“Are you August Lopez?” the older man said.
“Yes, I’m Auggie Lopez. What’s going on? What happened?”
“I’m Detective Upchurch with the Wahredua Police Department. This is my partner, Detective Somerset.”
“I don’t understand. Are you searching my dorm room? Don’t you have to have a warrant?”
Upchurch’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, that’s interesting. Why are you worried about us searching your room?”
“I’m not worried. I’m just asking.”
“Your roommate called this in,” Somerset said. “Apparently, he got back into town today and found the room like this. The door had been forced.”
“Auggie, why don’t you come in,” Upchurch said. “Let’s clear a place by the door for your bags, and let’s talk.”
Glancing up the hallway, Auggie tried to think what his other options might be. He had absolutely no idea. Aside from a security guard at a Target stopping him once when he and Devin had been making a video, Auggie had basically been a model citizen his whole life. He dragged his bags into the room, and Somerset helped him find a spot for them, and then Upchurch closed the door.
“Auggie,” Upchurch said, “how old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Do you have ID?”
Auggie got out his driver’s license and passed it over. Upchurch studied it and handed it to Somerset, who took a picture of it with his phone and jotted down something in a notebook.
“Eighteen years old,” Upchurch said. “Kind of a new phase in your life, right?”
“What is going on?” Auggie said. “Do you know who did this?”
“Well, Auggie, I’m going to explain a little police organizational structure to you. You don’t have to take notes,” Upchurch laughed, an easy laugh, “but I think it’ll help you understand why we’re here. You see, the police department is kind of like a pyramid. Up at the top, you’ve got the chief. That’s Chief Cravens. In the middle, you’ve got two sets of detectives. And down at the bottom, you’ve got the patrol officers. That’s where this guy was not too long ago.”
Somerset grinned and waved as he handed back the license.
“Patrol guys, they handle the routine call outs. So, when your friend called this in, a couple of patrol officers responded. With a burglary like this, the case eventually moves up to a set of detectives. This time, it should have gone to the other pair: Lender and Swinney. It was their turn.”
“Why are you here?”
Upchurch smiled.
“You said it should have gone to those other detectives,” Auggie said, “but instead you’re here. And that’s the whole point of telling me that organizational whatever, so why are you here?”
“See?” Upchurch said to Somerset. “I told you he’d be smart. Wroxall kids are always smart.”
Somerset just smiled at Auggie; it was a really nice smile, inviting and genuine, but behind the smile, Auggie sensed some serious thinking was happening. A quiet voice told Auggie that Upchurch might be older, and Upchurch might do the talking, but the one he really needed to be careful around was Somerset.
“We’re here,” Upchurch said, “because Detective Somerset and I are working a murder case.”
Auggie pictured the apartment in Smithfield, the smell of decomposition, the figure, mostly skeleton, that he had glimpsed over Theo’s shoulder before Theo had forced him out of the bathroom.
“Did someone get killed here? I don’t get it. Why are you here?”
“Who’s Robert McDonald?”
“I don’t know.”
“Really? Do you want to think about it a little more?”
“I don’t know.”
“Auggie,” Somerset said, “we’re trying to help you.”
“I have no idea who that is.”
“Well, here’s what’s interesting, Auggie: see, we found a dead guy named Robert McDonald. Really, really nasty. He’d been dead for months. You know the body starts to liquefy if it isn’t preserved? I mean, we’re talking hazmat suits. Kind of stuff you’ll see in nightmares. And Robert had pictures of you. He had your course schedule in his wallet. Are you sure you don’t know him?”
“I do not know anyone named Robert McDonald.”
“Auggie—” Somerset began.
“Me,” Upchurch said, “I think you two were boyfriends. I think it was all hush hush. See, after we found Robert, we got a little curious about August Lopez, who had Civ 1 first thing Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So we did a little digging. And we found that big old social media presence. And we found a video of you, where someone accused you of murder. We’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while, so when the call came in about the burglary, well, that was just the perfect opportunity.”
“That video was a dumb prank. They didn’t even say I murdered someone. It’s just—it was just a stupid video.”
“Here’s what I think happened,” Upchurch said. “I think you and Robert were fagging out—”
“All right,” Somerset said. “Take it down a little.”
Upchurch exhaled slowly and smiled again, “Isn’t Detective Somerset a swell guy? You’re lucky he’s here. I’m not such a swell guy. I think you and Robert were fooling around, but you had to keep it a secret because of all those girls who follow you on social media. I think you’ve got a reputation. You’ve got a business. That’s what this is, right?” Upchurch plucked a page from the ground, one of Auggie’s more ambitious projections of how much he might make on endorsements and marketing deals over the next five years. “That’s a lot of money. Maybe Robert wanted some of it. Maybe Robert just wanted you to kiss him in public. So you killed him.” Upchurch flashed a smile. “Guys do a lot of crazy things when they’re closet cases. The back of Robert’s head was smashed in. That sounds like a lover’s quarrel to me. You argued. He turned away. You were so mad you grabbed the closest thing and bashed his brains in.”
“I want a lawyer,” Auggie said.
“A lawyer?” Upchurch said, his eyes wide. “This is just a friendly conversation.”
“I want a lawyer. I’m not talking to you
