The Bodies One By One

Chapter 29

Melissa was working her shift once again so they had to wait. But of course, the same young man had greeted them, Finn, 'oh! You obviously like this place!' He smiled and Storm nodded, 'yeah... We do, listen, are you able to talk to us for a moment, we just have some questions, you seem to get along with Melissa', he flashed his badge and Baloc did the same. The smile faltered on the Finn's face, 'okay, what do you want to know?'

'Patricia Malloy'.

'Oh god'.

The instant reaction had caught both Baloc and Storm's attention, 'not a sweet relationship?' Baloc added and Finn rolled his eyes, 'Mel hated that girls guts, I saw them fight out in the parking lot to the point it got rather heated and our manager had to rush outside to break it up, I swear Melissa wanted to kill her!' Storm noted it down, 'thank you for your time Finn'.

'No problem'.

He turned and headed back to the counters, and Baloc and Storm waited until Melissa's shift was over.
When she came out to the parking lot, they had met up with her, 'oh... What do you want?' She didn't sound as angry as before, 'don't worry, we won't take too much of your time, just asking questions like last time', Baloc said in a friendly manner and Storm swore that he saw her smile, 'alright, ask away, but I do have to head off to do some grocery shopping'.

'Right no worries... So we spoke to your father'.

'Yes?'

'We found out recently that he's dating Patricia's mother'.

Melissa's face grew pale and her body stiffened, 'uh... I guess', Baloc nodded, 'so you and Patricia were close, but in a way, you two were forced together because of your father and her mother'.

'So?'

'So that's important news for us and we were wondering why you and your father didn't say anything'.

Storm pinched the bridge of his nose, 'and please don't say that you didn't think it was important'.
Melissa began to tap her foot, 'I'm sorry, I thought my father had already told you', but Baloc shook his head, 'how was your relationship with Ms. Malloy? Did you hold the same hostility -'.

'Of course not!'

Her quick response indicated that she was telling the truth, Melissa Graves hated Ms. Malloy's daughter, but not her.
Remember, Patricia Malloy was shoved into a door... Could she have gone to confront Melissa in any way?

'When did you last see -'.

Melissa dismisses them, 'you know what? Forget it, I don't have to answer to you!' She turns and gets into the car. Of course, they can't pull her out and force her to answer them, so they have to find another way around, 'I think we should get a warrant to search the house', Storm says and Baloc gives him a questioning look, 'what's on your mind?'

'Well... Patricia was shoved against a door, maybe she had visited Melissa and they fought, remember what Finn had told us?'

'They could have had a fight and then Melissa shoves her'.

It seemed to add up, and they were most likely able to obtain a warrant in no time.