The Drowning Child

by Alex Barclay

  There were twelve desks in the temporary office, five already occupied by agents from the FBI Portland Division, which covered the entire state of Oregon. Another desk was taken up by the CAST agent – Cellular Analysis Survey Team. He had given Wiley printouts of the Veirs’ phone dumps; John, Teddy and Caleb’s cell phones, and the home phone.

  Wiley was waiting for them like a student eager to please.

  Mixed messages central.

  ‘Nothing jumping out at me so far,’ said Wiley. ‘The last call made on Caleb’s cell phone on Monday morning was to his aunt, Alice Veir – John Veir’s sister. Veir himself made a call on Sunday morning to one of his colleagues, Rob Lockwood, a psychologist at BRCI.’

  Wiley also had the reports from the lab on the Veirs’ laptops. They read through them.

  ‘Nothing here is setting off alarm bells,’ said Ren. ‘Caleb was looking up PlayStation cheats for Grand Theft Auto 5, emailing friends, posting on Facebook, checking out porn. Sure, he calls his father an asshole in a few of his emails, but that’s what kids do. He hates school – he’s twelve years old, no surprise there.’

  Ruddock’s phone beeped. He checked a text. ‘The Veirs are here. I’ll go meet with them.’

  Wiley followed him out.

  Gary turned to Ren when they had left. ‘You and me are talking to John Veir. I think you might unsettle him. I wouldn’t say he likes strong women. You lead, and if his story starts smelling like bullshit, I’ll go big guns, round two.’

  ‘OK, but would you mind if Ruddock and I took Teddy Veir? She is so fragile: in the first interview, I’m not sure she responded very well to being faced down by two men. She looked a little freaked. She could be intimidated by male authority figures, especially if she’s a cowed wife.’

  ‘Or she could be used to male authority figures …’ said Gary.

  ‘Trust me on this,’ said Ren. ‘You could intimidate a woman like her without even realizing it. I’ll tread lightly, and Ruddock is a familiar face, with a gentle way about him. Between us, I think we can just …’ she shrugged, ‘set the right tone.’

  Ruddock came back and brought Gary and Ren to the interview room where John Veir was waiting, pale-faced, twitchy, tense. Ren and Gary introduced themselves.

  ‘I’m sorry that we’re meeting under these circumstances, Mr Veir,’ said Ren. ‘And I apologize for having to ask you so many questions at such a difficult time, especially ones that you may feel you’ve already answered.’

  John’s eyes flicked toward Gary.

  You’re surprised the lady spoke first …

  ‘Thank you,’ said John, his eyes back on Ren, his pupils huge, his gaze fixed.

  Jesus. Intense.

  ‘It’s OK,’ said John. ‘I understand. Go ahead.’

  ‘Talk me through the twenty-four hours before Caleb went missing,’ said Ren.

  John nodded. ‘Sunday morning, me, Teddy and Caleb went to the eleven a.m. service at Tate Baptist Church on 1st Street. We came home, ate lunch together. After lunch, Teddy was in the dining room – she was writing, Caleb was upstairs in his room, on his laptop or his phone, I guess. I was doing some work around the house, in the garage. It was a regular Sunday. Teddy left for Patti Ellis’s house at around six o’clock – Patti’s Teddy’s friend, she’s got cancer, so the friends are taking turns to look after her. Teddy does Sunday nights. And she had a trade show in Salem the following day. After she left, I cooked supper for me and Caleb. We ate together. Caleb went back up to his room. I was in the living room watching television.’

  ‘What were you watching?’ said Ren.

  ‘Uh … well, I was watching a box set,’ said John. ‘I think Breaking Bad? Whichever one is in the machine.’ He didn’t take his eyes off her as he spoke.

  Hmm.

  ‘I was dozing off,’ said John.

  ‘Did you see Caleb again – did you check on him before you went to bed?’ said Ren.

  John frowned. ‘Of course I did. He was fine.’

  ‘How were things between you and Caleb in general?’ said Ren. ‘We’ve had reports of raised voices in the house …’

  ‘Sunday night? No way,’ said John.

  ‘Not specifically Sunday night …’ said Ren.

  ‘Well, not on Sunday, and not on Monday,’ said John. ‘Caleb and I were good.’ He paused. ‘Let me correct that, sorry – I did shout up at Caleb several times on Monday morning, because he was dragging his heels, and his oatmeal was going cold.’

