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2. the father

The church was old. Its walls were crumbling, the paint cracked and faded. Still it was large, its steeples high in the air, and its foundations were thick. It was clearly a primordial remnant of better times for the town. There was a large cross above the doors with lettering arching above it. St. Martin's Church of Edgecomb. The detective walked up the steps to the doors of the church, his luggage in one hand and his coat billowing in the wind behind him, and entered.

The inside of the church was much nicer than the outside. It was warm and well-lit, with candles and a chandelier. There were rows of polished brown benches on either side of the building and a corridor down the middle. For such an old church, the inside was astonishingly clean. Other than that, it looked like any other church that the detective had seen before. Except this one was empty, other than two people sitting at the very front, facing a small statue of Christ.

The detective walked down the corridor, towards the front rows and found a priest and a girl sitting together on the bench. They were talking with hushed voices, their faces close together. The detective didn't like it. He didn't trust priests, especially since the girl looked a lot younger, but she didn't seem to be uncomfortable so the detective ignored it. He cleared his throat.

"Father Solomon Abercrombie, I presume?" The detective said, setting his luggage aside. The priest looked up and nodded, smiling pleasantly. "I'm the detective from the mainland. I'm here to investigate the death of Esme Wilkinson. I heard you were the one to discover the body so I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind..." The detective explained, having practice these lines extensively.

"Ah, yes of course. I will do everything in my power to assist you in your investigation." Father Solomon said, standing up and shaking the detective's hand. "Follow me to my office please. Melanie, be a dear and bring us both a glass of water." The girl stood up and straightened her skirt, vanishing through a door on the side. The detective watched her leave, before following Father Solomon to his office.

"So what would you like to know?" Father Solomon asked, once the two had sat in his office.

"Take me to when you found her." The detective asked, hurriedly pulling his notepad out. Father Solomon nodded, touching his chin.

"Let's see..." Father Solomon said, his eyes looking upward as he recalled that night. "I had just finished the evening mass with Melanie and I decided to walk her home that night. There was a storm and she's scared of the dark so I didn't have much of a choice in that matter." He chuckled. The detective nodded, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"And then?"

"Then after I dropped her off, I started to head back. I was maybe a little less than a mile away from the church when I heard a scream. It was kind of quiet, like muffled but I knew I'd heard it. It came from the forest so I just followed the noise and found her. It was dreadful. I tried to save her but I was too late."

"Were you the only one there? Did you see anyone else?" The detective asked, finishing up his notes. Father Solomon shook his head, playing with his finger where there seemed to be a discoloration in his skin, like he was missing a ring or something. The detective hated this part of his job. The part where he didn't know if the person he was questioning was lying or not. He didn't know who to trust. For now, he would have to give Father Solomon the benefit of the doubt. Suddenly there was a knock on the door behind him.

"Father? It's me..." It was a girl's voice.

"Come in Mel." Father Solomon said in a louder voice. Melanie opened the door and stepped inside, holding a tray of food and water. She set it on the desk between the detective and Father Solomon. "Mel, say hello." Melanie gave the detective a friendly smile and a wave. The detective nodded in return. "This is the detective that's going to head the investigation for Esme."