letter back, her grammar and misspellings corrected, a week later.
The last incomplete sentence was scribbled out, but Suzanne could easily read it.
“Who writes letters anymore?” Andie asked.
Suzanne didn’t want to admit that she thought it was sweet-not the apology for the fact that Barnett obviously did something unforgivable to Alanna-before he killed her-but that in this day and age, a handwritten letter seemed more sincere than sending an email or text message.
Another tech looked through the doorway. “Suzanne, there’s a guy here says he’s Barnett’s brother.”
“I’ll talk to him,” she said and walked out.
The young man-hardly older than a teenager-stood just inside the door biting his thumbnail. His hair was too long in the front, partly covering his eyes, but overall he was a clean-cut kid.
“Mr. Barnett?” Suzanne said as she approached.
He looked startled, almost mousy, then nodded. “Dennis Barnett.”
“Nice to meet you, Dennis. Do you live here with your brother?”
He shook his head. “I live in Staten Island with my mother. But sometimes I stay with my brother. My other brother, Charlie.”
“Charlie? Is that CJ Barnett?”
Dennis nodded. “He says CJ is his business name, but I still call him Charlie.” Dennis was mildly retarded, Suzanne realized as she spoke to him, but didn’t seem to be impaired. “Is Wade in trouble?”
“Yes, he is. I’m sorry to have to tell you that.” She showed him her badge and ID. “My name is Suzanne Madeaux. I’m a special agent with the FBI.”
He looked around. “Where’s Wade?”
“I’m sorry, Dennis, but he’s in jail right now.”
Dennis’s eyes widened. “W-why?”
“Well, it’s a bit complicated.” Suzanne didn’t want to upset the kid; she felt sorry for him. She opted to start with the sanitized version. “He lied to me, and it’s a crime to lie to a federal law enforcement agent. Did you know that?”
He shook his head.
“I asked Wade if he knew some young women. I showed him their pictures. He told me he didn’t, but then I found out that he knew them really well.”
“Wade knows a lot of girls.”
“Does he date a lot?”
“Oh, yes. He likes to have sex.”
“With the same woman or different women?”
“Different. Sometimes he has a girlfriend, but he always screws it up.”
“Is that what he told you?”
“No. Charlie says that. Because Wade can’t be man-ag-a-mis.”
“Do you mean
Dennis smiled. “Yes. Monogamous.”
“Do you know any of his girlfriends?”
He shrugged. “Some.”
“Like Alanna?”
He smiled. “I liked Alanna.”
“She was nice?”
He said in a low voice, “Some of Wade’s girlfriends were mean to me. I know I’m not too smart. My mom says it’s the way God made me and I’m perfect the way I am, but moms got to say that. But I don’t think as fast as normal people. Wade didn’t like it when his girlfriends said mean things, like I was too stupid to understand.”
“But Alanna didn’t do that.”
“No, never! She even got mad at Wade once when I accidentally knocked over a statue he had over there”-he pointed to the credenza in the dining room-“and it broke into a million pieces and then he yelled at me. I cried, I was really sorry, and Alanna helped me pick up every single piece. And Wade said he was sorry. He never says sorry unless he really means it, so I know he meant it.”
Suzanne was having a hard time putting Wade Barnett as his younger brother described him into the role of a killer. But most killers weren’t pure evil S.O.B.s. Maybe Wade put himself in the investigation spotlight because he wanted to be stopped. Maybe killing his ex-girlfriend was an accident, and he killed the others … why? Or maybe she was off about the whole motive and the guy was just a psycho who was nice to his little brother.
“Why did Wade and Alanna break up?”
Dennis rolled his eyes. “Because he’s a big jerk.”
Suzanne’s ears pricked up. “Why do you say that?”
“Because that’s what Wade said. He said he was a big jerk and Alanna wouldn’t forgive him.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“I thought it was ’cause he slept with another girl, but I don’t know for sure.”
Suzanne needed a long conversation with her suspect.
“If I showed you some pictures, could you tell me if you recognize any of them?”
He nodded, then he stopped. “Why?”
“I’m trying to-” she almost said help his brother, but she couldn’t do it to this kid. He’d believe her, and when he found out she’d lied to prove his brother was a killer, he’d be devastated. She decided to go for the straightforward approach.
“Dennis, you’re an adult, so I’m going to be honest with you, okay?”
He nodded.
“Four young women your brother knew are dead. That’s what he lied to us about. He told me he didn’t know the girls, but we learned that he did. That’s part of my job, finding out when people are lying. People lie so they don’t get in trouble. I think your brother might have lied because he hurt those girls.”
Dennis’s bottom lip was trembling. “Wade wouldn’t.”
“You know, I was walking around here thinking that Wade seems like a good guy. He likes the Yankees. I like baseball, too.”
“He
Suzanne smiled. “And he has these awards for preserving historic property; he obviously cares a lot about the city. I can see why you like him a lot. You probably admire him, too.”
Dennis gave a half-shrug, half-nod.
“Is he a good brother?”
“Yeah. He didn’t like how Mom made him watch me all the time, even when I got bigger. He said I was a dork. But he didn’t like it if someone else ever called me a dork.”
Having brothers and sisters herself, Suzanne understood.
Suzanne switched the line of questioning. “Have you been to any of the underground parties your brother likes to go to?”
“I don’t like them.”
“But you’ve gone.”
“I went once. Much too loud. It hurt my ears and I hated it. I stay in the car now.”
Suzanne’s instincts vibrated in her gut. “Why do you go?”
“Wade lost his license for drunk driving. I have to drive him.”
“So you were at the party in Brooklyn last Saturday?”
“I-” He stopped talking and frowned. He started biting his thumbnail again and didn’t look at her. “You’re making me confused.”