  ‘Did he respond to you?’ said Ren. ‘Did he hurry up?’

  ‘He was already leaving his room,’ said John.

  ‘Did you drive Caleb to school often?’ said Ren.

  ‘When I was working the late shift, yes,’ said John. ‘Otherwise, it was his mom. Or he walked.’

  ‘It takes what – fifteen minutes?’ said Gary.

  ‘Yes,’ said John. ‘A lot of the kids around here walk it. There are usually some parents too. It’s … safe.’

  ‘But Caleb was running late on Monday,’ said Ren.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why didn’t you drive him?’ said Ren. ‘Your shift wasn’t until later that day.’

  ‘He wanted to walk,’ said John. ‘And to be honest, I wanted him to take responsibility for being late. I’m always trying to teach him that choices have consequences.’

  ‘Did you argue at all, have a disagreement about anything that morning?’ said Ren.

  ‘No,’ said John. ‘I told you. Nothing like that. Hands up, I admit I’m strict on the boy, and, yes, I do raise my voice. I know that’s not the done thing these days, but children need discipline. Without discipline …’ He trailed off as his voice cracked. There were tears in his eyes.

  Whoa. Did you discipline him too much? Did it go too far?

  ‘Look, I didn’t do anything to my son,’ said John. ‘I know you look at parents very closely in these situations, but I swear to God, I did not harm my son. It’s the last thing in the world I would do. And my wife … she’s an angel.’

  Fuck, that seemed genuine.

  11

  Ren looked through Caleb Veir’s cell phone records.

  ‘John,’ she said, ‘there was a call made from Caleb’s cell phone to your sister, Alice, at seven thirty a.m. yesterday. Did you know about that?’

  John shook his head. ‘No, I did not.’

  Those giant pupils. Sign of deception …

  ‘Do you know why Caleb would have called your sister?’ said Ren. ‘And so early in the morning?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ said John.

  ‘Are they close?’ said Ren.

  ‘They get along,’ said John. ‘They don’t see each other a lot, but when they do, yeah, absolutely, they’re close.’

  ‘I have cell phone records here going back three months and this was the first time he had ever called her,’ said Ren.

  ‘From his cell phone, maybe,’ said John, ‘but he has spoken to her on the home phone when I’ve called her.’

  ‘What would they talk about?’ said Ren. ‘Was your sister someone Caleb would open up to?’

  ‘Honestly, I didn’t pay attention to what they talked about,’ said John. ‘I was just glad they were talking.’

  ‘Monday’s call was ten minutes long,’ said Ren.

  ‘Honestly, I don’t know what that would have been about.’

  ‘The call was deleted from the call list on his phone,’ said Ren. ‘Why would Caleb have wanted to hide that?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said John. ‘Maybe he was planning a surprise for me or his mom and didn’t want us to know he’d called Alice?’ He paused. ‘Oh, hold on … I forgot about this – Alice is working on a wrongful conviction case that’s getting a lot of attention. Caleb had mentioned her coming in to talk to his class on one of her visits here. Knowing Caleb, he was probably supposed to have someone organized for Monday, and he ended up calling Alice at the last minute.’

  ‘Did Caleb have a particular interest in the law?’ s
aid Ren. ‘Or was there something about this case?’

  ‘It might just have been that Alice had been on television,’ said John. ‘You know kids …’

  Ren nodded. Hold on a second … ‘Haven’t you talked to her yet? Told her that Caleb’s missing?’

  ‘No, no,’ said John. ‘I didn’t want to bother her with it. She would worry. And she might drive down here for no reason. If he showed up after all that, it would be pretty embarrassing. She’s very busy.’

  Embarrassing? Busy? What the what now? ‘Well, it’s been a while at this stage,’ said Ren, ‘so we’d like to talk to her about this phone call from Caleb, at the very least.’

  Eye-dart. ‘Sure, I can call her.’

  ‘Let me take care of that,’ said Ren. ‘We’ve got her number here.’

  John waited for the next question. Ren held eye contact long enough for his jaw to twitch, long enough that he was the first to avert his eyes.

  What’s going on here?

  ‘Have you taken a look around the house, noticed anything missing that belonged to Caleb?’ said Ren.

  He shook his head. ‘No. Not that I can think of.’

  ‘I’d like to talk to you about the escaped inmate, Franklin J. Merrifield,’ said Gary.

