Remember Me (11 page)

She wasn't there. Right, Jo?"

"Right," Jo said.

"Wait a second, Beth," Garrett said. "Jo was on the balcony when you stepped outside?"

"Yes," Beth said. "I think."

"Was she or wasn't she?"

"It was dark." Beth was confused. "I think she was."

"How long were you in your bedroom before you went outside?"

"A little while."

Garrett leaned forward even more. His next question was to be the important one, I knew.

"Was the door to the balcony open or closed when you went outside?" he asked.

"It was closed."

"Was it locked?"

"Yes," Beth said. "It locks when you close it."

"And when it's locked, you can't get back in from the outside, right?"

"No. Unless you come in through the kitchen."

"Does that door also lock when you close it?"

"Yes."

Garrett nodded to himself and made a note in his pad.

"Who left the living room after Beth?"

"I did," Jo said.

"What's your full name, Jo?"

"Joanne Fbulton." She added, "I was Shari's best friend."

"How long after Beth left the living room did you leave?"

"A few seconds. I went through the kitchen to the balcony. I wanted to see about Shari, make sure she was all right."

"Why did you take so long to go after her?"

"I wanted to give her a few minutes to settle down."

"Did you by any chance tell the others to leave her alone for a few minutes?"

Jo paused. "Yes."

"What did you all do after Shari ran off and before you started to leave the living room?"

"Nothing really," Jo answered. "Amanda picked up the candle and then went to the bathroom. Jeff went after her.

Dan helped me turn on the lights and straighten the furniture.

I flipped on the stereo."

"You turned on the music? How loud?"

"Medium volume."

"When you started for the balcony, did you leave Dan in the living room?"

Garrett asked.

"We left the living room at the same time."

"Did you see Shari on the balcony?"

"No. I only saw Beth."

"Beth was there before you?"

"Yes."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

"Was Dan?"

"No. But he walked out a few seconds after I did. He came out of the bedroom and put his arm around Beth."

"Did he have to slide the door open? Was it shut?"

"I think so, but I couldn't swear on it."

"Who was the first one to see Shari lying below?"

"I was," Daniel said, uneasy.

"What is your full name, Dan?"

"Daniel Heard. I didn't kill her."

Garrett smiled. It was not a particularly handsome smile.

He looked as if he was out of practice. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I didn't."

"What was your relationship with Shari?"

"She was a friend of mine."

"Oh, Christ," I muttered, disgusted.

"She was your girlfriend," Jo said sharply. I was surprised Jimmy hadn't said it. But Jimmy was sinking, I realized, down deep inside. He hadn't spoken in a while. I was glad, in a way, that Amanda was there for him to hold on to.

"I didn't know I was investigating a murder here,"

Garrett said slowly, watching Daniel carefully. "If I believed that, I should have first advised you of your rights." He leaned back in his chair. "Have I made a mistake, Dan?"

"I don't know. No. I think Shari jumped."

"You think she was suicidal?" Garrett asked.

"Well, no. I wouldn't say that."

"But you're saying she killed herself?"

Daniel shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not the only one."

"Were you her boyfriend?"

"Yeah, sort of. We were about to break up, though."

"Why?"

"No particular reason. I wanted to date other girls."

"Did she know this?"

"No," Jo broke in.

"She did," Daniel said. "I had told her." He looked down at his sweaty palms.

"But I still liked her. She was a good kid."

"I was too hot a babe for you," I grumbled. "You liar."

"What did you do when you left the living room?"

Garrett asked.

"I went into Beth's bedroom," Daniel said.

"Was Amanda still in the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Could you hear her in there?"

"I could hear die water running."

"Was the door leading onto the balcony open or closed?"

"It was closed."

"Was Beth on the balcony?"

"Yes."

"What was she doing?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"She was just standing there, looking out."

"She wasn't by any chance looking down?"

"I don't think so."

"When did you notice Jo on the balcony?"

"The second I stepped outside."

"Was Jo looking down?"

"No."

"Why did you look down?"

"I just did."

