“You’re Jacob Barber’s dad.”
“Yes. You’re the sweatshirt girl. From this morning.”
She smiled shyly.
“Sorry, I should have remembered you. I’m having a tough day, Sarah.”
“Yeah, why’s that?”
“Nobody wants to talk to us. Now, why is that, you have any idea?”
“You’re cops.”
“That’s it?”
“Sure.” She made a face:
Duh!
I waited a moment, hoping for more. The girl returned a look of exquisite boredom.
“Are you a friend of Jacob’s?”
She looked down, considered, shrugged. “I guess so.”
“How come I haven’t heard your name?”
“Ask Jacob.”
“He doesn’t tell me anything. I have to ask you.”
“We know each other. We’re not, like, friends, Jacob and me. We just know each other.”
“How about Ben Rifkin? Did you know him?”
“Same. I knew him but I didn’t really
know
him.”
“Did you like him?”
“He was okay.”
“Just okay?”
“He was a good kid, I guess. Like I said, we weren’t really close.”
“Okay. So I’ll stop asking stupid questions. Why don’t you just tell us, Sarah? Anything at all that might help us, anything you think we ought to know.”
She shifted in her seat. “I don’t really know what you—I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Well, tell me about this place, this school. Start with that. Tell me something about McCormick that I don’t know. What’s it like to go to school here? What’s funny about this place? What’s strange about it?”
No response.
“Sarah, we want to help, you know, but we need some of you kids to help
us
.”
She shifted around in her seat.
“You owe that much to Ben, don’t you think? If he was your friend?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have anything to say, I guess. I don’t know anything.”
“Sarah, whoever did this, he’s still out there. You know that, don’t you? If you can help, then you have a responsibility. A real responsibility. Otherwise this same thing is going to happen again to some other kid. Then it would be on you. If you didn’t do everything—absolutely everything you could—to make it stop, then the next one would be on you, wouldn’t it? How would that make you feel?”
“You’re trying to guilt me. It won’t work. My mom does that too.”
“I’m not trying to guilt you. I’m just telling you the truth.”
No response.
Bang!
Duffy smacked the table with his open palm. Some papers drifted with the breeze he created. “Jesus! This is bullshit, Andy. Just put a subpoena on these kids already, would you? Put ’em in the grand jury, swear ’em in, and if they don’t want to say anything, just lock ’em up for contempt. This is a waste of time. For Christ’s sake!”
The girl’s eyes dilated.
Duffy took his cell phone from a holster on his belt and looked at it, though it had not rung. “I have to make a call,” he announced. “I’ll be right back,” and out he marched.
The kid said, “Is he supposed to be the bad cop?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s not very good at it.”
“You jumped. I saw you.”
“Only ’cause he startled me. He banged the table.”
“He’s right, you know. If you kids don’t start helping us out, we’ll have to do this another way.”
“I thought we didn’t have to say anything if we didn’t want to.”
“That’s true today. Tomorrow, maybe not.”
She thought it over.
“Sarah, it’s true, what you said before. I’m a DA. But I’m also a dad, okay? So I’m not going to just let this thing go. Because I keep thinking of Ben Rifkin’s dad. I keep thinking of how he must be feeling. Can you even imagine how your mom or dad would feel if this happened to you? How devastated they’d be?”
“They’re split up. My dad’s out of the picture. I live with my mom.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Well, Sarah, look, you’re all our kids, you know. All you kids in Jacob’s class, even the ones I don’t know, I care about. All of us parents
“Yes. You’re the sweatshirt girl. From this morning.”
She smiled shyly.
“Sorry, I should have remembered you. I’m having a tough day, Sarah.”
“Yeah, why’s that?”
“Nobody wants to talk to us. Now, why is that, you have any idea?”
“You’re cops.”
“That’s it?”
“Sure.” She made a face:
Duh!
I waited a moment, hoping for more. The girl returned a look of exquisite boredom.
“Are you a friend of Jacob’s?”
She looked down, considered, shrugged. “I guess so.”
“How come I haven’t heard your name?”
“Ask Jacob.”
“He doesn’t tell me anything. I have to ask you.”
“We know each other. We’re not, like, friends, Jacob and me. We just know each other.”
“How about Ben Rifkin? Did you know him?”
“Same. I knew him but I didn’t really
know
him.”
“Did you like him?”
“He was okay.”
“Just okay?”
“He was a good kid, I guess. Like I said, we weren’t really close.”
“Okay. So I’ll stop asking stupid questions. Why don’t you just tell us, Sarah? Anything at all that might help us, anything you think we ought to know.”
She shifted in her seat. “I don’t really know what you—I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Well, tell me about this place, this school. Start with that. Tell me something about McCormick that I don’t know. What’s it like to go to school here? What’s funny about this place? What’s strange about it?”
No response.
“Sarah, we want to help, you know, but we need some of you kids to help
us
.”
She shifted around in her seat.
“You owe that much to Ben, don’t you think? If he was your friend?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have anything to say, I guess. I don’t know anything.”
“Sarah, whoever did this, he’s still out there. You know that, don’t you? If you can help, then you have a responsibility. A real responsibility. Otherwise this same thing is going to happen again to some other kid. Then it would be on you. If you didn’t do everything—absolutely everything you could—to make it stop, then the next one would be on you, wouldn’t it? How would that make you feel?”
“You’re trying to guilt me. It won’t work. My mom does that too.”
“I’m not trying to guilt you. I’m just telling you the truth.”
No response.
Bang!
Duffy smacked the table with his open palm. Some papers drifted with the breeze he created. “Jesus! This is bullshit, Andy. Just put a subpoena on these kids already, would you? Put ’em in the grand jury, swear ’em in, and if they don’t want to say anything, just lock ’em up for contempt. This is a waste of time. For Christ’s sake!”
The girl’s eyes dilated.
Duffy took his cell phone from a holster on his belt and looked at it, though it had not rung. “I have to make a call,” he announced. “I’ll be right back,” and out he marched.
The kid said, “Is he supposed to be the bad cop?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s not very good at it.”
“You jumped. I saw you.”
“Only ’cause he startled me. He banged the table.”
“He’s right, you know. If you kids don’t start helping us out, we’ll have to do this another way.”
“I thought we didn’t have to say anything if we didn’t want to.”
“That’s true today. Tomorrow, maybe not.”
She thought it over.
“Sarah, it’s true, what you said before. I’m a DA. But I’m also a dad, okay? So I’m not going to just let this thing go. Because I keep thinking of Ben Rifkin’s dad. I keep thinking of how he must be feeling. Can you even imagine how your mom or dad would feel if this happened to you? How devastated they’d be?”
“They’re split up. My dad’s out of the picture. I live with my mom.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Well, Sarah, look, you’re all our kids, you know. All you kids in Jacob’s class, even the ones I don’t know, I care about. All of us parents
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