What Rumors?
Previously: Jeannie cooks a family meal.
9:12 AM - Monday, November 3, 2014
US Park Police Office, Ft Winfield Scott, The Presidio
Mark had Raj begin setting up computers on one side of the conference room table, and asked Paco to find the biggest map of the Presidio, or get one made. Jeannie immediately went to one of the white boards and started writing out a to-do list. On another board, she put up a picture of Alexa Thomas near the top.
“Do they really do this or is it just for TV?” She asked Mark over her shoulder. He chuckled.
“They really do it. It helps, I think.”
On the far left of the board he watched Jeannie write: Mens Rea: a) intentional b) knowing c) reckless d) negligent
“Now, I’m not sure they do the Latin part.” Mark quipped.
“This is only part of the Latin part,” Jeannie tossed back. “Actus reus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” is the full thing, but I thought I’d go with the amended one. I just thought it was a good reminder for all of us.” She shrugged. “Okay, mainly for me.”
“My Latin’s a little rusty.”
“‘The act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty.’ Criminal Law 101. I’m just looking for every life raft right now, and I’m a little nervous.” She glanced at him.
“We’re all nervous, Jeannie. The only way out is through.”
“Why thank you, Robert Frost.” Jeannie quipped, continuing with her to-do list.
“Robert Frost? I thought it was Teddy Roosevelt.”
“Nope. He said ‘over, under, or through, but never around’. And I don’t think it was really Robert Frost either, I think it’s a misquote.” She sighed, “but it’s effective.” She proceeded to write “the only way out is through” on the far right side of the white board.
To the to-do list she added:
Andrew Barrington
Alexa’s school locker
Alexa’s room/laptop
Ryan Dominguez
Vin & Angela Parisi
Tyler Shea
Reconfirm Talbot Briggs timeline
Discipline reports from XP - Hartmans
Mark looked it over, trying to think of what to add, but for now it was enough. Everyone had their roles and tasks to complete. In his email he found Carole Thomas’ message with Andrew Barrington’s contact information. He forwarded it to Jeannie.
“Just sent you Andrew Barrington’s info, Jean. Carole Thomas sent it late last night.”
“They probably aren’t sleeping.” She said quietly, sliding behind a computer.
Andrew Barrington immediately returned Jeannie’s email, suggesting multiple times he could chat with her between classes at Phillips Exeter. With the time change, she suggested they chat in another 30 minutes.
“Mark, do you want to join my Zoom with Andrew Barrington in about 30 minutes?”
“Yes. Paco too, if he’s around.”
Paco returned a few minutes later, defeated by the map pursuit.
“I thought they’d have something over at the GGNPC, but they’re all big plastic topography maps, which would be helpful, but not really necessary. Anyways, I can get one printed.” Working off of the trail map, they cropped around an area that centered on El Polin Spring, showing Inspiration Point, the playground, and the first few streets of Presidio Heights over the wall. Paco handed it off to the office manager to get blown up and printed in high resolution. “Amanda may already have one since she’s charting all the evidence tags, but I’m sure we’ll put this to use. I was thinking we should maybe go out there and walk the trails this week too.” Paco sighed, settling into a chair.
“I like that idea.” Jeannie offered. “We also promised Mark we’d take him to Batteries and Bluffs.” She raised an eyebrow at Mark.
“Let’s see if the Coroner has anything for us today. If not, I think we can make it happen.” Paco said conspiratorially.
“I’m not committing to hiking.” Mark said quietly, feigning interest in whatever was happening on his computer.
“You’re pale enough, man. Get outside while you’re still young.” Paco ribbed him. Mark glared at him slightly, making Jeannie chuckle.
“Shall we call young Master Barrington?” She offered.
Andrew Barrington accepted the Zoom on the first ring. He looked pale and upset at first glance, but Mark thought he too could probably do with getting outside. His background showed a typical eastern boarding school with a narrow bed behind him, tucked into the corner, a wide window to the side revealing the golden New Hampshire sunlight. Mark could imagine the colorful leaves right outside the kid’s window.
“Hi Andrew, thank you for speaking with us.” Jeannie made introductions. Mark and she sat together in front of the computer, but she mentioned that Paco was in the room listening. “This is a multi-jurisdictional investigation, so we’re all together.”
“I - I understand.” Andrew stammered out. He was a good-looking kid. Big, with the broad shoulders of a lacrosse player, floppy brown waves of hair that he kept pushing back off of his forehead. He wore a burgundy sweater with rips in the shoulder, the neckline stretched. His brown eyes looked huge and sad.
“We’re so sorry about your friend,” Jeannie continued. “Carole Thomas mentioned that you and Alexa had spent some time together this past summer, so we wanted to ask you about that.”
“Um, sure.” Andrew’s eyes narrowed, focusing on something seemingly past the computer screen.
“So, can you tell us about when and where you and Alexa were hanging out?”
“On Nantucket. We were there I guess the second week of July? Our families always went for two weeks in the summer. My family has a house there, and the Thomases rent a few doors down.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun.”
“It is.” Mark saw Andrew swallow. “It was great seeing Alexa. I mean, we were always friends, but it was like we really bonded this summer. Talking about colleges and things. And she was just super cool. Easy-going. Fun.”