"How long were you out there before you did so?"

"Not long."

"What did you see?"

Daniel bit his lower lip. "Shari."

"You knew right away it was her?"

"Yeah."

"What did you do? When you saw her?"

"I told Beth and Jo. Then Jo went and got Jeff and

Amanda. Then we called for the paramedics."

"Before you called the paramedics, before you saw Shari. Did you notice Amanda leaving the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"I noticed her in the bedroom behind me, yeah."

"Jo," Garrett said. "Were Amanda and Jeff both in the living room when you went to get them?"

"Yes. They were sitting on the couch together."

"Listening to the music?"

"No," Jo said. "The music was off."

"Who turned it off?" Garrett asked.

"I did," Amanda said. "It was giving me a headache."

Garrett stopped his barrage of questions for a full minute to study his notes.

The gang watched and waited without making a peep.

"Let me sum this up," he said finally. "And if I've made a mistake anywhere, let me know." He straightened himself up in his chair. "Shari jumped up from the floor and ran to the balcony. A couple of minutes later Amanda went into Beth's bedroom. She didn't see Shari on the balcony. She didn't know if the door leading to the balcony was open or closed. She went into the bathroom. A minute later Jeff came into the bedroom. He noticed Shari on the balcony.

He also noticed that the bathroom light was on and the bathroom door was closed.

He definitely saw that the door to the balcony was shut, although he wasn't sure if it was locked from the inside. He left Beth's bedroom for the master bedroom, where he stayed in the bathroom for a couple of minutes. Less than a minute after Jeff left the living room, Beth entered her bedroom. She stayed there for a little while doing nothing.

"She noticed that there was someone in the bathroom and that the door to the balcony was locked. She didn't see Shari on the balcony, however. Not even when she unlocked the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the balcony.

But she did see Jo on the balcony, even though she wasn't sure if Jo had been there before she was or not. And it's feasible that Jo did reach the balcony before Beth. It, in fact, appears likely, because Jo left the living room only seconds after Beth did.

But whereas Beth dawdled in her bedroom before stepping onto the balcony, Jo went straight from the living room to the balcony."

"Beth was out there before me." Jo interrupted.

Garrett nodded thoughtfully. "We have a bit of a problem here. If Jo and Dan left the living room only a few seconds after Beth, and Beth hung out in her bedroom for a little while before going out on the balcony, then Dan should have caught up with Beth while she was still in her bedroom."

Garrett turned to Daniel and Beth. "Well?"

"Jo and I didn't leave that soon after Beth," Daniel said.

'It was more like a minute."

"Maybe half a minute," Jo said.

"Did I see you in the bedroom?" Beth asked Daniel.

"No." Daniel shook his head. "No."

"Why did you put your arm around Beth when you did catch up with her on the balcony?" Garrett asked Daniel.

"We're friends," Daniel said quickly.

"Are you good friends?" Garrett asked.

"Pretty good."

"Tell him about the Jacuzzi, Amanda," I snouted.

But Amanda was not telling.

"Do you two date?" Garrett asked.

"No," Daniel and Beth said simultaneously.

Garrett found the coherence mildly amusing. But he frowned as he rechecked his notepad. "It seems to me that Shari must have jumped after Jeff entered the bedroom but before Beth did. Do the rest of you agree?"

Everyone, with the exception of Jimmy and Amanda, nodded. Jimmy didn't look like he was doing much of anything except trying to breathe and stop thinking. But Amanda spoke up.

"Do you think that one of us pushed Shari from the balcony?" she asked.

"Why do you ask?" Garrett said, and he might have been toying with her a bit, not knowing he had picked the wrong person.

"Because you keep asking us so many questions."

Garrett shrugged. "It's my job."

"I see," Amanda said evenly.

Garrett held her eyes a moment. He might have been admiring their cool beauty. I don't know. He certainly couldn't have suspected her of foul play.

Unless he also suspected her of the ability to be in two places at once. He addressed the group.

"I have only one more question, and then I'll let you all go." He paused. "Did any of you hear Shari scream?"

