by S. Y. Robins
2
Milly arranged for the security company to come out and install a system for her as soon as she awoke the next morning. She’d not slept well and when she had, her dreams had been most unpleasant. After the call, she dressed and went downstairs, taking the dogs and Edgar for their morning jaunt. The dogs performed their usual tricks of bouncing as if they had springs instead of legs as she walked to the door while Edgar stood, rather dignified, and stared disdainfully at Daisy and Mildred. As Milly opened the door he bounded out, giving a dismissive wave of his tail to the dogs.
She enjoyed her morning walks with the animals, even now that the days had turned much cooler. Milly hadn’t been much of a walker before the dogs came along, preferring to spend her mornings with an extra hour in bed, but she found the daily routine of walking the dogs several times a day relaxed her and helped her to think. Milly never really bought into that whole exercise as a stress reliever thing but had soon decided that it did have its merits. She’d lost a bit of weight too, and though she wasn’t obsessed with that, she did notice that she felt better and people often commented about the lovely glow she now had. Whatever that meant, she thought as she noticed Edgar wandering off.
Edgar usually didn’t go far, and could be easily found by his long tail that he always kept sticking straight up as he walked. The sight of Edgar’s tail in the air, even when his body couldn’t be seen, always made Milly smile. If she’d known he’d take to walking like this, she would have brought him out more often. Milly turned back to Daisy and Mildred as she heard them growling and quickly pulled them apart. Every now and then they’d play fight but one would bite the other too hard or shove a paw somewhere the other one didn’t appreciate, and the two would start to actually fight. She fussed at them and turned back to see where Edgar was. She saw him over by the edge of the woods, circling around something.
A cold feeling came over Milly as she saw this strange behaviour. Edgar only did that when he wanted Milly to look at something, and the last time he’d done it, was at the scene of Davina’s death. Knowing she wasn’t going to like what she was about to see, Milly walked over to the frantically circling Edgar and looked down at the object he was circling around. At first she thought it was just a trash bag, but as she drew closer she could see that it was cloth, not plastic.
She looked around, hoping for something to poke it with and found a long stick. Poking at it, Milly saw that what she’d thought was a red T-shirt was actually a white one, but the abundance of blood covering the material made it look red. She could see from one side of the shirt that it was still white, but the rest was just covered in blood. Once she had the shirt spread out with the front facing up, she stood back to look at the logo and her blood, that had already turned to ice, somehow grew even colder. She recognized that logo.
Milly waited for the police to arrive, pacing back and forth after calling Callum as well. She knew that logo, knew who the only person she’d ever seen wearing it was as well. She doubted anyone else in England had a similar shirt because this one had been bought on an Indian reservation in America. The shirt had a portrait of a Native American on it and read “learn to speak Native American or go back where you came from.” Milly had snorted every time she saw it and knew Callum had to see it before the police came knocking up his door. Jake’s shirt was going to be used to prove evidence of whatever had happened. The blood kind of gave away what happened; something very big had bled all over the occupant of the shirt. It was Jake’s shirt. Jake had killed something. Yep, Callum had to know about that.
“Well, um, you alright Callum?” Milly asked.
“I’m not really sure,” Callum said as he stared down at the shirt. He looked like his whole world was caving in around him and he had nothing to hang on to.
“I thought you’d want to know. Ah, there’s the detectives now.” Milly was glad to escape Callum’s forlorn look and walked over to meet Detective Barnes and her partner Detective Fields. Taking the female detective’s hand first Milly gave a grim smile and said hello.
Detective Barnes shook Milly’s hand then started firing questions. “What were you doing up here? Why did you move the evidence? Don’t you know we need to know what state it was in? Where were you on the night the Andrews were killed?”
There were more but Milly lost track of them as the detective fired away, almost randomly asking questions. She stepped back as if the move would ward off the questions being tossed at her and held her hands up. “One at a time, please! I can’t even remember what most of those were!”
The detective just stood there, tapping a foot impatiently. Milly never had liked this woman. “I was walking Edgar, Daisy, and Mildred. Edgar was the one that found the shirt; I was standing over there on those rocks, trying to keep Daisy and Mildred from tearing each other apart when he wandered over there by the trees. He does this thing sometimes…” she broke off at the detective’s questioning look. “He circles around and around, and he won’t stop until I go to him. He was doing that and I walked over and found the shirt. Yes, it might be weird but I knew he wanted me to look at it, so I poked it with a stick trying to figure out what it was. I thought it was just a red shirt but it’s not. It’s just covered in blood.”
“Show us.” Detective Barnes demanded, stomping off in the direction of the shirt. Milly made a face at the red-headed, big-boned woman as she followed. She really didn’t like this woman. Callum snorted as he saw the look, but quickly covered his face and looked away from Milly as the detective looked at him severely.
“Something funny mate?” She asked.
“No, detective, I’m sorry. Nerves, you know?” He brushed the question off.
“So, it’s a shirt covered in red. Why did you assume it was blood?” Detective Barnes, obviously the leader of the duo, asked.
“Because it’s red? What else could it be?” Milly asked smartly, earning her another look.
