Page 71 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Thrown for a Loss

“All right. I’ll go. But it’s not fair!”
Did he think he was going to take the rap for someone else?
Someone he had intended to protect, and now he needed protection
himself? Did he think he had been framed by one of the others? Or
was I watching the normal reaction of a guilty person to a challenge
he assumed was an accusation? Didn’t much matter. He was coming
quietly, and the others slumped down on their elbows and began
muttering as we walked away.
I saw Waylon heading down the access corridor alongside Safari to
Go as Lieutenant Gramercy joined us. She indicated the bench, and
Calvin reluctantly sat down again, his eyes on his shoes. We remained
standing. This was serious. No more chummy shoulder-to-shoulder
conversation.
“Cal,” said Labelle, “you need to tell us more about what
happened.”
“Like what? I didn’t push that button, honest!”
“According to your friends, you received a page and immediately
headed for the escalator not long before somebody pushed it. Is that
correct?”
He hung his head even lower. “Yes.”
“Please speak up. What was that message? You know we can get it
from the service provider.”
“Okay, okay. I thought it was from a girl, that she wanted to see
me. I didn’t want to tell the others.”
“Why?”
“Because—because they would have given me a lot of misery
about it, that’s why. Would have said I was making it up. Things like
that. Or they would have tried to follow me and embarrass me in
front of her.”
“In front of whom?”
“Well, I can’t say for sure. The message was, I can’t remember it
exactly. Here, let me bring it up. I didn’t erase it. Maybe I should
have.” He fished out a battered pager and pushed a button. “There it
is: MEET ME AT ESCALATOR NOW * YR SECRET ADMIRER.
You see, no name.”
“But you must have had an idea. How well do you know Autumn
Pratt?”

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