Saint Sebastian

Previously: The investigators talk with Jen Tyson and the Dean of Xavier Prep.

Photo and Graphic by Annie Wilson

11:05 AM - Sunday, November 2, 2014

Flood Mansion, Pacific Heights, San Francisco

The piano music from the hall trilled and then softened as the Dean of Xavier Prep closed the door behind Seb Podesta. Paco moved back to the side table with Raj, while Mark made his opening salvo of introductions.

“Please, sit down, Seb.” Mark gestured to the chair in front of him. The kid looked scared and sad, devastated even. Tear marks ran down his cheeks, though his deep-set eyes were mostly hidden behind a fringe of messy, floppy blonde hair. Mark thought he must be at least 6’2”, and had that awkward gait of someone still getting used to their height. The moment Seb sat in front of Jeannie, she gave him a half smile.

“Do you mind?” she said softly, rising. “We need some air in here.” She moved to one of the tall windows that faced the Bay and made to open it while Mark prattled on, having Seb sign his consent form and start the recording. Window open, Jeannie turned back to the table moving slowly. Mark glanced at Seb and noticed his eyes following her, sweeping her figure. He watched Seb while Seb watched Jeannie, who began pulling off her tweed blazer to reveal her form-fitting turtleneck sweater, Seb’s eyes taking in every curve. Mark saw them widen as the kid saw the grip of her Sig Sauer nestled into a shoulder holster at her side. Reaching the table, Mark glanced at her as she looked up at Seb innocently, giving him another whisper of a smile and a girlish blink of the eyes, casually draping the jacket on her chair.  Jeannie sat down and leaned back, looking at Mark, who was still watching Seb. The Dean was staring at the table, not even realizing this little ballet going on in front of him.

“Welcome, Seb. Thank you for being here.” Mark began, commanding attention. “We have quite a bit to talk about, so just for the record I’m going to get you to confirm a few basic things before we get into why you’re here today. Is that alright?” Seb looked at him, appearing a little confused, but agreed. Mark proceeded to the details from his file, confirming Seb’s birthday, class load, activities, and college preferences. He moved quickly, giving Seb just a few seconds for responses. 

“Alright Seb, I need you to go back to Friday and walk us through your afternoon and evening.” Seb began, his list of events identical to Dash Reilly’s. “And, what time did Dash Reilly drop you off at home?”

“I don’t know, maybe 6?”

“And then, did you have dinner? What did you have?” Mark asked, watching Seb’s brows wrinkle in response.

“Um - I, I made one of those pastas in the bag - the frozen ones from Trader Joe’s?”

“By yourself?”

“Yeah. My Mom wasn’t home yet.”

“Is that normal that your Mom isn’t home for dinner?”

“Sometimes. She’s a nurse.”

“And your Dad?”

“No Dad.” Seb barely glanced at him as he said it. “My - my Dad doesn’t live with us.”

“Where does he live?”

“Sacramento. With his new wife and new kids.” Seb leaned back, his eyes almost daring Mark to say something. 

“Hmmm. How often do you see him?” 

“Maybe once a month. But he pays for everything.” Mark considered the implication — evidently a sore point for the kid despite his blasé tone — and decided it didn’t need probing. 

“I see, and then, how did you make your way over to Tripp Hartman’s party?”

“I went over to Dash’s after I ate and showered and we got ready at his. Then his Dad drove us to the party.” All of this squared with Dash’s interview, so Mark pressed forward.

“And, can you describe your costume on Friday night?”

“Um, I was Teen Wolf - you know the Michael J. Fox movie?”

“Yes, it’s a favorite. What did you wear?”

“Um, I wore chinos and some dunks and fake beard and sunglasses and extra hair and claws and some wolf makeup and my senior jacket. That makes a Teen Wolf.” Seb seemed proud of himself as he said it. Mark silently passed Jeannie the iPad. 

“Is this,” Jeannie began, “your senior jacket?” She spun the iPad around to show him the photo of the jacket found in the garbage can on the Ecology Trail. Seb’s eyes were on Jeannie’s face a long moment before he looked at the iPad. When he did look, he raised his eyebrows.

“Hunh.” Seb muttered. Jeannie and Mark were silent as he looked at the photo. “It’s dirty. What happened to it?”

“We were hoping you could tell us.” Mark said. Seb’s eyes narrowed again, deeply shadowed in his face. Seb finally looked up from the photo to Jeannie and then to Mark. 

“I - I don’t remember.” He said quietly, genuine confusion on his face. Jeannie leaned forward.

“Okay Seb,” she began gently, “why don’t you tell us what you do remember about Friday night from when you arrived at Tripp’s.” 

“Um, I remember having some punch - it was orange drink and totally spiked.” Seb scratched his temple, eyes wide.

“What kind of alcohol was in it, do you think?” Mark asked.

“Um, vodka for sure, maybe rum too?” 

“Okay. Keep going.” 

“Um, Charlie was there - I hadn’t seen him in a long time. He was the DJ. MJ and Tally and Carolina were all these little flapper girls - there were a lot of like flappers and gangsters. I - I remember dancing. I remember seeing Alexa there in her orange dress and the crazy blonde wig. I hadn’t seen her in a long time either.”

