Chain Reaction (33 page)

‘How do I know you’re not just bragging?’

‘She has a tramp stamp. It’s a blue swallowtail butterfly with curlicues and arcing; below it are three words: “Live. Laugh. Love.” Ask Jimmy. He knows. Or check out the tramp wearing it. She likes to flaunt it.’

Although the fact that Brittany was having sex with students was no real surprise, hearing it from the mouth of one of her conquests was unsettling. ‘OK. So you both had sex with Ms Schaffer. What does that have to do with Jimmy’s arrest?’

‘He didn’t do that by himself. She put him up to it. She has this sneaky way of sticking ideas into your head to get you to do things without you realizing it’s really her idea – her way of showing how much control she has over you.’

‘So you’re saying, without her pushing Jimmy, he wouldn’t have built that bomb – he wouldn’t have set it off?’

‘I’d bet my life on it. I heard he confessed to killing that boy – she must have wanted that kid out of the way for some reason. That’s how she operates. She got me to vandalize another teacher’s car one night – spray-painted “Bitch” on one side and “Whore” down the other. All to get revenge for her. She told me I shouldn’t have done that but I knew she was pleased. She also got me to steal another teacher’s grade book and a few other stupid things I’d rather not remember – and then there was the thing I wouldn’t do and she dropped me and took up with Jimmy.’

‘Where did you draw the line, Matt?’

‘She wanted me to beat up this girl. I’m not sure what she had against her – she said she was causing her trouble by spreading ugly rumors, but who knows? Brittany and the truth don’t hang together much. But I was not hitting a girl, not for anybody. That’s why I’d bet anything that she put Jimmy up to it. See, David Baynes had replaced Jimmy. Jimmy said he didn’t know why she dumped David but I’d guess she’d asked him to do something and he refused. But, anyway, about a month ago, Jimmy said that Brittany was going to take him back. I told him to run away as fast as he could. He said that he couldn’t. All he had to do was take care of a problem for her and she was his. He said they were going to get married. I reminded him that she’d told him that before – that she told me that, too. But he insisted this time it was different.’

‘Did he say anything more about the problem he was going to fix for her?’

‘Nah, I asked but he wouldn’t give it up. But I’d betcha the problem was David and the whole explosion thing was Jimmy’s way of taking care of him for her.’

‘Are you saying you think it was her idea that he blow up the school and kill David in the explosion?’

‘She never was that specific with me so I doubt she was with him. She just hinted at stuff in a roundabout way – pointing me in the right direction to serve her purposes. It worked like this: she’d let me know about her problem, I’d suggest a solution, then she’d gently push me in the direction she wanted me to go. She was really good at that. She knew how to use people – particularly horny boys who always wanted more.’

‘Thank you, Matt. This is all very helpful but you really need to do one thing more. You need to press charges against Ms Schaffer.’

‘Not me, man. No way. You force me to come in and I’ll deny it all.’

‘Could you come in and give me a written statement of what we talked about today? You wouldn’t need to file a complaint against her and you wouldn’t get into any trouble over the vandalism – I’ll see to that.’

Matt stood up. ‘No. Can’t do it. Can’t get involved. It would freak out my mom. And I’ve got a girlfriend now – a decent girl, a smart girl. I think it’s getting serious. I don’t want to screw that up. I want to forget the past, not wallow in it. You’re going to have to find somebody else. And I’ve got to get back to work.’ He turned around and walked outside.

How would she go about finding someone else? Was there someone new in Brittany Schaffer’s life? Or was there an old boy toy might be willing to go public? She pushed up out of her chair, got another latte for the road and continued her search for answers.

B
ack in her car, Lucinda called in and got an address for Julie Troutman’s home and workplace, a Kroger grocery store. She called there, found out Julie was not at work and then went to her apartment building.

The four-story structure appeared to date from before the Second World War but the exterior and the grounds looked well maintained. Inside, the wooden banister by the stairs had a fresh coat of paint; the wooden steps with their swayback of wear had to have been original.

Lucinda went up to the second floor and rang the doorbell by apartment 207. With the door chain in place, it was answered by a studious-looking young woman wearing lavender sweats and tortoiseshell eyeglasses. A pencil was balanced on the top of one ear. She looked more like a nerdy college student than anyone’s ‘piece of ass’, Lucinda thought.

