“Did you hire a private detective?” Decker asked.
“Of course we did,” Wanda told him. “We all did. We compared notes.” A headshake. “Nothing ever came of it.”
McAdams said, “Do you still have the notes?”
“I think somewhere. I haven’t looked at them in years.”
“Is it possible to retrieve them?”
“I have no idea where they are. They could be in the attic. They could be in the basement. It’s a real mess in both places.”
“What’s the name of the PI that you used?” Decker asked.
“Oliver something.”
“You don’t remember the last name?”
“Mendall or Mendal or something like that.” A beat. “He might be dead.”
“We could probably contact him, but we’d need your permission to look at anything he might have found on your case.”
“He didn’t find anything,” Wanda said. “I could probably dig up the files, but it may take me a week or so.”
“That’s a long time,” Decker said. “We wouldn’t put you out unless we felt it was important.”
Wanda gave out an angry sigh. “It’ll take a while for me to find them.”
“We can wait,” McAdams said. “Or better yet, we can look with you.”
A pause. “I’m not being obstinate on purpose. It’s just bringing up all sorts of bad memories, but that’s not your problem.” Wanda stood up. “We’ll start with the attic.”
Decker said, “How about if I go down in the basement and Detective McAdams and you search the attic?”
“No offense, but we stick together. I don’t want you poking around into my things.” Wanda crossed her arms over her chest. “Those are the rules.”
“Lucky for you, we’re good at following rules.” Decker smiled and stood up. “One more thing. Did Max own a gun?”
“A gun?” A look of horror. “No! Was Zeke shot?”
“We don’t know. But as I told you, he had some shattered bones.”
“Oh Lord!” She shook her head. “All I can tell you is that Maxwell never owned a gun! He hated guns.”
“Could Bennett have talked him into buying one?” Decker asked.
“No.” Her lip quivered. “Shall we get on with it?”
Decker nodded. “You lead and we’ll follow.”
“He did not own a gun!” Wanda muttered.
“I believe you,” Decker said.
He thought: The question is, Wanda, do you believe you?
Two hours of searching produced a very thin file with a cover letter and a two-page synopsis report. Decker looked the papers over while sitting on the living room couch. McAdams was reading along with him, looking over his arm. Wanda was sitting across from them, stoic and silent.
The synopsis said the following:
Oliver Mandella had contacted the police and questioned them about the case.
He had contacted the school and had spoken to some of Max’s professors.
He had spoken to the parents of the two other missing boys.
He had talked to search crews.
There was nothing in his conclusion that would further this case. But without his field notes, Decker didn’t know exactly what he did or didn’t do. He said, “Would you mind if I contacted him? This file is sparse.”
Wanda hesitated. “I think Mandella is dead.” A beat. “Actually, I know he’s dead.”
“Okay,” Decker said. “Do you know if someone took over his business?”
“No, I don’t.”
“If we could locate his files and notes, do we have your permission to look at them? Sometimes details that don’t seem important might become very important.”
“Sure, but don’t hold your breath. We expected a lot. We got nothing.” Wanda looked at the ceiling. “The truth is, about five years ago my husband got fed up and threw out everything that Mandella had sent us during the course of his investigation. Henry wanted to move on, and this was the best way he could do it. Not a thought about how I felt. I managed to save what I’ve given you. My husband is a surgeon and has a surgeon’s practicality—if it’s bad news, cut it out.” Again, her eyes grew moist. “Don’t think poorly of him. It’s just his way of dealing with this horrible situation.”
“We’re not here to judge,” McAdams said.
“Henry would not approve of your digging around.”
“Even if it helped us find out what happened to your son?” Decker said.
“Maxwell is gone, Detective. No amount of knowledge will bring him back. Henry has washed his hands of it.”
“And you?”
“I’d love to give my son a proper burial. So please . . . go ahead and search. Just talk to me if you call, okay?”
“Fair enough.”
“Are you going to talk to the McCraes?”
“Yes.”
“Send them our best.” A few seconds passed. “I didn’t like Bennett. But he seemed to be the only friend that Maxwell had. For that, I’m grateful to him.”
Chapter 17
They walked to the car. Once behind the wheel, Decker hesitated before turning on the ignition. Instead, he made a call to what once was Oliver Mandella’s office. He hung up after a five-minute conversation. “The man is indeed dead.”
McAdams was playing a game on his phone. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you. What?”
“The private eye that Wanda Velasquez hired. He’s dead.”
“Too bad.” McAdams logged out of the game. “What happened to his old files and field notes?”
“All files five years or older were destroyed by the PI who took over the practice.”
“Then we have nothing except the synopsis, which is useless.”
“At least we know the Velasquezes hired a private detective. That says to me that they were trying to find him at some point. Then Dad wants everything thrown away. He wants to move on. I’m not judging but parents never move on.” Decker started the motor. “What do you make of Wanda’s statement that if something bad happened, it was Bennett’s fault?”
“Yeah, I caught that. Her blaming Bennett for whatever happened.” McAdams paused. “Could be she knows more than she’s letting on.”
“Her son is still alive and he told her everything?”
“It’s a theory,” McAdams said.
“It’s a theory based on nothing,” Decker said. “But the thought did cross my mind.”
McAdams said, “Both families moved from Queens at roughly the same time. Here’s another theory based on nothing, but maybe both boys are still alive and the families have relocated to get away from prying eyes.”
“Sure, that’s possible. After all, we know that someone buried Zeke.” Decker shrugged. “Hopefully, we’ll get a better feel after we visit Bennett’s parents.”
McAdams said, “Max may not have liked Zeke. But why would Bennett kill him?”
“No idea.” Decker paused. “We can hint at the boys being alive to the McCraes and see how they react.”