With Malice (11 page)

There are no indications of abuse in either family or histories of mental illness. I note Ms. McIvory's mother has been treated for depression in the past, but this appears to be related to family stressors versus meeting the clinical diagnosis of chronic depression. While both girls appear to have experimented with alcohol and perhaps marijuana, there is no documentation or health records that indicate any past or current substance abuse or addiction issues, and the events were likely typical teen exploration.

The available school records indicate that Ms. Charron was a strong student with a focus on coursework that would lead to university study. Ms. McIvory's grades are average and her academic progress mediocre. However, I note on standardized testing, Ms. McIvory's scores would indicate that she was capable of greater academic success than was demonstrated in her grades.

Indications of Possible Conflict

Although Ms. Charron and Ms. McIvory were involved in a long-standing friendship, there were indications of areas of possible conflict. These include, but would not be limited to:

1. Limited Friendship: Although the two girls had other social connections, most notably Tara Ingells, their friendship was primarily a dyad. As they relied upon each other for social support, any change in the relationship could have been seen as a threat by the other.
   

    
   

2. Financial Difference: Ms. Charron's family is best described as wealthy, while Ms. McIvory's is lower middle class. This likely created friction in terms of available resources (one girl could do things, purchase things, etc., that the other could not).
   

    
   

3. Popularity/Status: While both girls would be considered “popular” by their peers, the documentation indicates that Ms. McIvory was better liked overall. If Ms. Charron was tired of playing “second fiddle,” this could have led to conflict.
   

    
   

4. Family Moral Values: Ms. McIvory's family is strongly religious and, on a disciplinary spectrum, would be seen as more strict and rigid in terms of expectations. It does not appear that Ms. McIvory had a strong personal relationship with either parent; she likely preferred to keep personal confidences within her social circle. Ms. Charron's parents are divorced and appear to be agnostic in terms of religion. She likely has a strong desire for her father's approval, but a dislike of his new wife and children. Ms. Charron seems close to her mother, but likely will have difficulty in this relationship as she seeks more independence in the coming years.
   

    
   

5. Future Plans: Ms. Charron was university bound, while Ms. McIvory had no firm academic plans following her high school graduation. This transition from high school to adulthood can be fraught with high emotion, as long-standing relationships grow and change when individuals take different paths. In my opinion, it is unlikely that Ms. Charron and Ms. McIvory would have maintained as close a relationship in the future, as they likely would pursue different areas and, as a result, make new friends with whom they had more in common.
   

Without meeting either girl, it is difficult to say if friction existed or if the reported difficulties they had on the trip were related to the stress of travel. However, there was clearly a range of issues that could have led to high emotion and the resulting action.

TELEVISION TRANSCRIPT FOR
CRIME WATCH WITH NINA GRIMES

(Theme music.)

NINA: Good evening and welcome to
Crime Watch,
with your host, Nina Grimes. We'll have an update on our story from last week about the sick pervert Anthony Hutchins's case in South Florida and how his defense team is trying to use a technicality to weasel out of the jury's decision. However, first up tonight, we've got an exclusive on Murder Abroad, the tragic death of Simone McIvory and the suspicion that her best friend,
her best friend,
Jill Charron, is to blame.

(School picture of Jill Charron staring straight out at the camera.)

NINA: Her nickname is Chilly Jilly. We've had our researchers talking to her fellow students at Jefferson High School, and they paint a picture of a girl who kept to herself, a loner, with a possessive claim over her best friend. Here I have a quote from a member of the Jefferson High cheer squad, who spoke to me but requested to remain anonymous. I asked her what she knew of Jill. Her full quote is:

(Quote appears typed on screen.) “Simone was awesome. Everyone loved her, but a bunch of us never knew why she hung with Jill. Jill was always lurking around, wanting Simone's attention. I could tell that Simone sometimes got tired of how needy she was. Jill was like a parasite living off Simone. Sucking her dry.”

NINA: A parasite. I think that's very telling. I heard a lot from Jill's fellow students about how she was standoffish and was very cold toward the opposite sex. Yet it's come out in the past twenty-four hours that Chilly Jilly had fallen hard for a college-aged Romeo on this school trip. He'd found a way to thaw that stone heart of hers. Now, it's been some time, longer than I'd like to admit (chuckles) since I was a young girl, but I can tell you when a young lady is in the throes of passion, her emotions can run high. Is that what happened here? Was this beautiful, innocent girl—

(Picture of Simone cuddling a kitten on screen.)

NINA, continued: —cut down in the prime of life, snatched from the bosom of her family, over a boy? We've got Brad Thompson on the line with us. Brad was one of the students on the trip with Jill and Simone and is talking to us exclusively tonight about this Nico character to give us some insight into what happened in Italy. He's coming to us from his home in Rochester, Michigan. Brad, can you hear me?

BRAD (voiceover): I can hear you, Nina. Thanks for having me on your show.

NINA: Can you tell us a bit about this Italian tour guide, Nico?

BRAD: He was a bit of a douchebag, if you ask me. He was always doing the humble brag.

NINA: Humble brag?

BRAD: Yeah, you know. Like he'd say (takes on an Italian accent), “Oh, excuso me, my English is not so good, I speak five languages, and know everything about Italian history, so I hope you can un'stand my sometimes mistakes.” I mean, who needs to speak five languages? If you ask me, he only made mistakes with English so all the girls would be all (talks in high falsetto voice) “Oh, Nico, let me help you with figuring out which word you want.”