No one did, and I couldn't remember if I had. Like I said, screaming wasn't supposed to be cool. I probably hadn't made a sound. I hadn't had a chance.

Four stories is not that long a fall, and whoever had pushed me had taken me by surprise.

Whoever had pushed me?

Getting my head burst open must have slowed me down a step. It wasn't until that moment that I realized I had been murdered. It really pissed me off.

Especially because I didn't know who had done it. Oh, I can't tell you how mad I got. I was seeing things.

Actually, I was seeing things. There was the stuff in the air, of course, and now it had traces of color throbbing on and off, in complex crystalline patterns, deep within its depths. Yet it was so faint, I could not be absolutely sure I wasn't imagining it. But even that concern made me crack a bitter smile. A ghost worried that she was imagining things.

It was funny in a sick sort of way.

Everybody got up to leave. Garrett called downstairs and learned that Beth's parents had arrived. He told them, and Beth, that he was placing the condo off-limits for the night while he evaluated the situation. Officer Fort came on the line and expressed the belief that Garrett was putting Beth's family through unnecessary hardship. Garrett didn't seem to care. In some ways he appeared a hard man.

He must have had a soft side, though. Jimmy and Amanda were the last two to leave, and when my brother stopped to speak to the lieutenant near the door, Garrett didn't brush him off.

"My sister didn't kill herself," Jimmy said.

"You two were close?" Garrett asked.

"Yes. She wouldn't have killed herself. It's not possible."

Garrett was listening. "Did she have any enemies among those present tonight?"

Jimmy glanced at Amanda, pained. "I don't think so."

"There was no reason anyone here would have wanted to kill Shari," Amanda said.

"Was there enough reason for her to kill herself?" Garrett asked Amanda.

"Excellent question," I observed.

Amanda took Jimmy's arm. "No," she said.

Garrett nodded and put his hand on Jimmy's shoulder.

"Try to get some rest, son. The truth has a habit of emerging in time. I'll do what I can from my side."

Amanda and Jimmy left. I hoped she was driving him home. I didn't consider following them. I wanted to see exactly what Garrett had cooking on his side.

The first thing Garrett did when he was alone was take down a bottle of scotch from the liquor cabinet.

"Come on, Garrett!" I shouted at him as he plopped down on his chair in the living room and poured a stiff one into a dirty glass he'd swiped from the coffee table. "Gimme a break.

You're on duty."

Garrett didn't give a damn. He finished his drink in three burning swallows and poured another. This one he nursed. I doubt he would have enjoyed it nearly so much had he been able to see me pacing back and forth across the floor in front of him. Actually, he probably wouldn't have seen me had he been able to see me. His eyes had settled on the red wax stain on the floor.

At least, that was what I thought he was staring at. But then he suddenly set his glass and bottle aside and got down on his hands and knees near the couch. I knelt beside him.

"What is it?" I asked.

There was a dust of fine orange chalk on the carpet.

Garrett touched the stuff and then held it up to his eyes, rubbing it between his fingers, feeling its consistency. I thought maybe he was on to something and started to get excited, but then he rubbed the chalk off on his pants leg and reached for his glass again.

He didn't get back in gear for another half-hour. By then the bottle was half-empty, and he had definitely slowed down. He began to stroll around the condo, wandering from one room to the next, seemingly in a random fashion.

He ended up on the balcony, hanging over the rail. He had to be drunk by now, I figured, and I was concerned he was going to fall and kill himself. Then again, if he did, I could have told him to his face what I thought of his investigative preparations.

He did look around a bit while he was out there, and then he stumbled back inside and plopped down on the floor beside his bottle. Now he'd finish it, I thought to myself. But he didn't touch the scotch. He pulled out his notepad instead and began to draw a diagram. I stood behind him as he worked. He could have been an architect; he was good at proportions. Yet when he was done, I failed to see the point of it all. He had not put down everybody's position at the moment I had supposedly jumped. He had just marked my place. And I didn't understand the dotted lines that he had sketched in, crisscrossing behind me on the balcony.