As a prosecutor, Jake heard a lot of lies, and some truth, and he had learned that one was often embedded in the other. People lied for all sorts of reasons—to protect themselves, for attention, or simply because they wanted something to be true so badly that they started to believe their own inventions. Jake sensed that the girl was lying, but also that she was telling the truth. He wondered if she was trying to hide something more important to her, possibly, than the assault.

Detective Murray continued to question Olivia, but he wasn’t getting much more out of her. She had become much calmer after she made her announcement. She seemed to feel that she had done her duty by alerting an adult, and she wasn’t going to be pushed any further. But she absolutely refused to share the girl’s name. Dr. Johnson sat back in his chair, took his glasses off, and rubbed his eyes. Jake could tell that he was already losing interest, now that it turned out that the girl sitting in his office had not been assaulted, and that he was listening to, at best, a secondhand story. No doubt he had heard a lot of gossip and hysteria in his years at the high school. He looked as if he wanted to wrap this up as quickly as possible.

Murray was making notes in his little book. “And, I’m sorry, where did you say this took place?”

“At the party,” she replied, exasperated. Then her eyes went wide. “Oh, I don’t think I actually said . . .”

“A party.” Murray kept his voice even. “And when was this party?”

“Last Friday night,” Olivia whispered, realizing that there was no point in trying to backtrack.

“Do you know who was there?”

This put Olivia in a tough spot. If she denied knowing anyone who was at the party, they would know that she was lying. But if she gave them names, she would be getting people into trouble. She looked out the window and didn’t answer.

Murray pushed on. “Did this party happen to take place on River Road?”

Olivia’s head snapped back around and she looked right at Murray. “Um, yeah. Maybe.”

Dr. Johnson was fidgeting with a heavy metal top on his desk, spinning it and catching it before it spun off of his desk. Now he slapped it down midspin.

“Olivia, you are wasting this officer’s time. You came to us to report an assault, but you won’t tell us who was hurt, or where it happened. This is a serious matter, and I have to insist that you tell Detective Murray what you know.”

Olivia immediately burst into fresh tears, and Murray looked annoyed. He had been getting somewhere with the girl.