Sweet Charlotte

「 twenty-two: shocked conclusions 」

"Oh my God."

"This is huge," Willow said, pacing back and forth in Seth's room, her summer dress swaying whenever she hit the end of her pace and spun around. "This is huge. We can actually use this."

Seth ran a hand over his face. His palm rested on his lips, hesitating, considering the options they had. Finally, for the first time since they started the case, they had a lead.

"We hadn't thought about looking into who was with her that night," Willow continued, her thoughts whirling so fast she rattled them off as they came to her. "We've only focused on where she could've gone and who knows where she could be, not who could've helped her get away." She gawked, pausing her pacing to stare at Seth. His distant stare shifted from the floor to land on her. "We always assumed she ran away without help."

Seth removed his hand from his mouth, standing. "But that's why this is weird. Why did someone help her run away? And who? And what do they gain from helping her?"

Willow placed her hands on either side of her head. This was a lot of information — a lot of good information — it was just hard to know what to do with it. She sighed. "Let's go through the suspect list and think motives."

Seth wanted to smirk at how professional she sounded but forced it back. Truth be told, he was in the same boat as her; all professional, no time to mess around.

"Carter. He could've helped Charlotte run away. He really seemed to pity her even though he threw her under the bus for Mara."

Seth clenched his fists in his pockets. "And he only said he was at home the night she vanished. He could easily be lying. He could've lied about Mara, like maybe he asked her to leave early so he could go and help Charlotte get out of here."

Willow tapped their Sharpie marker to her chin. "Maybe he felt so bad about ruining Charlotte's reputation that he helped her run away. That way, he could be with Mara without interference and Charlotte could go somewhere where she could not be scrutinized."

Seth scrunched his nose. "Maybe. But if that's the case, I don't know why Charlotte would go with him. Her trust would already be severed."

Willow sighed through her nose, closing her eyes in disappointment. "You're right."

"What about Aeron?" Seth asked, turning to face his partner opposed to the board. "He could've done something."

"Yeah, but why?" Willow asked, feeling a smirk rise hint at her cheeks. Seth really had a grudge against Aeron since she'd explained their past. It was both charming and slightly concerning, and even though Willow knew at one point he may have full on beaten the crap out of him, she knew that wasn't the case now. For their case, they needed to remain lowkey, friendly, and quiet. Seth wouldn't jeopardize finding useful information by beating the ever loving life out of Aeron.

"Mara and Sunni," Willow finally said, sighing as she scanned the board. She closed her eyes, lowered her head, and rubbed at her temples. "There's no way they would've helped her. They weren't on good terms with her. They wouldn't do a favour that big."

"And Charlotte definitely wouldn't ask that of them." Seth sighed through his nose, gaze growing weary.

Willow opened her eyes. "Besides, Sunni already verified that her Mara were working on that school project Carter had mentioned." Seth raised a brow while studying Willow. Once her gaze landed on his, she shrugged. "I asked this afternoon."

"How did you make that subtle?"

"I learned the project was for their science class on tree frogs," she said, "and I told Sunni I was also doing a project on them and wanted more info. She told me her and Mara worked 'practically all night' on their project."