Darkest Call

Chapter Six

The murderer had taken Nicola's brain. If you would want any brain, I was not surprised it was Nicola's you would want. She had always been the brightest kid in school. And now she was dead. Sheriff Holmes kept Ad and me close to her Sunday. Monday, I did not feel up for school, and neither did Ad, so we went to sit in Sheriff Holmes' office. We had to tell the police about Nicola to anyway. It seemed pointless. Normally, we'd have fun at the station. Ad and I would be looking over Nicola's shoulder, as she would try to crack a case. We would lay on the couch and laugh. We would prank the secretary at the front desk. But today Ad and I just sat quiet on the couch and glared at the opposite wall. There had not been added a picture of Nicola yet, but her name was scribbled on one of the small pieces of paper, that hung across the entire board.
"Penelope? The detectives are ready now," Sheriff Holmes had stuck her head inside to get me. I looked at her. She had bags under her eyes. I assumed I had as well. I had not slept the past two nights. I'd been home though. Mrs. Thelonien had been nice to me. She had tried to lift the mood. It was the first time since my birthday, she had seemed to care for me. She had made me tea and stayed up with me in the living room. She had been talking. About pretty much anything. Just not Nicola. Not my parents. Not her husband or son. But she had talked about my grandparents. How it had been to grow up there. She had talked about how things were at work. I could not remember most of what she had said, but I knew she had been there. Mrs. Thelonien had been there for me. I do not think, I had spoken one word since Sheriff Holmes found us at Julia's party. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw Nicola. I saw her lying on the ground. Blood from her mouth. The silhouette in the background. The weird altar. I saw the blood spots on my white dress.
"Penny?" Sheriff Holmes' voice was quiet. I stood and followed her. The room she placed me in looked like an interrogation room from any movie ever. Mirrors on one wall, which I would bet you could see through from the other side. A camera in every corner. A table. Three chairs. The two farthest away from the door were already filled up by the detectives. Detective West and detective Broom eyed me calmly, as I quietly sat down on the chair on the other side of the table. Sheriff Holmes looked at the detectives, "I'll stay in here," her voice was soft. She said it to the detectives, but I knew the words were meant for me. She was here to end the interview, if it was needed. Detective West, a small guy with a head of blond hair, that had started to fall off, nodded without a sound. Detective Broom, whose brown hair fell over her hazel eyes, smiled at me.
"Please state your name for the interview," she said. Her voice was bittersweet. As if she wanted to show me, that I should not fear the two detectives in front of me, but she did not really care about me, to her I was just another witness, another loved one. Someone she could use for her work. "Penelope Smythe," my voice was barely more than a whisper. I straightened me back slightly. I had thought the past two days through. Thought about what I should say. Or I had tried to. I had to lie, if they asked about that other world Nicola had mentioned. I had to lie about not knowing about the murder, before it happened. Because I had known. I had known since I heard that voice. Since I saw the graveyard the first time.
"Penelope, can you please tell me what happened Saturday?" Detective Broom asked opening a folder, "It is under our impression, that you were with Nicola almost the entire day". I could feel the tears in my eyes, but I blinked them away.
"Nicola and I... we," then my voice broke. So much for trying to be tough. "We volunteer at the Blackwell's Orphanage, Ad does as well," I said slowly, trying to get the sentences out without my voice breaking.
"Ad is Adler Holmes, the Sheriff's son, right?" Detective West asked. I nodded, "Yeah. Noah Parkinson volunteers there as well," I said.
Detective Broom nodded, "Okay Penelope, what did you and Nicola do that day?"
I looked around the room. I could see myself in mirror. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. My hair was a mess. I told the detectives about Blackwell's then about our preparation for the party. The one thing I did not mention though, was my hallucination and Nicola's and my talk after Blackwell's. The detectives nodded and asked questions every now and then, but mainly they just let me speak.
"What happened at the party?" Detective Broom asked. I looked into thin air for a moment. "Nothing much. We did drink something. I mainly just talked with people, Nicola included, I don't know, I don't really have any feeling about the time from then."
Detective Broom glared at her folder then at me, "Why do you suppose?" she asked. I shrugged, "The alcohol probably."
Detective West coughed slightly before leaning forward towards me. "Who were you talking to? What exactly happened that you know of?" he asked. I sighed and then started to tell about the party. Who I had talked to, when Nicola had gone.
"You say you, Adler and Nicola were talking with Noah Parkinson, Hannah Withfellows, Maia Felloe and Jordan Mynch, correct?" Detective Broom asked. I nodded.
"Now, as far as I have understood, Noah, Hannah, Maia and Jordan have a bit of a clique with the birthday girl, Julia Smittens. It'd be my impression, that they would stick together?" Detective Broom stated.
I did not exactly understand what detective Broom were hinting at, so I just shrugged, "Yeah, Hannah said she'd seen Julia, the last one in their 'clique', as you called it, making out with someone," I said. Detective Broom nodded.
"Did you see Julia?" she asked.
"No, Hannah told us, when she brought us drinks. But it was Julia's birthday after all, she must have kept busy," I bit my lip looking down, "I was out with the others most of the time anyway." The detectives nodded. The tears had stopped streaming out of my eyes. It was as if my head had cleared during the interview.
"Thank you, Ms. Smythe, we'll contact you if we have further question or make any progress. In case you remember anything, please contact us," Detective Broom said handing me her card. I nodded slightly while muttering a sure before I stood up. Sheriff Holmes took my arm and smiled at me.
"You okay Pen?" she asked. I nodded slightly.
"I'll be fine, really I just want to go home now," I said as we walked out of the interrogation room. Sheriff Holmes nodded.
"You sure?" she stopped me in front of her office and turned towards me. I nodded, "Really, I want to get my mind of... Well everything."
Sheriff Holmes lifted an eyebrow quickly before nodding. She gave me a quick hug.
"I'll have someone drive you home then, got the keys?" she asked, to which I nodded again. "Great, then I'll see you soon. You did great," she said before leading me towards the front desk.