by Laura Greene
Forty-eight hours. That is how long, on average, law enforcement have to get a confession before the lead is cold. The pressure is on. Tina can feel it.
She and Officer Barnes walk in tandem then Tina picks up the pace thinking of what her next interrogation angle will be when she reaches Olsen’s room. She fails to notice that Barnes is quickly tailing behind her until he says, “Whoa! Where’s the fire?” He chuckles and his portly stature rumbles as he chuckles from a few feet back.
“Habit.” Tina says as she slows down again. She forgot small towns move at a slower pace than big big cities. “As we say in Boston, there’s an emergency just around the corner.” Sure enough, an emergency is often around the corner. Tina once came close to walking into an ambush when she turned a corner on M.L.K. Blvd. While en route to interview a witness in a high-profile murder case, she turned a corner only to find two rivalry gangs with guns drawn at each other. Her partner yanked the hem of her white shirt before she was exposed. With one pull she was safely hidden behind the wall of a high-rise apartment building awaiting backup. She was a rookie agent then and didn’t know the ropes yet, but now she knows to prepare for the worst.
“Well, this ’ere is a small town and the only fire that needs putting out is the midnight candle you’re burning. Don’t you think you’ll catch more bees with honey? I mean without...”
“Yes, I get it. Without the toxicology report, I won’t get very far.” Tina says scratching her head, “That’s my leverage.” She sighs, then turns to look at her watch and stops walking. 1:30AM. Officer Barnes is right.
Here lies another disparity between the city and a small town. Among the copious changes Tina is adjusting to at her new assignment is the difference in approach. In Boston, grit, roughness and at times side-stepping the law gets the confession out.
She looks at the one-sided window panel where she can see into Olsen’s room, but he cannot see or hear anything outside the room. When did I change? Tina can barely recognize herself in the mirror. Quietly, she hands Officer Barnes her clipboard and decides to call it a night. “Goodnight Officer Barnes.” More than the much needed sleep is introspection. Maybe I’m really here to reflect on who I’ve become. As far as she can see, she does not like the trajectory of the road she has taken.
On the way home, she is in deep thought not realizing that she is driving into a home invasion and her night is far from over.
Back on the phone with Dale
“What I still don’t get Dale is why my home was the target.” Tina is feeling more awake. She needed to talk about her day and Dale was who she felt she could trust.
Dale is now eating breakfast with the cellphone on speaker, lying next to his bowl of Bran Flakes cereal. “I don’t understand that either.”
“And how did they get in the garage? You and I are the only ones who know the new code.” Tina’s phone vibrates. Another call is coming in.
“Yeah, I...”
“Hold on a second Dale.” Tina answers. Then she switches over to Dale. “I have to go. It’s news on the toxicology I requested. Enjoy your first day!”
Dale does not get his opportunity to explain. And Tina remains in the dark about her assailants.
*
“The truth is often buried in the dark and it is for those who are in the light to search out the matter and reveal it.” The memorial service is underway and it is the chaplain, Nick Collins, who is conducting the service. He stands tall in a charcoal suit behind the podium. His hair proudly sits slicked to the side above the obvious heartbreak that’s occupying his somber face. Only once in a while does his face shed a brief, comforting smile as he turns and looks from one side of the room to the other. His kindness is returned by a few appreciative smiles from those seated in the congregation.
He has a way with words, “Anna’s life was a light to many of us who knew her. She laughed well, she loved well and she set an example of how you and I can live out her legacy as a light. The road to healing is not solitary, but in coming together as a community. This is how our light will shine more brightly.”
Many students and a handful of selected people from the community are in attendance. A staccato of sniffles can be heard in between Nick’s words; the only noticeable movement is that of tissues dotting the eyes. Funerals and goodbyes are not easy for Tina, and today she especially feels conflicted. All she wants to do is slip out of the room and let the family and friends mourn in peace, but her duty requires her to stay and search for clues to progress her case on Anna’s demise. In an attempt to blend in and be respectful to the grieving family, she has chosen to stand in the back and wear black.
For the most part, nothing is out of the ordinary, then, she sees one guest who sits in stark difference to the rest. It is a man. He sits hunched over on the furthest side of the room. He is sitting with the faculty at the end of the row. Tina can’t see his face, but his light brown curls are bouncing in response to his quiet cries.
Tina walks to his side of the room for a closer look, she hasn’t met this man yet. If she can just get a look at his face, she can follow up after the service. Her answer comes early. The man stands up with his head down and walks to the back of the room briskly. In a moment, he slips out of the door and into the foyer. He is careful not to make any eye contact. But Tina has eyes on him.
He is young, a lot younger than any of the faculty that she has met. Tina follows him out of the chapel and she catches at the corner of her eye a young woman who has now stood up and is walking out of an adjacent door into the foyer.
Ella? She slows down and backs up and crouches down behind what looks like a welcome desk. From there she safely keeps an eye on the young man and another on Ella, peeking her head out slightly between the desk and a rolling chair. Tina is not going to interrupt whatever is happening. She wants to see where this leads.
