Chapter 12
In
addressing the fabrication of letters from Sarah, Etienne gave more
thought to his next move than other teens might have done, but he had
no “Grand Unification Theory” of how Gary's father was guilty of
a crime. He could hardly even be sure that it was Mr. Arberton, and
not some other miscreant.
Upon
contemplation, Etienne decided that he did not want to tell his dad,
because Mr. DuBois did not approve of Etienne's attentions to Sarah.
Nor did he want to take his mother into his confidence; he had used
his Canadian passport secretly to deceive her, and he didn't think a
confession would go over very well. He reasoned that a Sarah who
could confide statutory rape in him, would assuredly have remarked
upon his graffiti. Whether she regarded it as validating her
affections, OR she took offense, and deplored his disregard of her
wishes as a blatant violation of her trust, the author of those
letters did not know that it was he, who had defaced the Embassy
neighborhood.
Etienne's
response took the form of gossip to school friends. They knew Sarah,
and he leaked it in conversation that she had gone missing.
“How did
YOU hear about it, Etienne?” Miranda asked.
“Mutual
friends in Sri Lanka,” he explained.
His plan did
not have the desired result, but it was not completely unsuccessful.
The son of a British diplomat asked his parents. They soon checked,
and by contacting Mr. Arberton, the Britons brought the story to his
attention. Agent Echo had no difficulty in discerning Etienne's
motive. That little Canadian bastard, he thought. I'll have to
teach him yet another lesson. Agent Echo made his displeasure felt
in two ways.
Etienne soon
found himself in detention, scrawling out impositions:
I will not lie to the principle
I will not lie to the principle
I will not lie to the
principle...
...600
times!
However,
of more import to Etienne's long term well being, Detective Hubble
got another inquiry about an Etienne DuBois. Was there a record of
Etienne transiting Heathrow any time recently? Sure enough, the name
“popped” after a few days investigation. He was curious to
observe that the previous report had been about a Canadian national,
and this traveler presented American papers. Trouble on that one for
sure, he thought.
Hubble
was able to confirm “suspicious activity,” but gave no details.
“We cannot discuss an ongoing investigation,” was the standard
disclaimer.
Agent
Echo gloated silently. “The plot thickens,” he thought.
