Monster Read Online Free Page A

replied. “ Mary has been quiet the last few days, but she didn't confide in me tha t anything was wrong.”
    “ The boy she was chasing – Jim Kline. He's her boyfrie nd, isn't he?”
    “ Yes . Have you talked to him this morning?”
    “Yes,” Nguyen did not elaborate. Perhaps he wanted to compare their stories – see if they matched.
    “ How's his l eg? ” she asked.
    “He's u p and around. He'll be all right. How were Ji m and Mary g etting along before last night?”
    “ OK, I thought . I mean, I had noticed that Mary ha d begun to separate herself somewhat from him. But sh e never came right out and said she was upset with him.”
    “ What was her relationship to the two she killed: Ka thy Baker and Todd Green? ” Nguyen asked.
    “ As far as I know, she hardly knew either of them.”
    “ But she went for those two. Is that correct?”
    “ Yes. Definitely. Then she went after Jim .”
    “ Did you get the impression there was anybody else sh e was going to kill?” Nguyen asked.
    “No.”
    “ What do Jim and Kathy and Todd have in common?”
    “I asked myself the same question last night ,” Angela said. “J im and Todd are both on the football team. Kathy's a cheerleader. A ll three are popular.” Angela had to c at ch herself. She was talking as if they were all still alive. Sh e lowered her head and took a deep breath. Nguyen was sympathetic.
    “ It's not easy to see people die, ” he said.
    She raised her eyes – they were damp. “ Things like this happened to you in the war?”
    He took a moment to answer. “You expect it in war.” He shrugged. “ B ut i t doesn't make it any easier. ” He looked out the window for a moment. They had a view of the back of a warehouse. “ Do you want to talk to her? ” he asked.
    “Mary?”
    “Yes.”
    She felt weak to her stomach. “ She won't talk to you? ”
    “No. She says s he has the right to remain silent. She won ’t eve n talk to her parents. She's cl ammed up. ”
    “Will she be let out on bail?”
    “I doubt it, but t hat's for her lawyer to arrange. I unde rstand her family has money.”
    “ Lots ,” Angela said.
    Nguyen shook his head . “ The families of her victim s are crushed. Mary might be safer in jail than out. Y ou might want to tell her that.”
    “ You're saying they might come after her? ”
    “You never know.”
    “ What else do yo u want me to talk to her about?” Angela asked.
    “ Why s he did it. If she'd just tell us that, it would help .”
    Angela glanced down at her shoes. They were different from the ones she had worn to the party the night before. She had already thrown those away. She knew she couldn't wash away the bloodstains.
    “ Who will it help? ” she asked softly.
    “ You never know, ” Nguyen said.
    Nguyen led her to a small, grey box-like room with p ainf ul fluorescent lights on the ceiling. He told her he'd ge t Mar y and left her alone for a few minutes. Angela passed the time reme mbering when they had first met. Those had been happy days.
    Angela had been in town a week. Or outside of town would have been more correct. Her grandfather's house, located on the far side of the lake from Point proper, had the body of water to keep the world away . Her grandfather was not reclusive, however. Although seventy- t wo years old, he had a flourishing social life. He loved women, and since there were few men his age who were capable of doing mo re than talking, the women reli shed him. He was i n excellent health. Right from the start he l et Angela go her own way, which suit ed her just fine. She had been wal king alone in the woods on the south side of the lake when she stumbled across Mary.
    Mary was dancing. She had on a skin- t ight green leotard and tights and was playing her boom box at maximu m volume. Angela stood and stared at Mary for several min utes before announcing her presence, but there was no rudeness in the delay. She was awestruck – Mary dance d like a pro. But she wasn't an