Nightshade

“He says you jumped him. And he says he’s going to press charges.”

Matt’s eyes widened. “Why would Pete say that? I was just looking for Kelly!”

“Why would you be looking for her out there at this time of night?” Pullman asked.

“Because that’s where we always went,” Matt began, but his mother didn’t let him finish.

“Don’t say anything else, Matt.” Her eyes flashing with anger, she turned on Dan Pullman. “How can you think Pete’s telling the truth? He’s six inches taller than Matt, and must weigh fifty pounds more than he does. And Eric Holmes was with him, wasn’t he?” When Dan didn’t answer immediately, she repeated her question, her voice lashed like a whip. “Wasn’t he?”

“Yes, but — ”

“Two of them! There were two of them, and they’re both bigger than Matt. And they claim he jumped them? Do you think Matt’s an idiot? The way his friends — or rather, the people who were supposed to be his friends — have been treating him, the only thing that makes any sense is what Matt already told you.” She reached for the phone. “I’m calling Trip Wainwright. If you have any more questions you want Matt to answer, I want Trip to be here.”

“Now, just hold on, Joan,” Pullman said. “If Matt’s telling the truth — ”

“The truth? Nobody in this whole town cares about the truth anymore! All they care about is ruining my son’s life. Well, that’s not going to happen, Dan! I’m not going to let it happen!” Furiously, Joan punched the buttons on the phone, and as Dan listened to her talking to the lawyer, he closed the tattered book in which he’d been taking notes.

The truth, he knew, would come out sooner or later, and he wasn’t about to have whatever case might develop ruined by making Matt answer questions without his lawyer present.

A heavy silence fell over the house as the three of them waited for Trip Wainwright’s arrival.

CHAPTER 20

THOUGH JOAN HAPGOOD hadn’t told Trip Wainwright what had brought Dan Pullman to her house that evening, the strain in her voice when she called him on the phone told him how worried she was, and the moment she opened the back door to let him into the kitchen, he could sense the tension. But it wasn’t until he saw the blood on Matt’s clothes that his lawyer’s instincts went onto full alert.

“Did you call Dr. Henderson?” he asked Joan, deliberately not asking what had happened, lest Matt say something he’d rather Dan Pullman not hear.

“It’s no big deal,” Matt protested before his mother could reply. “It’s not my blood anyway. It’s Pete Arneson’s.”

Wainwright sat down at the kitchen table and listened in silence as first Joan and then Pullman recounted what they knew. When both of them were finished, the lawyer turned to Matt, who, alone among the four of them, had remained standing. “Anything you want to add?” he asked.

Matt shook his head. “It’s like I said — I was looking for Kelly, and Pete and Eric jumped me.”

The lawyer shifted his attention back to Pullman. “From what I’ve heard so far, it sounds to me like you should be taking a complaint from Matt, not questioning him.”

The police chief’s eyes narrowed. “The Arneson kid says — ”

“I don’t really care what Pete Arneson said,” Wainwright cut in, certain that if Pullman had any intention of arresting Matt, he already would have done it. “Nor do I care if Eric Holmes swears to it. Given what’s been going on in this town the last few days, I’ve been half expecting someone to accuse Matt of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby, for Christ’s sake! And you know as well as I do that both Eric and Pete are a lot bigger than Matt. So what’s this really all about?”

The frustration that had been brewing inside Pullman suddenly boiled. “It’s about me trying to do my job, Trip. Just like you’re trying to do yours. Maybe you ought to look at this whole mess from my point of view for a change. Matt’s stepfather is dead, his grandmother is missing, and now his girlfriend is missing too. What the hell am I supposed to think? What’s anyone supposed to think?”

Matt was about to protest, but the attorney held up a hand to stop him. “So far there’s nothing more than gossip to indicate that Bill’s death was anything other than an accident, unless you’ve got something you haven’t told me or anybody else about yet.”

He paused just long enough for Pullman to shake his head.

“Can we agree that it’s not fair to accuse anyone of doing anything to Emily Moore until you’ve found her?”

He paused again, extracting another nod from Pullman. “And now Kelly Conroe is missing?”

Once more Dan Pullman nodded.

When Wainwright resumed speaking, his voice had turned hostile. “How long has she been missing, Dan?”

Pullman could see what was coming. His jaw tightened. “A couple of hours,” he said, keeping his voice flat.

“A couple of hours,” Wainwright repeated. “She’s two hours late coming home from school, and you’re out searching for her? Would you say that’s standard operating procedure for your office?”

Pullman’s face reddened. “Of course it is,” he retorted. “I take it very seriously when one of our kids is missing.”

“Especially if she happens to be the daughter of the publisher of the newspaper.” He waited for Pullman to rise to the bait, which the police chief quickly did.

“That has nothing to do with it!”

“Then why did you tell Connie and Jim Delaney that you couldn’t do a thing for at least twenty-four hours when Valerie took off last spring?”

“That was different,” Pullman began. “Valerie wasn’t — ”

“Valerie Delaney was exactly the same age as Kelly Conroe, Dan,” Wainwright cut in coldly. “When she took off, she gave Connie and Jim the worst night of their lives. And you didn’t get involved. In fact, unless I’m completely mistaken, you told them the next day that if it ever happened again, they shouldn’t waste your time until she’d been gone at least twenty-four hours. Isn’t that right?”

A vein throbbed in Pullman’s forehead, and for a second he was tempted to deny it. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” he admitted.

“Or maybe you should have said exactly the same thing to Gerry Conroe when he called you tonight.” When Pullman made no reply, Wainwright pressed his advantage. “Then I think we’re done here, aren’t we? Unless Matt wants to file a complaint against Pete Arneson?” Matt shook his head, and Wainwright stood up. “Then perhaps I can see you out.”

Signaling Joan and Matt to stay where they were, Wainwright walked out to Pullman’s car with the police chief. “You want to tell me what’s going on, Dan?” he asked as Pullman opened the driver’s door and got in.

“What’s going on is that we’ve got one person dead, and two other people missing, Trip. And given where we found Emily Moore’s slippers, I’d sure like to know the real reason Matt was ‘looking’ for Kelly down by the waterfall.” He gave just enough emphasis to the word “looking” to let Wainwright know that he wasn’t accepting Matt’s story at face value.

Wainwright’s expression remained bland. “Did you ask the Arneson and Holmes boys why they went down there?”

“They said they were looking for Kelly too.”

“So Matt having gone there is sinister, but the fact that two other boys — two big, strong boys who could easily have raped, killed, and disposed of a girl Kelly’s size — isn’t even questioned? I find that a little peculiar, Dan, especially given that they weren’t happy about Matt showing up.”

“They said Matt started the fight,” Pullman insisted again, but the lawyer only snorted dismissively.

“Matt’s story makes a lot more sense than what you’ve told me Eric and Pete said, and you know it, Dan. Unless you know something you’re not telling me, I’d say you came over here on a fishing expedition. So consider