Carnage by Maxime Chattam

Author:Maxime Chattam [Maxime Chattam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781906040413
Publisher: Gallic Books
Published: 2012-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

7

It was mid afternoon when Lamar walked into the hall of East Harlem Academy and headed towards the janitor’s room.

Frank Quincey was inside, fixing a broken desk lamp.

‘Lieutenant … any news?’

‘I need some information on a student.’

Quincey tilted his head back.

‘Ah, well, you’d better talk to McLogan about that, hadn’t you?’

‘I’d rather avoid the principal, actually. We don’t exactly see eye to eye.’

Quincey made a face.

‘Hmm, could be tricky. What is it you’re after?’

‘I need to see one of the kids’ files.’

Running his fingers through his close-cropped hair, Quincey thought for a minute.

‘OK, there might be a way. Come with me.’

They walked through the building and entered an office off the library. A slightly plump woman was typing at her computer.

‘Leslee, could you help us a second? The detective needs to take a look at something.’

Leslee looked up until finally her eyes alighted on the face of the man towering in front of her.

‘We need access to a student file right away,’ said Lamar.

‘You’ll need to see Mr McLogan about—’

‘He’s busy right now,’ he cut in, ‘and it can’t wait.’

She shook her head to show she wasn’t happy with the idea, but Lamar could tell it was just for form’s sake.

‘So what’s this kid’s name?’ she asked in her shrill voice.

‘Chris DeRoy – probably Christopher, I guess.’

‘DeRoy,’ she echoed, typing in the name. ‘Just a moment …’

Lamar’s cell phone rang. Doris’s name flashed up on the screen.

‘Lamar, is everything OK? I heard you ran out of the office.’

‘Yeah, I’m at the high school in Harlem, checking something out.’

‘Oh yeah? What is it?’

Lamar stepped out of the office and into the empty library so that he could talk freely without being overheard.

‘Something’s bugging me,’ he said mysteriously.

‘Well, go on, what?’

Lamar took a deep breath, then launched in.

‘Something I remembered. When I arrived at the scene of the crime, the cops told me the killer was still there. Witnesses said he walked into a closet that could only be opened from outside. A couple of minutes went by before they heard a shot.’

‘OK … makes sense so far. After what he’d just done, Russell Rod probably needed a moment to get his head straight … before putting a gun to it.’

‘Except that we have a witness to the suicide, Chris DeRoy. He was so scared he shit himself. And he saw Russell shoot himself before the door closed!’

‘So?’

‘So the door didn’t take a couple of minutes to shut! It doesn’t add up. Either the witnesses got it wrong and there were only ten or so seconds before the gunshot, or else … DeRoy’s lying.’

Through the window, the detective saw the principal charging towards him, on the warpath.

‘Lamar, I wouldn’t waste too much time over this,’ warned Doris. ‘In these kinds of traumatic events, our concept of time goes out the window. People get totally muddled—’

Lamar jumped in.

‘Not to the point of confusing ten seconds with two minutes!’

Quincey appeared in the doorway.

‘We’ve got something,’ he whispered.

‘Gotta go,’ he told Doris, hanging up.

He hurried into the office.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.