Black House (Page 64)

"Wake him up," Jack says. "I have something to say, and I want you all to hear it." In fact, he has nothing to say, but he needs these boys to pay attention to him. He already knows that Dale was right. If they are not lying, they are at least holding something back. That’s why his abrupt appearance within their dozy scene frightened them. If Jack had been in charge, he would have separated the boys and questioned them individually, but now he must deal with Bobby Dulac’s mistake. He has to treat them collectively, to begin with, and he has to work on their fear. He does not want to terrorize the boys, merely to get their hearts pumping a bit faster; after that, he can separate them. The weakest, guiltiest link has already declared himself. Jack feels no compunction about telling lies to get information.

Ronnie Metzger shoves T.J.’s shoulder and says, "Wake up, bum-dell . . . dumbbell."

The sleeping boy moans, lifts his head from the table, begins to stretch out his arms. His eyes fasten on Jack, and blinking and swallowing he snaps into an upright position.

"Welcome back," Jack says. "I want to introduce myself and explain what I am doing here. My name is Jack Sawyer, and I am a lieutenant in the Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. I have an excellent record and a roomful of citations and medals. When I go after a bad guy, I usually wind up arresting him. Three years ago, I came here on a case from Los Angeles. Two weeks later, a man named Thornberg Kinderling was shipped back to L.A. in chains. Because I know this area and have worked with its law enforcement officers, the LAPD asked me to assist your local force in its investigation of the Fisherman murders." He glances down to see if Bobby Dulac is grinning at this nonsense, but Bobby is staring frozen-faced across the table. "Your friend Tyler Marshall was with you before he disappeared this morning. Did the Fisherman take him? I hate to say it, but I think he did. Maybe we can get Tyler back, and maybe we can’t, but if I am going to stop the Fisherman, I need you to tell me exactly what happened, down to the last detail. You have to be completely honest with me, because if you lie or keep anything secret, you will be guilty of obstruction of justice. Obstruction of justice is a serious, serious crime. Officer Dulac, what is the minimum sentence for that crime in the state of Wisconsin?"

"Five years, I’m pretty sure," Bobby Dulac says.

Ebbie Wexler bites the inside of his cheek; Ronnie Metzger looks away and frowns at the table; T. J. Renniker dully contemplates the narrow window.

Jack sits down beside Bobby Dulac. "Incidentally, I was the guy in the pickup one of you gave the finger to this morning. I can’t say I’m thrilled to see you again."

Two heads swivel toward Ebbie, who squints ferociously, trying to solve this brand-new problem. "I did not," he says, having settled on outright denial. "Maybe it looked like I did, but I didn’t."

"You’re lying, and we haven’t even started to talk about Tyler Marshall yet. I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me the truth."

Ebbie smirks. "I don’t go around flipping the bird at people I don’t know."

"Stand up," Jack says.

Ebbie glances from side to side, but his friends are unable to meet his gaze. He shoves back his chair and stands up, uncertainly.

"Officer Dulac," Jack says, "take this boy outside and hold him there."

Bobby Dulac performs his role perfectly. He uncoils from his chair and keeps his eyes on Ebbie as he glides toward him. He resembles a panther on the way to a sumptuous meal. Ebbie Wexler jumps back and tries to stay Bobby with a raised palm. "No, don’t — I take it back — I did it, okay?"

"Too late," Jack says. He watches as Bobby grasps the boy’s elbow and pulls him toward the door. Red-faced and sweating, Ebbie plants his feet on the floor, and the forward pressure applied to his arm folds him over the bulge of his stomach. He staggers forward, yelping and scattering tears. Bobbie Dulac opens the door and hauls him into the bleak second-floor corridor. The door slams shut and cuts off a wail of fear.

The two remaining boys have turned the color of skim milk and seem incapable of movement. "Don’t worry about him," Jack says. "He’ll be fine. In fifteen, twenty minutes, you’ll be free to go home. I didn’t think there was any point in talking to someone who lies from the git-go, that’s all. Remember: even lousy cops know when they’re being lied to and I am a great cop. So this is what we are going to do now. We’re going to talk about what happened this morning, about what Tyler was doing, the way you separated from him, where you were, what you did afterward, anyone you might have seen, that kind of thing." He leans back and flattens his hands on the table. "Go on, tell me what happened."

Ronnie and T.J. look at each other. T.J. inserts his right index finger into his mouth and begins to worry the nail with his front teeth. "Ebbie flipped you," Ronnie says.

"No kidding. After that."

"Uh, Ty said he hadda go someplace."

"He hadda go someplace," T.J. chimes in.

"Where were you right then?"

"Uh . . . outside the Allsorts Pomorium."

"Emporium," T.J. says. "It’s not a pomorium, mushhead, it’s a em-poree-um."

"And?"

"And Ty said — " Ronnie glances at T.J. "Ty said he hadda go somewhere."

"Which way did he go, east or west?"

The boys treat this question as though it were asked in a foreign language, by puzzling over it, mutely.

"Toward the river, or away from the river?"

They consult each other again. The question has been asked in English, but no proper answer exists. Finally, Ronnie says, "I don’t know."