“I did, yes,” said Tilton.

  “What was the argument about?”

  “The usual,” said Tilton. “His grades had been slipping lately, and I told him that he needed to focus more on school and less on some of the extracurricular activities he liked to get involved in.”

  “Like what?”

  “Partying with his friends, obviously, but also some concert he wanted to go to.”

  “Stage Patrol,” said Aisha with a faint smile. “He just loved that band.”

  “Since it was a school night, we felt he shouldn’t go,” Rosa explained.

  “Especially since his grades weren’t good,” Tilton specified. “I told him that if he applied himself more, that maybe we could allow him to go to concerts and whatever, but as long as his grades kept slipping, first he needed to address that.”

  “He felt you were being too strict with him,” said Aisha softly.

  “But we were only doing it for his own good,” Rosa said.

  “I know, Mom, and I think Todd did, too.”

  “Do you have any idea why he decided to stay with Scott, Aisha?” asked Odelia.

  Aisha shrugged, but didn’t look up.

  “Aisha?” asked Rosa, alarmed.

  “Well, the thing is that Todd had a girlfriend,” said Aisha, “and I think he wanted to spend more time with her than with us.”

  “Girlfriend?” asked Rosa, who looked greatly surprised by this. “What girlfriend? He never said anything about a girlfriend.”

  “Well, he wouldn’t, would he?” said Aisha. “You would just have told him he couldn’t see her anymore, not until his grades improved.”

  “Who was the girlfriend, Aisha?” asked Chase gently.

  “Scott’s sister. Layla,” said Aisha, her eyes still fixed on the carpet.

  Odelia and Chase shared a look of surprise, and so did Rosa and Tilton.

  “Scott didn’t approve, though, so Todd and Layla tried to keep a low profile. Which is why they hadn’t told anybody, not even me. I caught him texting her one night, so that’s how I found out. I confronted him about the text, and so he told me the whole story.”

  “Scott didn’t approve of his sister dating his best friend?” asked Odelia.

  “No, he thought it was creepy that his sister would get involved with Todd.” She shrugged. “Don’t ask me why. I thought he would have been happy, but Todd said he freaked out. So they told him they’d broken up, just to make him calm down.”

  “But they hadn’t?”

  Aisha shook her head. “As far as I know they were still seeing each other, only they were making sure that Scott didn’t find out this time.”

  “That must have been tough on Todd,” said Odelia.

  “Yeah, well, he seemed to handle it just fine.”

  “Would you happen to know where Todd’s phone is, Aisha?” asked Chase.

  Rosa was surprised. “He didn’t have it with him?”

  “We haven’t found it yet,” said Odelia.

  “Maybe it’s in his room,” Tilton suggested.

  Aisha got up. “I’ll go check,” she said, and quickly disappeared.

  “Todd never told me he was dating Layla Walcott,” said Rosa. She looked to her husband. “Why didn’t he tell us, Tilton?”

  “Because he was a teenager, honey. Boys Todd’s age don’t confide in their parents, especially about the girls they like.”

  “But Todd never kept any secrets from me before—he knew he could tell me everything. Always.”

  “I think it’s not unusual for kids not to tell their mother about the girl they’re dating, Rosa,” Odelia said softly.

  She nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks. “He could have told me. He knew I would have listened.”

  Aisha entered the room again and shook her head. “It’s not in his room. I checked.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find it,” said Chase.

  Chapter 22

  I would like to say that Odelia and Chase went full steam ahead with their investigation into Todd’s death, but they both looked pretty bushed, and that was only to be expected. It had of course been a long night for them, and they hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. Still, they had a job to do, so onward they went, with me and Dooley in tow.

  Harriet and Brutus had opted to stay home and engage in one more valiant attempt to teach Scarlett the finer points of the feline language. Though I could see that their initial excitement had already waned to a great degree. I think the experience had instilled in them a newfound respect for the teaching profession, though. Imagine how hard it must be to teach a group of young ruffians the finer points of algebra, math, or grammar?

  I was glad I was out and about, instead of being cooped up inside, acting as a private tutor to Scarlett. And so when we arrived at the house where Todd Bond had drowned last night, I was ready for any fate, and to discover what could possibly have gone wrong that this young man had met such an untimely death.

  In the drive over, Chase and Odelia had offered all kinds of theories as to what could have happened, but none of them seemed satisfactory in explaining the tragedy that had befallen the Bond family.

  The first person we talked to was Layla Walcott. The girl still looked properly impressed by what had happened, but she was composed enough to answer our questions with dignity and honesty—or at least I hoped she was. One never knows if people are telling the truth, of course, and a feline lie detector, unfortunately, I am not.

  Still, there is a great deal one can glean from facial expressions, mannerisms and tone of voice, and Layla struck me as fundamentally cooperative.

  “Yes, Todd and I dated for a while,” she admitted. “But we broke up about a month ago, which made his staying here pretty awkward, I can tell you.”

  We were sitting out on the terrace, even though this was the place where the tragedy had occurred. But the crime scene people had done their jobs, and nothing about the swimming pool area gave any indication of the drama that had taken place there the night before.

