“What did this guy do?”
“He hit me with my baseball bat.”
“How did he get your bat?”
“I left it in the field. He must have picked it up. He hit me in the back. The doc says I’ve got some broken ribs. Then he yanked me off Laura. I mean, he picked me up like I was a rag doll. This guy was strong. Laura screamed, and I saw her run for the woods, trying to get away. He started after her. He still had the bat in his hand. I got up and took a swing at him, and he punched me in the head with his fist. Knocked me out cold, flat on my back. That’s all I remember.”
Ray looked at him. “What happened when you woke up? How long were you out?”
“I don’t know. Fifteen minutes maybe.”
“Where was Laura? Where was this black guy?”
“They were both gone.”
“Didn’t you look for her?”
Peter shuffled his feet. “No.”
“This girl is your lover, and some guy chased her into the woods, and you woke up and just left?”
“I panicked. I was scared to death.”
Randall Stanhope interrupted. “I’m sorry, Detective. Obviously, my son should have made efforts to see if his girlfriend was safe. I’m very disappointed in his behavior.”
Peter’s eyes flashed with anger. “Hey, what could I do? If I’d gone after him, I’d be dead now, too. Is that what you want?”
“Shut up, Peter,” his father told him.
“Let’s get back to this man who assaulted you,” Ray said. “What else do you remember about him?”
Peter shrugged. “He was big. Like a bear. I think he had dreadlocks.”
“Have you ever seen him before?”
“No.”
Ray nodded. “Jon saw a black man matching this description in the woods that night, too.”
“Ah,” Randall said. “Well, that’s good. Another witness. Do you think you’ll be able to find him?”
“Jon says he’s a vagrant who lives down by the tracks,” Ray said.
“Oh, so you’ve seen him before?” Randall asked Stride.
Stride nodded.
“Isn’t that lucky,” Randall said. “Detective, I hope you can apprehend him. Of course, I know that these people are often desperate itinerants. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s long gone by now. He must know that the police will be on his trail.”
“No doubt,” Ray said.
“Do you need anything else from Peter right now?”
Ray shook his head. “Not for the moment.”
“That’s good. Do you have another minute, Detective? I’d like to share something with you privately.”
Ray rubbed his mustache and nodded at Stride. He tossed him the keys to the Camaro, which Stride caught in midair. “Wait outside for me, okay, Jon? I won’t be long. Play the radio, if you like.”
Stride and Peter left the room together. The waning sunlight gathered through the high windows in the vault of the foyer, but where the two boys were, the room was filled with dusty shadows. Stride heard a clock ticking. A gamey smell of venison rose from the downstairs kitchen. Peter escorted him silently to the front door, and Stride felt a frozen tension between them.
“You weren’t dating Laura,” Stride said.
“What are you, a cop? Leave it alone.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No, I didn’t, you asshole. Get the hell out of here.”
Peter yanked the heavy door open. Stride shoved past him and heard the door slam as soon as he had cleared the threshold. He kicked at the loose gravel, then bent down and picked up a loose rock and hurled it into an oval duck pond. He walked past Ray’s Camaro and found a black wrought-iron bench in the gardens, where he sat down, his long legs stretched out. He waited. Silhouettes of birds flitted among the fir trees. The air outside was humid, and he began to sweat. Twenty minutes later, the front door opened again, and Ray came out alone. Ray lit a cigarette and strolled over to the bench.
“Hey, Jon, sorry that took so long.”
“No problem.”
Ray exhaled a cloud of white smoke. “So what do you think?”
“I think Peter is lying.”
“Maybe,” Ray said, “but his story about this guy Dada tracks with what you saw. You didn’t spot this guy until after the storm hit and you left the softball game, right?”
“Right.”
“Any chance Peter saw him hanging around before the game?”
“Not likely,” Stride said. “I was already in the field when Peter arrived, and I didn’t see Dada anywhere around there.”
“So Peter must have seen him after you did. After the storm. When Laura was coming back to the softball field.”
“I guess so,” Stride said.
“Do you think Laura could have been hiding her affair with Peter?”
Stride frowned. “I think Cindy would have known.”
“Sisters don’t always tell sisters everything.”
“Well, yeah, that’s true. Cindy and Laura weren’t best pals or anything. But Peter didn’t make it sound like he was dating Laura when he talked to me during the game.”
“That could be him keeping it secret.”
“Maybe.” Stride wasn’t convinced.
“Anyway, can you stay with me a while longer? I could use your help again.”
“Sure,” Stride said.
Ray reached inside his sport coat and withdrew a long-barreled revolver. He opened the chamber and checked it. Stride could see the silver jackets of bullets loaded inside. Ray spun and locked it with a solid click and shoved it back in his shoulder holster.