FIRE & BLOOD • EVAN 'BUCK' BUCKLEY / 9-1-1

61.

The room was cold, there was not a window in sight. A woman with blonde hair that reached her shoulders walked behind me and pulled the metal chair far back enough for me to take a seat. The chair scraped against the concrete floor. I thanked her and took a seat. There was warmth behind her kind brown eyes, her smile reassuring.

"Thank you for coming in today. I'm Detective Baldwin, I promise to keep this short and simple." Her voice was steady and filled with confidence. She takes the seat across from me, leaning forward as she laid her hands flat on the table. "Let's start from the beginning, and do your best to remember every little detail."

I cleared my throat as my mind travelled back to two days ago. "I had gotten a message from an unknown number two days ago when I was grabbing coffee with my best friend and um this person told me to meet them at Tyler's apartment Halloween night at midnight and"

"They specifically said Tyler's apartment?"
"Yes."
"Did you respond to this text?"
"No, I did not"
"And you didn't tell anyone about this random message?"
"No, I didn't. They um, they said if I did tell anyone that I would regret it" I maintained eye contact with Detective Baldwin as I answered her questions. I know I have nothing to worry about but I was starting to wonder if I was being looked at as a suspect.

"As in they were threatening you if you were to tell anyone?"

"Not necessarily me but the people I care about. That's how I perceived it so I didn't tell anyone."

"And you don't have any idea who this person might have been or why they would have wanted to hurt Savannah?"

I shook my head. Detective Baldwin nods, signaling me to continue. "That was the only text I had gotten and I went to work the next day and um it was a really chaotic day for me that I didn't even think about the message"

"You went all day without receiving another message from this person?"

"Yes. It wasn't until I got to the Halloween party um it was close to midnight before they sent me another message to um" I thought hard on trying to remember the exact words, "they told me they didn't like to be kept waiting. That's when I got nervous because I wasn't even thinking about the whole situation all day it just... I don't know. I completely forgot."

"You get another message while you're at the party. What did you do next?"

"I left"
"Around what time?"
"It was about 11:30"
"About?"
"Yes" I say. "I remember looking at my phone and thinking to myself that I had 30 minutes to get to that apartment"

"Did you tell anyone you were leaving?"
"I had spilled wine on my outfit so I used that as an excuse to leave. I told everyone I needed to go home to change and that I would be right back."

"And did you think you would be right back? Did you have any thought as to how this meeting could have gone?"

"No, not really"
"But you went anyways"
"Because I didn't want to put anyone else's life at risk"
"Just your own?"
"Yes."

Detective Baldwin seemed like she was going over everything I had told her so far in her head, maybe asking herself if I was telling the truth or making sure my story added up. I don't know.

"You leave the party and you head straight to the apartment. You didn't stop anywhere else?"

"No. I drove straight there and I sat in my car for maybe ten minutes before I decided to get out of my car. Evan had texted me and I seen that I had about two minutes until midnight."

"What did Evan text you?"
"If I was on my way back."
"Did you text him back"
"No" I was ready to get this over with. "I went straight to the elevators and up to the third floor. When I got to the third floor I had seen that the door was open so I took a moment before I walked in"