Michael Lister - Blood of the Lamb

“How the hell could you let this happen?” he asked.

Coel spun around, eyes widening, mouth dropping open, face reddening, and started to say something, but stopped himself, shook his head and sighed heavily.

Fortner had just turned on the recording equipment and he let it continue to run.

“You were responsible for her safety,” Stone continued.

Having gathered himself, Coel sat perfectly still, his rigid composure the result of many years of military discipline. With great restraint, he seemed to be showing Stone the respect a senior officer was entitled. Swallowing hard, he didn’t say anything, just simmered in silence, but I could tell Stone’s words were fanning his smoldering anger into flames.

The wall behind Coel was filled with various plaques, all of which were engraved with the FDC logo and small employee nameplates. I saw my name on the Employee of the Year plaque and wondered how long it would be before it was on the Deceased plaque. I thought about death often. Probably because for most of my adult life I’ve been surrounded by it. You can’t conduct murder investigations and funeral services without being reminded of just how short life is, how quickly death comes.

For me, the contemplation of my mortality is not morbid, not an obsession with death, but a call to life. Living with a sense of the brevity of my existence and a heightened awareness of the fragility of life reminds me to live each day to its fullest, to learn, become, and experience all I can, to truly live before I die. As far as we know, in the carnival of life we only get to ride once. The problem is, I’ve yet to figure out how to live that way on any kind of consistent basis. As with most things, my intentions far exceed my actions.

Nicole’s ride had been far too short, and I grieved inside for the child who would never grow up, never be a boy-crazy adolescent, or a passionate young woman, a wife or a mother, never know the unspeakable joy and exquisite pain the seasons of life bring.

I became aware of Stone continuing to pour his wrath and rage all over Coel.

“Our number one priority is public safety,” Stone yelled.

Finally, Coel had had enough. Casting off restraint, he slammed his hands on the table and jumped up. “So why the hell did you let a child into the institution?” Coel shot back. “What were you thinking? I’ve got to live with this the rest of my life. But I wasn’t the one who put her at risk.”

None of us could believe what had happened, and we were all looking for someone to blame-anyone, though deep down we all knew we were each responsible in our own way.

“By not doing your job you most certainly did,” Stone said. “It wasn’t going in that got her killed. It was not being adequately protected.” Stone jerked his head around at Fortner and saw me for the first time. To Fortner, he said, “Get this over with and get him out of here.” To me, “I want to see you in my office when y’all are done.”

I nodded.

When he had stormed out of the room, Fortner looked at Coel. “You need a minute before we do this?”

He shook his head. “He should’ve never let her in,” he said. “That’s my statement. And that’s all I’m saying without my lawyer.”

“What?” Fortner said. “Come on. I’m just trying to find out what happened.”

“It sounds like y’all’re lookin’ for someone to hang this on,” Coel said.

Fortner continued to plead and reason with him, but he refused to reconsider. Finally, I stood up and switched off both recording devices. “Okay,” I said. “No statements. Nothing official, just some information off the record. How about just answering a few simple questions?”

“Like what?” he said.

“Like who were the inmates who went to the bathroom or the water fountain or into the hallway for any reason while Nicole was in my office?”

He nodded slowly. “I want y’all to find who killed her. Hell, I’d like to find the bastard myself, but I’m not gonna take the fall for somethin’ that was Stone’s fault.”

I nodded.

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded to himself as if agreeing with himself about some internal decision we were not privy to.

“Abdul Muhammin,” he said. “I remember him because I couldn’t believe he was attending a Christian service, and it was the first time I’d ever seen him without his koofi.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I thought that was strange, too.”

“He’s a chapel clerk, isn’t he?”

I nodded.

“You need to ask him about it,” he said.

“Plan to,” I said. “Who else?”

“Paul Register,” he said.

“The one they call Chester the molester?” Fortner shouted. “Good God. How could you let him out there with her?”

“She wasn’t out there,” he yelled. “She was inside a locked room with her mother. And I was standing at the sanctuary door watching. But the point is, she should have never been inside here in the first place.”

“We all agree on that,” I said. “Who else?”

“Cedric Porter,” he said.

“Inmate from public works?” Fortner asked. “I thought he was an atheist. Does he come to church?”

“I’ve never seen him there before,” I said.

“Probably just came to see Bunny like the rest of ’em,” Coel said. “Hell, a lot of them stayed in the bathroom during most of the sermon.”

“Why’d you let ’em?” Fortner asked.

“Because I was by myself,” he said. “They pulled Whitfield to help get education back to the dorms. At the sanctuary door, I could see the hallway, the sanctuary, and both office doors.”

“Sorry,” Fortner said. “You did good. You were in a no-win situation.”

Obviously grateful for what Pete had said, Coel looked at him for a long moment, then slowly nodded his head, a grave expression on his face.

“Any other inmates come or go?” I asked.

“Dexter Freeman,” he said. “Y’all know him?”

“I do,” I said. “I’ve worked with both him and Register.”

“They’re both in on sex charges,” Fortner said.

I nodded, then looked back at Coel. “Did you ever leave your position at the door?”

He shook his head.

“Not even for a moment?” I asked.

“One time,” he said. “Bunny opened your office door and motioned for me to come over.”

“Which door?” I asked.

“The one in the sanctuary,” he said. “I walked over and she asked me how to place an outside call. I told her, then went back to where I was. But I saw her and the little girl at that point and they were fine.”

“And no one else came or went?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“What about staff?”

“Well, let’s see,” he said. “There was you.”

“I know I was there,” I said, and I heard a harsh sarcasm in my voice that reminded me that Stone wasn’t the only one on edge. “I meant anyone else.”

“And Theo Malcolm.”

“The school teacher?” Pete asked in surprise, his eyebrows and glasses shooting up again.

He looked over at me.

“Yeah,” Coel said. “He must’ve stopped by after his class, on his way out or somethin’. He didn’t stay too long.”

“What the hell was he doin’ there?” Pete asked.

Coel shrugged.

“I wondered the same thing,” I said. “As far as I know, he’s never been in the chapel before. And he was in a big hurry to get out. He nearly knocked me down on his way to the door.”

“He didn’t stay long,” Coel repeated. “At least, I don’t think he did. I didn’t actually see him leave.”

“Could he have killed her?” Fortner asked.

I shrugged. “We’ve got to talk to him. He was coming from the back when I saw him.”

“I never saw him close to your office door,” Coel said.