The Abbey Read Online Free PDF Page A

stuck my own back in my pocket to wipe off the sweat. I hoped he didn’t notice.
    “We’re ready to go,” he said. “One of our guidance counselors made a list of Rachel’s friends. They don’t know you’re here yet, but we can round them up quickly.”
    “Get everybody together,” said Olivia. “I want to address them as a group.”
    Eikmeier nodded and led us in. The main hallway was wide and long with branching hallways to the left and right. Crimson lockers lined the walls and a line of glass trophy cases led to the gym in the rear of the school. Eikmeier led us to a staff–only conference room on a side hallway. The overhead lights cast an artificially blue light, and the walls were covered in motivational posters.
    I pulled out a black leather chair from the conference room table and glanced at Olivia.
    “I want to interview the kids individually,” she said. “I’ll take the lead, and you look scary. Tap my leg if you want to ask a question, and I’ll take a step back. That sound good to you?”
    I nodded and took a quick look around the room.
    “That sounds fine,” I said. “You ever interviewed kids at school before? Some of the rules are different.”
    Olivia nodded and looked as if she were going to say something, but someone knocked on the door before she could. An Asian girl poked her head inside. Olivia directed her to have a seat across from us while we waited for the other students to arrive. There were ten of them. Most were girls, and none was over eighteen.
    I passed around a sheet of paper and asked each student to write his or her name, address, and phone number on it. Chances were that we’d never have to call any of them into court, but we wanted to be covered. Olivia started speaking when everyone was seated.
    “I’m Detective Olivia Rhodes with IMPD . My partner is Detective Sergeant Ash Rashid with the Prosecutor’s Office. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about Rachel Haddad, and I know some of you are probably pretty upset. We understand that, and we’re sympathetic. Our department is doing its best to find out what happened to her, and since you were her friends, we wanted to speak to you. Just to be clear, you are not in trouble, and we’re not looking to get you into trouble. Unless you tell me you’ve got a body buried in the backyard, what you say here stays here. Okay?”
    There was a general murmur of agreement. Olivia continued.
    “We’re going to ask each of you a series of questions while the others are in the hallway. Since you’re minors, Principal Eikmeier or your Guidance Counselor can remain in the room with us. That’s up to you. Bear in mind, though, that school officials have different priorities than we do. If you say you were involved in something that violates school policy, chances are that Detective Rashid and I won’t care, but Principal Eikmeier might. You can make your own decision. Right now, go back in the hallway, and we’ll call you individually.”
    The students filed into the hallway. I turned to Olivia when they were gone.
    “I hope that bit about school policy doesn’t come back on us. Those students are entitled to have someone here with them if they want.”
    “It’s still their choice,” she said. “They wouldn’t say a thing if Principal Eikmeier was in here, and you know that. Call the first one on the list. Let’s get this started.”
    I didn’t argue with her. Instead, I grabbed the list the students had filled out and read the first name. The handwriting was angular and slanted to the left. I’m not an expert, but it looked masculine.
    “Our first guest is Heywood Jablowme,” I said. “You want to get him, or do you want me to?”
    Olivia’s eyes narrowed slightly.
    “I hate kids,” she said, rubbing her temples. “Find out who he is and talk some sense into him. I’ll start with someone else.”
    “Sure,” I said, standing up. I opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The students were lined up