Gun Games - Faye Kellerman [119]
“Good. Lee Wang is on his way to the hospital with the remaining four photo arrays, Yasmine picked out two more people—Darla Holbein and Kyle Kerkin. She couldn’t make a positive on JJ Little or Nate Asaroff. Maybe Gabe can pinpoint them.”
“Let’s hope,” Marge said.
“This is the deal.” Decker looked around to make sure none of the detained teens were within earshot. “Oliver and I just finished up with Kyle Kerkin. He finally lawyered up, but not before he had a bad case of logorrhea. The good news is we have a connection between Dylan Lashay, Kyle Kerkin, and Gregory Hesse, but it wasn’t exactly like I thought.”
Marge took out her notepad. “I’m listening.”
“The short answer is Kyle Kerkin is gay. He was in the closet when he and Dylan Lashay had a short-lived affair. Dylan broke it off and threatened to out him unless Kyle gave him guns from his father’s collection. So Kyle gave Dylan a single gun and that seemed to mollify him and Kyle remained in the closet. I’m not sure but I think Kyle Kerkin and Gregory Hesse were set up by Dylan Lashay.”
“Set up as in framed?” Marge asked.
“No, set up as in Dylan the matchmaker. For his services, Gregory Hesse probably edited all Dylan’s papers and Kyle gave him a gun. A good arrangement for everyone.”
“So Gregory Hesse was gay?” Marge appeared skeptical.
“According to Kyle, yes.”
“What about that girl in the snapshots giving Greg a blow job?”
Decker said, “You didn’t see a face, right?”
“Right.”
“Kyle Kerkin has shoulder-length dark hair.”
“Aha. Okay, now I’m feeling it.”
“This is the gruesome part. According to Kyle, Gregory Hesse shot himself in front of Kyle and Dylan Lashay, who was filming Greg playing around with his gun.”
“God! That is sickening!”
“Repulsive.” Decker shuddered. “Kyle claims that the shooting was an accident. The gun wasn’t supposed to be loaded. Kerkin could be telling the truth, or he could be spinning total lies.”
Marge said, “Who gave Gregory Hesse the gun?”
“Kerkin claimed that Dylan provided the gun. It could be that Kyle is using Dylan as his way out.”
“Even so, if it did happen, thank God that Mrs. Hesse never found the camcorder.” She looked at Decker. “Does Kyle have the camcorder?”
“Kyle claims Dylan took it when the two of them left Greg’s house.”
“You know that’s really odd,” Marge said. “We didn’t find any bloody footprints or anything to suggest that other people were there when Greg shot himself.”
“Maybe the two of them were far enough away that they didn’t get any blowback. Or maybe the entire story is bullshit. Kyle only talked to us because he was still under the idiotic notion that he could weasel his way out of charges. When he asked us if he was still under arrest and we said yes, that’s when he asked for a lawyer.”
“He really thought you were going to let him go?”
Decker said, “These particular kids have mastered the art of glib. They know how to behave in front of adults. And as of his eighteenth birthday, Kyle has joined the ranks of adulthood.”
“Kyle was packing when we picked him up,” Marge said. “He’s toast.”
“Yeah, it looks like we have plenty of stuff against all of them, ranging from kidnapping and attempted murder to gun and drug charges. It would be great if we locate Gregory Hesse’s camcorder.”
Marge said, “I’ll go pull warrants. If the camcorder is around, I’ll find it.”
“Oliver has already called up Cruz Romero for the warrants on Dylan Lashay, Cameron Cole, Kyle Kerkin, and Darla Holbein: both house and school. If Gabe is able to ID JJ Little and Nate Asaroff, we’ll get warrants on them, too. As much as I’d love to be there to toss the houses, I can’t. You’ll have to supervise.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Marge said. “When I get the warrants, I’ll go to Bell and Wakefield first: do all the lockers at the same time. I’ll send Willy to Dylan’s house, Drew to Kyle’s, and Wanda to Cameron Cole’s house. When I’m finished with B and W, I’ll go to the houses and supervise the others.”
“Perfect,” Decker said. “We’re looking for guns, drugs, and any stolen items—especially things associated with Gregory