  ‘What?’ said John. ‘Why? I wasn’t even there when that happened.’

  ‘Did you know Merrifield?’ said Gary.

  ‘Yes, I knew him, but not well,’ said John. ‘I’ve never had any trouble with him – nothing.’

  ‘When you heard Merrifield had escaped, were you surprised?’ said Gary.

  ‘Absolutely,’ said John. ‘It’s the first time anything like that has happened since I’ve been working at BRCI.’

  ‘Do you think he had help on the inside?’

  ‘It’s not about what I think,’ said John. ‘I don’t know is the answer.’

  ‘Tell me what you know about Seth Fuller,’ said Ren.

  ‘Seth Fuller?’ said John. He shrugged. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘He was also an inmate at BRCI, and we’ve had reports he showed a particular interest in Caleb.’

  ‘That’s the first I’ve heard of that,’ said John. ‘Who said that?’

  ‘I can’t say,’ said Ren, ‘but we know that he paid for some comics for Caleb if he was short of cash, bought him sodas at the store, that kind of thing.’

  ‘Well, I know nothing about that,’ said John, ‘but Seth’s a good kid. I’m not worried about him. I would have written his name down on that list if I was.’

  ‘Can you be sure of that?’ said Ren.

  ‘Can anyone ever be sure of anything?’ said John.

  Yes, actually, but … ‘So you didn’t know anything about Seth and Caleb …’

  ‘No,’ said John, irritated. ‘There was no “Seth and Caleb”. So he bought him a couple of things – I’d like to think that was just a nice gesture.’

  ‘So your dealings with Seth Fuller in BRCI …’

  John shrugged. ‘I didn’t have any. I mean – no one-on-one dealings with him.’

  Ren stood up. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘That’s all for now. Thank you.’

  Ren and Gary walked down the hallway toward the office.

  ‘Did you hear the amount of times he did the question-as-reply thing?’ said Ren. And “Honestly …”’

  Gary nodded.

  ‘We need to break his ass down,’ said Ren. ‘And what is the deal with his sister? Why the hell wouldn’t he tell her that her nephew had gone missing? Bizarre.’ She paused. ‘And that fucking stare …’

  Black and eerie.

  Ren went to her desk and typed Alice Veir’s name into Google.

  Alice. Alice. Who the fuck is Alice?

  The client whose case had put Alice Veir in the spotlight six months earlier was a man called Anthony Boyd Lorden. He had been jailed for life for the murder of Kevin Dunne, a sixteen-year-old hitch-hiker who disappeared in 1991 and whose skeletal remains were found a year later. Alice Veir lay the blame with the detectives working the case, saying that Lorden, who was only seventeen at the time of his arrest, had been coerced into signing a confession.

  This will be fun … talking to a woman who rails against the interrogation techniques of law enforcement.

  Ren dialed Alice’s number.

  ‘Ms Veir?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I’m Special Agent Ren Bryce – I’m calling about your nephew, Caleb. I’m sorry to have to tell you that Caleb has been missing since yesterday morning.’

  ‘Yesterday?’ said Alice. ‘Why hasn’t anyone called me until now?’

  ‘Your brother, John, said he didn’t want to bother you in case Caleb—’

  ‘Hold on – why isn’t John the one calling me now?’

  Ren could hear the defensive tone creep into Alice Veir’s voice.

  ‘At this moment,’ said Ren, ‘he’s speaking with investigators here in Tate PD. I’d like to ask you about your phone conversation with Caleb yesterday morning at seven thirty a.m.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Alice. ‘Of course. Yes. He wanted me to come talk to his class.’ She paused. ‘Sorry … I’m … I … can’t wrap my brain around this. Caleb’s missing?’

  ‘We’re doing everything we can to find him,’ said Ren. ‘Time is of the essence, as you know …’

  ‘Sorry – yes,’ said Alice. ‘The phone call …’

  ‘How did Caleb seem to you?’ said Ren.

  ‘Fine,’ said Alice. ‘Absolutely fine. Rushed, maybe, but he had to get to school, and he knew he should have asked me weeks earlier.’

  ‘Did he seem upset to you in any way?’ said Ren.

  ‘Why would he be upset?’ said Alice.

  ‘I’m trying to get a sense of his state of mind,’ said Ren. ‘I’m sure you understand. You’re the last person to have spoken to him.’

