"Okay," Marv said, stopping and pushing me up against the wall. I blinked at him in confusion. "Tell me why you think Mr. Wallace is innocent?" he asked, placing a hand on either side of myhead.
"Um..." I gulped. "Well..." Why did he have to stand so close? "Doesn't it seem a little too easy?" Iasked.
His eyes lit up. "What do youmean?"
"Well, we originally considered Ms. Enders," I stated. "We were giving in to the rumors. But then we got here and you and Knix interviewed her and I kinda interviewed Delilah I guess. I don't think it is Ms. Enders. She puts too much pride in her work. Then with what we found out about Mr. Wallace's daughter –Kayla..."
Marv nodded. "You don't think his daughter's suicide could have put him over theedge?"
I shook my head. "Maybe, it could have," I admitted. "But his whereabouts have been fairly easily tracked, right?" Marv's eyes widened and he nodded again. "Well, I've also been thinking," I continued. "There was a rumor that another girl committed suicide because of what happened. Did you ever confirm that?" Iasked.
Marv was quiet for a moment. "There were attempts," he confessed. "Some of the family members that I interviewed wouldn't admit to anything more. The only true suicide we know about isKayla's."
"What if the goal is to get these girls to commit suicide?" I asked. I had put some thought into this. If I was right, though, then I didn't think the true villain was Mr.Wallace.
"Why would that be?" he seemed shocked, but Marv didn't immediately discard theidea.
"I think Kayla's suicide is the key," I said. "I think it started everything. Whoever is doing this wants Ms. Enders to be ruined, but not just that, they want the whole program to be ruined – the girls included. I think they're all targets, as well as Ms. Enders. To be honest, Mr. Wallace might even be atarget."
"Mr. Wallace?" His face scrunched up and he backed up. "Why would he–" There was a sharp shriek and he yelped, reached up and jerked his earpiece out, throwing it to the ground. "Fuck!" he snapped, sticking a finger in his ear. "What thefuck?!"
I blinked at him, confused. "Are you okay?" Marv was bent over, wiggling his finger back and forth in hisear.
He nodded but remained bent over. "Yea," he coughed, wiggling his fingers some more. "Shit, I can't fucking hear out of this earnow."
"What happened?" I could guess,though.
"Something with the system probably," Marv guessed, slowly standing up again. His eyes were a little unfocused. I could tell that he was off balance as he reached out and put a hand back on the wall. Marv's phone buzzed and he grimaced as he fished it out. "Here," he said, handing it over, "can you answerit."
"Sure," I said, swiping across the screen and putting the phone to my ear. "Yea?" Ianswered.
"Harlow?" Texas' voice was confused, but he quickly adjusted. "Where'sMarv?"
"He's right here," I said. "But he can't hear very well, something happened to theearpiece."
"Yea," Texas replied. I heard keys clicking in the background. "I don't know what the hell happened, but Knix's and Bellamy's are outtoo."
"I thought Bellamy was with you?" Ifrowned.
"He was," Texas said, "but I sent him in. Something doesn't feel right. He's in there looking for you rightnow."
"Marv and I are in the back hallway behind the kitchens," I said. "Knix is out on the balcony with Delilah. We're about to headupstairs."
"Okay," Marv said. "Give me the phone." I raised my eyebrows but didn't resist when he took the phone. He quickly put it to his uninjured ear. "Texas," he said. He paused for a moment as Texas spoke on the other side. Marv nodded but didn't respond for a few more moments. "Yea," he finally said. "Yea, listen, do me a favor. Look into something for me." Marv relayed the information I had just brought up. "Just double check which girls have been checked into hospitals for any reason. Cross-reference that with the amount they've been blackmailed with and the pictures they weresent."
"You can get that information?" Iasked.
Marv grimaced. "Yea, message me though." He was still talking to Texas. "We might have a situation. I'm gonna put my cell on silent. Okay, thanks, man." Marv ended the call and took my arm, motioning me towards the back stairwell we had come upbefore.
"Marv?" Iprompted.
He shook his head, sighing. "Yea, we can get that information," heanswered.
But he didn't answer my real question and that was an answer within itself. They would get the information, but it probably wouldn't be completely legal. We ascended thestairs.