Carnage by Maxime Chattam Read Free Book Online Page B

hid in the corner where I found him, shitting himself to make it look like he was terrified.’
    Doris shook her head.
    ‘Seems a bit much to me. Would a seventeen-year-old kid really do something that twisted?’
    Lamar leant towards her.
    ‘Don’t forget he’s been kicked out of school four times! He’s a … troubled character. He’s been plotting his revenge for months, figuring out a way to get back at the schools until he came up with this screwed-up plan.’
    Lamar glanced down at his watch.
    ‘OK, we’re good to go – D’Amato must be in position now.’
    They walked up the front steps to the row of mail boxes. A label on one of them read ‘DeRoy’. First-floor apartment.
    They crept quietly up to the only door off the first-floor landing. Lamar pounded on the door before steppingaside. Doris positioned herself on the other side of the door frame.
    A woman’s voice called out from inside, ‘Who is it?’
    Doris signalled to Lamar that she would do the talking.
    ‘Police, ma’am!’ she replied. ‘Open up right away.’
    The door opened a crack, held back with a chain. A puffy face appeared in the opening. Doris held up her police badge, while Lamar kept his hand behind his back, ready to pull out his weapon if necessary.
    ‘We need to talk to Chris urgently.’
    The woman’s round face creased with worry.
    ‘What’s he done?’
    ‘Is he there, ma’am?’ Doris pressed.
    She shook her head.
    ‘He went out twenty minutes ago.’
    ‘He tell you where he was going?’
    ‘No, that’s not his style. He took a big bag with him, told me he wouldn’t be back tonight.’
    Lamar stepped in.
    ‘Isn’t he supposed to be recovering from his traumatic experience?’
    The mother spat back, ‘Sure, it shook him up! But he’s allowed to leave the house, isn’t he? He’s gotta get some air sometimes, buck himself up.’
    Lamar moved closer and looked the plump woman in the eye.
    ‘Can I come in and take a look at his room?’
    She was shaking with rage.
    ‘No, no you cannot! This is my home!’
    Lamar let it go, turning to Doris and taking her aside.
    ‘Go tell D’Amato what’s going on and get me a search warrant,’ he told her. ‘Explain everything to the judge, get him a copy of Chris DeRoy’s school records and tell him to put a warning out to the mayor’s office and the NYPD. We need to keep a watch on the two other schools before he strikes again.’
    Doris nodded and hurried back downstairs.
    Lamar turned back to the half-open door.
    ‘I’m going to wait here until the warrant arrives,’ he announced, pointing to the stairs.
    The teenager’s mother frowned, paused for a moment and then shut the door.
    Ten minutes later, she flung the door wide open and stood there, dressed in a dirty tracksuit.
    ‘You’d better come in then, since you will anyway when your damned piece of paper arrives.’
    Lamar stood up and followed her into the apartment. It was a wreck, with wallpaper hanging off the walls. The only thing that had had any money spent on it was a large TV set, perched on a wobbly table in front of a worn-out sofa. An eighties soap was on with the sound turned off.
    ‘His room’s down the end of the hall. You can look, but don’t touch anything. He’d give me hell if he knew.’
    Lamar resisted telling her it was very unlikely her son would be coming back to lay into her. He walked down a dark corridor to reach a door covered in a Slayer poster.
    The narrow room looked just like the rest of the apartment: filthy and messy. The duvet had been thrown on the floor, surrounded by music magazines and pirated CDs. Lamar scanned the room, stopping in front of an open closet. T-shirts had been pulled out and flung on the floor. Lamar knelt down to get a closer look at something shining at the bottom of the closet.
    When he realised what it was, his heart started thumping.
    He gulped.
    They would have to expect the worst.

9
    Several boxes were crammed in side by side. They had been