The Competition - [96]

Jennifer nodded. “If Logan is the one they’re helping, then yes. You’re right. But if it is the second shooter-the one whose identity hasn’t been publicized-then maybe not.”

Bailey nodded. “I guess I just assumed that since the shooters were buddies, the person doing the mailing would know them both and make the connection.”

Michael reached for the pot of coffee and poured himself another cup. “And you may be right. But Logan did have more than one friend. Even if your helper knows the letter writer is a friend of Logan’s, that wouldn’t necessarily mean he’s the one who was involved in the shooting.”

Jenny nodded. “And if the helper isn’t following the case daily, the name Rachel Knight may not mean anything to him. In any case, we have to proceed with the possibility that our helper is an innocent third party.”

Because if it wasn’t an innocent third party, it wouldn’t matter if we put on tiaras and waved a magic wand-he wasn’t coming forward.

Bailey nodded. “I think Graden will be able to persuade the chief to go along. The only real downside is that the press will go nuts trying to find out what’s in those letters.”

Bailey’s cell phone rang. She looked at the number and took the call. After saying little more than “yeah” and “got it,” she ended the call. “That was Harrellson. He’s on his way back to the station.”

Time to find out what he was keeping so close to the vest. We thanked the doctors and hurried out.

Harrellson was waiting for us in the bull pen when we arrived. He waved us into a witness interview room and closed the door. “You better sit down.” We all took seats around the small table. “The body they found in Box Canyon isn’t Evan’s.”

That should have been great news, but Harrellson’s face said otherwise. “So who is it?” Bailey asked.

“Logan Jarvis.”

62

I felt like I’d taken a lead sap to the head. Bailey looked just as stunned. We sat in silence for a few moments.

“From all indications, it was suicide,” Harrellson said.

It dimly penetrated the haze of shock that our shrinks had said Logan seemed the suicidal type.

“Ready for more?” Harrellson asked. No, I really wasn’t. I nodded anyway. “According to Dr. Shoe, he’s been dead for days.”

I put my hands on the table. “What?”

“How many days?” Bailey asked.

“At least three. Cause of death is a gunshot wound to the head.”

I stared at the wall. Three days. I slowly absorbed the ramifications. “If Logan’s been dead for three days, then-”

“He couldn’t have done the Cinemark shooting,” Bailey said.

“But there were two assault rifles,” I said.

“Yeah.” Harrellson rubbed his neck. “This is crazy. So now what? We have a third shooter?”

Bailey frowned. “But the kids in the school only saw two.”

“And all the cell phone and video surveillance footage only showed two,” I said. “There’s been no evidence of a third party anywhere.”

“Unless a third party’s been in the background all along,” Harrellson said.

“I don’t know…that just doesn’t feel right.” This wasn’t the Bling Ring, a bunch of idiot teenagers looking to burglarize movie stars for shits and giggles. These were two deranged sickos bent on mass murder. The fact that they’d even managed to find each other stretched the odds, but finding a third? One who could be trusted not to fall apart at the last minute and get them all busted? That stretched the odds to the breaking point. Or, as Nick would say, that dog wouldn’t hunt. And I’d never heard of a school shooting that involved more than two killers.

When pieces don’t fit, it means you’re forcing them. I leaned back and stared at the table. I had to let go of every assumption we’d made about this case. We knew there were two gunmen at Fairmont-we’d seen them on the videotape. We’d assumed the same two gunmen had done the shooting at the Cinemark. But now we knew Logan couldn’t have been one of them. I mentally played out the sequence of events described by Gina. Then did it again. Slowly, an answer began to take shape. “What if there was just one shooter at the Cinemark? Think about it. The projectionist gets stabbed: that’s a one-man job. Then shots are fired into the theater. We found two assault rifles, but one guy could have pulled both triggers-”

Bailey nodded slowly. “And it would only take one guy to kill the manager.”

“He dropped two guns to make us think there were two shooters?” Harrellson asked.

I shrugged. “Why not? The mislead seems to be his MO. He did it with Otis…”

I watched Harrellson play it out for himself. He nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’s possible. But one guy or two, we still don’t have ID-on either.”

That pretty much summed up what we didn’t have. So I focused on what we did have. That gave me a lot less to think about. “Evan’s still in the wind-”

“Yep,” Harrellson said. “I’ve got every available officer out there looking for him.”

“What’s it been now,” I asked, “two days?” He nodded. “It’s weird he hasn’t even called his parents. Just to say ‘Hey, I’m okay.’ Don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Bailey said. “My guess is he’s got friends no one knows about. But you’re thinking Evan might be involved-”