Bone Dust White

by Karin Salvalaggio

  Elizabeth drops her voice to a whisper. “So this may not have had anything to do with Leanne?”

  “We’re just speculating at this point.”

  Macy opens her notebook and flips through until she finds what she’s looking for. “I heard there was an incident with a teacher named David Freeman when she was fourteen.”

  Elizabeth sighs. “The whole thing was blown out of proportion.”

  “So what did happen? There’s usually some grain of truth to these things.”

  “There’s really nothing to tell. It was an innocent schoolgirl crush.” Elizabeth shifts awkwardly in her chair. “There was talk that Grace was having an affair with a married man but thankfully his name was never revealed.”

  “Charges were filed.”

  “And charges were dropped. They both denied the whole thing. The only mistake he made was thinking he could handle it on his own. He didn’t know how to cope with Grace. She could be very needy with anyone who showed her kindness. The doctors weren’t sure how long she had left to live. It was a difficult few years for her.”

  “Does she have any friends we could speak to?”

  Elizabeth remains silent.

  “You know I can find out who Grace’s friends are without your help.”

  Elizabeth closes her eyes. “Grace has no friends.”

  Macy writes down the words “no friends” in her notebook and underlines it three times. “So why don’t you tell me about Grace’s present state of mind?”

  “She seems calm but really, it’s hard to tell.”

  “I need to talk to her.”

  Elizabeth looks at Warren for support but he agrees with Macy. “Sorry, Elizabeth, there’s a killer out there and Grace is our only witness.”

  Elizabeth stands up with difficulty and tells them she wants to go upstairs to prepare her niece. Warren offers to go with her.

  “Grace knows me,” he says. “I’m sure she’ll be fine if I offer to sit with her.”

  Macy turns to face Warren. “I didn’t realize you were so close to the family.”

  Elizabeth takes Warren’s arm. “Warren and Arnold were both deacons at the church.”

  Warren leads Elizabeth away. “Arnold was the one who took it seriously. I was a lapsed deacon at best.”

  A female doctor meets them as they’re leaving the cafeteria and they stand huddled together in the open doorway speaking in low voices. Macy strains her ears but there is too much noise coming from the kitchen to hear what is said. For a second it looks like Elizabeth might cry. She holds on to the doorframe for support and is eventually led away by the doctor. The doors swing shut and Warren is left standing alone.

  Macy walks over to him. “What’s going on?”

  He runs his fingers through what’s left of his hair. “Grace has had a panic attack. They’ve had to sedate her.”

  Macy stares at the closed doors. “What’s the name of her doctor? I should probably speak to her.”

  “Dr. Sonya Gibson. She’s been looking after Grace for years.” He pauses. “You probably won’t be able to interview her until tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, I figured that. I think I’ll head over to Wilmington Creek. I want to speak to David Freeman.”

  “You know he has an alibi for yesterday. He was teaching all morning.”

  “I’ve got to start somewhere. From what I’ve read about the complaint made against him, David Freeman is the closest thing Grace has had to a friend in the last ten years. She may still be in contact with him.”

  “I’m going to head upstairs to look in on things. I’ll let Dr. Gibson know you’d like to have a word with her.”

  Macy walks back to the table and sits down. Resting her head in her hands, she tries to think through everything she knows about the original case. Unable to sleep in the strange motel room, she’d combed through the files, making fresh notes on her laptop for hours and only stopping when the grinding noise of truck traffic along Main Street announced a new day. Her thoughts on the killer’s motives keep snagging on the bouquet of roses and baby-doll nightie.

  She hears the lightest of footsteps and looks up to find Jared standing over the table.

  He pulls out the chair across from her. “You were a million miles away.”

  Her notebook sits in front of her, a schematic of the original case in full view. She eases it closed and hopes he hasn’t had the chance to see what’s written there. “Not quite a million miles away,” she says, looking around the cafeteria. Everything inside is beige and outside it continues to snow. She wishes she were a million miles away.

  He gestures to her empty cup. “Another coffee?”

  “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

  He sits across from her anyway. “I spoke to Grace Adams this morning.”

  Macy arches an eyebrow. “And?”

  “She seems a little lost.”

  “Lucid, though?”

  “Yeah, but you’ll see. She’s not like the other kids around here.”

  Macy puts her notebook in her bag and stands. “From what I can tell that’s probably a good thing.”

  “Are you going to interview her?”

  “They’ve had to sedate her. She’s had a panic attack.”

  Jared rubs his chin. “She’s okay, though?”

  “That’s what I’m going upstairs to find out.”

  Outside in the corridor Macy spins around trying to find her way. “Aren’t there any signs in this hospital? I can’t even find an elevator.”

  Jared steers her to the left. “I’ll take you. We don’t want Montana’s finest getting lost.”

  Macy turns on her heel and grins. “So, Jared, was that the other woman?”

  Jared pushes the button for the elevator. “Excuse me?”

  “The nurse you were sitting with in the cafeteria. Was she the one you were seeing when we were dating?”

  “I’ve only been with Lexxie for a little over a year.”

  Macy presses him. “But you were seeing someone else when we were together.”

