Detective Crawford

13

Megan drove up to a beautiful two-story house. It was dark red with a black roof and black windows that were surrounded by white. There was a gorgeous garden outside the house. Bella's mother must have been a gardener. She walked onto the porch, where there were beautiful white hanging pots with the remains of flowers on the sides, still going strong in the cold. Everything was so well-chosen that it looked as if Bella's parents were natural landscapers. If Megan had a little more time, she would have done the same for her home. Ringing the front doorbell, she didn't have to wait long.A pleasant woman in her 40s answered the door. It was Bella's mother.

"Good afternoon, I'm Megan Crawford, detective." She handed the woman her detective's badge.

"How can I help you?" She wiped her hands on her apron, then took the ID in her hands and examined it closely before handing it back to Megan.

"It's about the murder of Stella Nolan. Your daughter, Bella, was her best friend as far as I know."

"Oh, yes. Come inside, don't stand in the cold, and I'll get Bella." She welcomed Megan into the house.

The house smelled like fresh baked goods and cinnamon. Megan missed that smell. It reminded her of when her mom used to bake her and Whitney scones.

***

"Whitney! Megan!" Their mother called. "Come downstairs, I made you some apple scones."The girls ran downstairs and into the kitchen, first inhaling the fragrant smell of apples and buns, and then grabbing them.

"Just be careful, girls, they're still hot."

Taking a good bite of the bun, Megan's taste buds exploded in her mouth, and a warm and pleasant taste of baked goods flooded her mouth, accompanied by the taste of apples. Looking at her sister, Megan saw the same pleasure in her eyes.

"Well, girls, is it good?" Their mother asked expectantly.

"Very much so!" They answered together, and then ran up and hugged their mother, "Thank you!"

"You are welcome, my princesses."

***

A woman's voice broke Megan from her thoughts.

"Bella, come downstairs," She called to her daughter.

"I'm sorry, how do I address you?"

"Oh, dear, you can just call me Ashley."

As Megan entered the living room, she was delighted with the interior. The white walls were beautifully matched with the light brown parquet flooring. The wall on which the television was hung was made of brick. In the living room was a light brown kitchen table with a vase of pink decorative tulips on it. The chairs were dark green with upholstery. The interesting thing was that the living room was offset from the kitchen, which was decorated in the same light colors. It all went together harmoniously. Walking into the living room, Megan saw what was making the smell so good. Ashley was baking cinnamon rolls.

"Please, sit down." Bella's mom nodded her head toward the couch.

As she sat down, Megan asked:

"Your yard and house look so beautiful. Are you a designer?"

-"Oh, yes," Ashley said as she busied herself in the kitchen, "I'm an interior designer, but I'm also interested in landscaping."

"You're doing a great job. I haven't seen anything this beautiful in a long time."

A beautiful girl with black hair tied in a ponytail, brown eyes, and lovely freckles on her face came into the living room.

"Good afternoon..." She greeted Megan hesitantly.

"Good to see you, Bella. I'm Megan Crawford, detective. I'm here to talk to you about Stella, your best friend, I believe."

"Yes, we heard about her death. I'm very sorry about that. She was one of my closest friends. It's only been two days and I miss her so much." She said, sitting down on a chair at the kitchen table.

"I understand how you feel," Megan looked down at her folded hands. "If you don't mind my saying so, I'm her aunt, and it's hard for me to realize that she's not with us right now. Like you, I miss her terribly." Megan could barely speak because of the lump in her throat.

"We're so sorry," Ashley said, and she and Bella shared a sad look.

"I want to find the killer. I want to ask him why he did this." She looked up. "But in order to find him, I need to unravel the tangle of threads that are in this case, and I'm counting on you, Bella. I want you to help me. I want you to tell me about your interactions with her, especially the last three months. Will you help me?

"Of course. All I can do for the late Stella is help find her killer."

"If you and your mom don't mind, I'd like to talk to you in private, in your room, for example."

"If that's what's best for you," Ashley said, understandingly. "Bella, grab a plate of rolls and serve our guest."

"Okay. Let's go," the girl said to Megan, taking the plate of fragrant buns.

They went up to her room. Bella's room was similar to Stella's. The walls were white, with a dark gray where the bed was. The white flooring went well with it. There were lots of plants. There was a pot with big, beautiful avocado leaves on the light desk, and small succulents, and some hanging pots. There were posters of different movies and TV shows on the walls, including some that Megan had watched and loved. The room was very comfortable, and of course, Ashley's design skills were not without merit.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and invited Megan to sit there as well.