  ‘That you know of, I presume …’

  This woman is going to be a nightmare.

  ‘Yes,’ said Ren.

  ‘Please don’t tell me you think my brother had anything to do with this,’ said Alice. ‘I see where this is going. I know from Caleb that he was home alone with John that morning and you’re now asking me what Caleb’s state of mind was. Caleb is a happy kid, John is a wonderful father. He would do anything for his son. He loves that boy more than anything in the world.’ Her voice cracked. ‘He’s such a good man, my brother.’

  ‘And Teddy?’ said Ren.

  ‘Great,’ said Alice. ‘Teddy’s wonderful.’

  ‘And how are things between John and Teddy?’ said Ren.

  ‘Great, from what I can gather,’ said Alice.

  ‘Do you get along well with your brother?’ said Ren.

  ‘Yes, we’re very close,’ said Alice.

  ‘And Teddy?’ said Ren.

  ‘Yes, we get along,’ said Alice.

  ‘What did you say to Caleb?’ said Ren. ‘Did you tell him that you’d come talk to his class?’

  ‘Oh, yes – I was more than happy to. I told him I’d come down next month.’

  ‘Were you surprised to hear from Caleb that early in the morning?’ said Ren.

  ‘Yes,’ said Alice, ‘of course. We’ve never spoken at that hour before.’ She let out a breath. ‘Please find him. Please, please find him. I’ve seen too much, I know what happens. I … can’t bear the idea that Caleb could be …’ She paused. ‘We all know about the first forty-eight hours, that they’re the most important in a situation like this. And I think we both know that window is halfway down.’

  12

  As Ren ended the call to Alice Veir, she felt a presence beside her and looked up. It was Ruddock.

  ‘Teddy Veir is waiting for us in Interview 2,’ he said.

  Teddy Veir was staring at the wall as if there was something more interesting to look at than flaking gray paint. Ren and Ruddock walked in and sat down.

  ‘Teddy – this is Ren Bryce,’ said Ruddock. ‘She’s with the FBI CARD team.’

  ‘Hello,’ said T
eddy. ‘Thank you … for being here.’

  Ren nodded.

  ‘What do you think of all this?’ said Teddy.

  Strange question. Or strange delivery?

  ‘You do this all the time,’ said Teddy. ‘Is my son … do you think … what happens in your other cases?’

  Oh, you do not want to know that we usually show up, a body is found, and we all go home.

  ‘Mrs Veir—’

  ‘Teddy.’

  ‘Teddy, we’re gathering all the facts here—’

  ‘It’s been over twenty-four hours …’ she said. ‘I know you’re already losing hope of finding him alive.’

  ‘That’s not true,’ said Ruddock. ‘And there are hundreds of people working hard on this.’

  ‘But nothing showed up in the search,’ said Teddy.

  ‘Yet,’ said Ruddock. ‘We’ll be searching again. Every day, if we have to. And the neighborhood canvass team is working nonstop. Please be reassured by that. And Ren and I are here now to focus on some answers we need.’

  Teddy nodded. ‘OK, OK. I’m sorry. I’m just … I’m going out of my mind.’

  ‘I know,’ said Ren. ‘Let’s start with Sunday evening. Why don’t you talk us through that …’

  ‘I left the house at six to go to my friend Patti’s,’ said Teddy. ‘Patti Ellis. Caleb was home, John was preparing supper for both of them. I eat with Patti.’

  ‘And how was Caleb, Sunday night?’ said Ren.

  ‘He was quiet,’ said Teddy. ‘But—’

  Ren and Ruddock waited.

  I know what you’re thinking, Teddy. You’re thinking if you finish that sentence, you will be incriminating your husband. But … what? But Caleb was always quiet around his father?

  And you’re thinking – what if your husband did do something, and you lied to the police? I am watching the weighing up. And you know I am.

  Teddy readjusted herself in her seat. ‘John’s childhood, his time in the military … it made him the man he is today. He’s a good man, a good husband, a good father. But … yes, Caleb was quiet around him sometimes.’ There was a pleading look in her eyes. ‘Caleb can be sullen, and John is stubborn. The two things don’t always sit well together. John is not an aggressive man. He withdraws. He gets distant. That can be really difficult, but it doesn’t make him …’ She shrugged. ‘His biggest crime, maybe, is being … intense.’