  “You broke up?” asked Odelia.

  Layla nodded. She was dressed in a light summer dress, and if she was bowled over by the death of her former boyfriend she didn’t look it. No Romeo and Juliet scenario here. “Yeah, we both agreed it was too weird, with my brother being his best friend.”

  “Your brother knew about it?”

  “He did, and he didn’t like it one bit. In fact he was the one who told me to break it off.”

  “And you did.”

  “Not because he said so, but yeah, we felt that the relationship had run its course.”

  “How long had you been an item?” asked Chase, jotting down the odd note in his little notebook.

  “Um, about four months,” said Layla.

  “That’s not long,” said Dooley.

  “At her age four months is an eternity, Dooley,” I said.

  “Did you notice anything unusual about Todd last night, or the last couple of days?” asked Odelia.

  Layla frowned and rubbed her nose. “Yeah, actually I did. He seemed moody, and distracted. His grades had been dropping, too, which was weird, since he’d always been an ace at school. And now all of a sudden he was neglecting his studies.”

  “Did you talk about it with him?”

  “No, not really. Things had been a little weird between us, ever since we… you know.”

  Odelia nodded. “So he didn’t confide in you about what was troubling him?”

  “No, but I think it probably had something to do with his dad.”

  “His dad?”

  “Yeah, he didn’t get along with his dad, or at least that’s what he told me when we were still seeing each other. Said Tilton was very strict, and wouldn’t let him go out if his grades weren’t good enough.”

  “And he didn’t like that.”

  “No, especially since Tilton wasn’t even his real dad.”

  “Did he ever talk about his real dad?” asked Chase.

  Layla shook her head. “Only that he met another woman and had left them. Which had been hard on his family.”

  “Did he say anything about wanting to go look for his real dad?”

  “I don’t think so. But like I said, we hadn’t really talked since the split.”

  “Was he seeing some other girl maybe?” asked Odelia.

  “I doubt it. I would have heard. But maybe you should ask my brother. He and Todd have always been really close. Maybe he’ll tell you more.”

  Contrary to his sister, Scott seemed reluctant to divulge his best friend’s secrets to us. He looked a little sullen as he sat there, his hair hanging in front of his eyes, and more lying in his chair than sitting. “I don’t know anything, all right?” he said in response to a question about a potential new girlfriend.

  “So he didn’t confide in you about what was going on in his life?” asked Chase.

  Todd shrugged. He glanced to the pool, then looked away again. “My parents called. They’ve decided to cut their trip short.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “The Bahamas. They go there every year. They sounded pretty upset when I told them what happened.”

  “It’s not your fault, Scott,” said Odelia.

  He shrugged. “Try telling them that.”

  “So let’s go over this again, shall we?” said Chase.

  Scott sighed deeply and swept his blond fringe from his eyes. “Look, I already told you everything I know: I went to bed, Layla had already gone up earlier, and Todd said he was going to stay up for a while. He said he needed to think.”

  “Think about what?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t want to tell me what was going on. But it had something to do with his family.”

  “Did he mention getting in touch with his real dad?” asked Chase.

  Scott hesitated. “Not last night. But he said something about it last week.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Just that he wanted to find his dad, and ask him why he left.”

  “Did he mention arranging a meeting? Traveling to see him?”

  “I don’t think so. But something was definitely going on. He kept looking at his phone all evening, as if he was expecting a call or something, or a message.”

  “Maybe he was just worried that his mom would come look for him,” Odelia suggested.

  “Yeah, could be. Though they can’t have been too worried, cause last time he went missing, he also spent the weekend with us.”

  “What did your parents have to say about that?” asked Odelia.

  “They weren’t happy, I can tell you that. Todd’s mom and dad came over and had a talk with my mom and dad, and of course they blamed the whole thing on me. They ended up grounding me for two weeks, and taking away my internet privileges for a whole month.”

  “And still when Todd dropped by you didn’t tell him to go home?”

  “He was my friend. I couldn’t tell him to take a hike, now could I? Besides, he didn’t tell me he’d run away from home. He said he’d told his mom where he was.”

  “And you believed him?”

  “Of course. I didn’t have a reason not to believe him.”

  “Do you have any idea what happened to Todd’s phone, Scott?”

  Scott frowned. “Didn’t he have it on him?”

  “No, he didn’t. And we’ve looked everywhere and can’t find it.”

  “Have you tried Find My Phone?”

  “His laptop seems to have gone missing, too,” said Chase.

  “That’s weird. He had it with him when he arrived. Are you sure it’s not upstairs?”

  “No, we’ve checked.”

  Scott’s frown was still firmly in place when Odelia asked the next question: “We understand from your sister that she and Todd were dating for a while?”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, talk about a match made in hell.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Cause they weren’t good for each other.”

  “They weren’t?”

  “Absolutely not. Todd wasn’t a flashy kid. He wasn’t into outward appearances and trying to look good. And that’s exactly the kind of guys Layla is into: the jocks, the big, flashy guys who are all about what clothes they wear, and what their hair looks like.”

