Page 17 of Don't Say a Word

“I’ll tell her,” I said. Josie would be embarrassed that Lena was singing her praises, but her parents would be thrilled. What parents don’t love hearing great things about their children, even when they’re all grown-up? I tucked away the info to share with the family on Thursday.

Lena sat at the table and motioned for me to sit across from her.

“As I mentioned on the phone, Alina Martinez hired me to find out exactly how Elijah obtained the drugs and where he was during the hours before the fatal overdose.”

She nodded solemnly. “It’s heartbreaking.”

“You told police that you knew Elijah well, and saw no sign of drug use. Would you recognize signs?” I assumed she would, but wanted to start with an easy question.

“Absolutely. I have more than twenty years’ experience in the public education system, the last eleven as a guidance counselor. Sadly, drug use is not rare, though I’ve seen some pushback among young people in the last few years. Still, we’re an urban, Title I school with nearly two thousand students. Many of our youth struggle with drug and mental health issues. And, there are unfortunately high achievers who use drugs as a study aid. Students have been known to share or sell their ADHD medication—there is a large market for it.”

That wasn’t new. When I graduated fifteen years ago kids were selling their meds.

“Do you have knowledge or suspicion that Elijah was taking such medication?”

“He wasn’t prescribed anything that we were aware of, and like I told Josie, I didn’t see any signs that Elijah was a habitual drug user, but he did put a lot of pressure on himself to excel.”

“So you’re thinking it’s possible.”

“Again, I never saw or heard anything, but teens handle pressure in different ways, and Elijah wanted to be valedictorian.”

“Could he have been?”

She hesitated, then said, “Probably not, but he was a contender. I’d say he was one of five or six students who are in the running.”

“Is there a lot of competition for the position? Rivalries?”

“Some,” Lena said. “But the valedictorian is selected by a teacher committee and in addition to grades and difficulty of classes, they look at extracurricular activities, contributions to the school, things like that.”

I glanced at my notes. “Alina mentioned three friends Elijah was particularly close to. Peter Barilla, Andy Perez, and Angie Williams. Do you know them?”

“I know Angie well, she’s in the honors program with Elijah. Peter and Andy I don’t know well, but they have never been in serious trouble.” She went to her computer, typed, then swiveled in her chair towards me. “Peter is only on campus in the mornings because of a school-work program. Andy was in Honors Math with Elijah. I don’t think any of them are involved with drugs. Certainly not Peter, who had to submit to drug testing for the work program.”

“Is Angie Elijah’s girlfriend? His mother said no, but...” I left it open.

Lena shook her head. “They were friends and in most of the same classes, but I didn’t see anything that made me think they were involved in that way.” Lena paused, then added, “Angie was particularly angry about the police investigation.”

“How so?”

“Angie has a difficult home life. She’s channeled her anger toward this tragedy. Elijah’s death, the police investigation, the closed case. She cut school several days last week. I told her on Friday that I would try to get her absences excused since she had lost one of her closest friends, but I expected her here today.”

“And she’s not,” I guessed.

“I’ve done everything I can to find answers for her and, frankly, for myself. I called the detective. Spoke to the principal and the entire administrative team. If the school puts pressure on the police, that might open things up. I even sent an email to the school board. But Angie thinks nothing is enough because everyone believes—her words—Elijah’s death was his fault. She thinks no one cares.”

“What doyouthink?”

“I think the police closed the case too quickly and we have a lot of questions and no answers,” Lena said. “But the idea that someone drugged him on purpose seems like grasping at straws. He had a part-time job, was in advanced classes, applying to colleges—some kids think that a little bit of something will take the edge off. I’m not saying that’s what happened, just that it does happen. When I suggested that to Angie, she walked away angry. However, the police should have done more to find out what happened the night he died.”

“I have Angie’s address,” I said. “But if I can’t track her down, would you be willing to ask her to call me? You can even be in the meeting if that would make you or Angie more comfortable.” I would much rather talk to Angie in private—she might open up more without a parent or teacher in the room.

Lena nodded. “It may help her to know that someone is looking for answers. But please don’t get her hopes up. She is focused on one theory and won’t even consider a different answer. Sometimes, people we think we know disappoint us.”

“Just so you know, I’ll be talking to Elijah’s other friends too.”

“That’s more than the police did,” Lena said. “I thought if one of Elijah’s friends knew something, the police would get it from them. Detective King claimed to have spoken to his friends and family, but she didn’t speak to Angie. She closed the case too quickly, in my opinion.”

It was now obvious to me why Josie had butted heads with King, and why Josie’s boss had told her to lay low. Likely, Lenahad mentioned options to King that perhaps Josie had planted in her head.