Chapter Eighteen Maya

Chapter Eighteen

Maya

June 2023

Back at the police station, I set the note on the metal table between us and remain standing, breathing hard. Naomi, I’m sorry about last night. Let me make it up to you. —M

Simmons studies it with a frown. “Where did you get this?”

“I found it in my sister’s dorm room. Underneath the dresser. Maybe if your team had looked more carefully…”

She presses her lips together. Studies the note. “ M. ”

“Did you talk to her roommates? The boys she was dating? She got in a fight with someone on Thursday night—did you know that? Maybe the guy she was seeing, Benjamin Wong, or her ex, Liam—”

“We’re in touch with them.” Simmons reviews her notes. “Benjamin Wong was out of the country.”

“And Liam?”

Simmons narrows her eyes. “We’ve spoken to his lawyer.”

My heart is pounding, sweat slicking my brow. “Another thing you should know: my sister was in a secret society. Greystone Society.”

“A secret society…” Her mouth twists, a note of disbelief in her voice.

“Yes.” I take a breath. “They are one of the most powerful groups in the country.” I wait for a flicker of recognition but find none. My eyes flit to the note on the table. Signed M …“There was a professor involved with Greystone when I was a student—Matthew DuPont. He still has ties to them, and there were always rumors about him hooking up with students. What if he has something to—”

Simmons exchanges a look with a young police officer guarding the door. She clears her throat and turns back to me. “I appreciate your diligence, Ms. Banks, but we need to let the evidence speak for itself.”

“I’m not making this up.”

“I have to reiterate: there is no evidence that your sister’s death was criminal in nature.”

“Are you serious? Everything about her death says it is.” My hands are shaking as I grip the edge of the table.

Simmons stands. “Thank you for coming by. We’ll be sure to keep you informed of our progress.”

“Wait.” I consider telling her about Lila so she’ll understand just how dangerous Greystone can be, but a knot is blocking my throat. Telling her about Lila implicates me too. What would she think then? Would she think it was my fault? Was it my fault?

I draw in a breath. We were young. We were scared. That was the truth, wasn’t it?

Or.

You were guilty, a voice in my head says. Guilty, it says, and I shudder, slouching back in my chair. The adrenaline coursing through me evaporates, and now I’m cold, so cold in this suffocating room.

“Please.” My voice is strange.

Simmons stares at me blankly. After a painfully long silence, she sighs. “Mr. DuPont has a solid alibi.”

“You spoke with him?”

“We spoke with anyone she may have interacted with in the weeks leading up to her death. We’ve narrowed the time of death to Friday night between eight p.m. and five a.m. Mr. DuPont was on campus giving a speech in front of hundreds of people. Home with his fiancée the remainder of the night.”

“I thought it was hard to determine the exact time of death in a drowning?”

“It’s an estimate. But more importantly, Mr. DuPont’s home security system shows he arrived home around the same time your sister’s phone pinged a tower in Manhattan. Around seven-thirty p.m . Like I said, home with his fiancée the rest of the evening.”

“If Naomi was in Manhattan that night, then how did she end up at the lake?”

“I can’t answer that, yet, but what I can tell you is Mr. DuPont was nowhere near your sister.”