Now There's Drama

50

After volunteering himself Marc headed over to the primary school to pick up Sandy Pulman. She was waiting outside of the brown gates, tugging at her bag straps. Marc noticed her eyes light up once she saw him. He waved at her and she returned the gesture shyly.

"I'm going to take you home today Sandy," Marc said.

Sandy ran up to him and took his large hand in her tiny, soft one. Marc slowed down his walk to accommodate for the little girl's pace. Sandy's bag hit her back as she skipped down the pathway, her leather shoes hitting the pavement with a thud.

On the way to the Pulman's the two of them walked behind Christie and Tegan who were still in the habit of walking home together, despite Tegan having to take an extra five minutes on her walk to accommodate Christie's route.

"It's the scary girls," Sandy said.

Christie and Tegan turned around in unison, facing the little girl. "Marc you could have asked one of us to take her home and not gone out of your way," Tegan said.

Marc felt Sandy's sweaty palm tighten in his grip. "It's alright," he said.

"The autopsy came out today but I don't have $120 to spend on getting a copy," Christie said.

"I know," Marc said. He shook his head in disapproval, that would only fuel her interest in the mystery.

"I'd go with you but I have to work and I'm going to be late if I keep going at Tegan's pace. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Christie said. She ran off, looking over her shoulder to see if Marc was looking.

He was.

"Funny, normally it's me running away from her," Marc said.

Tegan patted his shoulder and moved around to Sandy's other side so the little girl could take her hand. The little girl hesitated and looked at Marc who nodded before taking her hand.

The three of them walked up the long, gravel driveway with the stones crunching under their feet and upsetting their balance.

Sandy took her pink key out of her bag and unlocked the door, she stepped back and waited for the teenagers to come in.

Mrs Pulman sat at the dining table wearing a tracksuit, holding a cup of instant coffee with the smoke wafting out of it. Her bloodshot eyes looked up at the three of them.

Sandy ran up to her mother and threw her little arms around her, giving her cheek a sloppy kiss.

"Hi sweetheart how was your day?" Mrs Pulman said, feigning a smile.

"It was good Mummy," Sandy said. She ran into the kitchen and came back out with a packet of sultanas and lept onto the couch, grabbing the remote control for the television.

Mrs Pulman looked at Marc and Tegan and pushed the yellow envelope next to her, towards them. The edges were upturned and the glue had started to break.

"Could you please open the report and read it," Mrs Pulman said.

Marc picked it up and picked at the seal, breaking some of the glue. Coursing through his body was the vibration from Tegan's left foot tapping the floor. He sighed and handed the envelope over to her.

Tega ripped it open and pulled the paper out with the coroner's court signal on it. She cleared her throat before starting. "Kipling Pulman died due to blunt trauma to the head by what is currently believed to be a hammer or other tool due to the trauma to the Temporal and Frontal skull. Traces of the chemical D04477 was found in his bloodstream which is still being looked into."

Mrs Pulman let out a cry of anguish which burst everyone's eardrums. Tegan moved over to her side and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Marc I think I heard noises in Kip's room last night could you go check it please," Mrs Pulman said, in an effort to mask her pain.

"It's alright I'll check," Marc said.

He left them and climbed up the varnished wooden stairs and took the first right and found himself in a pristine bathroom. He walked out and into the room opposite the bathroom.

It was the cleanest that Marc had ever seen Kip's room. The bed was made, the desk was clear and there were no clothes on the floor.

Marc stepped inside and was instantly possessed by the spirit of Christie Claythorne. Heading over to the desk he pressed the on button for his laptop which was connected by the white charger into the wall. He needed a passcode. A dead end. Marc tried a couple of passwords the most obvious ones 1234, Kip, Kipling even going as far as typing in boobs.

He opened the top door of the desk, it was partially empty bar a list of names. He pocketed it. If the police hadn't found it, it was no use to them, Marc thought.

He pulled out the next drawer which was filled with yellow 50 dollar notes. It had to mean something if he had given one to Christie there must be some relevance. Marc took a few and shoved them into his other pocket of his black school shorts.

After checking under the bed for monsters and burglars and only finding a few images he couldn't erase from his mind, Marc thumped back down the stairs.

"Everything's fine and I don't think anyone has been in there since the cleaner. I checked everywhere," Marc said.

"Thank you," Mrs Pulman whispered.

"I'll walk Sandy home tomorrow," he said.

"Thank you," she repeated, softly.

Marc and Tegan left the Pulman residence with Marc heading to the Claythorne's and Tegan heading home.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short everything has just been so hectic lately and if there are any mistakes let me know. Very soon we will be getting into more of the mystery but I'm trying to also establish people's reactions to the death. Hopefully I'll have something up this weekend. NTD is now ranking at #549 in Mystery thank you so so much for all who have helped me get this far and supported me. Thanks for reading any questions or whatever let me know. Picture of Marc up the top

Carice :)