  “No,” says Jared, following her into the elevator. “There was no one else.”

  Macy laughs. “Don’t bullshit me, Jared. I’m a detective.”

  “You’re a detective that can’t find the elevator.” He turns and looks at her. “Anyway, you’re all set now. You’re having a baby. Life is good.”

  Macy concentrates on the ascending numbers. Two floors to go. “Yep, all set.”

  “We could have dinner tonight. It would be nice to catch up.”

  Macy thinks about it for a second before declining. “I’m going to be too tired. Provided the roads are clear I have to drive over to Wilmington Creek. By the time I get back I know I’ll just want to go to bed.”

  “Look, I just got off work so I’ll drive you. My folks live over that way and I have some stuff I need to drop off at their place.”

  Macy can’t help but look grateful. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m happy to do it.”

  Macy keys his number into her phone and agrees to call him as soon as she’s finished talking to Grace’s doctor.

  *

  By the time Macy and Jared are on the road the weather has lifted, but everything is powdered white and there is no sky. The world ends in a low mist that hovers just above their heads. Jared isn’t bothered by the poor road conditions. He drives fast, cutting in and out of lanes and passing trucks when they are going too slow for him.

  “So where are we going?” he asks.

  “Wilmington Creek High School.”

  “Home of the fighting bears. I know it well.”

  Macy shifts the elastic waistband on her trousers so she’s more comfortable. Her unborn child seems to be resting right on top of her intestines, making it impossible to eat more than one mouthful of food at a time. When she’s finally settled she glances over in Jared’s direction.

  “So are things serious between you and Lexxie?”

  “That depends on who you ask. She’s seriou
s. I’m not.”

  “Why does that not surprise me?”

  Jared checks the wing mirror and moves into the right lane. Up ahead there’s an exit for Wilmington Creek. “What did the doctor have to say about Grace?”

  “Given patient-doctor confidentiality, not much. Apparently, Grace has suffered panic attacks in the past but not usually this extreme. This time they decided it best to sedate her.”

  “I can’t say I’m surprised. What happened yesterday was horrible. I don’t see how she’ll ever get over it.”

  “Thankfully, there was a family friend with her. He said it came on quite suddenly. Her heart started racing and she couldn’t breathe properly.”

  “Have you ever had a panic attack?”

  She thinks for a few seconds before answering. “Maybe once or twice back in high school. What about you?”

  “No, I’m not the type. It’s one of the perks of never being serious.”

  “You just keep telling yourself that.”

  Her phone rings and she glances at the screen before leaving it unanswered.

  “Aren’t you going to get that?”

  She turns off the sound. “It’s my mother. We spoke earlier today so it can wait.”

  “She’s probably worried about you.”

  “She’s got no reason to be.”

  Jared takes a left onto a driveway lined with a low, snow-covered hedge. A billboard marks the entrance to the modest high school campus. The single-story classrooms are spaced out amongst the trees. The gym is the only building that is of decent size. It’s situated next to a clearing dotted with snow-covered picnic tables. Jared and Macy drive through a parking lot full of pickup trucks and older four-door sedans. Other than a smoking section, located in the corner next to the Dumpsters, there’s not a soul in sight. The students there barely acknowledge Jared’s truck as it crawls over the compacted ice.

  He pulls up in front of the main building and peers in toward the reception desk. “Do they know you’re coming?”

  “Yeah, they know. I called earlier.” She looks at Jared. “Thanks again for doing this.”

  Jared reaches for the cigarette he put aside earlier. “Given what a shit I was in the past it’s the least I could do. I’ll wait out here until you’re done. By the way, I called my parents. They’re expecting us for lunch.”

  Macy stares at him. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. We date for three years and I never meet them and now we’re having lunch.”

  He tilts his head toward her belly and grins. “Just do us a favor. Don’t tell them the baby’s mine.”

  *

  David Freeman stands in the small lobby waiting for her. Slightly balding and carrying a bit of extra weight around the middle, he’s wearing a suit and tie. He looks her in the eye when they shake hands.

  “Welcome to Wilmington Creek High School, Detective Greeley.”

  Macy thanks him and asks if there’s someplace private they can talk.

  He guides her into his office and shuts the door behind them. “I hope this isn’t about one of my students.”

  Macy takes the chair on offer. “Actually, it’s about a past student. I assume you’ve heard Grace Adams witnessed a murder yesterday morning.”

  He stops moving. “Am I a suspect?”

  “We checked. We know you were here.”

  Instead of sitting, David leans against the desk. He pulls up his trousers at the hem and scratches his ankle. “In that case what can I do for you?”

  “Let’s consider it homework. I need to learn more about Grace Adams but there are very few people who are close to her.”

  “Getting close to Grace Adams nearly cost me my job.”

  “I’ve looked into the allegations made against you when you were her teacher at Collier High School. There was no evidence of inappropriate behavior. You went to your superiors and told them your concerns about Grace prior to the charges being leveled.”

  “Unfortunately, it’s a known hazard in the teaching profession. I’m just thankful the accusations were never made public. It would have ended my career.”

