Chapter 13: Cover-Up

Linda sat alone in the interrogation room. The lights were weak, giving out pale coldness, pale mercilessness. She stood up, watching the traffic outside and the passersby wearing their Sunday best, enjoying the sunshine and warmth of a beautiful late afternoon. She rubbed her bare arms, trying to keep warm, fighting off the cold that came from the air conditioning. Wearing dresses always made Linda feel vulnerable. That was why she wore T-shirts and pants most of the time. 'They should turn down the damned airco, ' she thought. 'Talk about waste... Talk about the environment!'

Linda looked around, wondering how many people had been interrogated in that stark room. It would be poor people for the most part. So much injustice was committed by cops and the so-called legal system, or so she had heard, but that impression was nothing compared with the real thing, the brutality of it all. She had been brought to the station and dumped in the interrogation room. She asked about Nikki and the twins but the cops wouldn't say a word. She cried, she hit the policemen, but they wouldn't budge. They wanted her for questioning. What for? If her sisters had been killed, was she the prime suspect? Was she? Linda couldn't believe it. She just couldn't.

Her eyes were dry. The well was exhausted. She couldn't feel anything any more. There were no tears left. The last six months had been such a crazy time and she had cried too much for too long. In five days' time it would be the twins' birthday, their sixteenth... if they were alive...

Linda breathed out deeply, making a tremendous effort to pull herself together.

The detective in charge had allowed Linda to speak to no one, not even to Mom or Dad. Anyway, from what she could tell from her reception when she came home, her parents didn't seem to want to talk to her. Dad had consciously looked away and Mom wouldn't look at her. She felt alone, so terribly, hopelessly alone. That loneliness played back in her mind, in slow motion, and the hidden scream returned. Mom... It was the scream... MOM! Why d'you hate me so much?... Why?... Tell me why?... WHY?????

Linda turned around as the detective in charge came into the room. He was followed by a second detective, taller and in better shape than his colleague.

"Hello, Ms McDougall," the first detective greeted, stretching out his bulky arm and shaking Linda's hand. "Still remember me? Detective Larrousse... and this is Detective Lamm from Liberty County. Please, sit down. This won't take long. Sorry for this mess but you know how the press is."

Larrousse was all smiles, Linda noticed. She didn't understand why he was so nice to her. She had seen his gluttonous eyes meandering over her uncovered legs, examining her, making her uncomfortable. She hated it when men acted like that. It was their hormones, they said, but now she was in no forgiving mood. She sat down on the chair across from Larrousse's and Lamm's, pulling down the hem of her summer dress, sighing almost without noticing.

"Ms McDougall," Lamm began, "you know you have the right to an attorney, don't you?"

Linda shrugged. "Do I need one?"

The detectives looked at each other for a short moment. Then Larrousse took over, his bushy mustache blown up and down by his uneasy breathing.

"We don't think so... but that's your call... Anyway, we won't take long. This isn't exactly my case. The crime wasn't committed in this county."

"What crime?"

"What crime??!!!" Larrousse repeated, blinking his eyes. "You kidding me, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not. No one tells me anything. I-"

"Don't you read the newspapers, Ms McDougall?" Lamm asked.

"No, I was-"

"Here," Lamm answered, handing a newspaper over to Linda.

COVER-UP! PARENTS DEMAND JUSTICE, the headline screamed. Linda skimmed over the article and immediately she understood the article was about the redneck. Matt Wood's folks were asking for justice. Their son had been murdered by a rich kid, they claimed. There had been a cover-up, orchestrated by Servenet's CEO Fred McDougall. The Woods were sick about the idea that a rich kid could get away with murder. The article mentioned bribery and her name, Linda S. McDougall. If the DA wouldn't prosecute their son's killer, the Woods would sue their county for ten million dollars.

"Dad!" Linda cried out. She looked at Lamm. "Is this true?"

"You tell us."

"I mean, the bribery? Is this true?"

"We're looking into it, but I'm afraid it appears to be true."

'Dad, how stupid can you be?' Linda thought, shaking her head. 'How stupid can you be??!!!'

"So you see, Ms McDougall," Lamm continued, "we're in a difficult position... My department and the county are under pressure... to show some results. This is a case that's generated a helluva lot of publicity. Corruption in a murder investigation is hardly the kind of publicity we're looking for."

"Murder investigation? I didn't kill anybody. It was self-defense... He shot my sister..."

"And you shot him back, didn't you?" Larrousse countered.

"No, it was an accident."

"An accident?" Larrousse asked, knitting his fluffy dark brows. "Why would your dad resort to a pay-off if it was just an accident?"

"And why would I want to kill that... I mean, he came after us and he started shooting... What-"

"Ms McDougall," Lamm cut her off, "or may I call you Linda?" Linda shrugged, but he went on, "Linda then... Did you know that Matt Wood, the man you shot, was mentally retarded?"

"No... I didn't. So?"

"We've gathered evidence Matt Wood did not and could not have kidnapped you and your sisters. If this is true, what were you doing in Liberty County, hidden in an old cabin and away from your parents, your friends, and your schoolmates? Did you run away?"