"William, you know Tammy? Foster?"

"The girl in the trunk, the news reported. She attends Stevenson Middle School. I've never spoken to her, let alone had any relationship. It's possible that we have taken classes together in first grade. He looked Katyusha in the eye and teased her face with her hand from time to time, but she couldn't be sure if it was a knee-jerk that meant he was lying, or embarrassed by the pimples on his face.

"She posted some posts about me on the Chilton report. She wasn't right. ”

"What did she say?" Katyusha asked him anyway, although she could recall the content of the post, saying that he tried to take a picture of the girls' locker room after a cheerleading rehearsal.

The boy hesitated, as if trying to figure out if she was playing tricks on him, "She said I took a picture secretly. A picture of a girl, of course. His face sank, "I was just on the phone, you know, chatting." ”

"Yes," said his mother, "Bob is coming home soon, and I'm going to wait for him to come."

But Katyusha was eager to ask. She knew very well that if Fiona's husband returned, he would immediately stop the inquiry.

William asked, "She'll be fine, will she, Tammy?"

"It doesn't seem to be a big deal."

"That's good." He looked over to the mottled coffee table, on which lay a dirty, empty ashtray. Katyusha felt like she hadn't seen an ashtray in the living room in years.

"You think I did it? Want to hurt her?" His two black eyes, sunken under his eyebrows, easily caught her gaze.

"Not really. We just want to talk to someone who understands the situation. ”

"Situation?" He asked.

"Where were you last night? between 12 o'clock and two o'clock in the morning."

He shook his hair again, "I'm going to the arcade at about half past ten." ”

"What's that?"

"This kind of place where you can play video games, like an amusement center. Do you know where? It's just near the FedEx company in Kimkao. It used to be an old movie theater, but it was demolished and converted into a game arcade. This one is not the best, the connection equipment is not very good, but this one closes late. ”

Katyusha, noticing that he was gossiping, asked, "Are you alone?"

"There were other kids playing there as well. But I'm playing alone. ”

"I thought you were at home." Fiona said.

He shrugged, "I've been at home and gone out again. I can't sleep. ”

"Do you have internet access in the arcade?" Katyusha asked.

"It doesn't seem to be. I played pinball, not role-playing games. ”

"Didn't play anything?"

"RPGs, shooters, pinball games and drive-through games, you don't need to go online."

He explained patiently, though he seemed a little surprised that she didn't know the difference.

"Then you don't need to log in, do you?"

"That's what I said."

"How long have you been there?"

"I don't know, an hour, or two hours."

"How much does it cost to play these games? Does it cost 50 cents or $1 for a few minutes?"

It seems that this is what Fiona cares about - money.

"If you play well, it will keep you playing. I spent $3 on the whole night. I'm spending the money I earn. I bought some food and two cans of Red Bull drinks. ”

"William. Can you recall who you saw there?"

"I can't remember. Maybe I'll have to think about it. His eyes were fixed on the floor.

"Okay. And when did you get home?"

"At half past one in the morning. Maybe two points. I don't remember exactly. ”

She asked a few more questions about Monday night, as well as about school and his classmates. He didn't swim too far from his bottom line, so it's impossible to know for sure if he's telling the truth. She remembered Jon again? What Beau told her about the virtual world. If Travi's mind is still there and he doesn't return to the real world, then line analysis is useless. Presumably, dealing with someone like William requires a completely different set of rules.

Next, Fiona's eyes flashed to the door, and the boy's eyes looked over as well.

Katyusha and Hugh turned around and saw a large man walk in. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and wore men's cargo pants covered in patches of stains, with the words "Central Coast Landscape Design" embroidered on his chest. He looked at everyone in the room unhurriedly, and the black eyes under his thick brown hair were calm, but not friendly.

"Bob, these two are police officers," Fiona introduced.

"They're not here for insurance, are they?"

"Yes."

"Do they have a search warrant?"

"I'm Katyusha." She showed him the papers, but he didn't look at them, "This is Hugh." Let's ask your son a few questions about a case. ”

"It wasn't a case, it was just an accident. This is what happened when several girls died in the accident. ”

"We're here for other things. One person's post involved William, and the man was attacked. ”

"Oh, that bunch of blog garbage." He almost growled and said, "That guy named Chilton is a dangerous element of society." He's like a fucking snake. He turned to his wife: "At that place on the docks. Joey almost killed himself with a gun in his mouth, just because he couldn't stand Chilton's words, and he said them to me. He also slandered other children.

People don't read newspapers, they don't read Newsweek, but they read the Chilton blog, a pile of garbage. Someone should ......" his voice grew quieter and he turned to his son, I told you. We don't have lawyers and we can't say anything to anyone. Didn't I tell you? If you fucking say something you shouldn't say to someone you shouldn't, we'll be prosecuted. They would take our house and half of the money I used for the rest of my life. He lowered his voice. At that time, your brother will have to be admitted to the Shoshin Hospital. ”

"Mr. Fiona, you are not here for the accident: Hugh reminded him?" We are here to investigate the attack last night. ”

"Not a big deal, is it? The situation will be filed in the record". He seems to be concerned about responsibility for the accident and not about whether his son will be arrested for attempted murder.

Completely ignoring their presence, he said to his wife, "Why did you let them in?" This is not Nazi Germany, not to that extent. You can let them go. ”

"I would have like..."

"No, you don't, you don't use your brain at all." Then he said to Hugh, "Now, you can go." If you want to come back. You'd better have a search warrant with you. ”

"Daddy!" Sammy screamed and ran out of the room, startling Katyusha, "It's working!" I want you to see it!" He was holding a circuit board with several wires sticking out of it. “