“He’s a legal adult?”
“Yes. All the residents of Loving Care are emancipated. That way, if they do something illegal or disappear or whatever, the home isn’t held liable for their actions. But that doesn’t mean Bertram isn’t susceptible to nefarious influences even if he is responsible for his own welfare. If he and the nurse ran away together, fine and dandy. I just want to make sure he’s safe and he’s with her of his own free will.”
“Have his parents been contacted yet?”
“I believe the director, Lionel Lewis, is calling them as soon as the time zones mesh because the parents live overseas. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll follow up.”
“Police don’t contact the parents?”
“There’s no evidence of a crime. The news is better if it comes from Loving Care since they’re the ones who’ve lost track of him. Anyway, what did you bring me?” He lifted the lid of the cooler. “Smells good.”
“Grilled chicken breast,” Rina said. “It’s warm enough to use the barbecue. I made enough chicken and side salads to pass around the station.”
“You spread goodwill wherever you go. Are you joining me?”
“I already ate.” A pause. “I looked up the cases on the internet: the missing boys.”
Decker unwrapped the foil, picked up the whole breast with his fork, and took a bite. “Wow, good eating.”
“Peter, there are plates and utensils in the cooler.”
“I like playing caveman.” He took another bite. “Find anything interesting about them?”
“It’s all interesting, but the information’s probably in your case files. Peter, can you please use a plate?”
He took out a paper plate and put it on his head. Then he speared another chicken breast the same way as the first.
Rina laughed. “Okay, you win.”
Decker took the plate off his head and smiled. “What’s the spin in the newspaper?”
“The boys seemed to have disappeared into thin air. No sign or trace of them except Zeke’s BMW. It was warm when they left for the woods, but a few days later the weather turned. It rained and then snowed.”
“Which means if there had been evidence, it might have been washed away by weather by the time the search was underway.”
“Exactly. Nothing of any importance was found in the car.”
“Right.”
“I told you it’s probably in your files.” Rina took a sip of her coffee. “There was a one-year follow-up human-interest story. It implied that the police were still baffled. Even with modern databases—like AFIS and CODIS—nothing has ever been connected to the missing boys. The police never got anywhere past the basics.”
“What basics do you have?”
“They interviewed people associated with colleges. The students were obviously very bright, because Duxbury is the most competitive college of the consortium.” Rina looked at a notepad. “In the follow-up article, they interviewed a few people who had known them, specifically a boy named Jack Carlson. He was the fourth suitemate. I don’t know this for sure, but it sounds like there were two guys in two rooms.”
Decker rifled through the common file for the three young men. “Here he is. Jackson Carlson.” He read out loud. “Okay, they all came from different freshman housing. Zeke, Bennett, and Jackson—he was called Jack—chose to room together in their sophomore year.” He kept reading. “Okay, here’s the deal. The three of them were short a guy needed to complete the foursome required for their second-year housing.” He looked up. “I’m not sure how Max figured into the mix.”
“Interesting,” Rina said. “Odd man out, but it must have turned out okay since he went on the camping trip with two of them.”
“I think Bennett McCrae and Max Velasquez knew each other before college. They went to the same high school. Both of their fathers are in health care—one is a doctor, the other is a hospital administrator.”
“Family friends? They took him in as a favor?”
“Don’t know, but it’s plausible.”
Rina said, “In the papers, Jack Carlson made a point of saying that they all got along.”
“Then why didn’t Jack go on the camping trip with them?”
“It was Parents’ Weekend. His folks were the only set that came in.”
“Then he was at the college the entire time.”
“I suppose.”
“I’ll check that out.” Decker rifled through Zeke Anderson’s case files. “Here it is again . . . ten pages long.” He looked in the boxes of the other two missing boys.
“The same interview with Jack Carlson is in all three files. I’ll need to read this carefully.” He continued shuffling through the papers. “I can’t see any follow-up interviews.” He looked up at Rina. “Do you know what happened to Carlson?”
“Actually, I looked him up. He works in Brooklyn. His social media feeds say he’s married and he and his wife just had a baby boy.”
“Anything else on him?”
“No,” Rina said. “Should there be?”
“I don’t know. I’ll interview him once we have a positive ID on the remains.”
“How long will that take?”
“A day or two.”
McAdams strolled over to his desk and sat down with a plop.
“I thought you went home,” Decker said.
“I forgot my wallet.” He took it out of his desk. Then he sniffed. “Why didn’t you tell me that Rina was bringing dinner? Or did you want to hog it all yourself?”
“Chicken breasts,” Rina said. “There’s plenty to go around. I also made coleslaw.”
“Thanks, Rina. I’ll take it home. I really am tired.” McAdams glanced at his watch. “I take it there’s no news from Kev?”
“He’s still in the field. The crew searched for forensics in the general area, but they can’t do much until all the remains are packed up. The area is cordoned off. He’ll try again tomorrow at dawn’s early light. He’s assuming we’ll be there.”
“Sure, I can come,” McAdams said. “Oh, by the way, boss. While you were in Archives, I spoke to the coroner.”
“And?”
“He said you can come by the morgue tomorrow afternoon. He should have things sorted out by then.”
“The crypt is in Hamilton?”
“Your favorite place.”
“We all get along now,” Decker said. “Who’s the coroner?”
“Oscar Kahn. Do you know him?”
“Nope,” Decker said. “Does he have any idea how long the bones have been there?”
“There is some flesh, but not much of it. Ten years maybe—within the time frame of the boys’ disappearances.”
“The boys all had parents who lived in New York. Plus, there was a fourth roommate—Jack Carlson. He didn’t go camping because his parents came for the weekend. He still lives in New York. Rina is going to Manhattan on Sunday for Gabe. If I can set up some interviews, I’ll think I’ll go down as well.”