“What was it like seeing Alexa there?” Jeannie asked softly. Seb’s face shifted; his eyes getting wider, softer. 

“Um. She looked — she’s just so pretty. And fun. And I — “ Seb licked his lips, sadness coming over his face. “God, I just wanted to talk to her so badly. Wanted to - to see if, if she…” he was quiet for a long moment. Even the Dean looked up to see what Seb would say next. “I - I fucked it up, okay. I did. B-but I still really liked her, and wanted to be with her. And I guess I just wanted to sort of see what the temperature was that night.”

“The temperature between you and Alexa?” Mark asked.

“Yeah.” Seb met his eyes, haunted. “And I went over to her finally - we had been making eye contact across the room a bit - and, and she was nice. I - I didn’t say anything huge or ask her for forgiveness or anything, but, like, it felt sort of good. Nice.” 

“Okay.” Mark said. He knew he could pursue the many questions about why Seb was in the doghouse with Alexa, but that would come. “What do you remember next?”

“Um, the party kind of started wrapping up, but Tripp came around handing out these little bottles of Tito’s? He called them Trick-or-Tito’s.” Seb shrugged. “He gave me like a handful and I put them in my pocket. I remember Jen took one from me and drank it right in front of me. And then, I - I was looking for Alexa and I didn’t see her. And then Dash and I left to go over to Inspiration Point - people kind of made there way over there. It’s just at the top of the hill in the Presidio, so it’s easy from Tripp’s.”

“Have you guys partied at Inspiration Point before?” Mark asked quietly, glancing to Paco.

“Sometimes. Mostly when it’s late and we have nowhere else to go. And it’s easy from Tripp’s.”

“Okay, so you’re heading to Inspiration Point, and then?”

“And then…to be honest, I don’t remember a whole lot after we got there. It was just, crazy, you know? Everyone was running around. There were those little Tito’s bottles. Everyone was pretty lit.”

“Do you remember Alexa being there?”

“Yeah. Yeah I do. She was in her dress and kind of cold. I remember that. It was kind of like, right when Dash and I got there - she came right after we did, I don’t know where she came from. I think she was with Carolina, and she was cold. I remember I offered her my jacket because she was shivering.” Seb’s eyes were staring at the tabletop unseeing. “And that’s - that’s kind of the last thing I remember.” Mark took a deep breath and considered him.

“Do you remember getting home?” Seb rolled his shoulders and looked up at the ceiling. 

“Um, I remember waking up at Tripp’s. Jen was with me. We were in one of his brother’s rooms. It was like, late - I dunno like 2 am? I went downstairs and Dash and I got a ride back to his house.”

“So, you got to Inspiration Point around 10pm-ish, would you say?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Seb shrugged.

“And let’s say your memory goes dark around 10:30-10:45? Is that fair to say?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So, between 10:45 pm on Friday and 2 am on Saturday, you have no memory?” At this, the Dean watched Seb carefully, they all did. The kid’s face was sad and defeated.

“No - I - I don’t remember anything.” He rasped out. Mark looked at Jeannie.

“Any headache on Saturday? Hangover?”

“Yeah. All day.”

“Okay.” Mark looked at Jeannie, who took a deep breath. Seb’s eyes moved from Mark to Jeannie, his eyes blatantly roving over her. 

“Seb. I’m going to show you this picture again.” Jeannie began, bringing up the photo of the jacket. “After you gave it to Alexa to wear, do you remember seeing it again?” Seb shook his head.

“Why - where, where’s my jacket?” It finally occurred to him to ask. 

“Your jacket, Seb” Jeannie advanced the photo to reveal Seb’s embroidered name from the inside of the pocket, “was found on the Ecology Trail in the Presidio. It was found inside one of the garbage cans there.” Seb’s forehead scrunched deeper than before. “It’s currently in the custody of the US Park Police.” Jeannie leveled him a stare. Seb didn’t seem to know what to say to this. 

“Wh-what-why? Am I getting it back?” Mark couldn’t believe the kid was this clueless. 

“That depends.” Jeannie said, her head tilting to one side. “Right now it’s entered into evidence, so you probably won’t be getting it back for a while.” Seb stared at her, his eyes roving again, moving a bit too far south for Jeannie. “SEB.” Jeannie was sharp this time. “My eyes are up here.” She said dangerously low. “Do you want to know why your jacket was entered into evidence?”

“Yeah. Tell me.” Seb whispered.

“Because in one pocket of your jacket, we recovered Alexa Thomas’ cell phone.” Jeannie spun the iPad around to show a photo of the pink phone. “And in the other pocket, we found one of the bottles of Tito’s.” Seb looked at the photo and then up at Jeannie. “And this bottle,” Jeannie pointed to the picture “was half full, and had GHB in it.” Jeannie raised her eyebrows at him in a silent question. “And you don’t remember anything.” It wasn’t a question. Seb Podesta’s mouth gaped silently as he looked between Jeannie and Mark, tears beginning in his eyes.

“I’d - I’d never hurt Alexa.” He choked out, chest heaving.

“But you don’t remember what you did or didn’t do, Seb.” Mark said quietly.

TO BE CONTINUED