Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

RILEY IS NERVOUS. It's early afternoon, and she is at the police station with her mother. It's the worst day of her life, and it already feels like it has lasted for ever, that it will never end. Her mouth is dry as she sits down at the table in the interview room. Her mother sits beside her, clearly concerned about her emotional state, and squeezes her shoulder. Someone places a bottle of water on the table in front of her.

There are two detectives in the room with them. The man introduces himself as Detective Stone. He's about her mother's age, in his mid forties, and seems nice. His female partner, Detective Godfrey, is younger, and smiles at her encouragingly. Riley licks her dry lips, wonders if she's doing the right thing, and tries to prepare herself.

‘Riley,' Detective Stone begins, ‘this must be very difficult for you. We know you already spoke to the officers at the school this morning. What brings you here now? Do you have something more to tell us?' He looks back at her, waiting. ‘You were a close friend of Diana's?'

She finds her voice. ‘Yes. Her best friend.' Riley feels her heart begin to race. She looks at her mother for encouragement. She knows she must tell them. She can no longer, in good conscience, keep it to herself.

So she tells them how Diana was being pressured by Cameron to go to the same college, that she was unhappy about it, that she was thinking of breaking up with him. She feels guilty, disloyal, that she's betraying Cameron, and she cries miserably as she tells them. But it's more complicated than that. She also feels guilty because she's the one who urged Diana to break up with him – and what if she did? What if that's why she's dead? She tells herself her first loyalty must be to Diana. She must tell the detectives the truth and let them make sense of it. She finds some small relief when she's done.

Detective Stone hears her out quietly. ‘Thank you for sharing this with us. You've done the right thing,' he says, as Riley wipes her eyes with a tissue. He waits for her to recover her composure and adds, ‘There's something else we'd like to ask you about.' She looks up at him. ‘We spoke to Diana's mother this morning. She told us that Diana worked at the Home Depot, and that Diana had mentioned a customer that she thought was creepy. Did she ever mention anything about that to you?'

Riley had forgotten all about that. How had she forgotten it? ‘Yes. She only saw him when she worked nights. She mostly worked Sundays, during the day, but sometimes she worked Friday nights, till ten. He'd come in sometimes. She told me that he always went to her checkout, even if there was already someone at hers and an empty one close by. He'd wait. One time another girl called out to him that she was free, but he said he'd wait and stayed at Diana's checkout. Everybody noticed it.'

‘Did she tell you his name?'

‘She didn't know his name. He always paid cash, never with a credit card. She thought that was weird. She thought he was weird. He made her uncomfortable.'

The detective nods. ‘Do you know if he tried to find out her name, where she lived, anything about her?'

‘He knew her first name, it was on her name tag. I don't think he could have found out her last name. She wouldn't have told him and I don't think anyone else would have. They knew she didn't like him. He'd try to flirt with her. She didn't like it.'

‘Did he ever accost her outside the store?'

Riley shakes her head. ‘I'm sure she never saw him other than at her checkout. She would have told me.' The detective waits for her to say more. She adds, ‘People at the Home Depot knew about him. They saw him. The other staff, and the manager. The manager knew he made Diana nervous. They always walked the girls to their cars at the end of the night, for safety. The manager made sure of it.'

The detective nods at her. ‘We'll talk to them. Thank you for coming in.'

Aaron Bolduc is thinking about staffing problems when one of his employees pokes her head in his office in the afternoon and says, ‘There's some people here to see you.'

Her face is red and her eyes are swollen. She's been crying on and off all day about Diana – she's not the only one – but at least she came into work, and he's grateful. ‘Thanks, Margaret. Are you doing okay?'

She nods, and turns away, saying, ‘I'll bring them to your office.'

Aaron straightens his tie nervously. He's been expecting someone to come. One of his staff has been murdered. They will want to talk to him and the people who worked with her.

When the two arrive at his office, they are not in uniform. They introduce themselves as Detective Stone and Detective Godfrey from Major Crimes, State Police. He doesn't recognize either of them; of course, they're not from here. ‘It's a terrible thing,' Aaron says, his eyes welling up. ‘Just terrible.' He knows he himself must look terrible as he says it. ‘Diana was a wonderful girl. I just can't believe it.' The detectives seem unaffected, but he supposes it's because it's their job. They can't let it bother them personally.

Detective Stone nods. ‘We understand that there was a customer who was bothering Diana?'

Aaron breathes out loudly. ‘Right. I know who you mean, but I don't know who he is. Big guy. Reddish hair, scruffy beard. Usually wore a red-and-black-plaid flannel shirt with a work jacket over it. He always paid cash, so I don't know his name. He made Diana nervous because he'd hang around her checkout and wait.' He adds, ‘Diana was a lovely girl.' He feels himself flush and looks away.

‘Do you have CCTV of the cash area?'

‘Yes, we do. In fact, I think he was in last Friday night when Diana was working. I can get that for you.'

Aaron sets things up on the computer to review the black-and-white video. He fast-forwards and backtracks, looking for the man in the plaid shirt. Finally, he finds him. They watch as he ambles up to Diana's register. Aaron, watching it for the first time on tape, can see how Diana's face changes as she sees him approach. She's no longer smiling. She starts scanning his items, not looking at him. He's talking to her. Aaron tries to read his lips, but he can't make out what he's saying to her. He's smiling, talking, looking at her. Her answers are monosyllabic. She's trying not to be rude, but she doesn't want to engage. Her movements are stiff. It's busy and another customer comes up behind him, moving forward impatiently, while he continues to talk to Diana, even though his transaction is finished.

‘Stop there,' the detective tells him.

The detectives take a good look at the man's face.

‘Do you have CCTV of the parking lot?' Stone asks.

Aaron shakes his head. ‘I'm afraid not. Just the inside of the store, and the area right outside the doors.'

They switch screens and watch the man carry his purchases out the exit. He disappears into the darkness of the parking lot.

‘Would have been good to get his vehicle,' Stone says. ‘Anyway, we've got him on film. We'll find out who he is. Thank you, you've been very helpful,' the detective says. ‘We'd like to speak with your staff – anyone who worked with Diana, especially on Friday evenings.'

Aaron quivers with distress, hoping the detectives don't notice. ‘Of course.'