She Was the Quiet One Read online

  “Is Skyler all right?” Rose said.

  “As far as I know. That’s not the problem. Her parents have filed suit against Odell Academy, and the girls who attacked her,” Warren explained.

  Rose slumped with relief. “Oh. Thank God, I thought she was hurt. But a lawsuit—I heard they were doing that.”

  “You knew they were planning to sue?” Warren asked.

  “I didn’t know for sure. But Skyler said it was a possibility. Her dad’s a lawyer, and he’s sued people before over stuff. What does this have to do with us?”

  With me, she meant.

  “Quite a bit, unfortunately. Your grandmother is a named defendant.”

  “Why? You weren’t there,” Rose said, turning to Grandma, who’d averted her eyes, and was looking out the window as if she’d rather not look at Rose.

  “Bel was there,” Warren said. “Your grandmother had been named in the lawsuit because she’s Bel’s legal guardian.”

  “This was done to all the families,” Grandma said, turning to give Rose a hurt look. “Darcy Madden’s family is named because of Darcy’s conduct. I know the Maddens quite well from the club. They’re extremely upset, as you can imagine. Not just because their granddaughter’s been expelled and referred to the police—though they’re beside themselves about that. But mainly because anybody who’s named, well, their assets are at substantial risk. These Stone people are asking for twenty million dollars.”

  That enormous number seemed to float out of Grandma’s mouth and hang in the air between them. They sat for a moment, staring at one another in horror, both at a loss for words, as the gold clock ticked on the mantel. Above it hung a portrait of Rose’s grandparents with her father, painted when Brooks Enright was no more than ten or eleven. He’d been a handsome boy–square jaw and fair hair, wide forehead. (Rose looked a lot like him, though his features didn’t sit quite so well on a girl.) Brooks looked like someone who’d be a reliable friend in your hour of need. If only he were alive to defend Rose now.

  “I had no idea,” Rose said.

  Skyler, that bitch. She could’ve at least given me a heads-up. Is there nobody I can trust?

  “As you can imagine,” Warren said, “the lawsuit puts you in an extremely awkward position, Rose. Your grandmother is a defendant based on your sister’s conduct, and you will surely be called to testify for the other side.”

  “Well, if they ask me to testify, I’ll just say no. I’ll refuse,” Rose said.

  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Not if they subpoena you, and I expect they will,” Warren said.

  “Well, then. I’ll say it never happened. Or that Darcy and Tessa did it alone, and Bel wasn’t there.”

  Warren and Grandma glanced at one another sadly.

  “Let’s assume for a moment that what you’re suggesting wouldn’t amount to perjury, since obviously, perjury is frowned upon,” Warren said, raising an eyebrow. “That more favorable version of the facts would unfortunately come too late, since you’ve already given a statement to the Disciplinary Committee saying exactly the opposite.”

  “You know about that?” Rose asked.

  “It’s quoted in the lawsuit. In your statement, you made quite clear that Bel was involved in the attack. Though, frankly, I’m not sure why you thought that was necessary, given that the three attackers wore ski masks, and Bel never spoke.”

  “You could have said you weren’t sure,” Grandma said.

  The bottom fell out of Rose’s stomach. She’d been promised confidentiality if she spoke to the Committee. She never thought anyone in her family would find out about her statement. She certainly never thought that Skyler would put it in a lawsuit for the whole world to see. If she’d known that, she would’ve kept her mouth shut. But why was this Rose’s fault? All she did was tell the truth. Bel was the one who caused the trouble. She ought to get the blame.

  “This is not my fault!” Rose blurted. “They told me I had to tell the truth about what happened, or I’d get hit with a code-of-conduct violation. I follow the rules, Grandma. I’m the good sister. You should be mad at Bel, not at me. She went along with those girls voluntarily.”

  “She says she was drugged.”

  “She took some pills. Big deal. They stripped Skyler naked and hit her with a slipper, and Bel was awake enough to film it.”

  Warren chuckled. Rose and Grandma both gave him shocked looks.

  “Come on, you have to admit that’s funny,” he said. “In my day, people would’ve been embarrassed to make such a fuss about a silly prank.”