‘May I help you?’

‘Are you Julie Troutman?’

‘Who are you?’

‘Lieutenant Pierce. Homicide,’ Lucinda said, flashing her badge.

‘May I see that, please?’

Lucinda held the wallet with her identification close to the crack in the door and waited while the woman peered at it.

‘Yes, I’m Julie Troutman. Just a minute, please,’ she said and shut the door. Lucinda heard the clatter of the chain on the other side before the entryway opened and Julie invited her inside.

The room Lucinda entered was sparsely furnished with an old, fat television set, a bookcase filled with jumbled volumes and a seen-better-days green sofa that was partially covered by a multicolored throw. Julie went to the far end of the sofa and sat sideways and cross-legged. Lucinda took a seat at the other end.

‘Do you know Jimmy Van Dyke?’

‘Yes. Is it true he’s been arrested?’

‘Yes, Miss Troutman. When did you last see him?’

‘A week ago on Sunday evening – well, all night. He didn’t leave until I went to a class at the community college. He dropped me off on his way home.’

‘What time on Monday morning?’

‘Class started at nine fifty that morning. I think he dropped me off a little past nine thirty-five.’

‘Did you stay here in the apartment all that time?’

‘Oh no, we walked up to the Walking Dog Sunday evening to get something to eat.’

‘When was that?’

‘I really don’t know. But we weren’t gone long.’

‘And then you stayed in the rest of the time?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you know David Baynes?’

Julie winced. ‘I’ve heard his name but I never met him.’

‘His name seemed to have struck a chord with you. Why is that?’

‘That was the kid who was blown up at the high school, right? Him and Mr Fred?’

‘Yes. Did Jimmy tell you about that?’

‘Actually, Jimmy was with me when I saw it on the news.’

‘Do you often watch the news together?’

‘Not really. Jimmy is usually not interested in it.’

‘But he was that night?’

Julie sprang up from her seat. ‘Can I get you something to drink? I have Coke and Dr Pepper or I could make a pot of coffee or a cup of tea.’

‘No, thank you,’ Lucinda said.

‘Well, I’m parched. I need something. Back in a click.’

Lucinda thought Julie was spending far more time in the kitchen than she needed to grab a can of soda. She rose to follow the girl in there but, before she took a step, Julie returned to the living room.

Sitting back down, Julie said, ‘So, you were asking me about David Baynes?’

‘Actually, we were talking about the news the night of the explosion. You were about to tell me about Jimmy’s reaction to it.’

‘I was? Oh. Um, you know, I was so shocked looking at that news footage, I don’t know that I recall his reaction.’

Lucinda sighed. ‘Miss Troutman, I could arrest you as an accessory after the fact but I really don’t want to do that. It’s all up to you. You have to decide to tell me the truth or you have to be willing to face the consequences.’

‘You would arrest me?’

‘If you left me no other choice.’

‘But finals start tomorrow. I have to study. I have to show up to take the test. You can’t do this.’

‘As I said, Ms Troutman, I don’t want to do that but …’

Julie got up again and went to the window overlooking the street, her back to Lucinda. Neither woman said a word. After a minute, Julie placed her hands on the sill and leaned forward, resting her forehead on the glass. In another moment, she shrugged out a sigh and turned around to face Lucinda. ‘She put him up to it.’

‘She?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Yes. That teacher, Brittany Schaffer.’

‘Why do you think that? Is that what Jimmy told you?’

‘No. But I was here. I heard everything he said to Todd.’

‘Todd Matthews?’

Julie nodded.

‘He was here?’

‘First, he came into the Walking Dog and approached our table. He started yelling at Jimmy. Nothing he was saying made any sense to me but Todd was like that a lot – always angry, usually destructive, except when he was too bummed out to speak or move.’

‘Why was that?’

Julie shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I know his parents made him crazy ’cause they were always bickering and he usually seemed to think it was all because of him. He didn’t feel like he could ever please his dad. In some ways, even though there wasn’t much age difference, he always seemed to seek Jimmy’s approval, like he looked on him as a father figure.’ Julie laughed. ‘But maybe that’s just my psych class talking.’

