THEN
The man who murdered his sister was named Shane Nelson—allegedly murdered his sister. But DJ knew Shane Nelson had done it, just like he had known that his sister had been killed, that night as he lay in his bed, wishing for superpowers. His parents had talked to the police and the district attorney, but they refused to give their son any details.
“I don’t want you to know what happened to her,” his mom said, tearfully. “You’re too young to take this in.”
But DJ wasn’t too young. He had grown up fast, he’d had to, and he deserved to know the truth about what had happened to his sister. He had loved her, too. Luckily, the local newspapers were more than happy to oblige. Crimes like this, the murder of a pretty young white girl, sold papers, and no gory details would be spared. His parents didn’t subscribe to any of the dailies, but DJ had been stealing copies off various neighbors’ front steps. The May 6 issue had the specifics he sought.
Shane William Nelson, a 28-year-old man from Phoenix, has been arrested for the murder of Courtney Carey, 15. The teen went missing last February from the suburb of Tolleson. Carey’s badly beaten body was discovered in South Mountain Park nine days after her parents, Declan and Susan Carey, reported her missing. She had been sexually assaulted, tortured, and strangled. The coroner’s report states that blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death.
Neighbors said Nelson “kept to himself” but seemed to have a lot of friends, both male and female, coming and going at all hours. Nelson, who is single, has a young son with an estranged girlfriend. Nelson has no prior convictions, but police questioned him in 1994 in relation to two rapes in the Avondale area. Nelson, currently unemployed, is in custody pending charges.
The police are also speaking to a person of interest who, they say, does not pose a threat to the public.
DJ’s bowels loosened as he read, and he had to run to the toilet. Maybe his mom was right. Maybe he was too young to know. He brought the paper with him and he inspected the mug shot of Shane Nelson as he shit: dark eyes; unruly brown hair; a narrow, chiseled face. In another context, he would have looked normal, even handsome. But DJ could see the cruelty in Shane Nelson’s eyes, the evil in the slight curl of his lips. Why hadn’t his sister seen it? How could she have gotten into a car with this man? Why didn’t she run away? Why didn’t she scream?
There was a grainy picture of Courtney, smiling coyly, wearing too much makeup, looking like trouble. He knew what people would think. His sister got what was coming to her. If she had listened to her parents, obeyed their rules, she’d be alive today. They’d tell their daughters: See? See what happens when you disobey your parents? When you ignore your curfew? When you rebel? They would all think it could never happen to their girls.
There was no photograph of the “person of interest.”