“But you didn’t like him?”
“He just rubbed me the wrong way—I can’t even say why. There was something very fake about him. And also…”
“Yes?”
“I have a daughter. She’s Liam’s age, and she had some classes with him. And a few times, I saw them talking in the hallway and it drove me crazy. My wife told me I was overreacting, but given current circumstances, it sounds like I was reacting very appropriately.”
“So did you do anything?”
“…”
“Mr. Young?”
“I’m not proud of this…”
“It’s important to be honest right now. A girl’s life could be at stake.”
“Fine. I took Liam aside after class one day and told him to stay the hell away from my daughter.”
“Did he?”
“No. He did not. In fact, he started showing more interest in her after I said that to him. Right when he knew I was paying attention. Like he was taunting me.”
“Well, that’s not an unusual response of a teenage boy to authority.”
“I’m also not proud to say that I took my frustration out on his grades. English is very subjective, and I started grading his essays very harshly. He went from an A to a C.”
“Did he do anything about it?”
“He complained. But I refused to change his grades. I also told Lily, my daughter, that I would ground her if she spoke with him again.”
“And how did that go?”
“Initially, I thought it was successful. Lily stopped talking to Liam, and he just ate the bad grades. I thought it was over and done with.”
“But it wasn’t?”
“Obviously, I can’t prove Liam did anything to me.”
“What do you believe he did?”
“It was a Saturday night around two in the morning. My wife and I were fast asleep until our dog came into our bed. She vomited all over the bed and woke us up. But once I was awake, I found it very hard to think straight, and my wife and I both noticed we had splitting headaches. I called 911 and went to Lily’s room to check on her. I couldn’t wake her up at all. And then I passed out in her room.”
“What happened?”
“Carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“But you recovered?”
“Yes. Thank God for my dog. We spent several days in the hospital, but we were okay. But if Daisy hadn’t woken us up, we would’ve been dead by the morning. All three of us.”
“Did they find out how it happened?”
“There was a crack in our radiator. Supposedly, this sort of thing can happen, but we have a relatively new house. It was suspicious, to say the least.”
“Didn’t you have a carbon monoxide detector?”
“Yes. That’s the other thing. Our detector was disconnected.”
“That’s a little suspicious.”
“Exactly.”
“Did you suspect Liam Cass?”
“No. Not at first. I mean, I didn’t like the kid, but he was only thirteen years old. I didn’t even think he knew what carbon monoxide was.”
“So what made you suspect him?”
“One of my neighbors told me and the police they saw a kid skulking around my house shortly before it happened. I found a photo of Liam from his school records, and they confirmed it was him.”
“Did the police investigate further?”
“They questioned Liam, but apparently he had a friend living in my neighborhood, so that was his excuse for being there. There was no other evidence he did anything. If he was ever inside my house, he left no trace.”
“But you believe it was him?”
“I absolutely do.”
“So he got away with it?”
“He sure did.”
“Did you do anything further?”
“I’ll tell you, Detective, there is one thing I did.”
“What’s that?”
“I gave the kid an A in English. Some things are not worth dying over.”
Chapter 41
Erika
Liam barely said a word during the drive home. I made a few attempts to get him to talk, but he only answered in monosyllables. I wanted to know what Landon said to him when they were alone. Or more importantly, what he said to Landon. Did he tell the attorney the truth?
It’s a relief to find Hannah is in her bedroom where we left her when we get home. After the way Olivia Mercer disappeared, I was almost scared Hannah might be gone too. Of course, why would she be? The monster was in our car.