‘Did Jimmy seem to understand why Todd was angry that night?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Yeah, right away and it made Jimmy mad. He jumped up and pushed at Todd and said, “Outside, Matthews. Not in here.”

‘Todd said he didn’t care who heard. Jimmy went out the door anyway and Todd chased after him. I scooped up what was left of our food into a bag and followed. When I stepped outside, Jimmy grabbed my hand and said we were going home. Todd said, “You can’t walk away from me. You tell me why you killed him.” Jimmy shouted, “Shut up, asshole,” and kept walking. Fast – he was half-dragging me.

‘Todd kept coming and yelling about killing somebody and wanting to know if Jimmy did it on purpose and why he did it. Jimmy broke into a run, pulling me along with him. We got to the building, ran up the stairs. Jimmy slammed the door shut and threw the deadbolt. A minute later, Todd was there, pounding on the door, screaming.

‘I told Jimmy, “Let him in. Talk to him. Somebody will call the police if you don’t.” And he said, “Good, let them take him away.” But then a funny look went across his face and he went across the room and pulled open the door and jerked Todd inside and Jimmy said, “OK. Stop yelling at me and we can talk.” And Todd stopped yelling. That’s when I learned what really happened that morning.’ Julie hung her head and threw her hands over her face.

‘Tell me what you learned,’ Lucinda coaxed.

‘When we were seniors at the high school, Jimmy had a thing with that teacher.’

‘Brittany Schaffer?’

‘Yeah. I knew him then and I knew he was crazy about her but I didn’t really know about their relationship until she dumped him. That’s when Jimmy came to me the first time. I’d had a crush on him for years but he never seemed to notice I was alive. But although he started spending a lot of time with me, all he wanted to talk about was that teacher. Even when we were in bed together, he’d say, “Brittany would do this” or “Brittany would do that” to try to get me to try something new. I kept telling myself I needed to dump him, but every time I decided it was the last time, I caved again. Pretty pathetic, huh?’

‘I’m sure we’ve all made stupid relationship decisions. When did Jimmy start seeing Brittany again?’

‘A couple of months ago. He even told me about it. He said that she told him that David Baynes was a mistake and she wanted Jimmy – wanted to marry him. I told him that would never happen. He got really mad at me and left. I didn’t see him for weeks until he showed up the night after David died.’

‘OK. That brings us to a week ago. Now, tell me what you learned that Sunday night when Todd and Jimmy talked.’

‘According to Todd – well, that’s not exactly right since Jimmy didn’t deny anything, so I guess that was the same as him admitting it – but, anyway, Todd said that he helped Jimmy build the bomb because Jimmy said that nobody would get hurt and it would just make a mess. Todd was mad at the principal about something and the idea of her office getting trashed gave him a kick. Like I said, Todd was always mad about somebody or something – either that or he was depressed as hell. Jimmy admitted that he lied about the reason for setting the bomb. Jimmy said that David had become a problem for Brittany – that David found Brittany in bed with a freshman and got really angry. He said it was over between him and the teacher and that he was going to report her for having sex with students. Jimmy said that was why he had to kill David to protect Brittany. Jimmy said she was all upset and crying and saying that if he really loved her, he would make sure that David didn’t get her in trouble.

‘She knew they were building a bomb. She just let them do it. Jimmy said she didn’t know any details but she knew he was going to take care of David for good. Todd said, “Why did you drag me into this? I didn’t want David dead – I didn’t want his blood on my hands.” He swung at Jimmy and Jimmy pushed him to the floor.

‘Jimmy said, “I needed you. David wouldn’t trust me but he would trust you. I needed you to get him to the school.”’

‘Do you know how they managed that?’

‘Oh, yeah. Apparently, Todd told David that someone had taken naked pictures of Jimmy’s sister Tamara and her reputation was going to be ruined and that she was going to be kicked out of school and Jimmy’s mom was going to throw her out of the house. Todd told David that Tamara didn’t agree to having the pictures taken, didn’t know they were taken at the time and couldn’t stop crying about it.’

‘He fell for that story?’

‘From what I could gather, he balked at first and then Todd told him that Ms Schaffer always said that David was a knight in shining armor. And that she was sorry about having sex with that other boy. If she only could win David back, she would be faithful forever and they could live happily ever after. I can’t believe he fell for it but apparently he still had a thing for her.