Massacre survivors, Sam and Tara Carpenter, follow a precise routine; locked doors, no midnight gatherings, and limited social media━except for their mother, Christina. She pretends and avoid the elephant in the room between the sisters. The tragedy...
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March 31, 2022. late morning.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤJACK DUNCAN THINKS IT WASN'T SUICIDE.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤUnder the blanket of dark blue skies was a rugged man in gray long-sleeves. Jack ruminates by the rails of a creek road bridge, cigarette between his lips with hands pursed in his pockets. There used to be a submerged car in the river across where he stood.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤHe imagines the scenario:
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤIn a drunken haze, he accelerated at high speed. Adrenaline pulsated him, blinding his senses as he rode the high through the night. Something broke through the way at the speed of light – a deer. Perhaps, a person. Couldn't tell.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤHe lost control of his vehicle. Wheels screeched.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤThe car slewed down the steep hill and hurled into the water upside down.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤDespite how cliche the imagery was, that was how the case report of Garrett Faber's death in 2018 was described. A local fisherman discovered the crashed car late afternoon. They must've drowned too, they said. Woodsboro Police Department did whatever they could to recoup anything valuable in the vehicle:
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤA wallet with no cash and no ID to identify the driver. The examiner tested on a broken liquor bottle found in the car floor. Only fingerprints were present. Nothing else was in the mouth of the bottle to determine if the driver was inebriated.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤMost of all, nobody was in the front seat.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤJack was a former assistant during the early investigation of the case. He ascertained the missing man's identity to be the son of Mrs. Minka Faber by the car owner's plate number. The search extended for a week. Police volunteers dove deep underwater for Garrett's body, from beneath the bridge to out the lake 8 hectares wide. The farthest end was the waterfall dam. It'd be impossible for Garrett's body to reach there. It should've wound up near the crash site or in the middle of the lake.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤThree days later, Minka discovered a letter by her son's night stand. A suicide letter. With Minka emotional over the note, Hector Neele – former lead investigator – concluded from there that it was Garrett's pitiful volition to end his life. Regardless that Garrett's body was never recovered, he was presumed dead after 4 years.
ㅤ ㅤ ㅤJack was bitter that Hector's focus swayed towards the lighter paperwork, even in the midst of the case's procedures. They could've given Minka fair justice, had it been if they cooperated with order and coherence. But Jack couldn't intervene personally, even if he were an assistant to Hector until the old man retired.
