He shook his head. “He should’ve never let her in,” he said. “That’s my statement. And that’s all I’m saying without my lawyer.”
“What?” Fortner said. “Come on. I’m just trying to find out what happened.”
“It sounds like y’all’re lookin’ for someone to hang this on,” Coel said.
Fortner continued to plead and reason with him, but he refused to reconsider. Finally, I stood up and switched off both recording devices. “Okay,” I said. “No statements. Nothing official, just some information off the record. How about just answering a few simple questions?”
“Like what?” he said.
“Like who were the inmates who went to the bathroom or the water fountain or into the hallway for any reason while Nicole was in my office?”
He nodded slowly. “I want y’all to find who killed her. Hell, I’d like to find the bastard myself, but I’m not gonna take the fall for somethin’ that was Stone’s fault.”
I nodded.
He studied me for a long moment, then nodded to himself as if agreeing with himself about some internal decision we were not privy to.
“Abdul Muhammin,” he said. “I remember him because I couldn’t believe he was attending a Christian service, and it was the first time I’d ever seen him without his koofi.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I thought that was strange, too.”
“He’s a chapel clerk, isn’t he?”
I nodded.
“You need to ask him about it,” he said.
“Plan to,” I said. “Who else?”
“Paul Register,” he said.
“The one they call Chester the molester?” Fortner shouted. “Good God. How could you let him out there with her?”
“She wasn’t out there,” he yelled. “She was inside a locked room with her mother. And I was standing at the sanctuary door watching. But the point is, she should have never been inside here in the first place.”
“We all agree on that,” I said. “Who else?”
“Cedric Porter,” he said.
“Inmate from public works?” Fortner asked. “I thought he was an atheist. Does he come to church?”
“I’ve never seen him there before,” I said.
“Probably just came to see Bunny like the rest of ’em,” Coel said. “Hell, a lot of them stayed in the bathroom during most of the sermon.”
“Why’d you let ’em?” Fortner asked.
“Because I was by myself,” he said. “They pulled Whitfield to help get education back to the dorms. At the sanctuary door, I could see the hallway, the sanctuary, and both office doors.”
“Sorry,” Fortner said. “You did good. You were in a no-win situation.”
Obviously grateful for what Pete had said, Coel looked at him for a long moment, then slowly nodded his head, a grave expression on his face.
“Any other inmates come or go?” I asked.
“Dexter Freeman,” he said. “Y’all know him?”
“I do,” I said. “I’ve worked with both him and Register.”
“They’re both in on sex charges,” Fortner said.
I nodded, then looked back at Coel. “Did you ever leave your position at the door?”
He shook his head.
“Not even for a moment?” I asked.
“One time,” he said. “Bunny opened your office door and motioned for me to come over.”
“Which door?” I asked.
“The one in the sanctuary,” he said. “I walked over and she asked me how to place an outside call. I told her, then went back to where I was. But I saw her and the little girl at that point and they were fine.”
“And no one else came or went?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“What about staff?”
“Well, let’s see,” he said. “There was you.”
“I know I was there,” I said, and I heard a harsh sarcasm in my voice that reminded me that Stone wasn’t the only one on edge. “I meant anyone else.”
“And Theo Malcolm.”
“The school teacher?” Pete asked in surprise, his eyebrows and glasses shooting up again.
He looked over at me.
“Yeah,” Coel said. “He must’ve stopped by after his class, on his way out or somethin’. He didn’t stay too long.”
“What the hell was he doin’ there?” Pete asked.
Coel shrugged.
“I wondered the same thing,” I said. “As far as I know, he’s never been in the chapel before. And he was in a big hurry to get out. He nearly knocked me down on his way to the door.”
“He didn’t stay long,” Coel repeated. “At least, I don’t think he did. I didn’t actually see him leave.”
“Could he have killed her?” Fortner asked.
I shrugged. “We’ve got to talk to him. He was coming from the back when I saw him.”
“I never saw him close to your office door,” Coel said.
“And Officer Whitfield came in at the end,” I said.
“Oh, that’s right,” he said. “I forgot. He got back just in time for the… well, you know.”
“So,” Pete said, “you got any idea who did it?”
“No,” he said, “but Stone might as well have. He’s the one who tied her to a stake like bait down there with all the predators.”
CHAPTER 11
When Edward Stone welcomed me into his office, something he had never done, he closed the door, something he had often done. He then invited me to take a seat and offered me coffee, something he never did, and when I declined, he frowned deeply, something he often did.
“I assume your father and Inspector Fortner have both asked for your help,” he said.
I didn’t respond. He had warned me not to investigate after the last case I had worked.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m about to do the same thing. We need your help on this one. You’re a good investigator, you have a unique position that allows you to move about between both the inmates and the staff comfortably, and you are respected by both groups.”
“What was she doing in here?” I asked, my voice raw and accusatory. “How could you have let her? Why would the people who’re supposed to be her parents even want to-”
“They weren’t supposed to be her parents,” he said. “They were her parents. She was loved and cared for by-”
“People who used her race to further their cause? People who subjected her to the fatal dangers of prison to gain greater acceptance from the large black population?”
He shook his head. “You of all people should understand ministry,” he said. “You do anything for God.”
“For God?” I asked in shock. “Bobby Earl’s ego is his God.”
He winced, the furrow between his eyes deepening into dark crevices, and I could tell that my words had seemed blasphemous to him.
“Bobby Earl serves the same God I do,” he said. “And there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for him.”
“Including offering up your child?” I asked.
