Филипп Марголин - The Perfect Alibi

Blaine Hastings was still on the run, but Robin figured that he’d be behind bars soon. Fugitives were usually caught. Someone would recognize him and phone the police or he’d get desperate and use a credit card or he’d just get tired of being hunted and turn himself in. So, she began preparing Randi Stark’s lawsuit. During a brainstorming session, Robin and Jeff drafted a witness list. Many of the witnesses in the civil suit would be the same witnesses who testified at Hastings’s criminal trial, but there were some loose ends that Robin wanted tied up.

Jeff found the names of Hastings’s high school teammates in Hastings’s high school yearbook. Then he cross-checked the names with the Portland State roster. There were three boys at PSU who had played football in high school with Blaine.

Two days after his meeting with Robin, Jeff parked in front of Alpha Phi Sigma’s fraternity house, a converted Victorian near the Portland State University campus. When Jeff started up the steps to the frat house, he spotted a young man with a blond crew cut, a thick neck, massive thighs, and ripped biceps sitting on a dilapidated sofa on the front porch. The young man stood up when he saw Jeff and walked toward him.

“Dino Portis?” Jeff asked.

“That’s me,” Portis said with a smile. “And you must be the PI.”

“I am.” The investigator handed Portis his card.

Portis pretended to look Jeff over. “Where’s your trench coat?”

“I left it at home with my magnifying glass.”

“That’s cool,” Portis answered with a laugh.

“Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.”

“Yeah, well, Randi and I lived in the projects and went to school together. So why do you want to talk to me?”

“I was hoping to get some background on Blaine and Randi from someone who knew them. Can you tell me a little about Blaine? Have you had much contact with him since high school?”

“No. I didn’t have much contact with him in high school either, except during football practice, and even then, not so much.”

“Why is that?”

“We were on opposite sides of the ball. I was a running back and he was a linebacker, so there wasn’t much interaction during practice. And I told you I lived in the projects. Blaine was partial to rich kids who were members of the Westmont Country Club.”

“How did Randi and Blaine Hastings get along in high school?”

“Blaine never paid much attention to her, but he wasn’t nice to her the few times I saw them together.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we were in a group, he’d insult her or talk down to her, if he paid any attention to her at all. Then there was that thing with Ryan.”

“Ryan Tucker, her boyfriend?”

“Yeah. That was fucking awful.”

“Tell me about that.”

“They had a fight after school. I came out of the locker room after it started. But, from what I heard, Ryan accused Blaine of forcing himself on Randi.”

“Forcing himself how?”

“I’m not sure. Like I said, I wasn’t there at the start.”

“Okay, go on.”

“Someone told me that Blaine called Randi a slut and Ryan took a swing at him. Blaine is a bully, but he can back it up. I’d never want to tangle with him. Ryan could fight but he wasn’t in Blaine’s league, and Blaine beat the shit out of him. It would have gotten really bad if me and a few of the guys on the team hadn’t jumped in to stop it.

“What was worse than the beating was what Blaine did afterward. He had Ryan arrested. I mean, you don’t do that. A fight is between you and the other guy. When it’s over, that’s that. But Blaine got the cops involved. Then he got his buddies to lie about what happened, and Ryan went to juvie.”

“That’s pretty low.”

Portis nodded. “And it got worse, because Ryan committed suicide after he got out.”

“I heard that.”

“I doubt Blaine gave a shit. I had an abnormal psych class last semester. Blaine would have fit right in to our discussion of sociopaths.”

“Tell me about Randi when she was in high school.”

“She was always a little wild, always rebelling against something. She hung with the Goth crowd, smoked weed. I don’t think she was into any other drugs. If she was, it didn’t show. One thing you should know. She isn’t dumb. She never did well in school, but that’s because she never tried. But she was in a few of my classes, and I could tell she has it between the ears, even if she didn’t use what she had up there.”

“She’s in community college studying to be a nurse, so maybe she’s a late bloomer.”

“Yeah, she told me about that at the game.”

“The PSU–Oregon game?”

Dino nodded.

“Tell me about that.”

“There’s not much to tell. We got our butts kicked. But guys on our team knew a lot of the Ducks, so we were milling around on the field after the whistle blew. Randi and Annie Roche came up and we were talking, and Jerry Reyes told Randi about the party.”

“Did he mention that Blaine was going to be there?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“So, Randi and Annie knew that?”

“Yeah, probably. Annie was there, but she was talking to Nick Dominico. She had a thing for him in high school, and it looked like she was trying to rekindle the relationship.” Portis laughed. “Nick told me later that he was afraid she was going to attack him.”

“She might not have known?”

“It’s possible, but we were all just inches from each other.”

“Did you see Randi or Blaine or Annie at the party?”

“I saw them when they came in.”

“Randi says that Blaine came over to her and started talking. Then they danced. Then he asked her to go to a bedroom to make out. Does that sound right?”

Portis thought for a bit. Then he frowned. “Okay. I remember Blaine talking to someone. There was a group of people from our class. Randi and Annie came over.” Portis paused, and his brow wrinkled as he tried to remember what happened at the party. “You know, I do remember Randi and Annie looking at Blaine before they came over to our group.”

“Looking how?”

“Just looking. And they were whispering. Then they’d look over again.”

“And this was before they came over to your group?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know how Blaine and Randi got together?”

“Yeah. Blaine was talking to someone. I don’t remember who. And Randi started talking to him, which I thought was odd given the way I knew she felt about him. Then they started dancing.”

“Did you see the two of them go to the bedroom?”

“I wasn’t paying that much attention, because I was talking about the game with some friends of mine. They go to Oregon and they were razzing me.” Portis smiled. “That game will not be on my highlight reel.”

“Okay. Is there anything else you can think of that might help?”

“No, I…” Portis paused again. “There was one other thing. While Randi and Blaine were talking and dancing, Annie was watching them. This is just an impression, and it was dark and I wasn’t paying her that much attention, but I thought she looked nervous, but she also had this little grin on her face.”

“What did Annie do after that?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, I wasn’t paying that much attention. I did see Blaine leave right before the girls did.”

“How did Blaine look?”

“I can’t say.”

“And Randi and Annie?”

“You know, now that I think about it, Randi was bent over and Annie looked like she was supporting her.”

“Is there anything else you can think of that bears on the rape?”

Portis thought for a moment before shaking his head.