“Why didn’t you take the saw and glove and hoodie?”
Thomas shrugs. “Once Graham thought of the kidnapping idea and using the earring, we were kind of focused on that, I guess.”
Judd nods. “What was the split? Fifteen thousand each?”
“Yeah,” says Thomas.
“What were you going to do with the money?” says Judd.
“We were going to buy cars when we turn sixteen. You know, used ones. You can’t get much for fifteen thou.”
“That’s practical,” says Judd.
“Well, Markey works at the marina. And he heard you saying you had fifty grand to spend on a new boat. And when the salesman asked you about financing, you said you were going to pay cash. That’s how we knew you had that much.”
“But it was easier to divide forty-five by three than it was to divide fifty by three?”
Thomas responds with a shrug.
“When did Graham come up with the kidnapping plan?” says Judd. “Before or after you guys found Teddy’s earring?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, did you see the stuff and think you could use it to say you kidnapped Teddy? Or did you find the earring and then get the idea?”
“Well… when we saw the hoodie and stuff, we were wondering if there was a wallet and phone in there. Kind of to know who it belonged to, but also kind of like we wanted the stuff. Graham was kind of pissed there was nothing valuable. But then we found the earring… yeah… and we thought it was Teddy’s. So Graham said he was going to take the earring as a consolation even though we knew it was a big deal because that guy from the Clash supposedly gave him that earring. Everybody in town knows that story. So Graham thought maybe we could ransom it back to Teddy.
“But the next day we heard Teddy was missing and you and other people were looking for him. So Graham said fuck trying to get money for the earring—excuse my language, but that’s what he said—we can get a lot more money if we say we kidnapped Teddy and use the earring as proof.”
Judd doesn’t speak for a minute. He wants Thomas to feel comfortable but not too comfortable. A good pregnant pause does wonders to unsettle a suspect under interrogation. “Anything else you remember about the glove and saw and hoodie?”
“Like what?” says Thomas.
“Did anything look dirty? Maybe smudged with blood? Was the electric saw intact or broken? Was the battery attached?”
Thomas looks up into his brain again and says, “It just looked like it had been dropped on the ground. That’s all I remember.”
“Was the glove for a left or right hand?”
Thomas shrugs. “No clue.”
“Tell me more about the saw,” says Judd. “Was it a circular saw, jigsaw, reciprocating saw?”
“Oh!” says Thomas, brightening. “That I do remember. It’s the kind with a blade pointing out the end. Like a swordfish. My dad has one. He can put different blades in it to cut different stuff. Like metal or wood or a concrete block.”
“Got it,” says Judd. “That sounds like a reciprocating saw. Also called a sawzall. If we go to the hardware store when it opens, maybe you can point out what you saw to me?”
“Yeah,” says Thomas. “I can do that.” He lowers his cuffed hands from the desk to his lap and adds, “Are we under arrest? Are we going to jail?”
“The arrest part is up to Chief Jensen,” says Judd. “If she does arrest you, the jail part will be up to the district attorney and a judge or jury. Do you think you deserve to be arrested?”
Thomas shrugs. “I know what we did was pretty bad. But we didn’t hurt anyone.”
“Really?” says Judd. “Because I got a bump on the back of my head that says otherwise.”
In the basement of the police station, Graham Collins sits in an old office chair made of oak. It’s on wheels and can swivel back and forth and that’s just what Graham does as if he has a nervous tic or restless leg syndrome. He has a boyish haircut, as if his mom still sits him down in the kitchen and hovers over him with electric clippers. It’s still blond as a child’s, and his blue eyes areblueblue, not gray. He wears cargo shorts and a ratty gray University of Minnesota sweatshirt. His socks don’t match each other and neither do his Converse sneakers. One blue, one white. His buddy, Markey, who’s upstairs talking to Zoey, wears the other white and blue sneakers.
Clay leans against a wire cage where Riverwood law enforcement sometimes keeps stray or dangerous dogs taken away from crime scenes or homes where someone had been bitten. “Tell me about the gun,” says Clay. “Where did it come from?”
