that, but he’s sort of a loser. But anyway…that night, it was clear that he was drunk. Being loud and belligerent, you know?”
“What’s this guy’s name?” Kate asked.
“Does anyone need to know I was the one that told you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Jamie Griles.” There was some grit and anger in his voice as he said it. “There’s no hard proof, but a lot of people think he goes to high school parties to get girls drunk and then sleeps with them. So when I saw that he was hanging out with Mariah and those younger girls, it felt creepy.”
“And was he still here in the parking lot when you came back by?”
“No, he had already left. One of Mariah’s friends said there was a party somewhere and even joked that Jamie went because there were younger girls there.”
“Is Jamie Griles a local?” DeMarco asked.
“Yeah. Born and raised. He’ll die here, too. Loser won’t ever amount to anything.” Patterson chuckled and shook his head. “Says the nineteen-year-old mechanic bowling by himself on a Monday night.”
“Have you spoken to the police?”
“No. No one bothered talking to me. Like I said…I wasn’t best friends with her. Just…a guy that knew her.”
The way he said this made DeMarco think Larry had been right; Dwayne Patterson had feelings for Mariah Ogden. She wondered if he ever told Mariah. The way he was handling it made her think he had not—that he had kept his feelings bottled up.
“Did you not think to talk to them about Jamie Griles?” Kate asked.
“Well, I didn’t even pause to think he might have been the one to kill her. Yeah, the guy is a creep and a loser, but I don’t know that I’d put murder within his reach.”
“You said he was loud and belligerent,” DeMarco said. “Do you know if there was anyone in particular he was upset with?”
“No clue.”
DeMarco looked around the bowling alley, as if searching for more questions to ask. When it was clear that they were done, she handed out yet another one of her business cards. “Please don’t hesitate to call if you think of anything else or even hear about anything that might be about Mariah’s murder.”
“I will,” Patterson said, pocketing the card. “Thanks.”
The thanks seemed a little odd, but DeMarco could tell by the resigned look on the young man’s face that he was happy to have helped, even if only in the slightest of ways. He was already picking up his ball to try managing that 7-10 split when DeMarco and Kate turned and walked away.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You think it’s too late to make a house call?” DeMarco asked.
Kate laughed as she buckled her seatbelt. As soon as Dwayne Patterson had given them Jamie Griles’s name, she knew they would be making at least one more stop before calling it a day. She envied the drive and energy DeMarco had and could clearly see why she was so quickly making a name for herself in the bureau.
“Not for someone with the lifestyle that Jamie Griles seems to lead,” Kate said. “I assume that’s the stop you’d like to make?”
“Figured it might be worth a shot. It’s not even seven o’clock yet.”
“I’ll call Gates and see if he can pull up an address.”
Kate placed the call to Gates, only to find that he wasn’t at the precinct. He patched her through to Smith’s desk. The officer seemed happy enough to help, coming up with an address within twenty seconds.
Just as Kate plugged the address into the map app on her phone, her hand started to buzz as Gates called her back.
“Can I ask what you’re looking into Griles for?” Gates asked.
“We got word that he was hanging out with Mariah Ogden’s group of friends on the night she was killed. He was apparently loud and possibly intoxicated.”
“I should warn you that he’s a creep of the highest degree. But I honestly don’t see him as the sort to kill anyone.”
“That’s what we’re hearing. Now, can you define creep?”
“I’ve arrested him at last three times in the past few years. Small stuff, mostly. He’s got a DUI on his record, as well as a charge for disturbing the peace when he decided to start a little bar brawl at Esther’s Place. And, as I’m sure you may have already heard, he has something of a habit of trying to impress younger girls…often by purchasing alcohol for them. We haven’t been able to bust him for that yet, but it’s pretty much common knowledge.”
“Yeah, we’re hearing all