“He told the boys what had happened,” Webster said. “Not the details, just that there had been a crime in Dr. Baldwin’s tent and everyone should stay where they were and not do anything until the police got up to the mountain. It was at that point that the boys decided the best plan of action was to keep their mouths shut. I can certainly understand their reticence.”

“It’s generic shit,” Oliver said. “We know that someone came in the tent and out of the tent. I say either the kid’s lying to get attention and he didn’t see or hear a damn thing. Or he saw more than he’s letting on. He should be interviewed again.”

“Agreed,” Webster said. “The problem is he’s a minor and his parents are scared and aren’t going to let us talk to him anymore. But maybe if the loo came down…”

“No problem.” Decker looked at the framed picture of his family on his desk. “I’ve got to figure out how to approach the parents. How many shadows did Riley see?”

“He said a couple,” Wanda said.

“And he has no time recollection.”

“He claims no,” Webster said. “Just opened his eyes and saw these shadows coming out from the tent area and crawling back out into the woods. His first thought was that they were doing some kind of nighttime survival maneuvers.”

“Have they done that before?” Marge asked. “Nighttime maneuvers?”

Webster shrugged. “Beats me. I’ll ask Tarpin.”

Wanda said, “The main thing is that after a full day of being pushed through Marine-type survival drills, Riley was very tired and it didn’t take much for him to fall back asleep.”

“Did you tape the interview?” Decker asked.

“No, sir, we did not.” Wanda wiped her face with a tissue. “We caught the kid and the parents at a weak moment—when they were too shocked to protest—took whatever we could get. We knew they were going to bolt any second, so once we got Riley to admit that he heard something, we just started flinging questions until Mr. Barns put up the legal fence. We tried to keep it friendly because we figured you’d want to come back.”

Decker nodded. “And you’re sure the other kid—Brandon—he didn’t see or hear anything?”

“He says he didn’t,” Webster answered. “We interviewed them all as best we could. Most of them were minors.”

“A stunned population of teenage boys who were scared witless, but still trying to keep up the macho front. Then you add hysterical parents into the mix…” Wanda shook her head. “It wasn’t a beach party. We didn’t see or find anything suspicious.”

“Where are Ernesto’s belongings?”

“They’ve been bagged,” Webster said. “We didn’t find any letters from Ruby Ranger if that’s what you’re asking. They do exist, right?”