The Night Shift (28 page)

Collin smirked. "He didn't."

Chapter 16

Breakthroughor Dead End

"What do you mean, 'he didn't'?!" Lisa yelled.

Why does she keep asking me all these questions? Can't she figure anything out for herself?
"Lisa, try to think about it like this: after Nick has killed Scott, then he wouldn't want to spend any more time in the woods, right?"

"Right."

"He'd just want to hide the knife and get outta there as quick as he could, right?"

"Right."

"In fact, erasing Scott's name from the work records would have probably been one of the last things on his mind, right?"

"Yeah, so you were saying…"

"Yeah. I was saying the one who erased Scott's name from the records wasn't Nick!"

"Collin, now you're just beginning to sound really weird. If Nick didn't erase the name from the record, then who did?"

"There was a time when Sergeant Teneire and I were questioning Randy, and he said something kind of strange…"

"
But you don't deny someone whited out their name on the work records?"

Again, Randy grunted. "No, someone's name was definitely written down on the work records and it got erased. But I…don't remember whose name it was."

"
How can you not remember?!" Collin yelled.

"
Collin, calm down!" Teneire snapped, instantly shutting him up. "Mr. Kayson…"

"
It wasn't me…"

"…now don't you think it's kind of odd that Randy would've remembered that he had someone working that night, but he didn't remember who it was?"

Lisa looked like she didn't know what to say.

"Wasn't Randy always the first one to get to work in the morning?"

"Yeah. Well, he's the head of the park. What were you expecting?"

"Exactly!" Collin yelled, brimming with energy. "So he would've been the first worker to find out Scott had died! He probably would've looked pretty suspicious if he was the first one there, don't you think?"

"Now you're kind of going out on a limb. Just because he would've been the first one to find out doesn't mean he was the one who did it."

"But Randy only hired
him
to work overnight, right? Having the victim be the only one on duty and then being the first to learn he got killed…oh yes, and let's not forget that Randy hated Scott and had just lost you to him. So he even would've had a motive."

"Collin, do you really?..."

"Yup. All that would've made Randy look pretty suspicious, and he wouldn't want that, right?"

"Uh…right?..."

"Good. So, just to make sure he wouldn't be suspicious or anything like that, he went to the work records and quickly whited out Scott's name from the night before. That way, he'd be able to say that no one was working that night, and no one would be able to say different."

"Collin, that's…"

"I'm not finished yet! Now, if everything I've said so far has been right, then that proves that it really
was
Scott who was working that night. Think about this: if anyone else had been working there the night Scott died, then Randy would've left their name alone on the records, right? Like, let's say Ian was the one who was working that night: if Ian's name was on the records, then Randy wouldn't have bothered to erase it because it would've made
Ian
look bad, not him."

Lisa had no idea what she was supposed to say. She simply could not believe that Collin, of all people, was putting together
a
theory about how Scott died quicker than the police had been able to-all from finding a single picture that was hidden away in her drawer the whole time.

"Well…now it's
my
turn to bring up the past," Lisa said.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Didn't Ian tell you about the fight that he and Nick had a few days before Scott died?"

Collin tried thinking about it, but it wasn't long before he recalled a conversation that he had had with Ian regarding that fight.

"
I mean, what happened to you guys after the fight?"

"
Aw, we were both suspended from work for the week."

"Remember now?" Lisa asked somewhat obnoxiously. "Ian and Nick were suspended. Nick of all people wouldn't be here if he didn't have to be."

Collin hardly seemed taken back by Lisa's argument at all. "Lisa, just because Nick was suspended from working here doesn't mean that he wasn't there that night. In fact, that actually might make perfect sense if he was here when he was suspended."

"How can you say that?"

"Here's some of that 'past' right back at ya, Lisa."

"
I remember saying that that stupid mayor Menkino shouldn't be re-elected for another term like he has been for the past, like, thirty bazillion years, and Nick just got all fussy and was like, 'Hey, he's a great mayor!'. And I said, 'He's the worst mayor I've ever seen,' and he's like, 'Oh, yeah?!'. And the next thing I know, he started trying to punch me."

"Collin, are you REALLY going to take Ian's word for something like
that
?!" Lisa demanded. "You really need to hear Nick's side of the story on that one."

"That's what I thought at first, too," Collin countered. "But I don't think I really need to."

"Why?"

"Because everyone else who I talked to says it got started over something stupid. You know, Nick never struck me as the kind of guy who'd be interested in politics or anything like that. So, if he purposely started an argument with Ian just for the sheer heck of it and even fired a punch for no reason, then…well, what do you think was going on in his head at the time?"

