The Long Game
Page 50
“By threatening to do something worse?” Vivvie popped up beside us. She was wearing a half-dozen rainbow-colored leis. In contrast, her expression was almost comically serious. “I think you were right, Tess. People are really letting loose. Pretty soon, our classmates are going to be feeling very chatty.”
Another fully clothed senior came barreling off the diving board.
“Where do we start?” Vivvie asked.
“With anyone John Thomas might have threatened.” I paused. “And with the girls from ISWE. All we need is for one person to open up and admit that John Thomas wasn’t the guy people want to remember. If we can get one, others will follow.”
If the killer was here, I doubted he or she would volunteer their own motive—but someone else might.
“You talk to the girls,” Henry said. “I have another target in mind.” I followed his gaze to a group of John Thomas’s friends standing near the keg.
“You think they might know who else John Thomas had dirt on and what he was planning to do with it?” I asked.
“I think,” Henry replied, “that John Thomas liked an audience. Whatever plans he had, he would have shared them with someone.”
With that, Henry made his way across the room. I watched as an easy smile crossed his face. My first impression of Henry Marquette had been that he was a little formal, a little stiff. It had taken me longer to realize that he was a master at putting other people at ease—when he wanted to.
As I watched Henry disappear into the crowd of John Thomas’s friends, I noticed two of those friends staring at something—or someone.
Emilia Rhodes had arrived at the party.
“Did we know that Emilia was coming?” Vivvie asked me.
“No,” I said. “We did not. Come on.” By the time I arrived at Emilia’s side, there was no doubt in my mind that she’d noticed the whispers and stares. From my place beside Emilia, I stared back at John Thomas’s friends, my eyes narrowed. One of them flinched.
“Are they scared of you?” Vivvie asked me over the pounding of the music.
“It is possible,” I said, “that I threatened to castrate a couple of John Thomas’s friends my first week at Hardwicke.”
“Of course you did.” Emilia looked from me to Vivvie, then back again. “I don’t suppose it will do any good whatsoever to tell you that I don’t need you glaring at anyone on my behalf?”
I shrugged.
“Or,” Emilia continued, “to suggest that the two of you go on your merry way, and I go on mine?”
“Tess is the patron saint of misfits,” Vivvie said brightly. “And I’m a barnacle. Pretty sure you’re stuck with us.”
“Pretty sure you’re here to find a way to help my brother,” Emilia countered. “So go. Fix. I don’t need a babysitter, let alone two.”
Something about the way that Emilia had said that we were here to help Asher told me that she was as well. As she strolled into the fray, I tracked her gaze to a boy sitting up on the bleachers. Unlike most of the guys around him, he didn’t look particularly inebriated. Or particularly inclined to chat.
“Who’s that?” I asked Vivvie, nodding toward the boy.
“Matt Benning,” Vivvie supplied promptly. She had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of everyone at Hardwicke, from the students down to the janitor. “He has a little sister. Lizzie. She’s a freshman. Their dad works in Hardwicke security.”
Apparently, while I’d been thinking about who had motive to kill John Thomas Wilcox, Emilia had been coming up with some questions of her own.
I caught up to her just as she reached the bottom of the bleachers. “What do you want with Matt Benning?” I asked her.
“What do you think?” Emilia said, her eyes still on her target. “I want to know why anyone suspects my brother of murder when the whole thing—including the real killer—should have been captured on video.”
Vivvie popped around to stand directly in front of Emilia. “I know you’re not going to want to hear this,” she said, “but you should let Tess talk to Matt.”
“Why?” Emilia returned. “Because my twin is the one the police are desperate to pin this on, or because people don’t like me the way they like Tess?”
“Neither,” Vivvie said softly. “Because if John Thomas was threatening someone, if he hurt someone or blackmailed them or made them do something they didn’t want to do, they’ll talk to you. Not Tess, Emilia. You.”
Another fully clothed senior came barreling off the diving board.
“Where do we start?” Vivvie asked.
“With anyone John Thomas might have threatened.” I paused. “And with the girls from ISWE. All we need is for one person to open up and admit that John Thomas wasn’t the guy people want to remember. If we can get one, others will follow.”
If the killer was here, I doubted he or she would volunteer their own motive—but someone else might.
“You talk to the girls,” Henry said. “I have another target in mind.” I followed his gaze to a group of John Thomas’s friends standing near the keg.
“You think they might know who else John Thomas had dirt on and what he was planning to do with it?” I asked.
“I think,” Henry replied, “that John Thomas liked an audience. Whatever plans he had, he would have shared them with someone.”
With that, Henry made his way across the room. I watched as an easy smile crossed his face. My first impression of Henry Marquette had been that he was a little formal, a little stiff. It had taken me longer to realize that he was a master at putting other people at ease—when he wanted to.
As I watched Henry disappear into the crowd of John Thomas’s friends, I noticed two of those friends staring at something—or someone.
Emilia Rhodes had arrived at the party.
“Did we know that Emilia was coming?” Vivvie asked me.
“No,” I said. “We did not. Come on.” By the time I arrived at Emilia’s side, there was no doubt in my mind that she’d noticed the whispers and stares. From my place beside Emilia, I stared back at John Thomas’s friends, my eyes narrowed. One of them flinched.
“Are they scared of you?” Vivvie asked me over the pounding of the music.
“It is possible,” I said, “that I threatened to castrate a couple of John Thomas’s friends my first week at Hardwicke.”
“Of course you did.” Emilia looked from me to Vivvie, then back again. “I don’t suppose it will do any good whatsoever to tell you that I don’t need you glaring at anyone on my behalf?”
I shrugged.
“Or,” Emilia continued, “to suggest that the two of you go on your merry way, and I go on mine?”
“Tess is the patron saint of misfits,” Vivvie said brightly. “And I’m a barnacle. Pretty sure you’re stuck with us.”
“Pretty sure you’re here to find a way to help my brother,” Emilia countered. “So go. Fix. I don’t need a babysitter, let alone two.”
Something about the way that Emilia had said that we were here to help Asher told me that she was as well. As she strolled into the fray, I tracked her gaze to a boy sitting up on the bleachers. Unlike most of the guys around him, he didn’t look particularly inebriated. Or particularly inclined to chat.
“Who’s that?” I asked Vivvie, nodding toward the boy.
“Matt Benning,” Vivvie supplied promptly. She had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of everyone at Hardwicke, from the students down to the janitor. “He has a little sister. Lizzie. She’s a freshman. Their dad works in Hardwicke security.”
Apparently, while I’d been thinking about who had motive to kill John Thomas Wilcox, Emilia had been coming up with some questions of her own.
I caught up to her just as she reached the bottom of the bleachers. “What do you want with Matt Benning?” I asked her.
“What do you think?” Emilia said, her eyes still on her target. “I want to know why anyone suspects my brother of murder when the whole thing—including the real killer—should have been captured on video.”
Vivvie popped around to stand directly in front of Emilia. “I know you’re not going to want to hear this,” she said, “but you should let Tess talk to Matt.”
“Why?” Emilia returned. “Because my twin is the one the police are desperate to pin this on, or because people don’t like me the way they like Tess?”
“Neither,” Vivvie said softly. “Because if John Thomas was threatening someone, if he hurt someone or blackmailed them or made them do something they didn’t want to do, they’ll talk to you. Not Tess, Emilia. You.”