NINA: So you think he was flirting with the young girls in the program?

BRAD: Totally. He was talking them right out of their panties with that accent.

NINA: Was Jill Charron one of the girls who fell for him?

BRAD: Not right away. I think that's why he liked her. She was the only one who wasn't panting after him. I think he saw her as a challenge. He was always trying to sit with her on the bus and acting like everything that came out of her mouth was genius. He was clearly into her. He didn't act on it, though. Simone figured he needed a push.

NINA: Simone wanted to help her friend? How was she going to do this?

BRAD: Simone asked me to act like I liked Jill so Nico would be jealous and finally make his move.

NINA: And did he?

BRAD: At first it seemed like it didn't work, but then they definitely hooked up when we were in Venice. I think Jill and Nico thought the two of them were keeping things all top secret, but pretty much everyone knew they were together.

NINA: How did people feel about it?

BRAD: I think a few of the other girls on the trip were jealous, but mostly people didn't care that much. Everybody was doing their own thing. The trip kept us pretty busy, we were changing cities every couple of days, and there were readings and lectures and stuff.

NINA: But eventually something happened, isn't that correct?

BRAD: Oh, yeah, all hell broke loose between Simone and Jill.

NINA: We'll want to hear more about that after the break!

(Commercial)

EXCERPT FROM POLICE INTERVIEW WITH NICCOLO LANDINI

Date: 9 May  Time: 09:30

Florence Police Department

Present: Niccolo Landini, Detective Alban, and Detective Marco

Original transcript in Italian, translated to English by Stoker and Mills Translation Services, New York, New York

DETECTIVE MARCO: Please detail your relationship with Jill Charron.

NICCOLO: Jill and I were in a romantic relationship. Unlike so many girls, she was not all giggles and games. She was very smart and beautiful. She had a love for history, like me. A sense that we are all connected and that to understand the past is to know the future. There is now a lot of discussion that I took advantage of her, but we are not so different in age. She is eighteen; she is not a child. I am twenty-two. I cared for her, and she for me. Age did not make a difference.

DETECTIVE MARCO: When did the relationship start?

NICCOLO: I took the group to Caffè Florian in St. Mark's Square. Some of the most prestigious people have sat in those very same seats—Charlie Chaplin, Hemingway, Dickens, even Casanova. Most of the students had no sense of the importance of the place; they just wanted a Coke and to sit down. I knew this was something Jill would like. She would notice the art on the wall, the details, she would feel the history in the space. There was a boy hanging about her, crowing about being her boyfriend. I told her that she was sending mixed signals. If she didn't want my attention, I would leave her alone, but she told me it was a mistake, that she had no interest in high school boys. I kissed her that day.

I did not take advantage of Jill. She wanted this too. I never led her to believe this was love. We are both young, and she was on a four-week school trip. I was not playing with her, but I do not think either of us saw it as a serious relationship. It was summer love. Nothing more. You must believe me.

My mom was late. When she came into the room, I could tell she was flustered. Her blouse was pulled out from her skirt waistband, and there were beads of sweat perched on her upper lip. She dropped into a seat, not looking at my dad. The hospital meeting room was too small. I was already hot. My fingers kept running over the table. Someone had carved the word
anarchy
into the laminate tabletop but had spelled it wrong. I couldn't decide if that was tragic or ironic.

“Traffic,” Mom explained. She reached across and squeezed my hand.

“This is why the rest of us leave early, so we're on time.” Dad looked at Evan as if he expected to be given a gold star sticker.

The vein in Mom's forehead pulsed.

“It seems we're all here now,” Dr. Weeks said, patching over the tension.

Evan Stanley opened the file in front of him and looked down at the papers inside. It seemed too full to me. That he shouldn't have accumulated so much already. “Today's meeting is about getting a foundation for our case and determining what steps we want to take next. Can you tell me anything more about the accident?” He took a fountain pen from his jacket pocket and pulled a brand-new Moleskine notebook close to him. The top of his pen had a white enamel star in the cap. I recognized it, but I'd forgotten the brand. It was expensive.

“I don't remember anything,” I said.

“Nothing? Even something small could be helpful.”

“I don't remember anything until I woke up at the hospital.”

“Huh.” Evan riffled through the pages. “You sure about that?”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely sure?” He spun the pen through his fingers as though this was a casual conversation, but his eyes never left my face. It felt like he was trying to crawl behind my eyes and read my mind.

“She told you she doesn't recall,” my mom said.

Evan rubbed his chin. His five-o'clock shadow was already coming in, and the rasp of his whiskers when he touched his face could be heard in the small room. It reminded me of insects scuttling inside a wall.

He sighed. “There's a note in your medical file made by a Dr. Ruckman, saying that you told him right after you woke up that you
did
remember the accident.”

My throat squeezed shut.

“It's important to understand that Jill didn't ‘wake up.' Regaining consciousness after a head injury isn't like a light switch. Off or on,” Dr. Weeks said. “She would have had periods when she would have seemed awake, eyes open, possibly even speaking, but would not have been oriented to time or place. She wouldn't have any—or at least very limited—recall of that time.”

“Ruckman says that on Sunday morning, May 1, she was lucid,” Evan insisted.

Dr. Weeks leaned forward. “I've read her file too. What he says is that Sunday morning was the first time she was able to respond to commands. However, you need to understand that doesn't mean she wouldn't still have been experiencing confusion.”