The Competition - [47]

“Do you know Logan Jarvis, ma’am?” Bailey asked.

“Yes. He and Evan became friends shortly after we moved here. I heard what they’re saying about him on the news, but from what I know, he’s a lovely boy. Kind of on the shy side, but very sweet.” She gave us a tight “I’m trying to help” smile.

I could tell from that smile alone that we wouldn’t get anything useful from her, and after a few more minutes Bailey came to the same conclusion.

“We’d like to see Evan now, Mrs. Cutter,” Bailey said. “And I hope you don’t mind if we speak to him alone.”

She’d kept her head down, made only sporadic eye contact before, but now she looked up at Bailey with alarm. “He’s not in trouble, is he?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all. It’s just better-less distracting-if we talk privately.”

Mikayla nodded. “I understand. I’ll go get him.”

Evan looked surprised to see us. He gave us a nervous “Hey” and took his mother’s place on the lounger.

“I’d like to go back over the morning of the shooting,” I said. “I’m sorry, I know it’s upsetting, but we don’t want to miss anything.”

He nodded and dipped his head. Just like Mikayla. “Sure. I get it.”

“Did you see Logan the morning of the shooting?” I asked. “I mean, before school.”

He gripped his knees. “Uh, I don’t remember.”

Yes, you do. “Evan, I don’t want to scare you, but it’s a criminal offense to withhold information.”

Evan looked down at his lap and picked at the knee of his jeans. After a few moments, he spoke. “I saw him for, like, a minute. He was in the parking lot, standing by his car.”

“Did you speak to him?”

“Yeah. Just for, like, a second.”

“Who spoke first?” I asked.

“I did. I said, ‘Hey’ and ‘What’s going on?’ and, like, that.” Evan pressed his lips together.

“And what did he say?” Bailey asked.

“Said he was waiting for someone.”

“Did you ask him who he was waiting for?” I asked.

“No. I saw Otis heading over so I took off. He can be kind of a blabber sometimes, and they make you pick up trash around the school if you’re late.”

But that wasn’t the whole story. “What else happened, Evan?”

He pulled at a thread on the arm of the lounger. I saw his Adam’s apple bounce. “I told Logan I had to get to class.” Evan licked his lips with a dry tongue. “He told me I should cut and not come back.” Evan finally made eye contact-a brief apologetic look-then dropped his gaze back to the floor. “I’m sorry. I guess I should’ve told you before. But I knew it would sound bad. And I didn’t want to believe…any of it.”

And he didn’t want to be another brick in the wall of mounting evidence against his friend. “It didn’t sound bad at the time?” I asked.

“No. I just took it as him saying ‘Dude, fuck school.’”

“Did you leave after that?” Evan nodded. “So you didn’t talk to Otis at all?”

“No.”

“Where did you go?” I asked.

“Homeroom.”

I’d get that verified, though I had no doubt it would check out. It was too easy for us to bust a lie like that.

“Did you notice anything in his car?” Bailey asked.

“No, but I wasn’t looking. The whole thing took maybe ten seconds.” He glanced up briefly and gave us another apologetic look. “I really am sorry. I sort of told myself it wasn’t important. But I guess I just didn’t want to be talking bad about a friend.” Evan shook his head. “Stupid, I know.”

Not so much stupid as typically teenage. Or maybe just typical, period. After all, who does want to think their friend, son, brother is a mass murderer? “Did Logan ever talk about guns?” I asked.

Evan frowned, then shook his head. “Nothing sticks out in my mind. If the subject came up, he sure didn’t say anything that made me go ‘whoa.’”

“Did you ever see him with guns?” I asked. “Either in person or in photos?”

“Logan? Never. That’s why this whole thing with him is so…bizarre.”

“Can you think of anyone besides Otis who might’ve been in on this with Logan?” I asked. “Anyone else Logan was hanging out with who seemed like trouble?”

Evan frowned. “No. And to tell you the truth, I don’t even really believe Otis was in on it. I know I said he was a loser and all. But after I talked to you guys, I got to thinking about it. Otis was kind of annoying, and he was a weird little dude, but he wasn’t that kind of weird.” He went back to picking at the arm of the lounger.

“Did Logan ever talk to you about a girl named Amanda?” I asked.

He looked up at me. “Amanda? Where’d you get that name from?”

“So he didn’t talk to you about her?”

“No.”

“Did he mention any other girls?” Bailey asked.

“What, ever?” Evan looked incredulous. “Yeah. Of course. But not in a ‘love’ way or anything.”

“Did you ever meet Logan’s brother, Luke?” I asked.

“Yeah, once or twice.”

“What was your impression of him?” I asked.

Evan shrugged. “I don’t know. He seemed okay, I guess.”

“When did you last see him?” Bailey asked.

“Not that recently. He and Logan didn’t really hang out. At least not from what I saw.”

“If Logan was looking for a place to hide, where do you think he’d go?” I asked.

“No clue. He’s got cousins in Colorado, I think. But I don’t know where.”

“Was there someplace you two used to hang out when you didn’t want to be in a crowd?” I asked.