Page 75 of Poison Wood

She pulls her hand back. “That must have been a horrible night.”

“It was,” I say. “And worst of all is Heather did climb up behind Lisbeth but was too late. Lisbeth fell from that limb, but when everyone looked up, Heather was clinging to the same branch and it looked like she’d pushed Lisbeth. I don’t know if Lisbeth slipped or jumped or what. But Heather was only trying to help.”

Erin nods and says, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” She flips ahead in her notebook. “So Thanksgiving. You, Summer, Katrina, and Heather were the only students at the school during the break, correct?”

“Yes,” I say, thankful to move on.

“Can you confirm who among the staff was there?”

“Johnny Adair, of course. Martha Lee, the cook. And Barbara O’Connor.”

Erin looks up from her notebook. “What can you tell me about Barbara O’Connor?”

I lean forward. “Why?”

“Just curious.”

No way.Just curiousdoes not play into this conversation. “I know she has a daughter, Grace Atchison, who is a nurse here in Riverbend.” I point to Erin’s phone. “It’s in the notes I sent you. Anyway, we all avoided B.O., our nickname for her, as much as possible. She’d tell us she was our friend, but we knew better. She ratted us out all the time to Crowley, but that Thanksgiving, Crowley wasn’t there anymore and she had been promoted to headmistress of the school.”

“Crowley,” Erin says. “The one who was fired?”

“That’s the one.” I take a sip from my wine and set it back on the table. “You need to look into him.”

“Oh, I have,” Erin says.

“Who all have you talked to?” I say.

“So far, Summer Chamberlain, Katrina Donovan, and you.”

Good God, this woman works fast. Has she even slept since this story blew up? The pain that splits through my head feels like a bolt of lightning.

I rub my hands on my black skirt and stand up. “I think I need to be done for now.”

Erin stands too. “I understand. But one more thing,” she says.

I meet her gaze. “What?”

“Had you girls been drinking the night Heather ran off and Johnny came to the school covered in blood?”

I have all the police reports from that night, and I don’t remember ever seeing a note about us being drunk.

“Yes,” I say. “But I know what I saw that night.”

“You know what you think you saw.” Her face soft, not accusing. “You also said at the time that you saw Johnny running in those woods.”

“I did.” I tell myself to turn away from this woman and start walking toward the elevator, but her next statement stops me.

“I have a source,” she says, “that tells me Johnny Adair was nowhere near that property when you said you saw him in the woods. He came up after the fact. Wrong place, wrong time. Got pigeonholed into making a confession. Have you seen the confession? It’s shocking.”

“I think we’re done for now,” I say. Erin starts to speak, and I hold up my hand. “I’m done.”

“Thank you for your time,” she says.

I gather my tote and force myself to walk, not run, to the elevator.

Carl walks with me and hands me my large suitcase he brought from Miami.

I roll it into the elevator. “Call me,” I say before the door shuts.