  “You transferred schools shortly afterward?”

  “I thought it would be easier for everyone concerned if I moved on. I don’t regret it. This is a smaller school but has more opportunities. I’m already the vice principal. I’m making a real difference.”

  “So you don’t blame Grace for what happened?”

  “No,” he says, shifting his weight. “She was special. Really bright but very troubled. She used to eat lunch in my classroom because she felt safe there. I’m not sure if you have access to her school records but it’s all there in black and white. Grace was the victim of a prolonged campaign of bullying.”

  “Any particular kids come to mind?”

  “Yeah, a couple of them were my accusers, Sissy Olsen and her boyfriend Dwayne Harris.”

  “Do you have any idea why they made false charges?”

  He puffs out his cheeks. “I flunked them in English.”

  “That’s all it takes?”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  “Given what I do for a living, nothing surprises me anymore.”

  “I imagine not.”

  “So during lunch you and Grace discussed literary classics?”

  “That and other stuff. She’d talk a lot about dying. According to the doctors she didn’t have long to live.”

  “Did you ever discuss her mother?”

  “Not directly, but it came up in her short stories and poetry. Even for a teenager, they were fairly dark. She wrote about a young girl trapped in a trailer for three days waiting for her mother to come home.”

  Macy glances up at him from her notebook. “Actually, that really happened.”

  He puts his hand on his forehead and closes his eyes. “Well, now I know why it was such a good story.”

  “In the story, did the mother come back?”

  “Nope, the father came home instead.”

  “That’s the part she made up. She doesn’t know who her father is. I imagine she was looking for a replacement and found you.”

  “Yeah, that’s what the school psychologist said. Anyway, things between me and Grace were fine for a while. She kept a respectful distance.”

  “What changed?”

  “At some point something happened. Her whole personality shifted. She became very clingy and at times inappropriate. She started calling me at home. Sometimes I thought she was following me. I let the principal know. We talked to the family.” He looks away and pokes through a pile of papers on his desk. “It just got worse.”

  “And she was fourteen at the time?”

  “That sounds about right.”

  “Did you ever suspect abuse?”

  “Of course, but then I’d meet her with her aunt and uncle and there were no indications there were any problems. I thought maybe it dated back to when she was with her mother.”

  “Have you had any contact with her family at all?”

  “Grace called me last Friday.”

  “Had she been in touch with you previously?”

  “No, this is the first time I’d spoken to her in four years.”

  “What did she want?”

  He scratches his cheek. “You know, I’m not really sure. She apologized for her behavior back when she was my student. She said she was better now and that there was an opportunity to put things right.”

  “No specifics?”

  “At first I thought it had to do with the heart transplant. New lease on life and all that sort of thing, but since I heard about the murder I’ve been replaying the conversation in my head over and over again.” He pauses. “Have you identified the victim?”

  “It was Grace’s mother, Leanne Adams.”

  “Jesus Christ,” he says, dragging his hands across his face. “She finally came home.”

  Macy stands up and hands him her card. “For now I want you to keep what I’ve told you to yourself. We’ve not released L
eanne’s name to the press yet.”

  David’s head bobs up and down nervously. “Of course. How is Grace?”

  “I’ve not had a chance to interview her so I’m not sure.”

  “I remember her as being very fragile.”

  “I suspect she still is.” Macy points to her card. “If you think of anything else I want you to give me a call.”

  6

  Jared sits on his sofa, strumming his guitar and singing to himself in a low voice. Every so often he writes down a couple of chords, doubles back, and repeats. His dogs are sleeping at his feet, snoring in the half-light. The television is on, but the volume is turned down. Jared flips through the channels regularly. One minute it’s football, the next a basketball game. He’s got money on both.

  The dogs put their heads up at the same time, letting out a low growl before racing toward the front door, teeth bared and barking. A car’s headlights fill his front windows with fractured light. Jared moves beyond his reflection in the glass and peers out into the night, watching the lights dim. The engine cuts and a door slams shut and there’s Hayley taking a final pull off a cigarette before flicking it into the snow. She’s carrying a handbag and a bottle of whiskey and wears nothing more than a pair of tight jeans and a T-shirt. Outside it’s below zero and the temperature is dropping.

  Jared had tried to put her off coming to see him, but she wasn’t having it. Come on, she purred into the phone, you know you want my company. And don’t tell me that Lexxie’s there. I know she’s working. He leaned against his refrigerator drinking his beer, trying to be nice, but he was still telling her she shouldn’t come. She teased him then, saying he should quit being such a fucking Boy Scout. He laughed, which was probably his biggest mistake. Trying to rectify the situation, he reminded her that she was married. It was her turn to laugh. Since when has that ever mattered to you? She hung up and Jared was left listening to a dial tone. He tried to call her back a few times but predictably her phone went straight to voicemail. He knew she was on her way.

  He pulls the door open expecting her anger, but she’s jumping into his arms and kissing him hard on the mouth before he can even say hello. Jared feels how easy it is to slip into this habit they have and hates himself even more. He makes his face immobile, closing his mouth on hers and pushing away. He has to end this.