"We need to borrow Stephanie for a moment," I said.
A look of panic washed over her face. She swallowed hard but didn't move.
"Stephanie," Mr. Crawford said.
She hesitated a moment and shifted uncomfortably. "I don't want to talk to them."
Now Stephanie was the focus of attention.
"You’re not in trouble,” I assured. “We just need to ask you a few questions. It's not about your father."
Mr. Crawford intervened. "Gentlemen, this is an unwelcome disruption to my class. It's hard enough to maintain their attention. If you don’t mind, perhaps you can find a better time to speak with my student."
I smiled. "Certainly.” I said to Stephanie, "You may be able to help us find Liam's real killer. But that's probably not important to you."
The crowd gasped.
JD and I stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind us.
I had baited the hook just enough. Hopefully, she’d take a nibble.
35
To my surprise, Stephanie excused herself and stepped into the hall to join us. She was already the talk of the school, and I had no doubt this would add to the intrigue.
"What do you guys want?"
"I'm not sure if you're aware, but Liam was poisoned."
She lifted a surprised eyebrow. "Poisoned?"
"It's not common knowledge yet, so I'd appreciate it if you kept that between us." Stephanie nodded.
Keeping secrets was a way to bond. I figured it might inspire confidence.
“Did Liam ever talk to you about his mother?"
She nodded.
"Did he talk to you about the cause of her death?”
Stephanie shifted uncomfortably and nodded.
“So you know about the drug?”
Stephanie's face tensed with torment. "I don't know what to do," she said in a hushed voice. Her nervous eyes glanced around to see if anyone else was in the hallway. "I loved Liam. We wanted to get married.”
I lifted a surprised brow. Maybe it was just something he said to her.
"I don't know what to do.”
"About what?”
"The only reason Liam slept with Blair was to get access to her husband's computer. David knew the whole time that his drug would cause harm. They covered it up. Suppressed the research. Manipulated the data.”
She wasn't telling us anything we hadn't considered, but it was good to get confirmation.
"Someone broke into Liam’s condo looking for something,” I said. “I'm guessing he had copied the data and was about to blow the whistle.”
