I shrug. “He wanted to talk to the press. I thought he should at least know what he was telling them. Maybe decide, you know, with his son, if it was information he wanted to share.”

I glance at the news crews moving behind the windows. “Someone should talk to them though. People need to know what goes on in those houses.”

I look at Oliver sideways, but his face has closed. He was in the basement a lot longer than I was. The impression’s left a mark in the lines around his mouth.

He shakes his head, and I think he’s already regretting allowing me to be a part of this.

Truman’s door is shut, but I hear raised voices—none of which belong to the man himself.

When Teddy arrives, he puts his helmet on his desk and walks into the interview room like I’m not there at all. And this hurts worse than all the unkind accusations and harsh truths I was expecting and all the arguments I already hashed out with him in my head.

Red-faced, I slip into the observation room just as Oliver flips on the tape recorder.

“Detectives White and Graves interviewing Ryan Bennett.”

Ryan has disappeared turtle-like into his hoodie. His arms are crossed against his chest as if he’s trying to physically hold himself together. He’s shaking so badly it looks like he might break apart.

Oliver must consider it a kindness to interview him first.

“Ryan, are you a member of Kappa Phi Omicron?”

Head nod.

“Out loud for the tape recorder.”

“New member,” he says in a voice so small I doubt the recorder picked it up.

“Okay, good. That’s great.” Oliver’s tone takes on an encouraging note. “Now I’m going to ask you a few questions about your experiences at the Kappa Phi Omicron house.”

“Okay,” Ryan says softly, his eyes on his hands in his lap.

“Great,” Oliver says. “This will be a big help. So, Ryan, can you tell us about what life was like at the house?”

Ryan blinks. “It was fun, I guess.”

“Okay, good. And what kind of fun things did you do there?”

He squirms. “There were movie nights and, I don’t know, parties and stuff.”

This is going nowhere fast. It’s clear he’s scared of something, and I wonder if he’s afraid his father is watching or worried about incriminating himself for some minor infraction like underage drinking.

Get on with it, I will Oliver.

“Okay, great. And were you ever forced to go into the basement of the Kap-O house?”

Ryan rocks back and forth on the legs of the metal chair. He shakes his head.

Oliver and Teddy exchange glances. This is the problem with nonverbal responses—they could mean anything. Does this mean he didn’t go in the basement, he wasn’t forced to, or that he doesn’t want to answer the question?