  “And Todd wasn’t like that.”

  “No way. He hated that kind of stuff, and so do I.”

  “How did you feel about your sister dating your best friend, Scott?” asked Chase.

  “I didn’t like it. And I told him.”

  “But he wouldn’t listen?”

  “It wasn’t like that. He knew that Layla wasn’t the girl for him, only…” He hesitated.

  “Only what, Scott?”

  “Only Layla can be persistent, and she had developed this obsession with Todd, and wouldn’t let go.”

  “She wouldn’t?”

  “She’s like that: once she’s got her mind set on something—or someone—she won’t let go. It’s sick.” He seemed to realize what he was saying, because suddenly he sobered and said, “Please don’t take this the wrong way. Layla would never hurt Todd. Never. She really liked him, and he liked her, just… they weren’t for each other, see?”

  “I think I understand,” said Odelia.

  “Layla tells us that she and Todd broke up?” said Chase.

  Scott nodded. “Yeah, they did.”

  “Who broke up with whom?”

  “It was a mutual decision.”

  “So no hard feelings from either side?”

  “No, they were both fine with it.”

  “And you? You were probably relieved?”

  The kid rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t like that.”

  “But you didn’t shed any tears when they announced it was over, right?”

  “Not exactly. Look, is this going to take much longer? It’s just that I need to get the house cleaned up before my parents arrive.”

  “When are they due back?”

  “Soon!”

  Chase got up, and so did Odelia. “Then I guess we better leave you to it.”

  Chase glanced across the pool, and pointed to the back of the garden. “Who lives over there, do you know?”

  “Um, Mr. Durain.”

  I noticed how a window of the neighboring house looked out over the Walcott backyard. With any luck, that window was a bedroom window, and Mr. Durain was a light sleeper and a nosy parker and could tell us what happened last night.

  Chapter 23

  Mr. Lionel Durain proved to be a very nice old man, who was more than willing to assist us in our inquiries. He seemed eager to help us in any way he could.

  “I heard all about it,” he said by way of greeting when we turned up on his doorstep unannounced. “Some neighborhood kid that drowned, isn’t that right?”

  “How did you hear about it, Mr. Durain?” asked Chase as we stepped into the man’s living room.

  He was still dressed in his morning robe, and judging from the way his wavy gray hair was pointing in every direction, he hadn’t yet enjoyed the benefit of a shower or bath.

  “Oh, well, this is a close-knit community, detective, in spite of what you might think,” said the man as he offered Odelia and Chase a seat on a creaky old couch. “We still talk to each other here, contrary to some other neighborhoods. It was actually Mrs. Taggart who told me. She runs the neighborhood committee, you see, of which I am a proud member.”

  “The neighborhood committee? Is that like a neighborhood watch?” asked Odelia.

  “Oh, no, not at all. The purpose of the committee is not to increase safety, or to patrol the neighborhood, but to increase neighborliness—improve the social fabric of our small community, if you will. We organize barbecues in the summer, a neighborhood fête, a big Christmas do in the winter. Most neighborhoods nowadays are what they call bedroom communities. People come home from work, roll down the shutters, and camp out in front of the television for the rest of the evening. Next day they rise early, leave for work—rinse and repeat. You don’t see them out and about. They might as well be invisible. But not here—oh, no. We make sure that neighbors still know each other by their first name.”

  “So did you notice anything unusual last night, Mr. Durain?” asked Chase. He pointed in the direction of the stairs. “We happened to notice how one of your upstairs windows oversees the Walcott backyard.”

  “So we were hoping you might have seen what happened,” Odelia supplied.

  “Unfortunately, no,” said Mr. Durain. “Thought I did hear some strange noises during the night.”

  “What noises?” asked Odelia, perking up after she’d sagged a little when realizing that Chase’s hunch wasn’t going to play out.

  “I’m a very light sleeper, you see, and every time the Walcotts go away on holiday, those kids like to organize parties for their friends. I’ve complained about it many times, but nobody seems to care. Let kids be kids, they say. But I have a right to sleep, don’t I?”

  “And last night there was such a party?”

  “Not last night. The night before last. Last night they had a quiet evening at home for a change. I don’t mind telling you that I was relieved, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go to bed early—take an advance on tonight, when I was pretty sure they’d be inviting all of their friends over again. Only I was woken up by someone shouting.”

  “Shouting?”

  “Yes, I can’t be sure, since I had been sleeping. And I use earplugs at all times. But I could have sworn I heard shouting. And splashing.”

  “Splashing?” asked Chase, exchanging a meaningful glance with Odelia.

  “Yes. As if someone had stumbled into the pool and was splashing about and shouting. I sat up for a moment, listening intently, but the splashing stopped, and so did the shouting. So then I went back to sleep and didn’t think anything more of it, until Mrs. Taggart arrived this morning and gave me the bad news. I immediately thought of what I heard, and I was actually just thinking about phoning the police when you arrived—very conveniently, I might add.” He gave us a beaming smile, glad to be of assistance.

  “Do you have any idea what time this was, sir?” asked Odelia.