“It was for disturbed boys, miss.”
“What was wrong with him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you tell us about the incident?” Larry asked.
“Why, sure.” The constable sat back. “It’s been a bit. Let’s see. I got a call from the woman who owns the market. Gertrude. Poor lady,she used to be more friendly. Anyhow, she said a man came running in, holding a wet shirt. He had seen the boy get swept away and gone in after him. He almost drowned, himself. The shirt washed up onshore after the boy went under.”
“No remains?” Larry asked.
The constable shook his head. “When we have a drowning victim, I’d say over half the time we never recover the body. Sometimes it washes up miles away on another beach. But more often... it just disappears. It’s a big sea.”
“Why was he on the beach?” Amanda asked.
“We figured he ran away.”
“‘We’?” Larry asked.
The constable looked annoyed.
“The director of the center and myself. She paid me a visit afterward.”
“Why would he run away?” Amanda asked.
“Boys run away sometimes, miss.”
“I went to that place. Brightwood,” she said.
“That’s trespassing.”
Larry sighed. The constable gave him a look.
“I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” the constable added.
“I was hoping to learn more about him.”
The constable seemed to be weighing his words. When he spoke again, it was with kindness.
“Well, I hate to put it like this, but he’s gone now.”
“I’d just like to talk to someone who knew him. Do you know anyone who might have known him? Maybe someone who worked there?”
The constable looked at the large clock on the wall, even though he had a watch on his wrist and a cell phone on the desk. “I’m afraid I’ve got to get going,” he said. “Time to patrol. We’ve had a problem with drug runners lately. They avoid the highways, because of the state police.”
“What about your report?” Larry asked.
“Confidential. You know that. Anything involving children is confidential under ORS 419B.”
“But you were just talking to us,” Amanda said.
“I told you what I could. I can’t give you confidential reports. I’d lose my job. Your friend here knows that.”
“But it’s my brother.”
“It wouldn’t matter if you were his mother, because I’m guessing she lost her parental rights. Only the legal guardian can get police reports involving children, and that was the center, which closed years ago. I’m sorry about that, I truly am.” He stood, holding his cap in his hands, and then looked abashed. “Look, I’m really sorry for your loss. It’s got to come as a shock, after so many years. But down here... how can I put it? This happens. Every year or two, one of the towns along this stretch of coastline has a drowning. Just a few years ago, some tourists brought their little boy to the beach here in Wheel Stone. He got swept away by a sneaker wave. Never found him either. My point is, maybe sometimes you got to let the dead rest. Your brother had a hard life. No doubt about it. Maybe now it’s time for you to make the most of your own.”
Larry didn’t look terribly impressed with this little spiel.