I dont think so. I mean, at the little thing they had for us at school, she looked pretty hard at material from UVA and Wake Forest. But…yeah, I dont know.

Can you tell us anything about Charlie? Kate asked. We saw her name in her journal and know they were at least familiar enough to share a quick kiss between classes. But the police told us that you said Mercy doesnt have a boyfriend.

She doesnt.

Kate noticed right away how Annes tone shifted a bit at this comment. Her posture seemed to go a little rigid as well. Apparently, this was a sensitive topic. But, being that she was only sixteen and her parents were both sitting beside her, Kate knew she could not directly accuse the girl of lying. Shed have to take another approach. Maybe there were some dark secrets concerning her friend that she simply did not want to voice.

So are she and Charlie just friends? Kate asked.

Sort of. I mean, I think they maybe liked each other but just didnt want to date. You know?

Did she and Charlie ever do anything other than kiss that you know of?

If they did, Mercy never told me. And she tells me everything.

Do you know if there were any secrets she was keeping from her parents?

Again, Kate noticed an uneasiness settle across Annes face. It was brief and barely there, but Kate recognized it from countless cases in the pastparticularly where teenagers were involved. A quick dart of the eyes, shifting uncomfortably in their seat, either answering right away without thinking about their answer or taking far too much time to come up with an answer.

Again, if she did, she never told me.

What about a job? Kate asked. Was Mercy working anywhere?

Not recently. She was working like ten hours a week as a tutor for middle school kids a few months back. Algebra, I think. But they shut that down because there werent enough kids interested in getting the help.

Did she enjoy that? DeMarco asked.

I guess so.

No horror stories from when she was tutoring?

None that she told me.

But you feel confident that Mercy told you everything about her life, right? DeMarco asked.

Anne looked slightly uncomfortable at the question. Kate wondered if it was perhaps the first time shed been questioned in such a confrontational wayquestioning something she had spoken as truth.

I think so, Anne said. We were…we are best friends. And I say are because shes still alive. I know it. Because if shes dead…