AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And that’s when you shot them?”
The girl’s eyes squinted and Donna saw her head cock to the side. “My family?”
“Yes. Tell me what happened after you picked up the gun.”
The girl’s eyes welled with tears. “Are you sure they’re dead?”
McIntosh, Virginia January 15, 2013 3:30 a.m.
Donna watched the interview through the viewing window. Her lieutenant stood next to her with arms crossed as he, too, watched what was taking place on the other side of the glass.
“Something’s off,” Donna said.
“What’s that?” asked her lieutenant without taking his eyes off the interrogation room.
He was hanging so closely on every word coming through the speakers above them that Donna got the impression he didn’t even know she was present.
“Something’s not right,” Donna said.
“A family is dead and this girl killed them, so I’d say that’s an accurate statement.”
“No, I mean with the girl. Look at her. She has no idea what’s going on. She has no idea what Alvarez is talking about.”
“You said it yourself, she’s in shock. You know these kids plan these things based off whatever video game or social media is polluting their minds. Then, once they actually go through with it they want to take it back. But there are no do-overs with murder.”
As Donna looked through the window of the interview room, she did not see a teenaged girl filled with remorse. She saw a confused girl who comprehended nothing about why she was being interviewed at police headquarters. She saw a girl who still hadn’t fully realized that her family was dead. Donna saw something else, too, as she watched Alexandra Quinlan. It was the girl’s nightshirt that started Donna’s epiphany. An innocent-looking pajama top covered in blood. Why, Donna wondered, would a girl who killed her family—an event that would have taken some serious planning and contemplation—wear her pajamas to do it?
“No,” Donna said, shaking her head. “We can’t interview her like this. She’s confused. Christ, Lieutenant, she doesn’t know why she’s here or what’s going on around her. She hasn’t even fully grasped the fact that her family is dead. We need to take a time-out, pause this situation, and think it through. Obtain proper consent, get this girl an advocate, and give her a chance.”
“A chance at what? To get her story straight? Her parents are dead, so we can’t get consent from them. It will be hours before DCFS gets anyone down here. We need to know as much as possible about what happened inside that house. As much as possible, as soon as possible.”
“Stop the interview,” Donna said.
“What?”
“Stop the interview, Lieutenant, or I will.”
“We are not stopping a goddamn thing until we know why this girl killed her family. How do we know this isn’t some Internet dare? How do we know other kids aren’t planning the same thing tonight?” He pointed at the window. “She can tell us those things, and that’s what Detective Alvarez is going to find out.”
Donna took a deep breath as she watched Alexandra for another moment. She sensed the thin ice she had stumbled onto and knew pushing her lieutenant any more would be considered insubordination. She turned from the window and walked into the hallway, grabbing her cell phone and dialing as she did. She looked at her watch—3:35 a.m. She wondered if he would even answer or if he was too sound asleep to hear the phone.
“Hello?” came the groggy voice.
“Garrett!” Donna said in an urgent whisper. “It’s me. I need you down at the precinct. I know it’s late, but I need you right away.”
McIntosh, Virginia January 15, 2013 4:05 a.m.
Garrett Lancaster pulled his car up to the McIntosh police headquarters at just past four in the morning. He wore a Washington Wizards ball cap to tame his hair, which had been wild and uncontrollable after his wife’s phone call had pulled him out of bed thirty minutes earlier. He climbed from his car and started toward the front entrance, only to see Donna bounding down the stairs and jogging toward him.
“What’s wrong?” Garrett asked.
“Long story, and we don’t have time for me to give you all the details. I answered a call for shots fired at a residential address. Got inside the home and found a family slaughtered.”
“Jesus Christ,” Garrett said, taking his wife’s elbow. “You okay?”
Donna shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s the girl who needs your help.”
“What girl?”
