“It’s getting with the program, Lieutenant Decker. We all go to the same schools, do the same activities, play on the same soccer teams, go to the same summer camps, go to the same parties, make it with the same girls, and when it’s time, we all see the Baldwins. It’s like the parents are afraid to break rank. Because that means that maybe someone else’s kid has an edge over your kid. I love my parents. I think they’ve got a lot of…you know…”

“Integrity?”

“Yeah, integrity. But even they fall into traps. They say it’s because they want the best for us. That’s true, but also, they don’t want us to look dumb to their friends. It would be embarrassing if we failed. So that’s where the Baldwins come in. They prevented parents from being embarrassed. We usually got into the schools we picked, because the Bees had this knack of matching the right kid with the right school and making everyone feel happy about it. That was the point of seeing them for counseling.”

“Anyone ever hint that they did illegal things to get the kids in the right schools?”

“No. These letters were the first I’ve heard of it. But let’s face it. People look the other way if they get what they want. What kind of illegal things do you think they might be doing?”

“Maybe they had some kind of jump on the SAT.”

Karl looked blank. “Jump?”

“Insider’s information. Maybe they knew the SAT questions in advance?”

“Beats me,” Karl answered.

Decker said, “I’m just wondering if that’s the system that Ruby’s talking about. That they have inside information.”

“You’d know more about that than I would,” Karl repeated. He lay back down on the bed. “I’m real tired.”

Decker knew he should leave. But this was a onetime opportunity. He tried a different approach. “You mentioned going to the same parties. Did Ernesto ever take you to any of the parties he went to?”

“You mean the rages?” Karl blew out air. “Sure. Unless you were a nerd or a wuss, everyone at Foreman went to the rages. I’d go just to be seen. But I don’t like them. I don’t do drugs. If you don’t do drugs, there’s nothing to do. It’s boring to watch people getting stoned or cracked.”

Karl wasn’t the dumb jock when it came to important things. Decker said, “Did you ever meet any of Ruby’s friends?”

“Ruby didn’t come with her friends. I don’t even think she had friends. I only saw her a couple of times with her brother, Doug the pothead.”

“So she wasn’t a regular?”