Page 72 of Little Buried Secrets

“Ever since this whole ‘Me Too’ movement, I’m always concerned about whether I’m saying or doing the right thing. You can’t be too cautious nowadays. At the same time, I suppose I want them to think of me as a friend. I do everything I can to be the kind of coach they can look up to—someone they can count on. High school’s tough. These kids are dealing with all kinds of hardships these days.”

“Did you ever have a private session with Margot?”

“Once. I made an exception, and I made sure to let her mother know in advance that it would be a one-on-one session after school. Dr. Rae signed off on it.”

“Why did you make an exception for Margot?”

Cass entered the room and took a seat beside her husband, sitting so close to him, she was almost on his lap. She took his hand and smiled at me, saying, “What are y’all talking about?”

My first instinct was to ask her if she would mind if I continued the conversation with him without her being present. She seemed like a Chatty Cathy, and I worried she was the kind of person who’d intervene at every turn. Right now, I needed him to remain focused. But she’d welcomed me into their home, and so far, he was answering my questions. To suggest she leave the room didn’t seem appropriate, and I just hoped her being glued next to him wouldn’t change things.

Warren looked at his wife and said, “The detective is asking me about the one-on-one volleyball session I had with Margot.”

Cass swished a hand through the air. “Oh, that. Why would you be askin’ about that?”

Because your husband might be a predator.

“I’m asking everyone about their relationship with her,” I said. “I’m trying to learn as much as I can about Margot’s life in the months before she died.”

“To answer your question, I made an exception for Margot because she wasn’t like any of her other teammates,” he said. “I don’t mean to put down on the other young ladies on the team, but Margot was by far one of the most driven athletes I’ve ever known.”

“In what way?”

“She had one goal, and that was to win. She stayed behind a lot after practice, long after everyone else had gone home, so she could work on things that needed improving. She was a natural. I couldn’t believe it when she told me she’d never played before. I’m certain she could have gotten a scholarship if she would have stuck it out and hadn’t … you know …”

“Died,” I said.

As soon as I said it, they went silent.

Cass used a finger to blot a few tears from her eyes and said, “I know, I’m a big softie. I didn’t even have a personal relationship with her, but to think about what the dear heart must have gone through when she died. I can’t imagine. We, ahh … we heard the funeral is in a couple of days.”

“Are you planning on attending?” I asked.

Warren nodded. “We feel it’s important to pay our respects to Margot’s family.”

“Yeah, we want to go to show our support,” Cass added.

About that …

“I need to tell you both something,” I said. “What I mean to say is that I need to warn you.”

Warren raised a brow. “Warn us about what?”

I’d been pacing myself, working my way up to the heavier questions, the questions he might not want to answer. Now I was faced with a rather unpleasant situation. I needed to explain why they might not be welcome at the funeral and find a way to ask the hard questions and have them answered.

There was no delicate way to go about it, not that I had ever managed to be delicate in situations like these, even if I tried.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it,” I said. “A couple of people came to see me at my office yesterday, people who knew Margot. They wanted to talk to me about something Margot had confided to them before she died.”

“You’re looking at me like whatever they confided is related to me in some way,” Warren said.

“There were a couple of times during the volleyball season when Margot felt you were inappropriate toward her, Warren.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “What did she think I did wrong?”

“I promise I’ll get to it. Before I do, it’s important you know that Margot’s sister, Bronte, has been made aware of the allegations. If you know her at all, you know she’s feisty, and at times, she has a temper. If she sees you at the funeral, I’m not sure how she will react.”

Cass looked at him, and they both looked at me, stunned by what I’d just said. And the blows were about to keep on coming.

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