Free Tunnel Vision by Aric Davis

teacher to very interested friend in a matter of seconds, so she let June roll. “It’s some family secret or something, I guess,” she continued. “I never knew about it until today. Betty found out last night, and she just told me on the way here.”
    “Her aunt’s name was Mandy Reasoner,” said Betty. “She looked just like June, and she liked punk rock like we do.”
    “I’ll need more than her iPod track list,” said Mr. Evans, “but I’m about halfway there, so keep going.”
    “She was murdered by her boyfriend,” said Betty, filling in some of the facts she hadn’t had time to share with June. “He’s locked up in Jackson right now, but there are a ton of people that don’t think he did it. There’s going to be a show in a month or so with a bunch of huge bands playing it—even Old Croix Road is playing, and they never play anymore. Anyway, the reason for the show is that they’re trying to get the guy who was convicted of killing her aunt a new trial. He confessed to the police, but it sounds like he changed his story later, and they broke the law when they were questioning him. There’s a bunch of other stuff, too.
    “We want to tell Mandy’s story—that’s June’s aunt—but we also want to look at as much evidence as we can to try and prove whether or not the guy who’s in prison really killed her. My mom works at the police station sometimes, and I think with a little work we might even be able to talk to some of the cops that were working back then.”
    “Consider me convinced,” said Mr. Evans. “This is very compelling stuff.” Mr. Evans shuffled papers on his desk and then raised his head. “I’m going to grade this the way I would a college paper, ladies. Do a good job, don’t add a bunch of padding, and keep me updated. If you’re going to really work for this thing, we don’t even need to set a due date, but I want to be in the loop.” He turned to June. “Are you sure you’re up for this, Ms. Derricks? There could be some ugly family history buried somewhere.”
    “I know,” said June. “I just want to know more about my aunt, and this seems like a good way.”
    Mr. Evans nodded and smiled. “All right, then. Keep me up to date, and get out of my sight. I won’t have you late to your next class on my account.”

TWELVE
    Not everyone is easy to find, but I locate Jack Derricks after just a few minutes on the Internet. Jack isn’t a lock for the death of Mandy Reasoner—no one really seems to be except for the version of Duke Barnes that was convicted a dozen or so years ago—but there are a few interesting things that stick out about the man.
    For starters, he was familiar with the victim. Next on the list is something Claire barely mentioned, that she has an ex-husband. But it was the way she spoke about the case that made me wonder why. Claire might not have been able to see that June’s dad would look pretty good as a perp, but I sure can, and if Claire wants June safe, this angle needs to be looked into.
    I find Jack Derricks pretty quickly through social media, but I did have to think outside of my usual go-tos. Jack is on several dating sites, and after a few minutes of looking, I’ve got an address and some recent pictures. I’m feeling less confident about my detective skills in regard to his possible guilt—Jack looks like more of a Hair Club for Men candidate than a killer—but I’ve been wrong before, and there’s something about Jack Derricks that just gets my hackles up.
    I make Jack’s neighborhood in about fifteen minutes, then stow the bike and get to walking. I didn’t bring anything too fun on this trip, just a little digital camera, a lockpick kit, and a pair of discreet binoculars. One of the advantages about not going to school or being on the clock at the same time as everyone else is that when most folks are working, I can see what they think they’re hiding. Criminals make time to play when everyone else is busy. Jack