Page 4 of Everyone Here Is Lying
“What was she wearing today?”
It’s as if William isn’t there. Erin seems to think for a moment. “Jeans—dark blue, they were fairly new. Pink running shoes. A white T-shirt with daisies on the front. She was wearing her jean jacket and her backpack is navy blue.”
“Any distinguishing marks? Scars?”
Erin shakes her head, then looks at him. William shakes his head too.
“You say no one has seen Avery since she left choir practice,” Hollis says, speaking to Erin. “What time was that?”
William can’t find his voice; it’s as if he’s paralyzed. The opportunity passes.
Erin turns to Michael. “I don’t know,” Michael says nervously. “She was kicked out of practice. I don’t know when, exactly.” He adds, “It starts after school, at three thirty and goes until four thirty.”
Hollis glances at the young cop beside her. “We need to talk to the teacher.”
“It’s Ms. Burke,” Michael tells them.
Hollis nods. “So she left school, and we don’t know where she went. She never made it home?”
Erin shakes her head. “Her backpack isn’t here. She doesn’t have her own key either, because she’s not supposed to walk home by herself.”
William swallows and still says nothing. He feels dizzy, as if he’s standing at the top of a tall building and leaning over, looking below. He knows that Avery was home today after school. She used the key under the front doormat to get in. He talked to her. He hit her. He’s a monster and a liar. He feels sicker by the minute; he’s afraid he might throw up. But he must not. He swallows down the bile, clears his throat, and suggests, “Maybe she ran away.”
His wife turns to him. “Why would she do that?”
He averts his eyes. “Maybe she was angry for being punished at choir practice; you know how she gets.” He immediately wishes he could take that back.
Hollis says gently, “How does she get? What’s Avery like?”
Erin sighs heavily and says, “She’s complicated. She’s a lovely nine-year-old girl. Very bright—gifted, actually. But she’s challenging. She has a learning disability and ADHD. She also has behavioral problems.”
Hollis looks at the two of them. “What do you mean, exactly?”
William lets his wife speak for them.
“She’s smart but she struggles in school. She’s easily frustrated. She’s impulsive. She often acts without thinking. She’s willful, defiant of authority. She does what she wants, basically. We’re doing our best.”
Erin doesn’t seem to mind telling them this, but William knows that when a child goes missing, the parents are regarded with suspicion. Now they will think they’ve done something to her. He wishes she hadn’t told them.
But Hollis just nods. “Okay. Has she ever run away before?” She looks at him now.
William can feel himself coloring slightly and says, “No.”
Hollis studies him more closely and asks, “Everything all right at home? Any problems we should know about?”
William meets her eyes and says, “Of course not. Everything’s fine.” Erin says nothing. Michael is staring down at his lap.
“All right.” She turns to Erin. “Thank you for the photos.” She stands up and says, “If you don’t mind, we’d like to look around the house. Could be she’s hiding somewhere. You’d be surprised how often that happens; they hide and then fall asleep.”
“We’ve already looked everywhere,” Erin says impatiently.
But William knows what they’re thinking. They’re suspects, of course they are. Maybe there’s something to find in the house. “Sure, go ahead,” William says. “But please hurry,” he urges, his voice breaking. “You have to find her.”
•••
Erin frets whilea search gets underway for Avery. Her photo and a description of her and what she is wearing are being circulated to all police and media. Patrol cars are looking for her,police officers are already knocking on doors, talking to people who live between Ellesmere Elementary School and the Wooler residence, and going up and down Connaught Street, where they live. Maybe someone has seen her. Erin knows something is terribly wrong—Avery would have come home in time for supper if she was able.
It has just made the local evening news at seven o’clock.Breaking News... A nine-year-old girl has gone missing while walking home alone after school in the town of Stanhope, New York...Her photograph appeared on the screen. It’s all unbelievable. Erin feels as if she’s living inside a ghastly dream, the kind brought on by a fever.
