Page 12 of What Have You Done?

When I left Riley’s place earlier, I was really bothered by what she’d told me, that Diana was going to break up with Cameron. That was news to me. I found myself walking to Cameron’s house. It’s a bit of a hike, to his house on the edge of town, but I wanted some time to think. I certainly didn’t think Cameron had murdered Diana, but after what Riley told me, well, it was a lot to take in, and all kind of unsettling. I needed to talk to him, to be reassured.

It disturbs me, what Riley’s thinking. It’s obviously disturbing her too.

I’ve known Cameron all my life, from the time we were in grade school. I think I know him pretty well. He’s easygoing, most of the time. He’s an even-tempered, likeable guy. He’s fine until he’s pushed too far, and then he explodes. That sounds bad, and it takes a lot to set him off, but if you do, watch out. I tried to imagine him losing his temper with Diana, but I just couldn’t see it. He adored her. And she would never provoke him, she wasn’t like that.

I remember one time when we were in ninth grade. There was a kid who was always razzing him, one of the farm kids that was bussed in. Cameron hadn’t grown tall and filled out yet, and the other kid was a lot bigger. Cameron put up with it for a long time, pretending it didn’t bother him. Then one day at school he lost it and managed to push the bigger kid to the ground and started punching him in the head. A teacher had to pull him off. I thought about that as I walked to Cameron’s house. The school would probably have a record of it.

Anyway, by the time I arrived at Cameron’s house, I was feeling sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe that he would ever hurt Diana, but I was worried about how things might look for him.

Both the car and the truck were in the driveway. Of course his parents would have come home. I knocked on the door and Cameron’s dad answered. He looked awful. I burst into tears again right there on the doorstep. It was embarrassing, but I couldn’t help it. Everything just seemed to hit me at once.

Mr Farrell hugged me for a minute. Then he let me go and told me how sorry he was, how tragic it was. I could see tears in his eyes too. I asked if I could talk to Cameron, but he shook his head and told me Cameron didn’t want to see anyone, that he was in shock, that he loved her. He choked on he loved her and had to fight for composure. I felt less embarrassed then, about crying in front of him.

I asked him if Cameron had spoken to the police, and he said they’d spoken to him that morning, but Mr Farrell clearly didn’t want to talk about it. I really wished I could speak to Cameron, but I didn’t ask again.

As I turned away and started to walk home, I remembered how Cameron used to touch Diana all the time, constantly holding her hand, draping his big arm over her shoulder, putting his hand around her waist. And last weekend, at a party, I saw her pull away from him to go talk to someone else, and he frowned, put his beer down, and followed her. It was just a group of girls she wanted to talk to, but Cameron stood there with the girls, looking a bit ridiculous. No one else seemed to notice, but I wonder now if Riley had. We hadn’t spoken about it.

On the way home, I was at loose ends. I was feeling so messed up. Upset about Diana, imagining what life would be like now, without her. Our little group would probably fall apart.

So now I’m back in my bedroom, just me and my computer, trying to make sense of something that will never, ever, make sense.

CHAPTER TEN

RILEY IS NERVOUS. It’s early afternoon, and she is at the police station with her mother. It’s the worst day of her life, and it already feels like it has lasted for ever, that it will never end. Her mouth is dry as she sits down at the table in the interview room. Her mother sits beside her, clearly concerned about her emotional state, and squeezes her shoulder. Someone places a bottle of water on the table in front of her.

There are two detectives in the room with them. The man introduces himself as Detective Stone. He’s about her mother’s age, in his mid forties, and seems nice. His female partner, Detective Godfrey, is younger, and smiles at her encouragingly. Riley licks her dry lips, wonders if she’s doing the right thing, and tries to prepare herself.

‘Riley,’ Detective Stone begins, ‘this must be very difficult for you. We know you already spoke to the officers at the school this morning. What brings you here now? Do you have something more to tell us?’ He looks back at her, waiting. ‘You were a close friend of Diana’s?’

She finds her voice. ‘Yes. Her best friend.’ Riley feels her heart begin to race. She looks at her mother for encouragement. She knows she must tell them. She can no longer, in good conscience, keep it to herself.

So she tells them how Diana was being pressured by Cameron to go to the same college, that she was unhappy about it, that she was thinking of breaking up with him. She feels guilty, disloyal, that she’s betraying Cameron, and she cries miserably as she tells them. But it’s more complicated than that. She also feels guilty because she’s the one who urged Diana to break up with him – and what if she did? What if that’s why she’s dead? She tells herself her first loyalty must be to Diana. She must tell the detectives the truth and let them make sense of it. She finds some small relief when she’s done.

Detective Stone hears her out quietly. ‘Thank you for sharing this with us. You’ve done the right thing,’ he says, as Riley wipes her eyes with a tissue. He waits for her to recover her composure and adds, ‘There’s something else we’d like to ask you about.’ She looks up at him. ‘We spoke to Diana’s mother this morning. She told us that Diana worked at the Home Depot, and that Diana had mentioned a customer that she thought was creepy. Did she ever mention anything about that to you?’

Riley had forgotten all about that. How had she forgotten it? ‘Yes. She only saw him when she worked nights. She mostly worked Sundays, during the day, but sometimes she worked Friday nights, till ten. He’d come in sometimes. She told me that he always went to her checkout, even if there was already someone at hers and an empty one close by. He’d wait. One time another girl called out to him that she was free, but he said he’d wait and stayed at Diana’s checkout. Everybody noticed it.’

‘Did she tell you his name?’

‘She didn’t know his name. He always paid cash, never with a credit card. She thought that was weird. She thought he was weird. He made her uncomfortable.’

The detective nods. ‘Do you know if he tried to find out her name, where she lived, anything about her?’

‘He knew her first name, it was on her name tag. I don’t think he could have found out her last name. She wouldn’t have told him and I don’t think anyone else would have. They knew she didn’t like him. He’d try to flirt with her. She didn’t like it.’

‘Did he ever accost her outside the store?’

Riley shakes her head. ‘I’m sure she never saw him other than at her checkout. She would have told me.’ The detective waits for her to say more. She adds, ‘People at the Home Depot knew about him. They saw him. The other staff, and the manager. The manager knew he made Diana nervous. They always walked the girls to their cars at the end of the night, for safety. The manager made sure of it.’

The detective nods at her. ‘We’ll talk to them. Thank you for coming in.’

Aaron Bolduc is thinking about staffing problems when one of his employees pokes her head in his office in the afternoon and says, ‘There’s some people here to see you.’

Her face is red and her eyes are swollen. She’s been crying on and off all day about Diana – she’s not the only one – but at least she came into work, and he’s grateful. ‘Thanks, Margaret. Are you doing okay?’

She nods, and turns away, saying, ‘I’ll bring them to your office.’

Aaron straightens his tie nervously. He’s been expecting someone to come. One of his staff has been murdered. They will want to talk to him and the people who worked with her.

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