September first, 1998

14

"Hello, Miss Duke? This is Officer Dean from Sherwood Ohio Police force, I was wondering if you could answer some questions about a case we're investigating?"

"Sherwood Ohio? God I haven't been to that dump in years" she cackled. Yep. It was definitely her alright. "What happened now?"

"We're investigating a series of suicides-"

"Oh god, not this again" she groaned "look you asked me all about this eight years ago, I don't care anymore" she said, as though her friends deaths were nothing more than tv show gossip.

"Well, you see, we no longer think they were suicides, we have evidence to believe that the three teenagers were murdered" his blood at this point was racing "is there anyone you can think of that might have wanted to harm them?" This was the part he dreaded the most. His anxieties weren't helped by Heather Duke's long pause.

"I mean, I guess, there was one really creepy guy, I don't remember what his name was, but he was sleeping with one of Heather's slutty friends, and I know that she pissed him off quite a lot" Duke said. JD winced at the insult to Veronica, but tried not to let his voice waver.

"Would that be enough for him to be a possible suspect to you think?" he asked tentatively.

"I guess not. He was just really weird, but he disappeared not long afterwards anyway. I'm pretty sure he killed himself. One less creep on the streets I guess" he giggled.

"Okay, thank you miss" JD said through gritted teeth "is there anything else?"

"No, to be honest, I'm 99% sure they were suicides, I don't know what evidence you lot have, but it's clear that Heather simply couldn't handle the heat, so she got out of the kitchen. And the jocks, well everyone already guessed they were doing it between football practice anyway, so no shocks there. Honestly, you're wasting your time" she stated, clearly nonchalant about the whole thing.

"Okay, well, thank you for your time miss" JD said and quickly put down the phone. Thank god he had taken that call. In his notes he made great emphasis on Duke's belief that they were just suicides, and only briefly mentioned the no named kid who was dating one of her friends. Still, if Duke remembered that much about him despite only focusing on herself throughout high school, he dreaded to think how much Martha and MacNamara remembered about him, considering they practically adopted Veronica throughout her pregnancy. He also knew that Martha had suspected him at the time, even though no one believed her, so the thought of telling her it was now a murder case scared him beyond belief.

He ticked Heather Duke's number of the list, and cautiously dialled Mac's number. She was the only Heather he had any respect for, but he was still worried about what she could remember.

"Hello?" The chirpy voice of Heather Mac squeaked through the phone.

"Hello, Miss MacNamara? This is Officer Dean from Sherwood Ohio Police force, I was wondering if you could answer some questions about a case we're investigating?" He had been regurgitating the same line all day.

"Of course, happy to help!" Even through the phone, JD could tell that she was smiling like the head cheerleader she once was.

"Thank you, we're investigating a series of suicides back in 1989, do you recall these events?"

The line went silent for a moment.

"I thought no one knew about my...I mean...am I in trouble?" She asked sheepishly like a school girl.

"What do you mean by that miss?" JD asked, genuinely confused. Then it hit him. She thought they were talking about her own suicide attempt.

"I mean, is suicide a crime, will I be arrested? It didn't work, I was stopped!" She said frantically before JD cut her off.

"It's okay miss, you're not going to be arrested any time soon" he promised "I'm simply wanting to ask you about the deaths of Heather Chandler, Kurt Kelley and Ram Sweeney, do these names mean anything to you?"
He could hear Heather quietly sighing with relief.

"Yes, I was friends with them at school, what can I help you with?" She said much more calmly.

"We suspect that the three teenagers I just mentioned were actually murdered. Is there anyone you can think of that would have wanted to cause harm to them?" Again, JD grew tense.

"I'm not sure, I mean, there was this girl, Heather Duke, she always hated Chandler because she was never very nice to her, and I remember her celebrating when she died, but I'm not sure if she would have killed the boys."

At this, JD's mind started racing. If Martha didn't say anything, perhaps he could use Duke's hatred of Chandler as well as her insistence that she was suicidal to point the investigation towards her. After all, they only had evidence to suggest Chandler was murdered, maybe they didn't need a motive for Kurt and Ram.

"Thankyou Miss, that's very helpful, is there anything else you remember?"

"Well, I remember before she killed herself she had fallen out with my friend called Veronica..."

Shit

"...but I'm not sure that Veronica could have killed her. She did have quite a dodgy boyfriend though, but he's already dead. I don't know his actual name, he always went by his initials. JB? JT? I can't really remember, I'm sorry. He actually died not too long afterwards, and I remember that because Veronica was pregnant with his baby, bless her. Not sure if that's any use."

"Okay, thank you for your times miss."

"No problem!" She chirped again before putting the phone down.

For fuck sake. Why did he have to ask for more information! He could have left it with Heather Duke. Still, he reminded himself, this was why he had volunteered to make the calls. He could decide what was reported back. Again, he very vaguely mentioned the mysterious disappearing boyfriend, definitely leaving out the pregnancy factor, and focused his notes on Heather Duke as a suspect. How the hell he had the power to do this, he couldn't believe. If he got away with this yet again, it would almost be laughable.

The phone call he dreaded the most was to Martha. She knew all along that JD and Veronica were guilty, yet no one had believed her. Would she still hold to her beliefs? Or had she given up on her kindergarten boyfriend? There was only one way to find out.