What Have You Done (Adler and Dwyer, #0.5)

Saturday morning, Brad has given up smoking by the window and instead sits at his dining room table, having disabled the smoke detector. Ellen calls him, but he is too distracted by the thoughts of Principal Kelly and the police to have a conversation with her. As she hangs up, he thinks how he “can’t lose her. She’s all he has” (124)—and he tells himself he must convince her that Diana’s claims were unfounded.

Brad is called down to the police station that afternoon. The detectives ask him to explain what happened between him and Diana. Kelly told them that Diana reported being uncomfortable with the way Brad touched her. Brad insists that he would simply pat her back or put his hand on his shoulder and dismisses the accusations as “teenage-girl dramatics” (129). He tells the detectives that he apologized to her for making her feel uncomfortable and, afterward, he did not touch or get too close to her. He also admits that he was home alone on Thursday night when Diana died.

Joe Prior drives over an hour to a 7-Eleven. He watches the cashier, Josie, while staying away from the cameras and hiding his face.