“Hey,” Ella calls out softly, careful to not draw attention from the service inside the chapel. He turns and smiles. They know each other, Tina is noting the events. Ella’s quick dash for the door paid off. She caught the young man and they seem comfortable with each other. Very comfortable actually. With as much ease as she exerted chasing the young man down, Ella wraps her delicate arms around the young man and passionately kisses him. He embraces her and leans in to kiss her back. Their lips locked tightly, Tina has a reprieve to ask herself, who is this young man? He looks too old to be a high school student and too young to be a teacher at the school. She is more confused that in the chapel, just seconds ago, he was crying his eyes out and now he and Ella are holding a private matinee in the foyer, though unknowingly performing for an audience of one.
They unlatch their lips, Tina is still hidden, watching. Inside, Amazing Grace is being sung by the congregation. It was in the program as Anna’s favorite hymn. Ella and the young man exchange a few words, Ella giggles much like the giddy school girl that she is, he walks out of the door and leaves while she watches him. But Tina who was enthralled in the show and her own thoughts is abruptly awakened out of her daze, by an Ella who is now walking straight towards her and adjusting her clothes back into place. Did she see me? She has quickly exchanged her giddy school girl face for a more somber and serious expression, restoring her chaste youth to her face. The reluctant Tina can read Ella’s face more and more clearly with every step she takes towards her. She is feeling as guilty as someone caught for sneaking into a movie without a ticket. An excuse for spying on them can’t come quick enough. Tina is not sure if she should make a sudden move to look like she was deliberately there or hide and look surprised when Ella discovers her? But she already saw me, that’s why she is walking here. Tina could use a distraction, like the entire congregation walking out right now, but there is no such luck. The congregation has only started the third verse of Amazing Grace. Tina is left to pray that she might have Amazing Grace of her own right now. She can handle bad guys, but embarrassment makes her shrivel up inside. Instinctively, she shuts her eyes tightly, her mouth and cheek
s painfully pursed with hope that she’ll click her heels two times and disappear, then… nothing.
Tina opens her eyes to see… nothing. Ella is gone.
As though she lost her favorite pin, Tina searches around her to see where Ella could have vanished to. One might think she clicked her heels two times and caused Ella to disappear. She stands up from behind the welcome desk and that is when she sees a door that she missed on her rushed exit. There was a small door leading upstairs to an overflow seating area. She slowly opens the door and hears Ella’s footsteps disappearing up the stairwell. Tina, on the other hand, opts to return to the service through the door she exited out of. The song is over and a closing prayer is given.
Tina says a short prayer of thanksgiving that she didn’t get caught in that minor spying incident.
*
At the reception, Tina mingles with guests, but she only has eyes on one target. Many words of comfort are shared with Anna’s family and close friends. Words that she’s sure cannot take the place of the loved one they lost, but are still received kindly.
If Tina was better acquainted with Anna, she would feel more comfortable going to offer them encouraging words, but she is not. She is actually at the school to investigate their daughter’s death and Tina does not think knowing that will bring comfort to the family right now. So, she opts to closely observe the guests quietly.
Another guest ushers Tina to the buffet line. Observing the crowd will have to wait. She is starving. With Dale gone, she has been skipping breakfast. A small buffet-style display of soups and salads from tomato bisque soup to Cesar salad is arrayed before her like a feast prepared for kings. She is salivating. As her good fortune would continue to have it, Ella is now standing right next to Tina with a small salad plate in her hand.
“Agent James, how are you?” Ella sounds more cheerful today than during her interview yesterday. Tina is glad for this because they didn’t make as much progress as she hoped for before.
“Do you mind if I join you? I’d like to ask you a few more questions.” Tina’s voice is calm, quiet enough for Ella only to hear, though firm enough to show the importance of her request.
“Yes, there’s an empty table right here.” Ella seems happy to help except for the brief discomfort that she flashed before answering. There is something that she’s not telling me, Tina thinks, and it’s time for her to talk.
Tina notices that Ella walks right past a few empty tables and finds one in the back corner with a noticeable large ficus tree between it and the next table. Whatever she is about to share, she does not want anyone else close enough to hear.
“It’s about Olsen isn’t it,” Ella begins, leaning in and clasping her hands together on the table. The rest of the room is busy chatting away near the buffet. The air of the room is no longer as tense. Tina has barely sat down and Ella is already talking, “he has had a crush on Anna for a long time. Everyone knows it. I’m just surprised it came to this.”
“And did Anna respond to his interest?”
“No, she prefers someone more mature.” Ella says this with a smirk on her face. She knows something, but she’s not going to say it easily. Tina does not mind the dance. Here’s her chance to dig into what she really wants to know.
“You mean like you? I saw you in the foyer earlier, Ella.”
Ella fumbles around for words knowing that she cannot divert the conversation. Finally she says, “Look you can’t tell Principal Roberts or she’ll fire him.”
