Page 7 of Bone Echo

But he was here now. Had been for the past four years. That was something, wasn’t it?

Rather than pretend to be able to answer the question, he let it go and parked at the station. His personal demons would have to wait. No matter that this case wanted to unleash them, he couldn’t let that happen. Not ever again.

A plastic Santa aboard his sleigh with six fake reindeer, heads held high, sat atop the station’s roof. Lights lined all the front windows. Wreaths hung on those windows and the main entrance. Doreen had orchestrated the decorating. As long as he wasn’t the one doing it, Kurt was good with whatever she chose. The whole downtown area was alive with lights and holiday ornamentation. The snow made it all look exactly like a scene from a holiday movie or a Norman Rockwell depiction of a Christmas village.

By the time he made his way through the main lobby, past the live tree his officers had decorated and reached the entrance to his office with its smaller lobby, Doreen had already opened the door as if she’d been watching the security feed and saw him coming.

“The boy is in interview room two,” she announced. “There’s a caseworker with him. Madelyn Grimes.”

Kurt gave her a nod. “Thanks.”

He turned away from his office and followed the main corridor until he reached the first shorter hall to the right where two interview rooms and a small conference room provided the necessary space for meeting with suspects, witnesses and their attorneys. A few steps farther down the main corridor was another longer side corridor that led to the cubicles used by his officers, a larger conference room, a lounge and other necessary facilities.

Kurt rapped on the door once before opening it. Brian sat on the far side of the generic wood table, head bowed. He wore a pair of too big sweats. His clothes had been taken into evidence. Most of the officers took after shift runs so they brought sweatsto work which came in particularly handy this morning. No scratches or abrasions or other signs of a physical altercation had been found on Brian’s body. Hands and fingernails had been inspected closely and checked for blood and/or tissue. Nothing visible to the naked eye but the lab results would tell the tale.

Brian’s curly dark hair was mussed as if he’d left home without combing it. His hands were clasped together on the table. A woman, somewhere north of fifty, gray hair styled just so and wearing a festive holiday sweater sat next to him.

“Good morning, Chief Nichols,” she said.

“Ms. Grimes.” He gave her a nod as he pulled out the chair on his side of the table. He opted to forego the good morning part. Hadn’t been one thing good about it so far. When he’d settled, he studied the kid for a moment. “How’re you doing, Brian?”

Brian lifted his head and met Kurt’s gaze. He looked scared and yet dazed as if he wasn’t entirely awake. “I don’t know.” He shrugged vaguely. “No one will tell me what’s going on.” He glanced at the woman seated beside him. “Why is she here?” He turned back to Kurt then. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Give me just a sec, Brian.” Kurt pulled out his cell and sent Doreen a text to have the lab get the results on the kid’s bloodwork to him as soon as possible. Obviously the kid was hungover from something. Kurt needed to know what that something was. His attention rested on Brian once more. “When you got home from school yesterday, did anything unusual happen? Maybe a dispute with your aunt or uncle?”

A frown creased Brian’s brow. “My aunt came home and fixed dinner while I was doing my homework.”

“Where do you generally do your homework, Brian?” At his look of confusion, Kurt clarified, “In your room or somewhere else in the house?”

Another shrug. “Different places. Yesterday I did it at the table because Aunt Kathleen was telling me about a plan she had for a family vacation next summer. She was all excited.” He broke eye contact, stared at the table. Drew in a big breath and let it go wearily as if it took every ounce of effort he could muster.

“Were you excited?” Kurt asked. That he’d looked away was not a good sign.

The obligatory shrug. “Sure. I’ve never been to Florida. Sounds cool, I guess.”

Kurt nodded slowly. Decided to continue a bit longer before passing along the bad news. Once Brian understood the gravity of the situation getting straight answers from him would be far more difficult. “When did your uncle come home?”

“I can’t remember the exact time. Maybe five.”

“I figure you had dinner,” Kurt suggested. “What did you do after that?”

“I went to hang out with a friend. My homework was done.”

Kurt angled his head, studied Brian until he stared at the table once more. “Which friend? I’m sure you have several.”

“Joey Hastings.” The kid looked away again. “We’re on the debate team together.”

Another lie, Kurt suspected. They would get to that later. “What time did you get home after hanging out with your friend?”

Shrug number four. Brian made a face. “I don’t exactly know. I guess I didn’t look at the time. Just went to bed.”

“Were your folks still up?”

He shrugged again. “I don’t think so. I didn’t see them or talk to them.”

Kurt paused a moment, glanced at the woman next to him, then went on. “Did you see or talk to them this morning?”

Brian stared at the table again. A beat then two, three elapsed. “They were already gone to work when I left for school.” He glanced up at Kurt. “I think they must have been mad at me.”

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