"What?!" Lisa yelled. "I don't know! I'm not sure I even understand what you're talking about."

"Sorry…let me try asking again. What do you think was going through Nick's mind when he threw that punch at Ian that triggered the fight?"

"Well, I guess…oh, wait a minute! NOW I think I know what you're saying. Are you thinking that he
wanted
to get in trouble?"

Collin nodded his head. "You got it. He knew he'd probably get suspended from work for about a week or two…so if anyone came to him and asked if he was at work when Scott died, he'd be able to pull the ol' reliable "Sorry. I was suspended" trick."

"I don't believe it…" Lisa said.

"Ha! It's not hard to believe at all. Nick was just trying to create an alibi for himself, so when he got suspended for purposely starting a fight with Ian, he'd have a good reason as to why he wouldn't have been at work when Scott got killed."

"So…you think that's it?" Lisa asked nervously. "Are you finally done?"

"I think that's about it. Here's my whole theory: Scott showed Nick the picture he found of him on NetPub and threatened to show it to Randy. And Randy would probably call the cops after getting the picture, considering how he hates having teenagers who drink and all that. So to make sure Randy never saw the picture, Nick decided to purposely start a fight with Ian just so he'd get suspended from working, which should've given him a fairly solid alibi. But before he got suspended, he went to Jess and told her he lost his knife. Being the nice person she is, she gave him her own knife, knowing she'd never need it back. So when Nick learned that Scott was going to be doing a night shift all by himself, he hid in the bushes and started practicing throwing the knife at the Arbur Winslow sign. And I'd be willing to guess that that was the loud thumping that everyone was complaining about. So when Scott went to check out what the noise was…it happened. Nick lands a direct hit and kills Scott right then and there. Nick then runs away and hides the knife under the lifeguard tower, but he doesn't have much to worry about, because it was Jess's knife anyway. So Nick makes his escape, then Randy shows up the next morning and finds that Scott's been killed. And just so he won't
look
suspicious, Randy erases Scott's name from the work records."

There was a long, horrible silence that filled the stuffy warehouse for several seconds after Collin's winded theory. After the silence passed, Lisa took a deep breath and said, "I don't know, Collin. That seems awfully farfetched."

"You got any better ideas? After finding out about the picture in Randy's desk that was never looked at, how Nick would've had a motive and it just doesn't sound like anyone else could have POSSIBLY done it…I don't know, I think I've got a pretty good theory, if you don't mind my saying so."

"It's fine and all, but…"

"You don't think it's right."

"…Yeah, pretty much."

"All right. I'll prove I'm right. Where's Randy?"

Lisa's face turned pale when she heard that question. "Collin, you are NOT talking to him about this!"

"I have to," he insisted. "It's the only way to know if I'm right…wouldn't
you
like to see me finally stop talking about this?"

Lisa groaned. "Fine. If it'll get you to shut up about this and stop making a bunch of lousy theories, then sure, whatever. Randy's probably hanging around at headquarters somewhere making sure everyone is keeping everything in order."

"Isn't that
your
job?"

Lisa sighed. "He doesn't think so-not as long as he's here, anyway."

"Oh, well. Whatever. Let's get out of here. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get outta this sauna."

*  *  *

Lisa slowly opened the door to headquarters and saw Randy standing at the front desk, looking like there was something very puzzling on his mind. He jumped when he heard Lisa call his name.

"What is it?"

"Uh…I don't know how to say this…please don't get mad at me, but…Collin and I were just talking, and…we wanted to ask you some questions."

Randy slammed his fist down on the counter. "Damn it, how many times do I have to tell you I didn't do it?!"

"Randy, just stop it, all right?!" Lisa scolded. "We're not here to accuse you of anything. You know, we both think you were telling the truth when you said you had nothing to do with it, and we just want you to confirm it."

Randy was silent for a moment before he said, "You mean that if I go along with this little game of yours, you'll leave me alone?"

"Yeah…as long as Collin's theory is right."

With that, Randy became annoyed and furious again. "You mean Mr. Wannabe-Sherlock came up with an idea?! It'll be wrong!"

"Just listen to it, all right?" Lisa pleaded.

Randy scowled as Collin nervously walked into headquarters. Never had he been so nervous about telling an explanation as he was now. Taking a deep breath, he stared Randy in the eye and said, "Okay, I want you to be completely honest, all right, Randy? Because if you're honest, I think it'll get you off the hook."

"Heh. Whatever."

"All right, I just want to make sure I understand this: you had absolutely
nothing
to do with Scott getting killed, right?"