"Well, where do you want me to start?"

"Wherever you feel comfortable."

"Well, Stella and I met in high school, and she's been my best friend ever since. I chose her because she was so sweet, funny, never sad, and always there to support me or help me out in a pinch. It all started when she started complaining to me during our walks that someone was following her. Of course, I didn't believe her. But when I started to notice this person, it was no longer funny. He was dressed all in black, with a hood over his head and his hands in his jacket pockets. However, he seemed a little familiar to me, especially his body structure and gait. As we walked, he got closer and closer with each meeting. However, when we started to leave this month, I walked calmly, talking to Stella on a video call so that she wouldn't be afraid. And that's when we started to notice him walking behind her. It got to the point where she wouldn't leave the house, and I could hang out with her for days. And half a month ago it got even worse. One night I was getting ready for bed, and Stella started spamming me with messages, describing how some man was chasing her and..."

Megan interrupted, "What's been going on for the last six months?"

"It was like a horror movie. She wrote that she was getting postcards from this man saying he was going to find her, kill her and her family, make Stella suffer."

"Where are they now?"

"She burned them. She just couldn't take it anymore and lit them on fire. To be honest, I understand her. Stella was strong, she held on for a long time. If I were in her place, I would have gone crazy a long time ago. By the way, the night she was killed, I got some very strange videos from her."

"Since that moment, more details."

"That night I stayed up all night, I couldn't sleep, as if something was bothering me. My mom says that I felt like someone close to me was being taken away. I was lying there, looking at the ceiling, and then I got messages from Stella. In the first video, the same man who was chasing us was burying something. At first, I didn't realize what it was, but when I found out she was dead, I realized it was her." A tear ran down Bella's cheek.

"What's the other one?"

"The second one came to me this morning. At the beginning, there was a house I didn't recognize, and then Stella's house.

"I'm going to tell you a secret. But promise me you won't be mad at me, okay?""Okay."

"I went through your e-mails from Stella's laptop yesterday. I had to, as a detective. And there was no mention of the first video, even though I saw it on her iCloud. But in the morning it was gone."

"It was deleted from our correspondence in 5 minutes. However, I felt that these 2 videos should be saved. My heart told me to."

"You're a smart girl to do that. Now show them to me."
The first video was indeed what Megan had seen. When Bella turned on the second video, Megan felt uncomfortable. The video showed Stella's house. It was a dark night outside, and there was a light in Stella's windows that faced the main street. She saw herself in those windows, going through her niece's things. The next shot showed a house... It was Megan's house.

"Oh, my God...is he watching me?" Megan's hands shook, and a chill ran down her spine.

"So this is your house?"

"Yes. Yes, this is my house, email me the videos "Megan's head spun. She got out of bed and took a piece of paper and a pen from the girl's desk and wrote her mail on it "Where is your bathroom?"

"Across the hall from my room."

Going to the bathroom, Megan took some water in her folded hands and wet her face and neck. She leaned her hands on the sink and looked in the mirror. The blue eyes, sunken in, had once been joyful and happy, but now they were anxious and tired. Someone had said that they were the mirror of the soul. She couldn't look at her exhausted self any longer. She felt uncomfortable. She stopped looking at herself and went back to Bella's room.

"I already dropped it off for you."

"Good, thanks. Do you have anything else to add to the story?"

"No, that's it."

Megan glanced at her wristwatch.

"Thanks for your help. Bye."

"Oh, wait! You didn't get any of mom's scones."

"Thanks, honey, but I want to. I'm a little nauseous, so I'll pass. Tell your mom I appreciate your hospitality."

She said goodbye to Ashley and got into her car. She turned it on and called Alex.

"Hey, Megan. Can I help you with something?"

"Do you need any help?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm actually on my way back to my place. We already took Stella to the medical examiner's office and checked out the park. Anderson wanted to help Howard"

"Why aren't you there? They'll find some stupid reason and start arguing, and then they'll have a fight, as usual."

"Anderson told me to go home and get some rest. He wanted me to support you. I refused, so he kicked me in the ass and sent me home. Promised not to argue with Howard."

"Okay," Megan laughed.

"Listen, if that's the case, why don't you come over to my place? I'm coming to support you," Alex teased.

"That's a great idea, supportive. I think we have a lot to tell each other. Then I leave?"

"Where are you now?"

"I just left Bella's house."

"Okay. I'll wait for you at my place."

"See you later." Megan hung up the phone and walked over to Alex's, lighting a cigarette at the same time.