Read Online Trial by Fury (9780061754715) by Judith A. Jance - Free Book Online

three, some of them talking quietly, some weeping openly. The group was made up mostly of boys with five or six girls thrown into the mix. All of the faces reflected a combination of shock, grief, horror, and disbelief.
    In the far corner of the room, a woman in her mid-thirties stood with one comforting hand on the heaving shoulders of a silently weeping girl. Browning gestured to the woman. She gave the girl a reassuring pat and walked toward us.
    â€œThis is Mrs. Wynn, one of our guidance counselors. She’s also the advisor to the cheerleading squad. Candace, these are Detectives Beaumont and Peters from Seattle P.D. They need to interview those students who were at the game Friday.”
    Candace Wynn had a boyish figure and a headful of softly curling auburn hair. An impudent cluster of freckles spattered across her nose. Those freckles were at odds with the hostile, blue-eyed gaze that she turned on us.
    â€œThat’s absolutely out of the question!”
    â€œCandace, of course we will cooperate fullywith the authorities in this matter.”
    â€œBut Ned…” she began.
    â€œThat, however, does not mean we will allow any exploitation. My position on the media remains unchanged, but we have an obligation to teach these young people their civic responsibility.”
    The previous exchange had been conducted in such undertones that I doubt any of the kids had overheard a single sentence. Browning raised his hand for attention. His was a small but totally commanding presence. The students listened to his oddly stilted remarks with rapt concentration.
    â€œMy intention was that you should gather here and not be disturbed. However, I have brought with me two detectives from the Seattle Police Department. They are investigating Coach Ridley’s death. It’s important that we work with them. All of us. They have asked to spend time with you today, to discuss anything you may have seen or heard in the course of the game at the Coliseum Friday night.”
    He paused to clear his throat. A whisper rustled through the room. “We at this school have all suffered a severe loss. Those of you in this room, the ones who were most closely connected with Coach Ridley, are bound to suffer the most. Grief is natural. We all feel it,but it’s important that we put that grief to a constructive use.
    â€œMrs. Wynn will be here throughout the interview process. I urge you to cooperate as much as possible. Helping these men discover who perpetrated this terrible crime is perhaps the only practical outlet for what we’re feeling today. Detective Beaumont?”
    I stepped forward, expecting to be introduced, but Browning continued. “Before you begin asking your questions, Detective Beaumont, I think it only fair that the students be allowed to ask some of you. All day long we’ve been subjected to a barrage of rumors. It would do us a tremendous service if we had some idea of what’s really going on.”
    I’d been snookered before, but let me tell you, Ned Browning did it up brown.
    Where, oh where, was Arlo Hamilton when I needed him?

CHAPTER
8
    I ’ve never faced a tougher audience. Browning was right. Those kids were hurting and needed answers. As a group they had taken a closer look at death than most kids their age. Adolescents aren’t accustomed to encountering human mortality on a regular basis. Two times in as many years is pretty damn regular.
    They needed to know when Darwin Ridley had died, and how. Evidently, some helpful soul had spread the word that Ridley was despondent over the loss of the game and had committed suicide on account of it. The asshole who laid that ugly trip on those poor kids should have been strangled.
    I answered their questions as best I could, fudging a little when necessary. I knew what would happen as soon as they stepped out of Ned Browning’s artificial cocoon and the media started chewing them to bits. The principal stayed