Page 50 of Don't Say a Word

Barbecuing at her place. You’re welcome to join us. Six-ish.

She responded that she’d let him know.

Jack wondered what Margo was up to.

Chapter Sixteen

Angie Williams

Angie wished she hadn’t gone to school today. All anyone talked about was Mrs. Clark’s murder.

Two girls from Gina’s volleyball team gave Angie the side-eye during break, reminding her that a mom had seen her arguing with Mrs. Clark outside the gym. In every class, all people wanted to do was talk about Mrs. Clark. Everyone wanted to tell a story. Angie hated talking in groups, so kept her mouth shut. It was unnerving when everyone stared at her.

Then the kicker: Right after lunch, Angie was called out of class.

Mrs. Webb, the vice-principal, was waiting for her.

Cutting classes had caught up with her, Angie thought. Whatever, she’d take detention. She’d rather be in detention than go home.

“I need you to come to the office,” Mrs. Webb said. “I’ll clear it with your teachers.” She started walking toward the administration building, the keys she wore around her wrist rattling with each step. Angie followed.

“Why?” she asked. “What did I do?” Never volunteer information. There was a chance this had nothing to do with cutting classes.

“The police are here to talk to you about Mrs. Clark.”

Her stomach fell and she felt sick.

“Oh. Why me?”

Maybe there were notes in Mrs. Clark’s files about all the times Angie came in to talk to her about Elijah’s murder. Maybe they wanted to know what they talked about. Maybe Margo Angelhart was right, and Mrs. Clark was killed because she learned something about Elijah.

Maybe the police would finally do something. It just sucked that Mrs. Clark had to die first.

“Mr. Borel and I will be in the room with you,” Mrs. Webb continued. “The police are speaking to several students and teachers who saw Mrs. Clark in the hours before... what happened.”

Why couldn’t she just saymurdered? Angie didn’t know why adults always couched hard truths. She was seventeen. She’d seen a lot of shit.

“If you would prefer to have your mother in the room, I can make that happen.”

“No,” Angie said quickly. The last person she wanted was her mother in a room with cops. Totally embarrassing. “She works today, and she’ll be pissed if she gets called to the school.”

“If you feel uncomfortable, you can end the interview. But it would benefit you to be completely honest about everything, understand?”

Angie nodded. This was all beginning to sound very formal.

Mrs. Webb used her card key to enter the administrative building. Angie glanced down the hall and saw yellow crime scene tape blocking Mrs. Clark’s door. Her stomach dropped. This felt surreal.

Mrs. Webb led her to the conference room. There were no external windows, and the blinds on the windows that looked out into the hall were closed. The dark oblong table had eight oversized chairs. Water bottles, note pads, and pencils were neatly arranged on top of the credenza. A stack of folders with the Sun Valley High School emblem were to one side.

Mr. Borel was there, and he motioned for Angie to sit across from the two detectives. She dropped her backpack to her feet and sat; Mrs. Webb sat next to her.

Mr. Borel said, “Angie, this is Detective King and Detective Chavez. They’re investigating Mrs. Clark’s murder and talking to everyone who saw her yesterday.”

“Okay,” Angie said.

Mrs. Webb said, “Would you like a water?” Angie nodded, and Mrs. Webb reached behind her for a bottle. It would give her something to do with her hands.

King, the woman detective, had been in charge of Elijah’s investigation. Angie hadn’t met her before, but Mrs. Clark had talked about her, and Angie had left a message on her voicemail asking why she’d closed the case. Of course the detective never called her back.