This is a fictional account.
*
Janie told Suzie the next morning that she had told her parents the whole story and apologized for not calling Suzie back the night before. The discussion with her parents had lasted nearly two hours, mainly because they were concerned about drugs. Her dad also took a ton of convincing not to call Mr. Williams right away, but he finally agreed to wait and talk to Suzie's dad this morning.
On the ride to school with Curt, they continued talking. Janie's dad had insisted she go with Suzie and give her statement too, even though the cops had not yet called. So it was agreed Curt would drive them both after practice and drama club and wait for them. Suzie was to expect a call from her dad around noon about his conversation with the attorney.
When they got to school, parked, and walked to the entrance, Scott and Peggy were there. They had actually been waiting for Suzie. Scott and Peggy had already been called to give statements by the police. Peggy apologized to Suzie but they had to tell the police she was there. Suzie was okay with them telling the truth but she asked about Mary.
"Peggy, did you say anything about Mary?" Suzie asked.
"No, we just told them we didn't know the girl being talked about in the papers," Peggy said.
"That was brilliant," Suzie said. "Maybe we can use the same line. What do you think Curt?"
"Maybe but you need to hear what your dad says after he talks with the lawyer."
"Lawyer?" Scott said. "Your dad is talking to a lawyer about this?"
"Yes, I had to tell them everything once the cops called my house," Suzie said. "The only way I could keep him from calling Mary's parents was to agree for him to talk to his lawyer about how to handle this."
"Oh, my God, it's going to come out about poor Mary then, most likely," Peggy said.
"I'm afraid it might," Suzie said.
"I had to tell my parents too," Janie said. "They wanted to call the Williamses also. My dad would of, if not for waiting for Mr. Johnson to talk with the attorney today."
"Poor Mary," Scott said. "Her name is going to get dragged into this and she's going to have to endure the embarrassment at school and even go through a trial. They say the evidence against Kevin and his brother Keith is pretty compelling and they're likely to do time even as a first offense."
"We'd better get to classes," Curt said. "Scott and Peggy, keep us posted on what you hear and we'll do the same."
Suzie had a hard time concentrating on classes as she went through the day. She ran into Mary third hour and she was remarkably chipper, talking of the prom. Suzie didn't have the heart to tell her then where Janie and she had to go after school. Mary would be devastated by the news, and she was doing so well at forgetting the whole thing, and putting it behind her. This would crush her if it came out. Suzie was sure of that.
At noon, she had her cell on. She had grabbed a sandwich from the cafe with Janie and Andy. They were all sitting in Andy's car eating and awaiting the call. At 12:10 her cell rang and, of course, it was her dad. After hello, she mostly just listened for about five minutes. Two "but, Dad's" were all Andy and Janie heard her say the whole beginning of the conversation. Suzie said two more 'okays' before she hung up.
"What'd he say?" Janie was the first to ask.
"The lawyer, first and foremost, advises we tell the police everything," Suzie said. "If we hold back evidence, we could be charged with obstruction of justice. But he also said we were only obligated to answer the questions they put to us. If we can somehow avoid mentioning Mary, the police would be hard pressed to charge us later on if they found out. That is, if we answered their questions specifically. Mr. Cohen would go with us, but it would only arouse more suspicion on the part of the police if we showed up with an attorney. My dad wants us to tell everything, Janie."
"Shit, Suzie, we can't do that to poor Mary. She'll be destroyed."
"Believe me, I know," Suzie said. "Maybe we can do what Scott and Peggy did and plead we don't know the girl in the papers. That is mostly true, I only know Kathy Walker to say hi, nothing more."
"Yeah, I don't know her either, really," Janie said.
"God, I hope they take us both together," Suzie said. "I'm so nervous; I know I'm going to blow this."
"Me too," Janie said.
"My dad isn't going to say anything to the Williamses until after he hears how our statements went, Janie," Suzie said.
They finished their lunch in near silence. Each deep in thought about Mary, the police, and trying to keep Mary from being hurt more. Suzie went through the rest of the day and even drama club preoccupied with the police appointment. She only hoped it didn't show too much when she was on stage repeating her lines. Fortunately, the studying the night before did come back to her and she carried the lines beautifully. Her memory had not failed her, but she wasn't sure her face had lacked the concern racking her body. At 4:00, she was walking into the parking lot, and Janie and Curt were already standing by the Ford Torino.
"How'd my pretty little actress do today?" he said, trying to joke.
"Good, I hope," Suzie said. "As long as my face didn't show the stress I'm feeling, I guess I was pretty good."
"You're going to need your acting skill for this police statement," Curt said. "Janie was just filling me in on your conversation with your dad and his with the lawyer."
"What about me?" Janie said, lamenting. "At least she can act. I'm just a dumb soccer player."
"You're a better liar than me," Suzie joked halfheartedly.
"See, she's even good at acting the innocent one," Janie shot back.
"Good comeback. Proves you're the quicker witted one," Suzie said.
"We'll see about that," Janie fretted.
Curt drove them to the station. They all went in together. At the counter, after explaining that Curt was their ride, and Janie also needed to give a statement since she was at the party too, the police asked them to sit in the lobby for a minute. About ten minutes later, a man and woman approached.
"I'm Detective John Peterson and this is Officer Lisa Banks. We're the people that will be taking your statements today. Would Suzie Johnson please come with us?" he asked.
"Could we give our statements together?" Suzie asked, shyly.
"I'm afraid not," Detective Peterson said.
Suzie followed the officers down a hall and into a meeting room. It was a plain room with a rectangular table and four chairs. The table was set in the middle of the room. Other than a wall mirror, it had no other furniture or pictures. On the table was what looked like a recording device.
"Do you mind if we record our session?" Detective Peterson said.
"No," Suzie said.
"Okay then, we'll begin," he said, as Officer Banks hit the record button on the player.
"Your name is Susannah Johnson, is that correct?" he asked.
"Yes," Suzie said.
"Where were you last Saturday, April the nineteenth?" he asked.
"At a party at Kevin Richards's house," she said.
"Was the party already started when you got there?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
