alone was enough to kill him. I would imagine it was through pure adrenaline that he managed to put up the struggle he did. The knife punctured his right lung-easy math, we're looking for a left-handed killer-bypassing the bronchial trunk. We can assume the victim removed the knife, which exacerbated the negative airflow. The lung is vacuum sealed, you see, and a puncture deflates it much as a balloon being pierced by a pin.'
Faith had dealt with a victim who'd died of a collapsed lung before. 'So, unless he managed to get help, he only had a few minutes.'
'Well, here's the funny thing: he would've been panicked, his breathing would have been shallow. When a lung collapses, it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. You gulp for air, and the more you breathe, the worse it gets. I'd say that the panic bought him some extra time.'
'What's the cause of death?'
'Manual strangulation.'
Faith wrote down the words, underlining them. 'So, Abigail Campano actually did kill him.'
'Exactly.' Pete picked up his sandwich again. 'She killed him right before he died.'
THE INTERIOR OF the morgue had spotty cell reception at best. Faith used this as an excuse to leave Pete to finish his lunch by himself. She dialed Will Trent's number as she walked toward the parking garage for some air. Faith needed to tell him about Mary Clark and Ruth Donner. She also wanted to talk about Kayla Alexander some more. The picture she was getting of the girl was not a pretty one.
Will's phone rang several times before she was sent to voice mail.
'Hi, Will-' Call-waiting beeped and she checked the screen, reading the words 'Cohen, G.' Faith put the phone back to her ear, not recognizing the name. 'I'm just leaving the morgue and-' Her phone beeped again and Faith finally realized who was calling. 'Call me,' she said, then switched the line over. 'Hello?'
'It's Gabe.' His voice sounded far away, though she guessed he was still at Tech.
'What can I do for you?'
He was silent, and she waited him out. Finally, he told her, 'I lied to you.'
Faith stopped walking. 'About what?'
His voice was so low she had to strain to hear him. 'I thought she was younger.'
'Who?'
'I've got…' His words trailed off. 'I need to show you something Adam had. I should've shown you before, but I…'
She started to jog, heading toward the Mini. 'What do you have of Adam's?'
'I have to show you. I can't tell you on the phone.'
Faith knew that was bullshit, but she also knew that Gabe Cohen was ready to talk. She would dance like a monkey if it got the truth out of him. 'Where are you?'
'The dorm.'
'I can be there in fifteen minutes,' she said, unlocking the door.
'You're coming?' He sounded surprised.
'Yes,' she said, switching the phone to her other ear as she put the key in the ignition. 'Do you want me to stay on the phone with you while I drive over?'
'I'm okay,' he said. 'I just…I've got to show you this.'
She glanced over her shoulder and swerved the Mini out of the space so sharply that it squealed up on two wheels. 'I'll be right there, okay? Just stay right where you are.'
'Okay.'
Faith had never driven so fast in her life. Part of her wondered if Gabe was just stringing her along, but there was always the slim chance that he had something important to tell her. She called Will Trent's cell phone again, leaving another message, telling him to meet her at the dorm. Her heart raced as she blew through red lights, nearly causing a bus to slam into another car, heading into oncoming traffic to whip around construction crews. On campus, she didn't bother to look for legal spaces, again parking the Mini in the handicapped section. She flipped down the visor and jumped out of the car. By the time she reached Towers Hall, she was panting from exertion.
Faith bent over at the waist, trying to catch her breath. She opened her mouth, taking in big gulps of air, cursing herself for not being in better shape. She let a minute pass, then hit the handicapped plate and headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. There was the distant thump of music, but the building felt empty. It was the middle of the day; most kids were in class. She trotted past Adam's room, expecting Gabe to be in his own dorm, but the door to 310 was cracked open.
Faith pushed the door the rest of the way open, noting that the police tape sealing off the room had been cut. Adam's things had been boxed up. The mattress was bare, the television and game set gone. Black fingerprint powder was smeared all around the room where they had dusted for prints.
Gabe sat on the bare floor, his back to one of the beds, his book bag beside him. His elbows were on his knees, his head pressed against the cast on his arm. His shoulders shook. Still, Faith could not forget the angry man who had threatened to call security on her yesterday. Was that the real Gabriel Cohen, or was this crying child closer to his real self? Either way, he had something to tell her. If Faith had to play along with his game to get the information, then that was how it was going to be.
She rapped her knuckles lightly on the open door. 'Gabe?'
He looked up at her with swollen, red eyes. Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. 'Adam told me she was young,' he sobbed. 'I thought, like, fourteen or something. Not seventeen. The news said that she was seventeen.'
Faith used his book bag to prop open the door before sitting beside him on the floor. 'Tell me from the beginning,' she said, trying to keep her voice calm. Here was proof that Adam had talked to Gabe about Emma.
'I'm sorry,' he cried. His lip trembled, and he put his head down, hiding his face from her. 'I should have told you.'
She should have felt sorry for the kid, but all Faith could think was that Emma Campano was somewhere crying, too-but there was no one there to comfort her.
'I'm sorry,' he repeated. 'I'm so sorry.'
Faith asked him, 'What did you want to tell me?'
His body shook as he struggled with his emotions. 'He met her online. He was on this video Web site.'
Faith felt her heart stop mid-beat. 'What sort of Web site?'
'LD.' Faith had known the answer before he opened his mouth. Learning disabilities. Will Trent's instincts had been right yet again.
Gabe told her, 'Adam went online with her all the time, like, for a year.'
'You said it was a video site?' she asked, wondering what else the kid had been hiding.
'Yeah,' Gabe answered. 'A lot of them weren't really good at writing.'
'What learning disorder did Adam have?'
'Behavioral stuff. He was homeschooled. He didn't fit in.' Gabe glanced up at her. 'You don't think that's why he was killed, do you?'
Faith wasn't sure about anything at this point, but she assured him, 'No. Of course not.'
'She seemed younger than she was, you know?'
Faith made sure she understood. 'That's why you didn't tell me that you knew Adam was seeing Emma? You thought she was underage and you didn't want to get him into trouble?'
He nodded. 'I think he had a car, too.'
Faith felt her jaw clench. 'What kind? What model?'
He took his time answering-for effect or from genuine emotion, she could not tell. 'It was an old beater. Some graduate student was transferring to Ireland and he posted it on the board.'
'Do you remember the student's name?'
'Farokh? Something like that.'
'Do you know what the car looked like?'