“Fire him?”
“Yeah, Dean’s the school tutor.” Ella seems embarrassed to admit her relationship with Dean. “She hired him eight months ago.” Ella looks around her cautiously, “Please, don’t tell her I said anything.”
“Tell who?” A voice from behind Ella interrupts their conversation. It’s Principal Amy Roberts who appears from behind the big ficus tree. Ella looks genuinely worried that she might get found out. She exchanges a look with Tina as if to ask her to not say anything.
“You know, girl talk,” Tina says with a smile and a side look to let Ella know that her secret is safe with her. At least, it’ll be safe until Tina can investigate further. Right now, she would rather have Ella as her informant.
“I’m actually here to see you, Agent James,” Amy says as she invites Anna’s parents to come join her. “They would like to speak with you in private before they leave. Ella?”
Ella follows Amy back to the now thinning crowd of family and friends, but not before she mouths a quick “Thank you” to Tina and hugs the Graysons. Tina wishes she could talk with Ella longer, but she can always catch her at the school. The Graysons, on the other hand, are a different story. They take her place at the table which is turning into Tina’s make-shift office. She has only been in town for a few days and even though Barnes offered her an office at Newport P.D. which she gladly accepted, she hasn’t had any time to go and set it up.
Did someone dim the lights? The atmosphere in the room has changed and it is now cold and gloomy. Down the back of her neck, a sharp shiver strikes that she tries to shake off, but lingers. She cannot ignore it, she must try to push through it. “Leave? I thought you just came into town.”
“We did,” Sue Grayson says, her short curls bounce as she speaks, “our conference in Sidney ended the same day our Anna...” Tom puts his hand on Sue’s back and pulls out a handkerchief from his suit. He himself, narrows his brows and his mouth quivers as he fights off tears unsuccessfully.
The husband and wife duo are known for speaking at tech conferences around the world. The moment they land, they’re already packing for yet another trip, hence putting Anna in a boarding school. They wanted her to have a sense of normalcy, structure and somewhere she could be safe from harm. Unfortunately, their worst nightmare occurred just days ago and their baby girl is no more.
“We didn’t even get to say goodbye,” Tom explains. “She was gone too soon.”
“You do not have to do this if it's too hard for you,” Tina says leaning in to pat Sue’s hand softly.
“No, we want to,” Sue says as she turns to look at her husband, “for Anna.” Like someone summoned to reveal an item of value, Tom now takes out an envelope from his lower left pocket and tenders it to Tina. “It’s from Anna. Once we read it, we were careful to see if you’re someone we can trust with it. Our daughter would never take her own life, Agent James.” Sue leans in aiding with her body language the deep conviction in her voice, “she was happy and… and… this school! We should never have brought her here.” She pauses to compose herself and dot her made-up face with her husband’s handkerchief. Tears continue to run, but her make-up remains flawless. “When I spoke to Bobby, you probably know him as Officer Barnes, he said we could turn to you.”
Hearing Sue and Tom speak about their daughter. It is clear that she comes from a loving family. There are no red flags yet that would imply she was suicidal. Tina opens the envelope. She skims and words already begin to pop out to her: “I’m sorry for the sins that I committed… Please forgive me… I didn’t want to do it, but they told me I had to… It was the only way…”
The voices, Tina thinks as she hears Sue sniffling and pausing to clear her throat, only to sob some more. Tina clenches her fist to her mouth; she is also holding back tears. She is heartbroken for the Graysons, that any parent should have to read a note like this from their child is grueling to her.
Wiping her eyes, glad that she did not wear make-up this morning, Tina realizes that she has just been handed the lead that she has been praying for, something that supports the strange feeling she has had all along, that Anna was coerced to commit suicide. This feeling grew when she read her diary and now she has proof that more than one person was involved. Someone was after Anna and Tina needs to find out who before they either get another student.
A cold shudder strikes again. Tina doesn’t want to think about it, but she can’t help wondering if the same people who came for Anna were the ones who were in her home last nigh
t.
Chapter 3
The toxicology report is in her hand and Tina is walking into Newport P.D. to speak to Olsen. Just an hour ago, she called her boss Tim to explain that given the new evidence from Anna’s parents, she is changing her case from suicide to homicide. The letter is in her pocket and she is determined just like Anna’s parents requested to find out the truth.
The last time Tina was at the station, was in the middle of the night, questioning Ben and Olsen. She went home, hopeful to get a few hours of rest. She didn’t get any. Now, the sleep is getting to her, but the adrenaline of finding a breakthrough in her case is feeding her the fuel she needs to make it through the day.
“The blood tests are back Olsen and they show Anna was dosing. And my guess is you were her dealer.” Tina knows the report shows she was only taking focus-enhancing drugs, the lab noted Adderall in her bloodstream. It’s prescription medicine and her parents confirmed she was not on any doctor-prescribed medication. Of the list of drugs found, Adderall is tame and probably something Anna took to help with exam anxiety, but she doesn’t have to tell Olsen that.