  “Don’t you understand, Bel Snapchatted the whole thing,” Rose said, horrified.

  “What is that? Some Facebook sort of thing?” Grandma asked.

  “It’s a video-sharing app. They took a video of Skyler, stark naked with her privates showing, and sent it to a bunch of boys. Bel did that. Skyler is completely humiliated.”

  Grandma looked pained. “I agree, that’s not nice. But it wasn’t Bel’s fault. She’d taken pain medication for her knee that made her not in her right mind.”

  “Believe what you want, Grandma. But I was there. Bel was in her right mind enough to break into our room with her trashy friends, take video, and forward it to a bunch of boys. I don’t know what else I can say.”

  “Ugh, it was that awful Darcy,” Grandma said. “She’s a bad influence.”

  “That’s who Bel hangs out with. I told her not to,” Rose said.

  “Rose, I hate to say it, but you’re starting to sound like a tattle, and it’s not attractive,” Grandma said. “I don’t like Darcy, either, but I don’t like hearing you speak against your sister.”

  So, that’s how it’s going to be. Just like with Mom, when push comes to shove, Bel is Grandma’s favorite. It isn’t fair.

  “Can we focus on the lawsuit, please?” Warren said. “I don’t care what happens to Darcy Madden, but I do care about your grandmother.”

  And her money, Rose added mentally.

  “Your statement corroborates Skyler Stone’s account of Bel’s involvement,” Warren said. “Without it, it would be Skyler’s word against Bel’s. With it, they have a strong case. There could be an enormous payday for Skyler Stone’s family, at your grandmother’s expense, because of what you’ve said. I’m not sure that we can overcome the statement you already gave. But I have an associate looking into ways to strike it from the record. In the meantime, Rose, you’re not to speak to anybody about this matter—not the Disciplinary Committee at Odell, not the police—without calling me first. Do you understand?”

  “That could get me in trouble at school. Have you read the handbook? It says that refusing to cooperate with a disciplinary investigation is grounds for suspension, or even expulsion.”

  “That’s a risk we’ll have to take,” Warren said.

  “Risk my Odell education?” Rose said, appalled. “I’m not taking that risk.”

  “Without your grandmother’s money, there is no Odell education,” Warren said.

  “This isn’t about money,” Grandma said coolly. “It’s about family loyalty. Enrights stick together. Bel may have poor taste in friends, but she didn’t take sides against this family. You did, Rose. I don’t like it, not one bit, and it stops now.”

  Bel had taken sides against her family. Bel had taken sides against Rose, and attacked her in the dead of night, but nobody cared. Grandma certainly didn’t. All she cared about was money, and her darling, manipulative Bel, who weaseled out of every problem, and never paid the price.

  22

  Transcript of Witness Interview conducted by Lieutenant Robert Kriscunas, State Police—Major Crime Unit, and Detective Melissa Howard, Odell NH, PD, with Mrs. Sarah Donovan.

  Kriscunas: We’ve heard that the Stone family’s lawsuit caused a big breach between the sisters. Do you have any insight into that, Mrs. Donovan?

  Donovan: The lawsuit changed a lot of things at Odell. It brought tremendous scrutiny of how the school handled disciplinar
y matters. Historically, Odell preferred to counsel kids who got into trouble rather than punish them. These are teenagers, right? They’re still learning. For a first offense, they might be assigned therapy, or rehab. Or some sort of community service. In extreme cases, kids would get suspended and it would go on their permanent records. After the slipper incident, though, the school did get tougher. Odell expelled two of the girls involved and actually reported the incident to the police.

  Kriscunas: We’re aware of that. What I’m asking you is: Did it lead to hostility between the sisters? Or, more broadly, did you ever witness any open hostility or violence between them? Anything at all?

  Donovan: Oh my, no. Nothing like that. You seem to have the wrong impression. Violence among our students is unheard of. I mean, with a few exceptions obviously. The slipper attack, and this awful murder. Other than that, no, there’s absolutely nothing. And just let me say that Rose, in particular, was always a quiet, gentle girl.

