A lot of the tourists had left. This wasn't exactly fun-in-the-sun weather. They came down here to escape the winter wonderland up North. It wasn’t Chicago cold, but it certainly wasn't bikini weather.
The evening was pretty relaxed. There was no after party aboard the boat. I didn’t feel much like celebrating. The case against Ianand Holden had evaporated. Wesley’s letter was the only piece of evidence we had, and that certainly wasn't enough to convict. Not without some kind of corroborating evidence.
I got a phone call the next morning from an unknown number. I swiped the screen and held the phone to my ear. "This is Deputy Wild.”
"Hi, my name is Tonya Avery. I’m a counselor at the high school.”
"Hi Tonya, what can I do for you?"
“I’ve been following the Ivy Rourke case. I can't seem to get it out of my mind. She was such a sweet girl. Terrible what happened with Father Callahan. I hope he gets locked away for a long time.”
“He’s not going to see daylight anytime soon.”
“Do you really think he had gang members do a drive-by just to clean up his mess?”
“That’s looking like a plausible theory at the moment. But we have nothing to back that up.”
“This has probably nothing to do with anything, but I thought I should tell someone.”
"What is it?"
"I'm sure you're aware of this, but the FBI stopped by the school the week before Ivy was murdered. I'm not quite sure what they wanted. They pulled her out of class. Like I said, I don't know if that means anything. And if you’re convinced you’ve already got your man, you can ignore this.”
I wasn’t convinced of anything. "You don't know why the FBI wanted to talk to her?”
"No. Of course, there was a lot of speculation and gossip among the kids. It was the talk of the school for a minute. Then, they were on to something else. You know how attention spans are these days.”
"What kind of speculation?”
"These kids have wild imaginations, let me tell you. I heard Ivy was everything from a drug dealer to an international arms smuggler.” She laughed. “Some thought the FBI was going to recruit her because of her computer skills. The former seems outrageous. The latter seems possible. She was very smart. But I always thought recruitment like that was a CIA thing. Then again, I don't really know anything about the CIA, other than what I see on TV and in the movies. I'm sure that has nothing to do with reality."
I laughed. "You never know. There might be a kernel of truth to some of it."
She sighed. "I wish the CIA would recruit me. Sounds so much more interesting than what I do now.”
"Don't sell yourself short. You’re providing valuable counseling to these kids."
"I think it goes in one ear and out the other.”
"Some of them hear it.”
"I appreciate the vote of confidence. Anyway, I hope I'm not disturbing you. I just needed to get that off my chest. I'm sure you get a lot of calls from crazy people with all kinds of theories."
"What's your theory? Can you think of anyone at school who wanted to do her harm?”
“I just figured if the FBI is pulling her out of class to talk to her, maybe she knows something. Maybe that got her killed.” She sighed. “Then again, I do like a good conspiracy.”
I thanked her for the information and told her I’d let her know if her theory panned out. My next call was to the local FBI office to find out if there had been an investigation involving Ivy Rourke. It was a call I didn’t really want to make, after everything we’d been through.
49
"Ivy Rourke was not a source or subject in any active investigation," Special Agent Murphy said when I called.
"You wouldn’t tell me if she was, would you?"
"Now, Deputy, you know full well that our agency prides itself on cooperation and transparency with local law enforcement.”
It was total BS. They would absolutely withhold information if it was related to national security, pertained to an ongoing investigation, or if there was a need to protect sources or methods. Plus, I hadn't exactly made friends at the Bureau.
