The Second Chair

Q: Did Andrew tell you why?

A: He didn't have to. It was obvious. But he did tell me he couldn't stand not being with her, sex or no sex. He was really in love with her.

Q: So what happened with Mr. Mooney? How'd he get into this?

A: He was directing the play, and Andrew and Laura were both in it. They're… I mean she was, both of them were into drama. So they started going over to his place together at night to do their lines and rehearse, you know. Mooney's. Anyway, one night Laura told Andrew that she wasn't driving back with him. She was going to stay on awhile and do some more rehearsing and Mr. Mooney would take her home.

Q: And what was Andrew's reaction to that?

A: At first, you know, not much. But after it happened again a couple of times, pretty bad. Really bad, I guess.

Q: In what way?

Q: (female voice) It's okay, La

Q: (male voice) Just tell him what you've told us. It's all right.

A: He brought a gun to school.

Q: Did you see it?

A: Oh yeah, he showed it to me. It was in his backpack. It was a real gun, and loaded.

Q: Did he tell you what he was pla

A: Yeah, but he wasn't sure exactly.

Q: What do you mean?

A: Well, he was carrying it around for a week, maybe two, I think just seeing how it felt, you know. He talked about killing himself mostly at first.

Q: But that changed?

A: It just… I don't know. He told me he was going to find out for sure if something was going on with Mooney and Laura. This was while they were broken up. And meanwhile, he sees her and Mooney goofing at school, all these little jokes they had with each other. So basically, it was this jealousy thing. It was eating him up, the thought of her maybe having sex with him, after only teasing with him for so long. I mean, Mooney's a grown-up and Andrew didn't believe they'd only be making out. So he decided he had to find out for sure.

Q: And how would he do that?

A: He was going to hang around after he told them he was leaving, maybe make up some excuse, and come back and catch them at it.

Q: And then what what was he going to do?

A: Well, he said he hoped he'd find out Laura wasn't lying, but if he caught them at something, he hoped he could handle it. He said maybe it would be a good idea if he didn't have the gun with him. If he didn't, maybe he wouldn't kill them on the spot. He hoped he wouldn't do that.

Q: He said he hoped he wouldn't kill them?

A: That's what he said.

Although it was clear and su

"This is bad."

She nodded. "Correct."

"He told me the cops had come and he'd talked to them, but he never mentioned anything about the gun. You think La

Wu knew what it made it look like. She asked, "You want to talk about the gun?"

"What about it?"

"Well, the gun's kind of an issue. You bring it to school and show it around…"

"Not around. Just to La

"Okay, just to La

His expression grew sharp. "I never said that."

"No, I know you didn't. But another one of the interviews in here"- she patted the folder that held La

"Yeah, he did."

"And what did you tell him?"

Andrew gave her the bad eye.

"Okay, then," she said, "let me tell you. You denied it, maybe even pitched a little fit of indignation that he'd accuse you of anything like that. Am I close?" She leaned in toward him over the table. "Let me ask you this, Andrew. Why didn't you just put it back from where you'd taken it? If you'd done that, and if you in fact hadn't committed these murders, don't you realize that you wouldn't be here right now?"

His eyes weren't quite to panic, but they flicked to the wall behind her, then to the corners of the room before they got back to her. "Why is that?"

She noticed that he didn't bother with the pro forma denial of the crime this time. She let herself begin to believe that her strategy was working- he was getting used to admitting the basic fact of his guilt. "Because if we had the gun, we could test ballistics with the slugs they recovered from the scene and prove that it wasn't the murder weapon." She gave him a minute to digest this critical information, then pressed on. "You told me you got rid of the gun."

"I did."

"Do you think you could find it again?"

"No. I dropped it off the bridge."

"That would be the Golden Gate?"

"Yeah."

Wu checked a laugh. Perfect, she thought. "I don't understand, and I don't think a jury will understand, why you did that if you didn't kill anybody with it."

"I freaked out, is all. I told you. When I got back to Mike's- Mooney's- and saw it there, I figured the cops would be able to trace it back to Hal and I'd be screwed."

"And why is that?"

"I mean, if it was the murder weapon." His miserable look seemed to plead for her to understand. "I had to get rid of it."

"But it wasn't the murder weapon, was it?"

"I don't know. I mean, it might have been."

Wu straightened up in her chair and faced him head-on. "Let me get this straight. Your theory of the crime, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that while you were out taking a stroll and memorizing your lines, somebody- you don't know who or why- knocked at Mooney's door, saw your father's gun conveniently sitting out on a coffee table, grabbed it and shot anybody who happened to be standing around. That's it?"

"I don't think that."

"Good. That would be a dumb thing to think. But otherwise, why get rid of the gun?"

"I told you!" Andrew again cast his eyes around the walls. Wu could almost feel his panic, searching for escape, any escape. Finally, he exploded, slamming the table between them with the flat of his palm, coming to his feet, turning around, trapped. "I already told you that!" he screamed. Don't you get it? Aren't you listening to me? I was freaked out. I knew it was a mistake the minute I let it go."

Suddenly, his voice broke into an uncontrolled and wrenching sob. He was crying, pleading with her. "I mean, there's Mike and Laura shot dead on the floor. They're dead. My mind goes blank and I can't think of anything except to call emergency." He gulped now for a breath, tears streaking his face. "After that… I don't know what I did, except finally I turn around and there's my gun on the coffee table. I can't leave it there, can I? I didn't think it out, what I was doing. I just did it. Didn't you get that at all?"

Andrew stood across the table from her, hands limp at his side, staring at her. His breath still came in jagged gasps.

It was all she could do to keep from coming around the table and hugging him.

A knock at the door interrupted and Wu crossed to it. The unpleasant bailiff from the detention hearing, Nelson, had heard a noise and was wondering if everything was all right. She noticed he had a grip on his mace, and she held up her hand, palm out. "We're fine."