said, “What do you remember about the case?”
“I was seven when the news broke on the double murder. It scared the crap out of me and all my classmates. That something so terrible could happen. I remember I had this babysitter I adored. After the murders, she wasn’t allowed to watch me anymore. Her mom didn’t want her out alone at night. I was heartbroken, but I understood. To tell the truth, I wouldn’t let my parents go out at night for a long time.”
“Did you know the family?”
“No, I didn’t. Hamilton’s population at that time was maybe eighty thousand. Now it’s over a hundred. The town has three high schools. Brady and I are about the same age, but we didn’t live in the same school district so I never really knew him. He grew up in the Bitsby neighborhood—working class and welfare poor. Lots of the parents drank. Some were on drugs. Some were in jail. Lots of lost kids. It’s still that way. I grew up about six miles away in the Claremont area. Blue-collar working class but positively Beverly Hills compared to Bitsby.”
“Did you happen to know the family of the victims?”
“The Levines? They lived on the border between Claremont and Bellweather. Their house looked like a mansion to me when I was growing up, but in fact it’s just a two-story brick house probably not more than twenty-five hundred square feet. Which isn’t small, but it’s far from Lower Merion.”
“That’s the posh area in Philadelphia,” McAdams said.
“I’m aware,” Decker said. “And you didn’t know the Levines?”
“Actually, I knew the youngest daughter, Ella. She was a grade older than me, and after it happened, they pulled her out of Hamilton, and she went to live with relatives for about a year.”
“How many kids were there?” McAdams asked.
“Five. The oldest was Gregg, who I thought was really old. In fact, he was only twenty or twenty-one when he was a state’s witness against the accused. It must have been horrible for him.”
“Really horrible,” McAdams said. “Not more than a kid himself.”
“Yeah, but he pulled it together. He quit school and took over the family business. After a few years, he brought them all back under one roof. There were grandparents in the mix, but Gregg and the next oldest, his sister Yvonne, continued on with the business while looking after the remaining three kids. Ella was the youngest, but the other two were in high school, so they must have been teenagers. The community helped out as well. I remember my dad taking me to a special police dinner to benefit the family.”
Decker said, “Hell of a lot of responsibility for a twenty-year-old boy and his teenaged sister.”
“The store is still a going concern, twenty years later. The other three kids don’t live here anymore. I don’t know what happened to them. But Gregg and Yvonne are still in town. They both married locals and have kids of their own. They do lots of charity work with foster care and disaffected youth. Drawing from their own experiences, no doubt.”
Lennie sat down and shook her head. “I haven’t thought about Gratz and Masterson in ages. They should be up for parole soon.”
“Next year.”
“It won’t happen. Not if the family has their say-so.”
“Any idea why Brandon Gratz and Kyle Masterson didn’t get life without parole?”
“You’ll have to ask my father about that. He and the entire community thought it was the biggest miscarriage of justice ever to happen around here. The judge retired after the case and moved out of the area. I don’t remember her name. It was a she. I remember my father ranting about the bleeding-heart liberal justice system.”
“Your father was lead investigator on the case.”
“I know he was. He worked it night and day. I don’t think he slept a wink until Gratz and Masterson were apprehended, charged, and convicted.”
Decker nodded. “I was looking over the articles on him. He and his solid police work were credited for the convictions.”
“Like I said, he worked day and night.”
To Lennie, McAdams said, “Kinda strange he didn’t tell you that Brady Neil was Brandon Gratz’s son.”
“I’m sure my father just assumed that I knew.” She looked at Decker. “Did my dad tell you about Brady’s father?”
“Not when Radar spoke to him, but at that time, we didn’t know who the victim was. If I ask him about it, I’m sure he’ll tell me what he knows. Whether the double murder had something to do with Brady Neil’s death?” Decker shrugged. “Right now, we’re in the beginning stages and everything should be kept under wraps. Like McAdams keeps saying, it’s best not to get distracted by twenty-year-old cases that may not be relevant.”
The room was quiet. Lennie picked up her backpack. “I’m going to help Butterfield out in the field until it gets dark. Should I come back here?”
“It’ll be after nine. Nothing is urgent. Just go home.”
“Thanks. I want to prepare my questions for tomorrow morning’s interview.”
“Absolutely.” Decker paused. “Lennie, do you live far from here?”
“No. I’m just across the border. Why?”
“If I need help as the case progresses, I’m more likely to ask you to come in if you’re close by.”
“Fifteen minutes. I live in a studio apartment where I can touch the walls if I spread my arms wide enough. So anytime you want help, just call.”
“Thank you. Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Decker waited for her to leave, then shut down the computer. “We should leave if we want to get to Brandy Neil’s place on time.”
“That was an odd question,” McAdams said. “How far she lives from the station house. You never asked me that.”
“You were in the district.”
“No, that’s not it.” McAdams waited.
Decker said, “Tyler, what’s the normal way you ask a question if you want to know where a person lives?”
“Where do you live?”
“And what would she have thought if I asked ‘Where do you live?’”
“She would have thought that you were asking where she lives.”
“Maybe also with whom she lives.”
McAdams thought a moment. “Aha! You want to know if she lives with her parents. You don’t want her yakking about the case to her dad around the dinner table.”
“Victor Baccus is her father, and he’s bound to be interested in anything that has to do with the case that made his career. And until we find Brady Neil’s killer, Chief Baccus is going to be curious if there’s a link.
