A Letter Before Death

5

"You need to explain to me why in the past month when two girls that you know have died that you just so happened to have been at the crime scene covered in their blood. You didn't even have gym that period, so what where you doing out there?" A man in a two piece suit and tie asked.

I stared at the metal table in silence. Of course I'm the first to be interrogated. I had been there while I wasn't supposed to be in gym. Do I tell him about the note? Is it too soon? Does it even correlate with the murders? "Sara, I need answers. The lady in the office said that you had been looking for Michele right before the murder. She said you had mentioned that your teacher had a note for her that she wanted you to deliver. Where's the note? What did it say?"

I took a deep breath. "The note from my teacher was a lie. I hadn't been in class before I asked the receptionist which class Michele was in."

"Is that so? So why were you trying to find Michele Jordan right before she was murdered? Why were you the first to the scene?"

"Look, I have a solid alibi. The coach and students saw me race by them after the scream. You can watch the cameras to know I didn't do it."

"You didn't answer my question."

I sighed. "The real reason I was looking for her was because I found a note on the ground that was addressed to her, and I was trying to get it back to her. I had already missed the late bell, and I didn't think I would see her after school and I was right, but in a different way."

"Where is this note at now?"

I shrugged. "I don't actually know. I don't really remember what I did with it."

"What did the note say?"

I stared at my fingers. "Ummm, it said 'Here in the forest, dark and deep. I give you eternal sleep.'"

I looked up to see the expression on the detectives face. His eyes were wide as his expression became oddly curious. His voice became more stern and more serious, almost as if he was threatening me without saying anything remotely threatening. "What did the note say?"

"'Here in the forest, dark and deep. I give you eternal sleep."

He quickly jotted what I said onto a note pad. "And you don't know where this note is?" He asked a little too excitedly. Almost as if he would snatch them out of my hands instantly if I had been holding it.

"I haven't really looked for it, but I think we have the start of a serial killer on our hands."

He tilted his head a bit. "What makes you say that?"

I fiddled with my fingertips. "Umm, well the main reason I was trying to find Michele in a hurry was because when I read her note, I recognized it. The day before the bonfire party, someone had given Taren the exact same note."

His expression became a bit more surprised, but I don't think he was surprised that there was another note, but more so that I knew about it. "Why didn't you tell us about this note a month ago?"

"Well I had forgotten about it, and it hadn't struck me as a connecting figure in the case until today when I found the note addressed to Michele."

"Why didn't you call the police as soon as you found the note?"

"Because I was trying to ask her about it to make sure it was hers, and to see if anything she said stuck out. If I would have called you guys, it still would have been to late. I was hoping that if I had talked to her about the note we could figure out who wrote it, and then we'd go to the police. I thought we'd have time before anything could happen to her, but I was wrong."

"Sara, this is critical information. We need those notes. Does anyone know you have them?"

I shook my head. "No, no one does. You're the first person I have mentioned the notes to." I reached into my purse and grabbed the note that was addressed to Taren. I laid it on the table in front of the detective. "I think the person you might want to talk to next is the person who kicked the ball into the woods. After the scream she had disappeared, and I couldn't quite see who she was from behind, but it's suspicious that she disappeared right after the scream, as if she knew she had just led Michele to her death."

The deputy nodded. "Yes, I will try to find him. Here is my card. If you come up with any valuable information, you contact me directly."

I nodded as I took a business card he had handed me. I looked down to see the card was a bit thicker than most. When I say thicker, I mean it was almost like a little box you could fit a couple rolled up dollar bills into if there was an opening. More than likely this was a tracking device or it had a bug in it so he could listen in on my conversations.

I typed his phone number into my phone and gave him back his card. "No, you keep it just in case you need to call me and you don't have your phone."

"Oh, ok, thanks." I said as I walked out of the interrogation room. Yeah it was definitely a tracking devise or a bug. Ok, detective Lyle. I'll play along with your game.