“Almost anything really. Do you recognize the shirt at all?” The woman asked as she bent down, put on a pair of gloves, pulled out an evidence bag, and put the shirt inside.
Looking away quickly, Milly did something she knew she shouldn’t do; she gave Jake the benefit of the doubt. She knew Callum could still tell the police the truth but she couldn’t do it. “I’m not really sure. I’ve seen a similar shirt or two, but I can’t remember if it was a local or a tourist I saw it on. You know how many walkers we get around here. It could have been any of them.” Milly looked back at the detective knowing a lack of eye contact was going to raise the detective’s suspicion. The woman already had it in for her; she didn’t need to give her anymore ammunition.
“Is that right? So it is familiar? It’s not yours is it?” The male detective asked.
Great, now she’s getting it from both sides. Looking over at the detective, Milly plastered a doubtful look on her face and said, “I really can’t be sure. I see so many shirts on so many people in my business. I couldn’t say for sure.”
Milly looked at Callum and hoped he’d stop choking soon. She smacked him on the back, knowing the detectives knew she was lying. If this fit of his didn’t prove it, nothing would.
“And what about you, Mr. Davidson? Do you recognize the shirt?” Detective Fields asked with a tone that said he knew what Callum was going to say.
“Um, er...” Callum said, then shook his head no. “I’m sorry, the sight of blood makes me very ill, can we go now?”
Detective Barnes looked at them, obviously very cross, and conceded that it was a shirt covered in an unknown substance. “We know where to find the both of you if we have any more questions. You can go.”
Milly called the dogs and Edgar back to her and walked back down the hill with Callum as quickly as she could, terrified they’d call her back.
“Why’d you do it, Milly? Why didn’t you tell them?” Callum asked when they were out of earshot.
“Because I don’t know what’s on that shirt, how it got there, or if it was even Jake’s. And b
ecause I respect you. I know you’re both having a rough time. We’ll wait to see what’s on the shirt then go from there, alright?” Milly told him.
“You’re right; it might not be Jake’s right? I’ll ask him about it when he gets home from school.” Callum sounded like he dreaded the task.
“How’s it going with him anyway?” Milly asked, curious.
“It’s alright. He talks to Cassie every now and then. She’s not a completely hopeless mother; she’s just lost her head. Still wouldn’t stop me from punching her head in if she comes back but still, she’s his mother. He’s adjusting and we get along, at least. I guess I should just be grateful she didn’t drop him off with strangers or just leave him like some I’ve seen in the papers.”
“That’s true” Milly agreed. “Is she going to try to get Jake over there at all? He’s visited there; maybe he’d like to live there for a while.”
“I don’t think he wants to go. He feels rejected by her and his new stepfather. He’s not keen.”
“No, I suppose not, poor lamb. Well, if you ever need me, just let me know.” She said, preparing to walk in her shop door. She was late opening and people were starting to gather around outside.
“Actually, would you mind going out to eat with us tonight? Our cooker’s on the blink. and we’re going to have to go out anyway. Why don’t you come with us?”
“What about Maria?” It popped out of Milly’s mouth before she could draw it back in.
Callum gave Milly a blank look and asked, “What about her?”
“Oh, I just thought maybe she’d come back by now. Sure, I’d love to go. Just let me know when you’re ready.” She walked into the store before she could say anything else that might lead to embarrassment and shooed the animals up the stairs. Taking out some of yesterday’s leftovers, she put a discount sign up and started the machines necessary for life in a tea shop. She tried not to think of her evening plans as a date but she couldn’t help the smile that stayed plastered on her face for the morning service. She was going out with Callum later.
A few hours later, after the lunch crowd had dispersed, Milly took a seat to try to catch up with everything she’d missed doing this morning. She wasn’t going to make any more pastries but she needed to sort her daily paperwork at least. She was sitting facing the door so she could see who came into the shop. Tapping her pen against her lip as she calculated sums, Milly was lost in thought when the doorbell chimed over the door.
Looking up she froze as she recognized Jake. Trying to hide the moment of fear she felt, Milly stood up and walked over to the counter. “What can I get you, lad?” She asked with a smile.
“Um, a cream cake and tea please. Seems you’re going out with us later for dinner so I won’t ruin it now. I’m starving though.” The lad said and looked away. It was obvious something was on his mind by the way he kept staring off into the distance but Milly didn’t want to pry. She didn’t want to hear that murder made you a bit preoccupied.
Milly castigated herself as she prepared a pot of tea and a cream cake and handed a tray over to Jake, waving away his money. There could be an explanation for that shirt, there may be a reason that it’s similar to his. You can’t go around accusing him of anything. Maybe I should break it off with Callum tonight? As if, she thought to herself.
She went back to her table as Jake found one of his own and pretended to be adding sums. She watched him and thought the lad was handsome, and as innocent looking as most teenage boys could pull off. She watched as he pulled headphones out of a pocket, and his expression turned to anger. Jake had a similar jaw to Callum but his looked like a rock as he clenched it and stared out of the window. He kept fiddling with his phone so Milly had to assume the person he was texting was causing his anger.
