight to the party.

Luisa immediately sent a thumbs-up emoji.

Mom said, “Margo, I know you have been working hard to find out what happened to Elijah, but we need to touch bases more often. You have a theory, but haven’t shared it with anyone.”

“Happy Birthday, Mom,” I said.

She blinked, then gave me a little smile. “Thank you, dear. But you’re not going to distract me from lecturing you.”

“Of course not,” I said as I sat down.

I looked at the stacks of paper on the table and three open laptops. They’d all been working as hard as I had.

“I’m really sorry that I didn’t explain everything clearly, but I was running on a hunch that I couldn’t quite articulate.”

“It’s fine,” Tess said. “But I do want to get to the house, so let us all know what you discovered.”

“I’m pretty certain that Elijah uncovered drug-related illegal activity at the Cactus Stop.” I told them about Megan Osterman’s overdose and how Elijah started taking pictures at night of everyone who came in and out of the store. “Megan’s boyfriend was Scott Jimenez, the teen who went to prison for shooting Eric McMahon.”

“That gives us a connection to Coach Bradford’s former operation,” Jack said, “so why are you not focused on the school?”

“Because Elijah was taking pictures of people going in and out of the Cactus Stop, and not people on campus. My primary goal was to retrace his steps Friday night. And I’m stuck, because no one has come forward to say they saw him or were with him. I have no idea where he was after he left work until he died in the park. So going back to the photos—why was he taking them, what was he planning to do? Was he caught taking pictures Friday night, and that person drugged him? Megan Osterman’s death was the catalyst, and learning from her mother that she was connected to Coach Bradford through her boyfriend brings us back to Sun Valley High.”

“Where does Lena Clark fit in?” Tess asked.

“She’s connected to Elijah directly, and indirectly to Coach Bradford because they were colleagues,” I said. “Lena was asking questions, so I figure she saw or heard something that made her suspicious, or someone became nervous because of her interest in Elijah’s death.”

“Conjecture,” Mom said. “But go on.”

This was one of the problems with bouncing ideas off a lawyer’s brain. I wasn’t trying a case, I was working through facts and theories. I wanted to talk things through, not have to prove anything yet.

“I shelved Lena’s murder,” I said, “because I don’t have access to the information the police have. However, I want to talk to Parsons, her boyfriend. He might know who she was talking to, maybe she said something to him, something that he doesn’t realize is important.”

“The police would have asked him the same thing,” Jack said.

“No,” I countered. “Because the police aren’t thinking about Elijah.”

“You think he was murdered,” Mom said.

“Yes, but I can’t prove it,” I said. “There’re reasons to support this theory. The photos he took. The fact that his phone and backpack are missing. His behavior—yes, different, but not addict different. He was preoccupied and quiet, but not erratic or irresponsible.”