  Kriscunas: Getting back to the slipper attack, I wanted to ask you about the aftermath. Two students got expelled, and from what we’ve heard, they were extremely angry at the Enright girls over that. Do you think it’s possible Darcy Madden or Tessa Romano were involved?

  Donovan: Involved in the murder?

  Howard: Yes.

  Donovan: They were expelled the week before Thanksgiving. As far as I know, they haven’t been on campus since.

  Howard: Tessa Romano hasn’t been on campus since?

  Donovan: Tessa does live in town, so I suppose it’s possible. It’s an enormous campus. She could be here every day, and I wouldn’t know. On the other hand, I haven’t heard anything to say that she was.

  Kriscunas: What about Brandon Flynn, Miss Madden’s boyfriend?

  Donovan: I don’t know much about him, or his involvement.

  Kriscunas: Fine, let’s get back to what you do know. You were saying that the lawsuit affected your family. In what way?

  Donovan: Well, my husband got promoted, for one thing. Heath—my husband—had advocated for a tougher approach to the girls who were involved in that attack, and I guess the school felt that’s what was needed. The dean of students was out on sick leave, and ultimately couldn’t return to the position. Heath was appointed to the position. At first temporarily, then permanently.

  Kriscunas: You say he got the job because he was going to get tough on discipline. But we’ve heard from another witness that there was disparate treatment of the girls involved in the slipper attack. Bel Enright was not disciplined for what she did, and her conduct was not reported to the police. Can you shed any light on that?

  Donovan: From what I understand, the night it happened, Bel Enright was having a bad reaction to some pain medication she’d been given for an athletic injury. The feeling was, she wasn’t thinking clearly because of that, and so she was excused.

  Kriscunas: That’s it? And do you feel that was an adequate response?

  Donovan: Uh—I’m not sure what you’re getting at.

  Kriscunas: We’ve had a witness suggest that favoritism was shown to Bel Enright in the disciplinary process, in particular, by your husband. Do you think that’s a fair assessment, or not?

  [PAUSE]

  Kriscunas: Mrs. Donovan, do you need me to repeat the question?

  23

  “Is everything all right with you and Heath?” Sarah’s mother asked in a low tone, eyes shining in anticipation of bad news.

  It was five o’clock on Thanksgiving Day, and darkness had fallen outside the windows of Sarah’s childhood kitchen. She stood washing the good china in soapy water, as her mother collected dessert forks and teacups, getting ready to serve the pie. The kitchen was warm and cozy, smelling of turkey and cinnamon and wood smoke from the fireplace in the parlor. Sarah could hear the kids in there, shrieking with laughter as they rolled around on the floor with Max, the dog, who’d been thrilled to make the two-hour journey to her parents’ house in Massachusetts, where he’d barked at the neighbors’ dogs before nabbing a cozy spot by the fire. Normally, Heath would be down on the floor causing an uproar right along with them. But things weren’t normal today, and they weren’t as idyllic as they seemed. Heath was shut up in the guest room, talking on his phone. He’d been in there for nearly an hour. And her mother’s inquiry wasn’t concerned or sympathetic. She just loved to dig in the knife.

  “Things are fine, Mom. He’s busy with work,” Sarah said, in a clipped tone designed to get her mother to back off.

  “On Thanksgiving Day? You’d think he was a lawyer or an investment banker instead of a schoolteacher,” her mother remarked dryly.

  “I’ll get him,” Sarah said with a sigh, drying her hands on a dish towel. “But I won’t have you disparaging him. If you do that, we’re going to leave.”

  “You’re overreacting. I just wondered what was taking so long, that’s all.”

  Yeah, sure. Nothing rallied Sarah to Heath’s side like her mother’s disapproval. For one terrible moment five years ago, when she found out that Heath had lied to her about the problems with his book, Sarah thought about leaving him. She stayed because she loved him, but also because she really hated the thought of listening to her mother say I told you so for the rest of her life. Her parents never believed Heath was worthy of marrying into their exalted family. They were awful snobs—so awful that Sarah hated to think they could ever be right.

