Page 17 of Little Stolen Memories

“He doesn’t even look like a high-schooler. If I saw this photo and had no other context, I’d guess he was in his mid-twenties.”

“He was older than we were, I think. There were rumors back then that he’d been held back more than once. I don’t know if the rumors were true, though. We were in the same grade, but we didn’t grow up together. He moved to Cambria when he was in high school.”

“Is there something you want to tell me about him?”

Cora nodded. “He was picked on a lot in school, which, given his size, is a surprise, I know. If he had defended himself, no one would have stood a chance against him.”

“Who picked on him?”

“A few of the guys on the football team. Some of their girlfriends went along with it too.”

I shook my head and said, “Why did they pick on him?”

“He wasn’t like us … he was different.”

“Different in what way?”

“He just seemed a bit … I don’t know. Slow, I guess. Knowing what I know now, he may have been on the spectrum or maybe even had a mental health issue.”

“What did the footballers do to him?” I asked.

She swallowed hard, turning away from me as she whispered, “They called him names and told him he was stupid. They’d do things like flick him in the back of the head when they passed him in the hall.”

It disgusted me to hear about how he’d been treated.

Bullying was never okay, no matter what rationalization a person used.

“Did any of your friends who were at the cabin that night take part in the bullying?” I asked.

Cora went quiet for a moment, which gave me my answer.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she said, “I want you to know, I never said anything mean to him, not one disparaging thing. Aidan and Jackson were the ringleaders. They teased him the most, and I suppose Brynn and Aubree went right along with it. My friends … they weren’t bad people, you know? I mean, the way Xander was treated was wrong, of course. We were stupid teenagers, doing stupid things.”

Her passive response wasn’t enough.

It didn’t excuse how they’d treated him.

Harm was inflicted, harm that may have impacted Xander’s life in such a way that he’d plotted revenge—revenge on all of them.

“What about Owen, your next-door neighbor?” I asked. “Did he pick on Xander too?”

“Oh, no. Owen was the nicest, gentlest person I’ve ever known. One time, Aidan and Owen were walking together down the hall between classes. They passed by Xander, who was carrying a pile of books and papers. Aidan reached out and smacked it right out of Xander’s hands. Everything went flying. Aidan laughed and kept on walking, but Owen stopped and helped Xander pick it all up.”

While Owen may have been more sympathetic than his fellow classmates when it came to Xander, the fact remained he was still friends with those who’d bullied the poor kid, as was Cora.

Helping Xander pick up books was one thing.

Standing up for him was another.

And by the sounds of it, no one stepped in to stop what was going on.

“I need to ask you a serious question, Cora.”

“You want to know whether I think Xander could be responsible for the murders.”

“You must suspect him, or you wouldn’t be pointing him out to me or telling the story you just did.”

Cora’s expression soured. “I didn’t think he did it back then, but now … I’m not sure.”

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