with no choice?
Did Wade Barnett know? And if he did, why hadn’t he gone to the police or the hospital? What was he trying to hide?
Sean didn’t have all the answers, but if Dennis Barnett had gone out of his way to bring Kirsten home from the party, nurse her, then leave her at the church when he couldn’t care for her any longer, he didn’t see how he could coldly kill five other young women.
He sent Lucy a message detailing what he’d found, letting her reach her own conclusions.
He saw her message about the man in the drawing being Dennis Barnett. What had the artist said? That she’d seen someone with Alanna the night she died. Dennis Barnett already admitted to being a driver to the parties that his brother attended; it didn’t mean he’d killed Alanna.
Sean sat back down at Charles Barnett’s computer and logged on to the secure RCK East server to access the
He scanned the list of registered users for any name that might be Wade Barnett. Most people used something familiar to them, something that was part of their personal identity. He clicked through a couple of promising names; neither of them was Wade Barnett.
Then he found what he was looking for near the end of the alphabetical list.
He clicked through and smiled. While it didn’t have Wade Barnett’s photograph, it had two important pointers:
He’d posted that he was a twenty-six-year-old preservationist from New York.
And among his friends were Erica Ripley, Heather Garcia, Jessica Bell, and Kirsten Benton, all under false names, but all with their real images.
He sent the data to Lucy and Suzanne, logged off the RCK site, and wiped memory of the visit from the computer while leaving all else intact, then left.
In his car, he called FBI agent Noah Armstrong. He and Noah didn’t see eye to eye on everything, but Noah had vouched for him with Suzanne Madeaux.
He needed someone with the clout to get him into Rikers Island.
TWENTY-NINE
After fifteen minutes of relatively softball questions, Dennis Barnett was becoming confused and agitated. Lucy didn’t think it was because of guilt. Dennis had been eager to help at the beginning, but he didn’t understand why the questions were about him.
Suzanne asked for the third time, “And how did that make you feel when Wade’s girlfriend called you a dumbass?”
Dennis frowned. “I’m slow, not stupid. You asked me that.”
“I’m trying to understand your feelings.”
“No you’re not. You’re trying to make me feel bad.”
Panetta said, “Why would we want to make you feel bad? Unless you have something to feel bad about?”
Dennis looked at his lawyer. “You said we were coming here to help Wade.”
“We
Lucy’s instincts started buzzing. The lawyer had to know that Dennis was a suspect; had he not told him? Or had Dennis not understood?
Suzanne noticed the same thing and said, “Dennis, another young woman was killed last night.”
He frowned.
“I’d like to show you her picture. It would help if you tell us if you know her or have seen her anywhere.”
He nodded.
Suzanne showed him Sierra Hinkle’s driver’s-license photo. Lucy watched his face closely. It was completely blank, except for his forehead, which was crinkled in concentration.
“I don’t know her.”
Suzanne then showed him Jessica Bell.
He stared and bit his thumbnail. “If I saw her, is that going to get Wade in trouble?”
“If you lie, Wade will get in trouble,” Lucy said. She’d been quiet most of the interview, but she sensed a turn in Dennis’s demeanor.
The lawyer broke the moment. “I don’t understand this line of questioning.”
Suzanne said, “And I don’t understand who you’re working for, Dennis, or someone else.”
Lucy focused on Dennis and said, “Dennis, do you know why Wade is in jail right now?”
“Because she”-he looked at Suzanne with a childish expression of anger-“thinks he hurt Alanna.”
“Actually,” Lucy said, “we don’t know who hurt Alanna.” She felt Panetta turn his gaze to her. He was not happy. “Wade is in jail because he lied to Agent Madeaux. Did you know that lying to the FBI is a crime?”
He nodded. “She told me.”
“It’s true. If you lie and we can prove it, then you will have to go to jail, too. I like you, Dennis. I don’t want you to go to jail.”
“I don’t want to go to jail.” He looked at Jessica’s picture. “That’s Jenna.”
“Jenna?” Suzanne said. “How do you know her?”
“I stay with Wade sometimes. She was talking on his computer.”
“Talking?” Suzanne prompted.
Dennis turned bright red and whispered, “She was naked. Wade didn’t see me come in at first. Then he got mad and yelled at me.”
Panetta steered the conversation away from that angle and asked, “Were you mad at Jenna?”
“No, I-”
“Because I would be,” Panetta said.
Lucy wanted to shut the detective down. Dennis was getting agitated again, and it was because he was embarrassed, not because he killed her.
“I wasn’t mad at anyone. Wade told me to knock from then on, and I said the door was open, and then he just turned off the computer. That was a long time ago. Last summer.”
Suzanne put the pictures of Erica Ripley and Heather Garcia in front of Dennis. “What about these two? Do you know them?”
He pointed to Heather. “I don’t know her. But that’s Erica. She works at the Java Central coffeehouse. She came with us to a party once, but-” He frowned, thinking.
“What party?”
“It was real hot. Labor Day weekend and I wanted to go to Martha’s Vineyard with Charlie, but Wade wanted me to drive him to a party. He just lost his license because he was drinking. He said I was the only one he trusted. So we went. He made me come in because it was too hot to sit in the car. I did
“Who says that?” Lucy asked him.
“Charlie. It’s why Wade lost his license. Charlie said, ‘You deserve it, you get stupid when you drink.’ ”
“What stupid thing did Wade do that night?” Suzanne asked.
“Lots of them. He wanted me to have sex with a girl I never met before and I didn’t want to. Alanna was mad at him about that. Then he hurt Alanna’s feelings because he brought Erica to the party. She said, ‘I don’t care if you fuck around here, but don’t bring it home.’ ”
Lucy wondered if Dennis had an eidetic memory, or at least an enhanced auditory memory.
Suzanne prompted, “You told me earlier that Wade and Alanna broke up. But they went to a Yankees game together after that party.”