  Lately, though, Heath’s behavior was starting to worry her again. He was upstairs on crisis-management phone calls over the Stone family’s lawsuit against the school. The crazy thing was, the Stones were only suing the school because of Heath. They were livid over the naked video, and the fact that Bel Enright had barely been punished for it. But that leniency was Heath’s doing. The Disciplinary Committee let Bel off with counseling because Heath convinced them she was too drugged to think straight on the night of the attack. That wasn’t necessarily a lie, but it wasn’t an excuse, either. Judging from what Rose said about her sister, Bel was in league with the Moreland bad girls of her own free will. She’d probably taken the pills on purpose, too. Sarah would have told Heath that, if he would have listened. Instead, he shut her out of the process, and she only learned of the Committee’s vote after it already happened. Heath apologized for not keeping her in the loop. The slipper attack had turned the school upside down, he said, and he’d needed to move fast to restore order. But the apology felt insincere. Heath had made up his mind to treat Bel leniently, and he didn’t want Sarah interfering. That’s why he didn’t consult her.

  So, why the special treatment for Bel Enright? It could be sympathy. Bel was an orphan, new to the school, an outsider, and Heath had been an outsider at Odell himself, back in the day. It could be that Bel took the pain meds because of an injury suffered on Heath’s watch, and he was worried about blowback. But no matter the reason, Sarah didn’t like it. She didn’t like feeling that he was keeping things from her. It reminded her too much of old times. Bad times.

  Sarah went upstairs to get Heath off the phone, pausing on the carpeted landing outside the guest room. The door was firmly shut, but she could hear his voice coming from inside. Something in the way he was speaking made her pause. She held her breath and stepped closer, listening with her ear to the door.

  “Don’t worry. It’ll be different when you come back,” Heath was saying.

  There was something strangely intimate in his tone. Was that the headmaster on the phone?

  “Because. With Darcy and Tessa gone, you can start fresh. You’ll have me to guide you.”

  There was a pause, and then Heath laughed. He laughed often, but this particular laugh was one she hadn’t heard from him in years—flirty, sexy, confidential. Like he was talking to a woman. A lover.

  “Not that way, silly girl. You promised.”

  Silly girl. Girl.

  Heath wasn’t talking to Simon Barlow. Sarah turned the knob and flung open the door. Heath sat on the edge of the bed, a goofy smile on his face. He looked up,
and for a split second, his eyes were like a startled animal, caught. Then his face changed, and he assumed an expression so bland and normal and innocent that Sarah thought she must be imagining things.

  “I should be going,” he said into the phone, holding up a finger toward Sarah. “Thanks for taking the time to give me your feedback. Appreciate it. Yep, talk Monday. Thanks, Simon.”

  Sarah’s hands felt cold, and her mouth was dry. She stood there, paralyzed, waiting for some terrible truth to crash into her. But Heath just stood up, and thrust the phone into his pocket, smiling at Sarah so artlessly that she could almost believe she hadn’t heard what she’d heard. Silly girl. And yet, if she’d heard right, her marriage—her whole life—was in trouble. She didn’t want to believe her own ears.

  “Dessert ready, babe? Sorry I’ve been holed up in here,” he said.

  “Who was that on the phone?” Sarah asked. It took effort to get the words out.

  “Simon. We’re talking about putting out a press release on Monday, announcing a new anti-bullying initiative. What do you think? Is that a good idea, or does it look defensive?”

  Silly girl. The words had been perfectly audible. That wasn’t Simon Barlow on the phone, which meant he’d just lied to her. If what she’d overheard had an innocent explanation, why would he lie about it?

  “I don’t believe you,” she said.

  “Really? I thought it was a pretty good idea. Decent, anyway.”

  Heath sounded jokily hurt, like this was just some work thing. Sarah searched his eyes, looking for the truth. Heath could be very convincing when he wanted to be. He’d lied to her before about a matter of great importance, and she’d believed him with all her heart. This time, she didn’t. But was that wisdom, born of experience? Or paranoia?

  “Sarah?” her mother called from downstairs. “Dessert is on the table. Please come down and collect your children.”

  Heath raised an eyebrow and smiled conspiratorially. “Your mother may be hard to stomach, but at least the pie will be good. Let’s go,” he said, calling on their old solidarity.