"Do you think you are able to walk?"
"I don't know," he whispered. "I don't feel very good."
"We'll get you to the car," she promised, and Owen took the young man's other arm and picked up the camping sheet.
As they escorted him out of the woods, May heard a shriek coming from the parking lot. Sheriff Jack was hurrying over to a couple who had just arrived.
"My son! What is going on? He called us to say there's been a crime! Where is he?" the blonde woman demanded. Then she uttered another appalled cry. "He's with the police!" she shouted, pointing in May's direction. She rushed over, again ignoring Jack's warning shout.
"Dylan! What happened?" she asked in a shaking voice. “Who hurt you?”
Dylan didn't answer. He hung his head, looking mortified.
"Was he attacked? What's all the blood on his shirt from?" Dylan's father asked, sounding shocked. He glared at May as if suspecting one of the police might have done something to his son.
"We don't yet know what happened. That's what we need to find out," May said. "Your son has received medical treatment for vomiting. He does not appear to have been attacked."
May glanced at Owen and gestured for him to open the back door of the police car for the witness.
"But where are you taking him? He needs to come home!" Mrs. McDowell insisted.
"We have to take him in to give us a statement," May explained. "We won't keep him long. But he’s a witness to a murder, so we do need to ask him some questions."
The slim woman stared at her mutinously.
"Well, I demand that we be allowed to sit in on this. We need to hear what our son has to say. He's only seventeen. He’s injured and he is ill and he should be going straight to the medical center."
Now, May looked at Sheriff Jack for guidance, knowing her boss would make the right call.
He nodded.
"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. McDowell," Jack said, sounding resigned, as if he didn't want to make this decision but yet, he felt it was best. "You can be in attendance. If you could please follow the police through to the Fairfield Police Department, the deputies will meet you there and you can sit in."
He nodded at them, his expression sympathetic.
May knew their presence would mean interference. Immediately, she could see they were those kind of people, with their behavior made worse by the fact they were upset and distraught. But all the same, it was the most sensible decision. Their son was underage and they had every right to sit in on the interview. In a small town, May knew, the police had to be considerate of locals and families. But undoubtedly it would make their job harder.
As Owen helped Dylan into the back of May's cruiser, she walked a few steps away from the group with Sheriff Jack.
"I've been speaking to the remaining party goers,” he told her quietly. “Accounts are confused. There was definitely excessive drinking taking place. People were drunk. They’re still drunk. And can't recall accurately.”
May nodded. This confirmed her fears that it would be hard to get any coherent version of events.
Jack continued. "So far, nobody has heard or seen anything, but we have taken everyone's contact details before allowing them to leave. One thing I have ascertained, though, is that Dylan McDowell is not Alyssa's boyfriend. A number of the witnesses were very clear on that and volunteered the information without being asked. So we already seem to have an inconsistency in his version," he warned.
"Thanks for telling me," May said in a low voice. "I will make sure we ask him about that, and question him in a lot of detail." She knew she would have to do all she could to get to the truth.
"Good luck," Jack said. "I'll let you get on with that. I need to wrap up my interviews of the other students, and I've then got to speak to the parents of the victim, who are on their way." He sighed heavily and May knew the thought of this difficult task was already weighing on him.
Turning away, he headed over to the pavilion.
May turned back to the car, feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of this case.
They had a violent, senseless murder that was all the more painful for May to handle because the victim was so close in age to her sister, at the time of her disappearance.
They had hordes of drunk witnesses who would provide unreliable accounts.
The witness who had found the body was lying. He was covered in blood for reasons they hadn't yet found out. And his overwrought parents were clearly going to interfere in any way they could.