“Did you bond about anything else? I mean, did she maybe mention anything that had been going on out here?”
“You mean with Seb? Yeah, she mentioned it.” Mark was surprised that the kid immediately went there without any stalling. “She told me all about him and how they’d dated all year.”
“Did she tell you about the Lake Tahoe party over July 4th?” Jeannie asked tentatively.
“Oh yeah, she definitely told me about that.” Andrew leaned his head against his fist, staring into the screen. “You’d - you’d think maybe she wouldn’t -— it was pretty personal, but it was refreshing that she wanted to talk about it, you know? She was just, super open. But even more than that, I don’t think she wanted to feel embarrassed about any of it, not that she should have, but I know girls probably do, which is weird because these things aren’t usually their fault. It’s always a guy being a bonehead.” Mark considered this; Andrew’s candor was unexpected. He and Jeannie glanced at each other.
“Can you tell us what she told you about it all?”
“She just said that she thought she and Seb were going to have a night together, and he took her upstairs and there were two guys and a girl in the room he took her to, and that everyone was already pretty drunk, and they kind of tried to coerce her into sex. Well, at least the - the BJ thing. That sounded embarrassing, but Alexa was always pretty mature. Self-aware, I mean. I think she knew it was about them. If anything it revealed that Seb was the bonehead, even if she hadn’t noticed before.”
“Did she mention if anything got violent or if there were threats of any kind?”
“No. No, nothing like that.”
“And did she mention what happened afterward?”
“She said she left the room, went downstairs and hid until morning, and then went swimming in the lake. She thought it would clear her head. She eventually swam back in — she said another guy was there who played water polo and he swam out after her to get her to come in. She said that she and a few others left that morning and came home.” Andrew sighed. “She told me about the rumors she heard when she got home too.”
“What rumors?”
“So, I guess there’s some kind of a chat room or something that they have out there. The kids from all the schools? I don’t know, but Alexa said she went on it and saw her name mentioned in connection with a bet.”
“Do you know the name of the chat room?” Mark jumped in.
“No, she didn’t say. I’m not sure if it was something on Facebook or Reddit or something rudimentary that someone built, but it sounded kind of low-key, but also very people in the know…you know what I mean?” Mark nodded.
“Can you tell us about this bet?” Jeannie asked.
“She said she saw something about a bet around her and Seb. That people were wondering if he’d get her to put out by the July 4th deadline.”
“Deadline?”
“Yeah, apparently there was a bet about Alexa and Seb having sex by July 4th.” Jeannie raised her eyebrows, but otherwise kept her cool. “And she said there was other chatter about once Seb being done if he’d share her with Dash - Dashiell? Is that the guy’s name? Seb’s friend?”
“Yes, Dashiell.” Andrew shook his head. “This upset you?”
“Of course. It’s disgusting. Not only that it was a bet, but that it was out there and everyone seemed to know about it except Alexa. She said dating Seb was like being in a fishbowl: everyone watching them all the time.”
“I think that’s why. I- I think, she was happy to be around people she could trust this summer, especially so soon afterwards.” Andrew paused and Jeannie tilted her head.
“You think that’s why, what?”
“Well,” Andrew seemed to get flustered. He heaved a sigh and looked away toward the window and back again. “Alexa and I ended up having sex this summer. No one was more surprised than me, but she, she asked if we could, just like that, out of the blue.”
“She asked?”
“Yeah - I - I think she, she just wanted to be with someone she could trust. Someone she knew. Someone who wasn’t going to start a chatroom about it, or lay odds one way or the other, you know?” Andrew’s eyes were pure sadness.
“She, she just suggested that we do it, and it was a rainy day, the parents had taken the kids to town for a movie…and, one thing lead to another. It was...” Andrew looked away again. “It - it was really nice.” His voice wavered. “I’ve been with a few girls, but she - she hadn’t been with anyone yet. She felt so much pressure about it too and said she wanted it done. Like something she needed to get rid of so it wouldn’t matter any more.” He paused for a long moment.
“Did - did she seem sad or angry about that?”
“Sad maybe, like, like I think she wasn’t expecting that everyone would be so invested in her personal life. It was weird. Don’t they have better things to do?” Andrew’s face contorted with disbelief. Mark could tell he thought Alexa’s school friends were plebeian and small. He felt exactly the same way. “I - I can’t believe she’s gone. I really liked her, and if they were going to come out for the holidays I was going to ask her for a date. Like, a real date.” He breathed heavily, his emotion coming through. “My, my Mom called me last night and told me the news, and I - I’ve just been numb all day.”
“That’s normal, Andrew. And perfectly reasonable.” Jeannie said gently. “She was your friend, and you cared about her. And obviously she liked you too.” Andrew’s brow wrinkled, trying to suppress tears. He nodded. “I think we have everything we need, Andrew, but if you can think of anything else, especially about the chat room or anything, will you just email me?” He nodded again.
“Will- will you let me know what you find out? In the end? I’d like to know what happened to her.”
“I think that will be up to the Thomases, Andrew.”
Can’t wait to see the chat room receipts!