Watching him, Milly almost wished she’d let Edgar out earlier. The cat had an instinct about people. She was heading to the door to let the cat out when the doorbell chimed again. Looking up she saw the detectives and her dread filled her chest. Not them again!
Jake jumped too when he saw who was there and buried his head in his phone again. That didn’t bode well, Milly thought, as she greeted the newcomers.
“What can I help you with?” She asked cordially.
“Well, we walked around the wood where you found the shirt and found some more clothes. You said you weren’t sure if you’d seen the shirt before so we thought we’d bring it and the clothes in, see if it brought a memory back.”
Milly slanted a glance over at Jake and saw the boy blanch as she held the shirt up still covered in clear plastic. His eyes grew wide and he quickly got up and left the shop. “Oh dear, um…” She tried to distract the detectives from Jake by making noise with the plastic from the bag. She also looked at the other clothes. These were burned and she couldn’t really tell anything about them.
“No, I don’t recognize any of this. Maybe if the rest hadn’t been burned I could tell you something. Some of the regulars, you get to know the holes or marks on their pants. If they belonged to a tourist I wouldn’t know, but I might have been able to tell you that much. I’m sorry.” She finally said, hoping they’d leave so she could think. She knew Jake’s look and sudden escape meant something.
“Thank you, Ms. Dupont. We’ll be in touch then. You know how to contact us if you need us.” Detective Barnes said as the pair left.
Milly breathed a great sigh of relief as the door closed and the shop went quiet. What was she going to do now?
3
Milly worried for the rest of the evening. She knew she was breaking the law but she just couldn’t turn Jake in without more information. You always knew what the right thing to do was when it was someone else, you always say, “If it was me,” but until you’re in that position, you really don’t know what you’ll do, Milly thought to herself, staring into the mirror over her bathroom sink. The lad could be a killer and here she was letting him run loose. But she didn’t look at the boy and see a killer. She saw a child that was almost the exact miniature of Callum, only the miniature was a little shorter with blue eyes and was only 15 years old. She couldn’t do anything without talking to Callum first.
She went to dinner with them, listening to the conversations going on around her. The speculation was running rampant now. There were no Satanists in the area, there weren’t even any pagans yet people were terrified. The ideas ranged from some old sect of old crones resurrecting an ancient religion to teenagers playing at being evil and taking it too far. The whole time Callum and Jake sat uncomfortably, none of them speaking in the strained silence. Milly, needing something to soothe her, ordered a glass of wine and sat listening people talk around her.
She rolled her eyes as one of the women told her male companion about how he was going to have to stay with her because as sexy as she was, she just knew the Satanists were coming for her next. Another one caused her to almost choke on her wine as she told her female companions she was afraid because she was fat, and she knew she’d have more blood in her because of that, and she knew Satanists were after blood. The whole village was going mad. Still, she was glad the security company had installed her service today. Putting a hand to her throat, she tried her hand at conversation with her own companions.
“So, bloody…um,” Milly meant to ask what the pair across from her thought of the latest football scores but the word “bloody” had slipped out and she’d lost her train of thought. She never swore so she knew it was a slip. “Football huh?” She finally ended with.
“I thought you didn’t like football, Milly?” Callum asked, confused.
“No, I don’t really care for it but the silence is killing me! The conversations going on around us are even worse so, please, one of you talk to me?” She pleaded.
“What are you going to order?” Jake asked Callum, sparing a sympathetic glance at Milly.
“I’ll have the lamb shank, what are you having?” Callum replied.
“I thought I’d go for the pie but I’m not sure, you k
now how I am with beef. Sometimes it tastes nice, sometimes not. What about you Milly?”
“Oh, well, I think I’ll have the chicken pie. It’s always good here.” Oh dear, this was almost worse than the silence. “Try the lasagne; it’s the best you’ll get in England.”
“Cool, I’ll have that then, thanks.” Jake settled down and pulled his phone out to show Callum a picture he’d taken earlier while at school. They discussed the project Jake was currently working on, how to improve it, and Milly listened to them. She was pleased they were getting along so well and hated how the evidence was pointing at the boy. The child had a bright future ahead of him and this could ruin it.
The rest of the evening went well, with no more mishaps and Callum walked her up to her flat, making sure the alarm was set for her and that the doors were all locked. Milly spent the rest of her night tossing and turning, contemplating what she should do. Finally around 3am, she came to a decision. There had to be an explanation, and surely it was best to go ahead and tell the police so they could clear the matter up. That would end the stress and the worry and clear Jake. She’d call Detective Barnes in the morning, even if it was a Saturday.
Milly got up the next morning, planning to call the detectives but for some reason, all the phones were off, even the landlines. The lines finally came back on around lunch time and Milly was trying to work up the courage to call the detective when Jake came in. Edgar had been in her lap, unable to settle because of all the tension she was exuding, and when the cat saw Jake he launched himself at the lad.
“Edgar!” She shouted, thinking the cat was attacking the boy but she saw that Jake had caught the cat and was scratching at his ears, his face close to Edgar’s. The cat was purring louder than she’d ever heard him purring and he actually licked Jake’s nose!