"There are eleven Jeff Davises in Philly," Scotty announced the next morning. "And four of them went to the same school as Tamara and Colter."
Josie looked up at him and giggled. Lilly clenched her coffee cup tighter in her hand.
"It's not all bad news, though," he continued. "Only one of them was on the football team. I've got his last known address" he waved a piece of paper in the air. "And Jo, you're coming with me." He looked at Lilly again and made a mental note to talk to her after he came back. Just do your job, Scotty, Stillman's voice rang in the back of his head, but he pushed it aside and stood up. "C'mon, Jo," he said.
Jeff Davis was tall. Tall enough to make Scotty stand back a bit, slightly intimidated.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, eyeing Scotty warily and Josie interestedly.
"Detectives Valens and Sutton, homicide."
"I never killed no one," Jeff asserted.
"You know Tamara Collins?" Josie asked, raising her eyebrow at him.
Jeff's eyes shifted, panicking. "I…uh…went to school with her."
"Can we come in?"
Jeff shrugged, stood back to accommodate them. "Sure."
"How well did you know Tamara Collins?"
"Well, uh, she was my best friend's, uh, girlfriend."
"That's not what he says."
"Huh?"
"He says you said you were sleeping with her."
"Nuh…well. Once."
"Once?"
"We were at a party…"
"See the breaking glass, in the underpass, warm…leatherette." The music blared over the HiFi.
"Hey, Tam!" Jeff called over the music. "Where's Cole?"
"He never showed!" Tamara shouted.
Jeff started towards her. "Wanna dance?" he asked, starting a slow, grinding dance.
"Yeah!" Tamara ground against Jeff, mimicking his motions. "This party is the bomb," she declared. "Wanna get a drink, Jeff?" she asked, gesturing to the long table of alcohol, but Jeff had other ideas. "Let's go for a drive, babe," he suggested.
"So you went for a drive…and then had sex?"
"Yeah."
"Uh. How old were you?"
"Sixteen."
Josie and Scotty looked at each other.
"What happened after that?"
Jeff shrugged. "I took her home."
"And?"
"That's it."
"So you slept with her and then just totally forgot about it?"
"She was the hottest girl in school. You think I forgot about it? No. I bragged about it."
"That must have made Colter mad."
"Sure it did."
"How soon before she died did you sleep with Tamara?"
"I dunno. A month, two?"
Scotty and Josie exchanged looks again.
On his way home, Scotty caught Lilly coming out of her office.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Are you okay?"
"He killed her, Scotty."
"Who?"
"Colter."
"We don't know that yet."
"He did. I know he did. I watched them."
"You watched him kill her?" Scotty was confused.
"No. But…" she sighed, desperately groping in her mind for the words. "They went to the same school I did. I was ten. And I was lonely. So I watched people. I knew something was wrong with them because they weren't mauling each other all over the rows of lockers. Then he was upset, and the next day she didn't come back."
Scotty looked at her sideways. "And you didn't tell the police this then why?"
"I couldn't."
"Huh?"
"It's hard to talk when your jaw is…never mind." She started walking away from him and he grabbed her arm.
"What?"
"Never mind, Scotty." She pulled away and started walking faster, before he had a chance to grab her again. Leave it alone, she willed him. Leave me alone.